The Secret Behind Perfectly Balanced Cocktails

I get asked a lot about how to make great drinks at home. Obviously my first answer is to join me for one of the Mixology Events, hehe, but that isn't the exact information they're looking for. The answer is balance. Too much booze and it tastes like gasoline. Too sweet and you're worried about cavities. Too much mixer and all of your flavors get lost in the juice. This leads us to the next obvious question: How do I know what the right balance is?! Now we get to the heart of the conundrum. The right answer is experimentation. Yes, of course there are baseline recipes online that are great places to start. But that isn't the end all be all of cocktail roadmaps. You might like different flavors or approaches. You might come across some bat crap crazy idea that sounds really great to you but isn't deemed popular...yet (be that bad@$$ trendsetter you know you are! *Cue "Trendsetter" by Connor Price*). While I don't pretend to act as if I have all the answers, I have spent a solid amount of time in "The Lab" located comfortably in my home. I like to make a date night out of it with my girl, or make it group thing when friends are over. I get us all involved by prepping them with what I'm going for. I tell them about what I have in mind for the different ingredients, and then I ask if they want to jump in and be Certified Master Tasters or are they feeling saucy and want to give their best shot at being Dr. Frankenstein and start piecing it together themselves. Yes, you get bonus points for screaming, "It's ALIIIIIIIVE!" when you pour the drink. I like to channel my inner Gene Wilder ala Young Frankenstein (it's pornounced Frank-en-schteen!"). The point is, don't take it too seriously. make it fun. Make it light. Note how I run the events. We have a goal and a drink in mind but we don't hold it too sacred. Don't forget this is just booze and last time I looked, it was supposed to be fun. There you have it. Great drinks are made through balance. On top of that, they're forged in the laughter, the spit it out in the sink failures, and the "holy hell that is actually good!' surprise moments that make it all worth while. Salute, Kap