The Basic Ingredient You Can't Forget When Making Batch Cocktails

If you're hosting a gathering, following a few simple rules can help make things less stressful so you get to actually enjoy yourself instead of fretting over keeping all your guests fed and watered. One of Ina Garten's tips for throwing great dinner parties is to prep the meal in advance. It's a good idea to extend that rule to the drinks as well. And unless you plan on serving only wine and beer, batch cocktails are the best way to prepare drinks for a group. They save you the trouble of pouring and mixing on the spot, and you can taste test beforehand so you know every drink will be delicious. Several cocktails translate well to batches and can even be made the day before, provided they're stored properly in a sealed container.

While you can generally multiply each ingredient in a cocktail recipe to match the crowd size, the most basic ingredient — water — is also the one that must be carefully measured. Unfortunately, it is also frequently the only ingredient whose measure is never specified in a recipe. There are multiple reasons for this last issue — in spirit-forward drinks like martinis, the water comes from ice that melts when the cocktail is thrown or shaken. That's much the same case with drinks that are served on ice. Yet a batch cocktail shouldn't be stored with ice, so adjusting for that little bit of dilution can make all the difference in how your concoction turns out.

A little bit of water is crucial for practically every cocktail because of how ethanol molecules react with water. In short, a little hydration helps you experience more of a drink's subtle flavors and aromas. Without water, you'll only really detect the strongest notes, which overpower the rest. That hit of water necessary for a drink to come alive can be delivered via ice, soda, flavor-infused water, or even just bottled or tap water.

Figuring out how much water to add to batch cocktails is important. If you overdilute, you'll need to add more of each ingredient. Start by figuring out how many alcohol shots go in a single drink and how many shots you'll get out of one liquor bottle. Then, multiply it by the number of guests. You can guess that everyone will have two to three drinks.

To figure out how much water to add, make a single glass of the cocktail, then add small measures of water until it tastes right. Once you hit the sweet spot, multiply that amount of water by the glasses of cocktail you're making. That's the amount of water you should add to the batch. However, if you plan on serving the cocktail with ice, only add about three-fourths of the water you would have otherwise put into the batch. This helps account for melting ice while ensuring your guests don't have to wait for the cocktail to taste good.