How to Blend Cocktails

Blended cocktails are a great treat, especially for the hot summer months when you are entertaining, but it is difficult to get consistent results. Blending the perfect cocktails time after times takes practice and a level of patience that can easily be learned. It is very easy to make a chunky cocktail or a soupy one if you are not careful and these few tips will walk you through the process of blending great cocktails.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 5 minutes

Here's How:

1. Add your liquors, juices and fruits to the blender's pitcher.

   Doing this step before adding ice ensures that these ingredients are mixed properly before the blender goes to work on the ice. For fruits, chop them into chunks of about 1 inch.

2. Add your ice.

   Less ice is better so start out with about 1 cup per drink. You can always add more ice later in the blending process if you find it is too watery. Also, start out with cracked or crushed ice because cubes tax the motor beyond what is necessary and may shorten the life of the blender's motor and blades.

3. Secure the lid on the pitcher and start blending at a slow speed.

   This is where the pulse speed comes in handy because you can start and stop the motor in short bursts to chop any large ingredients or ice.

4. Build up the speed.

   Work through the speed cycles of your blender step by step for the smoothest, chunk-free frozen cocktails.

5. Check out the results.

   When you notice that the blender no longer sounds like it is no longer cracking large pieces of ice you should see where the consistency is. Open the lid after the motor has completely stopped and stir it with a bar spoon. If you notice large chunks you will want to repeat steps 3-5 until those are all blended in. If the mix is too thin and watery you will need to add more ice and go through those steps as well.

Tips:

1. Keep carbonated beverages out of the blender unless you want a big mess.
2. Find the right blender for you by reading these blender buying tips.
3. Clean your blender after each use, especially if you are switching to a different flavor of cocktail.
4. Hold the lid of your blender while the motor is running to prevent it from coming off and sending your drink all over the bar.
5. Use fresh fruit whenever possible.

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