As a home bartender, you’re already adept at shaking a Margarita and stirring a Martini. But you probably didn’t realize that there’s a third technique you can add to your repertoire. It’s also one that’s easier than it looks and is sure to impress: throwing (aka rolling) a cocktail. Today’s flair bartenders and cocktail bars like Milady’s in New York often employ this showy technique, but it’s been practiced in bars for a couple of centuries. “Throwing is all about aeration, allowing the free volatiles to be a little bit more apparent so you can pick up more flavor that might not be as pronounced with larger aeration, like shaking, or no real aeration with stirring,” explains Ramsey Musk, creator of bar pop-up Mama’s Boy and StarChefs Rising Star Bartender.
Musk uses the method for cocktails like his take on an Apple Martini at the Accomplice Bar in Los Angeles. The vodka and gin sipper is made with clarified Granny Smith apple juice, white balsamic, and Thai basil. While R&Ding the recipe, Musk found that stirring the cocktail yielded a flat taste with just a hint of apple. Shaking created too much dilution, losing the apple’s freshness and Thai basil’s herbaceousness. Throwing the Martini, however, aerated and diluted it in a more controlled way, dispersing fine air bubbles throughout the drink and allowing more subtle notes to shine.
“Throwing is pretty similar to how sherry producers try their sherry,” says Musk. “They add aeration to it in a similar fashion so that you can really pick up the nuanced flavors that develop when you’re oxidizing and aromatizing wine.” Not only does Musk use the technique to test new recipes but also when tasting gins. “Botanist is a super herbaceous gin, but it really mellows out and gets more citrusy with throwing.”
As for which cocktails lend themselves to throwing, Musk suggests trying it with classics. “You can shake a Daiquiri and you can throw a Daiquiri, and they’re two totally different cocktails,” he says. “It’s a different mouthfeel and it’s a different experience for the sense that you get.” He also says trying the method with a mezcal Margarita to see which flavors in the spirit stand out. “Are you going to get the weird lactic, cheesy thing? Or is that bell pepper note that’s always on the base level gonna pop through a lot more and it’s gonna taste way more like green pepper?”
To throw a cocktail at home, all you need are two cocktail tins and a strainer. Musk prefers an antique-style classic Hawthorne strainer, which has a bend in the handle to hold on to the rim more securely. “I find them easier to throw with. You don’t have to worry as much about holding tight pressure,” he says. And since this is for practice, use water.
Step 1
Fill the large tin with ice 3/4 of the way up, followed by the cocktail ingredients to allow the ice to settle. Add more ice so that the contents stay 3/4 of the way full. For strainer placement, Musk suggests flipping over the Hawthorne strainer so the ice won’t get stuck in the coil.
Step 2
Hold the large tin high in your dominant hand, making sure to also hold the strainer in place. Grasp the second tin close to its rim for better control. Once in position, tilt the large tin, pouring the liquid into the second tin, which you keep your eyes on while pulling it down. “Whenever I’m training people, I always tell them to start with both arms up high. And, if you’re right-handed, you’re dropping your left hand with the smaller tin and you’re just doing it slowly and watching the bottom tin,” Musk says. “So you’re seeing where all the liquid is going.”
Step 3
Once the large tin is empty, pour the liquid from the now-full small tin back into the large tin. You just want to transfer the liquid from the secondary tin to the main one. No need to hold the small tin at a high level, etc. Repeat Step 2.
Step 4
After seven or eight throws, you’ll see that the volume of the liquid has doubled. The tins will feel colder as well, which evolves slower than with shaking. When making a cocktail, you’ll stop here to taste the mixture, “just to make sure everything is cooking correctly,” Musk says.
Musk adds that it will only take a day or two of practice to nail down the technique and coordination. Once you’re comfortable with the motion of throwing, that’s when you can start incorporating twists and higher, longer pours. “It’s a really great thing for a home bartender to know how to do because you’re gonna wow whomever you’re inviting over for dinner, whether it be your boss or your mother-in-law that maybe doesn’t like you as much,” he says. “When you’re having a dinner party or a function, you’re automatically the coolest person in the room.”
