Shaking

When the cocktail you make has eggs, fruit juices or some creams, you should shake them up. Use a cocktail shaker to mix everything up and get them chilled up at the same time. The purpose is to get the drink frozen while mixing them up. This is generally done by filling three-quarters of the glass with ice. After you've put in the ingredients, get the shaker in both your hands, one hand on the top and the other at the bottom and give a quick shake. As the water starts condensing at the bottom, your cocktail should be cold enough to be strained.

Straining

You'll most probably get a built-in or hawthorn strainer with your shaker. When you need to strain a drink, make sure you have ice cubes, and not crushed one, as they'll clog the strainer. However, if a drink has to be served without straining, you'll don't have to strain it.

Stirring

Stir the cocktails with a metal rod in a mixing glass. If you're going to use ice, use cubes to avoid dilution and strain everything into the glass as the surface of the glass starts condensing.

Muddling

To really get the full flavor from particular ingredients, crush them with the muddler, which can be found on the back of the bar spoon, or use a pestle.

Blending

If you can't shake the ingredients, you'll have to use a blender. Blending is the best way of putting the ingredients together, thereby getting a smooth drink. If the recipe requires ice, you have to make sure that it's crushed.

Building

As part of this process, the mixture is put into the glass by which the cocktail will be served. The ingredients generally float about, but, sometimes, a swizzle stick is included so that the ingredients can be mixed according to the drinker's desire.

Layering

To layer (float) the ingredients above each other, use the behind of the spoon and lean it by the side of the glass. Gently pour down the spoon and into the glass. The ingredient should go down the inside part of the glass and will remain apart from the ingredient underneath it. You should know the exact weight of particular liqueurs so that you'll be able to finish this technique perfectly so that the lighter items can be layered above the more heavy ones.

Flaming

This is the process of setting alight a cocktail or liquor so that you can increase its flavor. This should be done with care, and only for the reason mentioned above, not to make yourself look cool.

Particular liquors will catch fire quickly if their proof is quite high. You can heat a bit of liquor on a spoon. this will make the alcohol collect at the top, which can then be easily flamed. After this, you can put this over the ingredients already in the glass.