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Each garnish does a different job
Every garnish does one of four jobs: it adds aroma, a little juice, something to eat, or salt or sugar on the lip of the glass. The cut decides which. The table sets the common garnishes beside the Field Manual drinks that use them, and the cocktail terms glossary defines each in a line.
Cocktail garnishes, how to cut them and the drinks that use them
Twist
- How to cut it
- A strip of peel about 5cm by 2cm, taken with a Y-peeler, with little pith
- What it does
- Sprays citrus oil over the drink: aroma, no sourness
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Martini and French 75 (lemon); Old Fashioned and Negroni (orange)
Flamed twist
- How to cut it
- A wider orange strip, about 5cm by 3cm, pinched through a flame
- What it does
- A toasted, slightly bitter orange smell
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Cosmopolitan, if you want the flourish
Wheel
- How to cut it
- A round slice about 5mm thick, cut across the fruit
- What it does
- Colour and a little aroma, almost no juice
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Daiquiri, Margarita, Mojito (lime)
Slice
- How to cut it
- A wheel cut in half
- What it does
- Colour, and sits neatly in the glass
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Whiskey Sour and Aperol Spritz (orange); Tom Collins (lemon)
Wedge
- How to cut it
- A segment cut lengthways, white core trimmed
- What it does
- Juice for the drinker to squeeze in
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Gin & Tonic, Storm & Spice, Corn n’ Oil (lime)
Sprig
- How to cut it
- The top few centimetres of a herb stem, slapped once
- What it does
- Aroma at the nose with every sip
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Mojito, Mint Julep, Queen’s Park Swizzle (mint); Gin Basil Smash (basil)
Rim
- How to cut it
- Salt or sugar rolled onto half the outside edge
- What it does
- Salt or sugar with each sip
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Margarita, Paloma, Salty Dog
On a pick
- How to cut it
- An olive, an onion or a cherry, laid across the rim
- What it does
- Something to eat, kept out of the drink
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Martini (olive), Gibson (onion), Manhattan (cherry)
Spice or bitters
- How to cut it
- Grated or dropped onto the surface just before serving
- What it does
- Aroma on the first sip
- Field Manual drinks that use it
- Painkiller (nutmeg), Pisco Sour (Angostura on the foam)
| Garnish | How to cut it | What it does | Field Manual drinks that use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twist | A strip of peel about 5cm by 2cm, taken with a Y-peeler, with little pith | Sprays citrus oil over the drink: aroma, no sourness | Martini and French 75 (lemon); Old Fashioned and Negroni (orange) |
| Flamed twist | A wider orange strip, about 5cm by 3cm, pinched through a flame | A toasted, slightly bitter orange smell | Cosmopolitan, if you want the flourish |
| Wheel | A round slice about 5mm thick, cut across the fruit | Colour and a little aroma, almost no juice | Daiquiri, Margarita, Mojito (lime) |
| Slice | A wheel cut in half | Colour, and sits neatly in the glass | Whiskey Sour and Aperol Spritz (orange); Tom Collins (lemon) |
| Wedge | A segment cut lengthways, white core trimmed | Juice for the drinker to squeeze in | Gin & Tonic, Storm & Spice, Corn n’ Oil (lime) |
| Sprig | The top few centimetres of a herb stem, slapped once | Aroma at the nose with every sip | Mojito, Mint Julep, Queen’s Park Swizzle (mint); Gin Basil Smash (basil) |
| Rim | Salt or sugar rolled onto half the outside edge | Salt or sugar with each sip | Margarita, Paloma, Salty Dog |
| On a pick | An olive, an onion or a cherry, laid across the rim | Something to eat, kept out of the drink | Martini (olive), Gibson (onion), Manhattan (cherry) |
| Spice or bitters | Grated or dropped onto the surface just before serving | Aroma on the first sip | Painkiller (nutmeg), Pisco Sour (Angostura on the foam) |
Read the recipe first. A Daiquiri takes a lime wheel, a Caipirinha takes nothing, and a Martini takes a lemon twist or a green olive. A garnish the recipe leaves out is rarely an improvement.
A twist is cut thin and pinched over the drink
A twist is a strip of citrus peel whose oil is sprayed over the surface of the drink. The oil sits in the coloured skin. The white pith beneath it is bitter, so take as little of it as you can.
- Wash and dry the fruit. Cold, firm fruit peels most cleanly.
- Draw a Y-peeler towards you across the fruit with light pressure, to take a strip about 5cm long and 2cm wide. Press harder and the pith comes with it.
- Square the edges with a knife and pare off any thick pith.
- Hold the strip skin side down, a few centimetres above the drink, and give it a sharp pinch. In good light you will see a fine mist land on the surface.
- Rest the peel on the rim, drop it in or discard it, as the recipe says.
Lemon goes with gin and with the Martini. Orange goes with whisky and rum, as in the Old Fashioned and the Negroni. A lime twist is sharper and fades faster. For a long, thin spiral, use a channel knife and turn the fruit against the blade.
A flamed orange twist toasts the oil
Flaming sprays the oil of an orange peel through a lit match. It catches in a brief flash and lands on the drink with a toasted, slightly bitter orange smell. The Cosmopolitan takes one if you want the flourish.
- Cut an orange twist wider than usual, about 5cm by 3cm, so there is more oil to spray.
- Light a match and hold it a few centimetres above the drink, with the peel just behind it, skin towards the flame.
- Warm the skin over the flame for a second or two.
- Pinch the peel sharply. The oil sprays through the flame, flashes and settles on the drink.
- Drop the peel in or discard it.
Keep your face, hair and the bottles clear of the flame, and practise over a glass of water first.
Wheels are cut across the fruit and wedges along it
A wheel is a thin round slice
A wheel is a thin round slice cut across the fruit. It adds colour and a little aroma, and almost no juice. Cut off both ends, slice across about 5mm thick, and flick out any pips with the point of the knife.
A wheel cut in half is a slice, which sits in the glass more neatly. The Whiskey Sour takes an orange slice and the Tom Collins a lemon one.
A wedge is a segment for squeezing
A wedge is a segment cut lengthways, set on the rim for the drinker to squeeze. Halve the fruit through both ends, cut each half into three or four, and trim the strip of white core along the inner edge. A short cut into the flesh lets it sit on the rim. A lime wedge finishes the Gin & Tonic and the Storm & Spice.
We keep wheels and wedges for a few hours, covered, in the fridge. Twists dry out once cut, so cut them to order.
A mint sprig is there for the nose
A sprig is the top of a herb stem with its leaves on. A mint sprig stands at the rim so the drinker smells it with every sip, which is why it goes beside the straw.
- Pick the top few centimetres of a stem with bright, unmarked leaves, and strip any leaves low down that would sit in the drink.
- Lay it on one palm and clap the other down on it once. The slap bruises the leaves enough to wake the oil without tearing them.
- Stand it upright in the ice at the rim, next to the straw.
The Mojito takes a sprig and a lime wheel. The Mint Julep and the Queen’s Park Swizzle take a bouquet of sprigs packed into the crushed ice. Basil is handled the same way, more lightly, and the Gin Basil Smash finishes with a basil sprig.
Keep herbs in damp kitchen paper in a closed box in the fridge, and slap them only as they go on the drink. Basil blackens in the cold, so keep it at room temperature if you will use it within a few hours. A rosemary sprig suits a stirred whisky or rum drink: warm it briefly with a culinary torch to bring out the oil, without letting it burn.
A rim goes on half the outside of the glass
A rim puts salt or sugar on the lip of the glass, so each sip picks some up. Put it on the outside of half the glass. The drinker can choose, and none falls into the drink.
- Spread flaky salt or sugar on a saucer, or fill a glass rimmer.
- Run a cut lime or lemon around half of the outside edge. Use syrup for a sugar rim.
- Hold the glass on its side and roll the wet edge through the salt or sugar.
- Tap off the excess before you pour the drink.
The Margarita takes a half rim of flaky sea salt, wetted with a spent lime half. The Paloma and the Salty Dog take a salt rim too.
Olives, onions and cherries go on a pick
A garnish meant to be eaten goes on a pick laid across the rim, so it can be lifted out whole and does not steep in the drink. The Martini takes a green olive if it is not taking a lemon twist, the Gibson a pickled cocktail onion, and the Manhattan a maraschino cherry.
Use one olive, or three in a bigger glass. Cocktail picks in steel last for years in our experience; bamboo suits drinks over crushed ice.
Choose the garnish from what is already in the drink
When a recipe names no garnish, take one from the drink. A drink with lime juice takes lime, and a drink with mint takes a sprig. A spirit-forward drink with no citrus takes an expressed twist: lemon for gin, orange for whisky or rum.
Spice works the same way. Nutmeg grated fresh from a nutmeg grater finishes the Painkiller, and three drops of Angostura on the foam finish the Pisco Sour. If you cannot say what a garnish adds, leave it off.
Edible flowers add colour and little else. Use only flowers sold for eating, because florists’ flowers are often treated with chemicals.
Cut the garnishes before the first guest arrives
Most garnish work can be done an hour or two ahead. Cut the wheels and wedges, wash the herbs, decant the olives and cherries into small bowls, and spread the rim salt on a saucer. Leave the twists and the slap until the drink is made.
The kit is small: a sharp bar knife, a Y-peeler, a cutting board and a few picks. Garnish tweezers help set a single leaf on a foam. For the techniques that make the drink itself, see how to make cocktails at home.