Building

What building does

Building means pouring the ingredients straight into the glass the drink will be served in, with almost no extra agitation. Because there is no shake and no long stir, chilling and dilution are handed over to the ice in the glass: the drink keeps changing in the drinker's hand, tight at the first sip and looser at the last.

This is not the lazy option. It is the method carbonation requires. Soda, tonic, cola and ginger ale survive neither a shake nor a long stir; every unnecessary movement drives bubbles out. All the craft in building sits in one problem: mixing with the fewest possible moves.

When to build

• Highballs lengthened with a carbonated mixer, such as the Gin Tonic or the Cuba Libre.
• Two or three ingredients of similar density that need no emulsion, such as the Godfather.
• Drinks meant to keep a visible gradient, or to mix slowly in the glass.

Do not build a recipe that contains egg, dairy or heavy purée: those ingredients will not disperse on their own. A small measure of citrus in a highball is the exception, carried through by the mixer as it goes in.

Tools

The serving glass — highball, collins or rocks; a jigger; a bar spoon; and good ice. Ice matters most here: the larger the cubes and the fuller the glass, the slower it melts and the longer the drink holds.

Steps

1. Chill the glass, or fill it with ice, wait, and pour off the meltwater.
2. Fill it with ice to the rim, not halfway.
3. Pour in the spirit and any other still ingredients.
4. Add the carbonated mixer slowly down the inside wall, or over the back of a bar spoon, so it slides along the ice.
5. Take the spoon to the base and lift gently once or twice, then stop.
6. Garnish; express a citrus twist over the surface first.

Common mistakes

• Too little ice. It melts quickly and the drink thins out. Saving ice costs you the drink.
• Stirring a carbonated drink hard. The bubbles go, and what is left reads flat and sweet.
• Pouring the mixer fast. It foams over the rim and loses its gas on the way.
• A warm glass and a warm mixer. The ice spends itself cooling them and dilutes the drink for nothing.
• Building something that needs emulsion. Egg white, cream and purée will simply sit on top; shake those instead.

Examples in the catalogue

The Gin Tonic is the purest demonstration: two ingredients, a full glass of ice, one gentle lift. The Americano joins a bitter aperitif to soda — the older drink the Negroni is said to have come from, with gin where the soda is. The Moscow Mule and the Cuba Libre show acid and carbonation mixing themselves, while the Godfather proves that building need not involve bubbles at all: two ingredients, one large cube, and time.