Bar technique

How to batch cocktails for a busy service

Batching mixes a drink in bulk before service, so each serve is a single pour. It saves time on a busy night and makes every drink identical.

Spirit-forward stirred drinks batch best, because nothing in them fades. Citrus loses its brightness within hours, and anything sparkling goes flat. The classics below have neither.

How to do it

  1. 1Multiply every ingredient in the spec by the number of serves.
  2. 2Add water for the dilution the drink would get from stirring, since you will not stir it with ice. Measure what one stirred serve gains and scale that.
  3. 3Mix in a clean, sealable container and label it with the drink, the date and who made it.
  4. 4Keep it in the fridge, or the freezer for drinks served very cold.
  5. 5To serve, measure the batch into a chilled glass or over fresh ice, and garnish to order.

Common mistakes

  • Forgetting the dilution water, so the batched drink is stronger than the spec.
  • Batching citrus a day ahead. Batch the spirits and syrups, and add fresh juice to order.
  • Batching anything sparkling.
  • Unlabelled containers in the fridge.

Related: stirring, measuring and balance, ice and dilution.

Classics that use batching

57 of the cocktails in our library.

Browse every cocktail
100 Year Old CigarStirred · Coupe1910Stirred · CoupeAbsinthe Drip Cocktail (French method)Stirred · Absinthe glassAbsolute GangsterStirred · RocksAmerican TrilogyStirred · RocksAnejo ManhattanStirred · MartiniAñejo Old FashionedStirred · RocksBensonhurstStirred · CoupeBenton's Old FashionedStirred · RocksBijou (by Jamie Gordon)Stirred · RocksBijou CocktailStirred · CoupeBlack ManhattanStirred · CoupeBlack RoseStirred · RocksBobby BurnsStirred · CoupeBoulevardierStirred · RocksBywaterStirred · RocksCarroll GardensStirred · CoupeChrysanthemumStirred · CoupeComte de SureauStirred · RocksCornwall NegroniStirred · Coupe

Also: Daisy Buchanan, Dirty Martini, Downhill Daring, Dry Martini, El Presidente, Fancy Free, Ford Cocktail, Godfather Cocktail, Hanky Panky, Hunter, La Louisiane, Left Bank Martini, M and M, Manhattan, Maple Old Fashioned, Martinez, Milano Torino (Mi-To), Mizuwari, Negroni, Negroni Sbagliato, Oaxaca Old-Fashioned, Old Fashioned, Old Hickory (Britten's recipe), Old Pal, Poet's Dream, Rapscallion, Red Hook, Remember the Alimony, Right Hand, Sazerac, The Conference, Toronto, Vancouver, Vesper, Vieux Carré Cocktail, White Negroni, Yellow Daisy.

Gaplessly Academy

Run a bar? Your team can learn your own specs in Gaplessly.

Your recipes live on the Cocktails page of your dashboard, and Gaplessly Academy turns them into quick spec drills staff run between services, with matching drills on your own tables and menu. Short lessons on service, the floor, safety and bar technique sit alongside them.

Gaplessly for barsTry the live demo