Build

What is build?

Build means the drink is created directly in the glass it is served in. No shaker, no mixing glass, the ingredients go into the glass in order, usually followed by a short stir so everything gets acquainted. The gin and tonic is the most famous built drink in the world, and the Negroni and the Old Fashioned are classically built as well.

The method looks simple, and it is, but simplicity here is craft: the order, the ice and a gentle hand on the stir decide whether a built drink tastes precise or careless.

How a drink is built

When building, the order decides:

• Ice first: it chills the glass and sets the frame
• Spirit and modifier next: measured, into the glass, a short stir binds the base
• Carbonation last: soda or tonic gently on top, one careful pull, no vigorous stirring, or the bubbles escape

Plus a professional detail from daily routine: spirits are measured first, because the jigger stays clean afterwards. Small logic, big effect on speed and cleanliness at the bar.

Why some drinks are built and others are not

Behind every bar stands the preparation trio: shaken, stirred, built. Each has its job:

• Shaken: everything with citrus juice, cream or egg, the texture needs the momentum
• Stirred: spirit-heavy drinks, cold and dilution with a silky look, no cloudiness
• Built: highballs and anything carbonated, because bubbles and shakers do not get along

Remember: shaken for texture, stirred for silk, built for bubbles and speed.

From the highball to the gin and tonic: a short history

The build method grew up with the highballs: in the late 19th century, spirit plus soda became the standard drink, and the name highball supposedly comes from the railway signal in which raised balls meant full speed ahead. The most famous built drink carries colonial history in the glass: the tonic water of the British colonial era in India contained quinine against malaria, tasted bitter and was sweetened, and at some point gin joined in. That is how a medicine became a global success, built, not shaken.

Distinction: build, on the rocks, muddle and double strain

Four terms that are easily jumbled:

• Build: the preparation method, the drink is created in the serving glass
• On the rocks: the state of serving, a built drink is almost always on the rocks, but not every on-the-rocks drink is built
• Muddle: often step one of building, in a mojito, a julep, a caipirinha
• Double strain: the opposite, built drinks stay completely in the glass, nothing gets strained here

Remember: build is the way, on the rocks is the state, muddle can be the first step.

At our lounge

If you receive a highball from us, you are most likely holding a built drink: ice, spirit, fizz, pulled together with a bar spoon and a sure feel. Feel free to ask, building is one of the oldest and most honest ways to make a drink, and we put it to work every day.