Anyone who has used our Cheeky products knows that we reduce much of the prep required to make craft cocktails but not all of the work. Our ideal customers enjoy high-quality craft cocktails but don't want to make every-single-ingredient-from-scratch-every-time-they-want-a-cocktail. This could be for a range of reasons, including wanting to save time, the flexibility to mix and experiment with different recipes, to better control their cocktail's flavor and balance, to monitor the products they're putting into their bodies, or simply because they love the experience of mixing cocktails at home.

One of the "secret" best qualities of our syrups and juices is that we make them using the same "specs" (recipes) used behind craft cocktail bars. For example, a "one-to-one" Simple Syrup, one of the essential ingredients found behind bars, is equal parts sugar and water. (A two-to-one" syrup means two parts of the sweetener to one part water- this lingo is short-hand for bartenders, so we understand how a syrup will work in a cocktail.)

At Cheeky, we wanted our customers to have access to the same ingredients available to professional bartenders (but without having to make them all from scratch.) So we make our Simple Syrup with a "one-to-one" ratio, our Honey with a "two-to-one," etc. Consequently, you can use our products in thousands of online recipes or from cocktail books!

A few additional factoids:

1) Any cocktail recipe worth its salt will include a recipe/prep instructions for any ingredients usually made from scratch (these are primarily syrups recipes). You can use Cheeky Simple Syrup in any recipe that calls for a "one-to-one" Simple, our Honey Syrup in any recipe that calls for a "two-to-one" Honey, and our Agave Syrup for any "three-to-one" Agave.

2) If a recipe calls for a "one-to-one" syrup and you only have a "two" or "three-to-one," just add less of the syrup and taste the cocktail before adding more:) (Just as it's easier to undercook a steak, check the temperature, and cook it more, it's easier to add too little of an ingredient to a cocktail, taste it, and then add a little more.)

3) A good guideline for a balanced "sour style" cocktail (cocktails with citrus, like the Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Daiquiri, etc.) is to generally use 1.5-2 oz of your base spirit (or non-alcoholic spirit if you're going non-alc) and add half (or a little less than half) of the volume of spirit of a sweet element and citrus element to achieve balance.

4) Remember, YOUR palate is "king!" You can and should alter recipes to your taste, and the more you know what you like, the easier it will be to make a great drink every time, with less trial and error.

Spelled out in an actual recipe, this means:

1.5-2 oz Spirit (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, or non-alch spirit, etc)

.75 oz lemon or lime juice

.75 oz "one-to-one" syrup

As we know, everyone's palates are different, and everyone has their own preference on the level of sweetness vs. dryness, how much of the spirit they want to taste, etc.

Someone wanting a "sweet and juicy" cocktail might tweak the recipe to this

1.5 oz spirit

.75 oz lemon or lime juice

1 oz "one-to-one" syrup

And someone wanting a "dry and boozy" cocktail may tweak it like this:

2 oz spirit

.75 oz lemon or lime juice

.25 oz "one-to-one" syrup

In conclusion, of course, there's infinitely more variety among cocktail recipes than what we've mentioned above and infinitely more considerations (i.e., are you incorporating spice (fall spice or hot spice?), bitter, salty, sour, umami, etc.) BUT this is a great foundation to support your cocktail journey and understand the fundamentals of balance.

Stay tuned for our next posts on spring cocktails, the Last Word ratio, and more!