Less Liquor, Less Sugar

In a similar vein the movement towards eating less sugar is a strong one. Until recently there was no real awareness of how much hidden sugar there is in cocktails. For a while I’ve been making a conscious effort to reduce the quantity of sugar in my drinks. I use sugar as a mouthfeel – adding a maximum of 5ml (1tsp) sugar to each cocktail, where most bartenders would use 15–20ml (3–4tsp). In citrus drinks, for example, sugar is often used to offset the sourness from the lemon but I’d simply use less citrus to begin with; that way you need less sugar. The drink will still have a very zesty aroma and you’ll taste more of the base spirit.