General Question About Mixing Cocktails?

[kudzu]

Not only am I tequila newbie, I am new to mixing cocktails. All my life, mixing a drink meant putting some ice and water in my Scotch.

Recently, reading about mixing drinks, several times I have seen the instruction to "shake and strain into glass on fresh ice" or something similar. With my Margaritas, I have been shaking the tequila, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, and ice and then dumping ice and all into the glass.

Why would I want to strain just the licquid onto fresh ice?

[totallytequila]

Originally Posted by kudzu

Not only am I tequila newbie, I am new to mixing cocktails. All my life, mixing a drink meant putting some ice and water in my Scotch.

Recently, reading about mixing drinks, several times I have seen the instruction to "shake and strain into glass on fresh ice" or something similar. With my Margaritas, I have been shaking the tequila, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, and ice and then dumping ice and all into the glass.

Why would I want to strain just the licquid onto fresh ice?

Personally, when mixing a margarita, I never strain my drink into another glass with ice. I know that a lot of recipes call for that method. I think that it just tends to unessesarily dilute the drink even further. I like to freeze my margarita glasses so that they are already nice and chilled. When I do pour the drink from shaker to chilled glass, I usually pour in Just a few cubes and then strain in the rest. The only reason I even add a little bit of ice is because it keeps the drink colder longer during these hot Florida days and nights!

[kudzu]

Originally Posted by totallytequila

Personally, when mixing a margarita, I never strain my drink into another glass with ice. I know that a lot of recipes call for that method. I think that it just tends to unessesarily dilute the drink even further.

My thought process, exactly! Just wondered if I was missing something. As long and there is nothing in the shaker that I do not want in my glass, muddled fruit or something, I will continue with my crass ways.

[det]

Traditionally, very few cocktails are actually poured back into a glass with the ice used to build them (the Caprihina is the only one that pops into my mind). It might be because the drink is shaken with ice cubes and poured over crushed ice, or because it makes the drink look nicer (without cubes all beat to crap in the shaker, plus anything else you want strained off), or because the recipe is built to a specific glass size, already filled with ice, and can't accommodate all the ice in the shaker. But if you're just making a marg at home, what's the difference if you don't really care about any of that stuff?