A well-executed or creative garnish has the ability to emblazon the memory of a cocktail within the imbiber’s mind. Whether it’s eagles cut from orange peels in Sazeracs or dolphins made from bananas in tiki drinks, they’ll leave a memory of a specific time and place. Lately, I have seen cocktails embellished with intricate designs made by spraying bitters over a stencil, so I decided to write a quick how-to article. Garnishing with a cocktail stencil and bitters is simple, but there are few tips and tricks that will help you along the way.
For starters, you’ll need a drink that has a thick foamy head to hold the sprayed artwork, which is most often bitters sprayed from a small atomizer. I chose the classic whiskey sour which uses egg whites to provide me with a “canvas” of thick foam.
At a minimum, the tools you’ll need are blank stencil sheets, an X-ACTO knife, a surface to cut on, and an atomizer. If you want to skip making a custom stencil, you can pick up these pre-made stencils for under $7. (There are plenty of other pre-made cocktail stencils on Amazon too.)
P.S. – Don’t forget the bitters! Angostura is a classic choice.
How to Make Cocktail Stencil Art
Choose a Design
Measure Glass Diameter
Print Your Design
Trace
Cut
Make a Cocktail
Spritz Bitters
Sip
Classic Whiskey Sour
Ingredients
- 2 ounces whiskey
- ¾ ounce simple syrup
- ¾ ounce lemon juice
- 1 egg white*
- bitters for garnish
Instructions
- Combine whiskey, simple syrup, lemon juice, and egg white in a cocktail shaker and dry shake. (Dry shaking means you don’t include the ice. Use of a ball whisk or Hawthorne strainer spring can help.)
- Add ice and shake until chilled.
- Double strain into a coupe glass.
Notes
Additional Resources:
- X-ACTO Knife
- Alvin Professional Self-Healing Cutting Mat
- Pre-Cut Stencil Designs
- Stencil Cutting Kit
- Blank Stencil Sheets – Cut Your Own (You could find these cheaper at a local craft store.)
- Blue Glass Atomizers – 2 Ounce
- Stainless Steel and Glass Atomizer – I don’t own this one, but really like the design.
- Ball Whisk
- Game of Thrones Lannister Stencil
- Game of Thrones Targaryen Stencil
- Game of Thrones Stark Stencil
I’m wanting to emulate the design on top of the martini depicted in the link. The instructions say to use juice and coconut oil. But how? Have any idea of the ratios or an alternative way to create this look? I bought the atomizers. I know I need to create a stencil.
Any help with the process of keeping the coloring from sinking or spreading would be great!
I’ll be using a n Amaretto sour drink for the base.
Thank you,
Elizabeth
One key is to make sure the drink you’re applying the stencil to has a nice frothy head. The other trick is to make sure the drink fills the glass up to the rim. That will allow you to place the stencil directly on the surface, resulting in a cleaner outline.
I’ve never heard of using juices and coconut oil. I’d just have an atomizer for each color, and make it simple, using inexpensive vodka and food coloring. I highly doubt those colors of the Olympic rings were create using anything other than food coloring.