Building in the Glass

There's something deeply satisfying about watching a cocktail come together right before your eyes. No shaking tins. No strainers. No complicated choreography. Just spirits, mixers, ice, and a glass. This is building in the glass—the most straightforward mixing method in bartending, and one of the most widely misunderstood.

Many home bartenders dismiss built drinks as "less than" their shaken or stirred counterparts, as if simplicity somehow equals inferiority. This couldn't be further from the truth. Some of the world's most beloved cocktails are built drinks: the Old Fashioned, the Mojito, the Gin and Tonic, the Dark and Stormy. These drinks don't need elaborate preparation because their construction method is precisely what makes them work.

Building in the glass isn't about cutting corners. It's about understanding when direct construction creates the optimal drinking experience—and when it doesn't. Master this technique, and you'll not only save yourself unnecessary effort, but you'll also serve better drinks in the process.

Quick Start: The Essentials

What it is: Adding ingredients directly to the serving glass with ice, then stirring briefly to combine.

When to use it: Drinks with carbonation, drinks meant to be sipped slowly over ice, simple two-ingredient highballs, or cocktails where dilution happens gradually throughout drinking.

Basic technique: Ice first (usually), spirits and modifiers next, top with carbonation if applicable, stir gently 3-5 times, garnish, serve.

Classic examples: Gin and Tonic, Rum and Coke, Old Fashioned, Moscow Mule, Mojito, Negroni (when built).

One key rule: Never shake carbonated ingredients. If your drink includes soda, tonic, or sparkling wine, you're building in the glass.

Now let's explore why this method matters and how to execute it properly.

The Philosophy of Building

Every mixing method exists to solve specific problems. Shaking emulsifies and aerates. Stirring chills and dilutes without aeration. Building in the glass does something different entirely: it creates a drink that evolves as you consume it.

When you build a cocktail, you're not trying to achieve perfect integration before serving. Instead, you're creating a starting point that transforms throughout the drinking experience. The first sip of a properly built Old Fashioned tastes different from the middle sips, which taste different from the final sip. This isn't a flaw—it's the entire point. The drink develops as the ice melts, as the sugar continues to dissolve, as the aromatics from the garnish release over time.

This evolution is particularly important for drinks consumed slowly. A Gin and Tonic at a summer barbecue, a Dark and Stormy on a patio, a Negroni over conversation—these are drinks meant to last twenty minutes or more. The built method ensures they remain balanced throughout that extended timeline, rather than starting perfectly chilled and becoming progressively worse.

When Building is the Right Choice

Understanding when to build rather than mix separately is crucial. Here are the primary scenarios where building shines:

Carbonated drinks: This is non-negotiable. You cannot shake or stir carbonation without losing it. Any drink containing soda, tonic water, champagne, prosecco, or beer must be built in the glass. The carbonation provides texture and lift that would be destroyed by aggressive mixing. Even gentle stirring should be minimized—typically just enough to marry the ingredients without flattening the bubbles.

Simple highballs: When you're combining a spirit with a single mixer over ice, there's no advantage to mixing in a separate vessel. A Whiskey Ginger, Vodka Soda, or Scotch and Water can be assembled directly in the glass. The act of pouring itself provides adequate mixing, and a brief stir completes the integration.

Drinks served over substantial ice: Large format ice—whether a single large cube, a sphere, or a large Collins spear—pairs naturally with the building method. These substantial pieces melt slowly, which complements the gradual integration that building provides. An Old Fashioned with a single large cube is the classic example. The slow dilution over fifteen to twenty minutes is precisely what makes the drink work.

Muddled cocktails: When you're muddling ingredients like mint, fruit, or sugar cubes, you're already working in the serving glass. Mojitos, Caipirinhas, and Old Fashioneds all involve muddling as part of construction, making building the natural choice. Transferring to another vessel after muddling would leave behind the ingredients you just worked to extract.

Drinks that benefit from layering: Some built drinks embrace incomplete mixing as a feature. A Dark and Stormy traditionally shows the dark rum floating atop the ginger beer initially, creating visual interest before the drinker stirs it together. Certain tiki drinks and pousse-cafés rely on density differences to create layers that mix gradually as ice melts.

Casual, high-volume service: When you're making drinks for a backyard party or casual gathering, building in the glass dramatically increases your speed. You can line up six glasses, add ice to all of them, portion spirits into each, top them all with the mixer, give each a quick stir, and garnish. This is exponentially faster than shaking or stirring each drink individually.

When Building is Wrong

Equally important is recognizing when building doesn't serve the drink:

Spirit-forward cocktails without carbonation: A Martini or Manhattan should never be built. These drinks require precise dilution achieved through controlled stirring, and they're served without ice. Building would leave them under-diluted and improperly integrated. The exception is when these drinks are deliberately served over ice, which some drinkers prefer—but this is a variation, not the standard.

Drinks with citrus juice or eggs: Anything requiring emulsification needs shaking. Citrus oils, juice, and egg whites will not integrate properly without vigorous agitation. A Whiskey Sour built in the glass would be unpleasantly separated and thin.

Drinks requiring precise temperature: When a cocktail must be served ice-cold immediately—like a Daiquiri or Margarita—shaking provides rapid chilling that building cannot match. Built drinks start at a moderate chill and get colder as ice melts, which doesn't work for drinks meant to be consumed quickly at very cold temperatures.

Drinks with thick or dense ingredients: Syrups, cream liqueurs, and purees resist integration without active mixing. While you can build a drink containing simple syrup with adequate stirring, thicker ingredients like honey, cream of coconut, or fruit purees require shaking to distribute evenly.

The Technique: Building Properly

Building may be simple, but executing it well requires attention to detail. Here's how to do it right:

Start with quality ice: This applies to all cocktails, but it's especially important for built drinks since the ice remains in the glass throughout drinking. Use fresh, clean ice free from freezer odors. Avoid ice that's been sitting exposed in the freezer absorbing smells. For spirit-forward built drinks like Old Fashioneds, consider using large format ice that melts slowly.

Ice first, usually: In most built drinks, ice goes in the glass before the ingredients. This provides the foundation and ensures proper chilling from the start. The exception is muddled cocktails, where you muddle first, then add ice before the remaining ingredients.

Layer thoughtfully: Add spirits and modifiers before carbonated mixers. If you're building a Rum and Coke, the rum goes in first, then the Coke pours over it. This natural mixing through pouring reduces the stirring needed, preserving carbonation. For non-carbonated built drinks, the order matters less, but starting with base spirits is standard.

Gentle stirring only: This is where many home bartenders go wrong. Over-stirring dilutes the drink too quickly and, in carbonated drinks, kills the bubbles. For a highball with carbonation, insert a bar spoon and make three to five smooth rotations, lifting gently on the final rotation to encourage integration. That's it. For non-carbonated built drinks like an Old Fashioned, you can stir a bit more vigorously—ten to fifteen rotations—to ensure proper chilling and integration.

Build to volume: Be aware of the glass size and ingredient proportions. The total volume of your ingredients should leave appropriate room for ice without overflowing. For a standard highball, you're typically looking at two ounces of spirit, four to six ounces of mixer, and ice to fill. For rocks drinks like an Old Fashioned, you want the liquid to come about three-quarters up the ice.

Garnish with purpose: In built drinks, garnishes do real work throughout the drinking experience. A lime wedge in a Gin and Tonic continues releasing oils as you squeeze it occasionally. Mint in a Mojito provides ongoing aromatics. An orange peel in an Old Fashioned contributes essential oils that evolve as the drink sits. These aren't decorative touches—they're functional ingredients that justify the building method.

The Chemistry of Gradual Integration

When you shake or stir a cocktail before straining it into a glass, you're creating a snapshot—a perfectly balanced moment that immediately begins degrading. Built drinks work differently. They start slightly under-integrated and under-diluted, then improve as you drink them.

This happens because ice continues melting after you serve the drink. Each minute, the drink becomes slightly more diluted and the ingredients continue mixing through convection currents created by temperature differences in the liquid. In a well-built drink, this process is timed to match the expected drinking duration.

Consider an Old Fashioned built with a large ice cube. At first sip, you taste prominent whiskey with supporting notes from the bitters and syrup. Five minutes in, the ice has released some water, mellowing the alcohol heat and bringing the bitters forward. Ten minutes later, further dilution has occurred, and the drink tastes balanced and integrated. By the time you finish, you've experienced the full arc of the cocktail's potential rather than just one perfect moment that fades.

This is why built drinks pair so naturally with larger ice formats. Small ice cubes melt too quickly, creating a race between drinking and over-dilution. Large ice slows the melting to match a reasonable drinking pace. The physics is simple: ice melts at the surface where it contacts warmer liquid. A large cube has less surface area relative to its volume compared to small cubes, so it melts more slowly.

Classic Built Cocktails and Their Rationale

Understanding why specific classic cocktails are built illuminates the broader principles:

The Gin and Tonic: Must be built because of carbonation. The tonic water provides effervescence that defines the drink's texture. Building also allows the citrus garnish to remain in the drink, contributing ongoing aromatics. The gradual integration lets you taste the gin clearly at first, then experience how it marries with the quinine bitterness over time.

The Old Fashioned: Traditionally muddled with sugar and bitters, then built with whiskey over ice. The slow dilution is essential—this is a sipping drink meant to last. The cocktail was literally designed around the building method in the 1800s, predating the shaker era. Modern variations sometimes stir and strain over fresh ice, but purists argue this misses the point of how the drink evolves in the glass.

The Mojito: Requires muddling mint and lime in the serving glass, making building the only practical method. The mint continues releasing aromatics throughout drinking. Transferring to a shaker after muddling would leave the muddled ingredients behind, defeating the entire purpose of the technique.

The Moscow Mule: Served in a copper mug specifically because the metal stays cold, complementing the slow-sipping nature of this built drink. The ginger beer's carbonation must be preserved, and the drink benefits from the evolution that building provides. The lime garnish continues contributing acidity as you drink.

The Negroni: Debated among bartenders. Some build it in a rocks glass, others stir and strain over fresh ice. Building emphasizes the individual character of each ingredient initially, letting them merge slowly. Stirring and straining creates immediate integration. Neither is wrong—they're different interpretations of the same drink, showing how building can be a deliberate choice even when alternatives exist.

Troubleshooting Built Drinks

Problem: Drink tastes watery immediately after building.

Solution: You're over-stirring or using ice that's too small. Reduce stirring to just a few rotations and use larger ice formats that melt more slowly.

Problem: Carbonated drink goes flat quickly.

Solution: You're stirring too much or too vigorously. For carbonated drinks, three gentle rotations maximum. Let the pouring action do most of the mixing.

Problem: Ingredients seem separated or poorly mixed.

Solution: For non-carbonated drinks, you may be under-stirring. For drinks with thick syrups, make sure the syrup is dissolved before adding ice and other ingredients. Sometimes briefly stirring just the spirit and syrup before adding ice helps.

Problem: Drink is too strong at the beginning, too weak at the end.

Solution: Ice is melting too quickly. Use larger ice formats or drink faster. This timing mismatch is common with small ice cubes in slow-sipping drinks.

Problem: Garnish sinks or looks unappealing.

Solution: Add garnish last, after stirring. For floating garnishes like mint, add it after the drink is complete so it sits attractively on top.

Building vs. Batch Building

One advantage of the building method that deserves mention is scalability. When you're serving a group, you can essentially build multiple drinks simultaneously by lining up glasses and working assembly-line style. This is different from batching (pre-mixing ingredients in bulk), but it borrows from the same efficiency principles.

For a party, set up your station with glasses in rows, ice within easy reach, and measured pours ready. Add ice to all glasses, portion spirits sequentially into each, top each with mixer, give a quick stir, garnish, and serve. You can produce a dozen built drinks in the time it would take to shake three individual cocktails.

This makes built drinks ideal for entertaining. You're not leaving guests waiting while you shake drink after drink. You're producing consistent, quality cocktails at a pace that keeps the party flowing.

The Modern Evolution

Contemporary bartenders have expanded the building technique in interesting ways. Some build drinks in mixing glasses, stir them there, then pour the entire contents—ice and all—into the serving glass. This hybrid approach offers more controlled dilution while preserving the served-with-ice characteristic of built drinks.

Others build complex drinks with multiple modifiers directly in the glass, using the building method for cocktails that traditionally would be stirred and strained. This works particularly well with spirit-forward drinks served over large ice where the slow integration is desirable.

The key is understanding that building is a tool, not a category. It's not about which drinks are "building drinks" and which aren't. It's about recognizing when direct construction in the serving glass creates the optimal experience for the cocktail you're making and the context in which you're serving it.

Final Thoughts

Building in the glass is the most fundamental cocktail technique. It's how drinks were made before cocktail shakers existed, and it remains the right method for a significant portion of the cocktail canon. Master it not by memorizing which drinks to build, but by understanding the principles: preserving carbonation, enabling gradual evolution, matching dilution to drinking pace, and maximizing efficiency when appropriate.

The next time you reach for a shaker to make a Rum and Coke, stop and ask yourself: what would shaking accomplish that building doesn't? Usually, the answer is nothing. Build the drink. Do it well. Serve it confidently. Your guests will appreciate the perfectly effervescent, properly balanced cocktail that evolves beautifully as they enjoy it.

That's the art of building in the glass—simplicity executed with understanding and intention.