Now we get down to the important part of craft cocktail making. In our previous installments, we described the role that acidity, sugar and bitterness play in balancing and harmonizing a cocktail. Each component can work either separately, or in various combinations to produce something worth drinking.

While it is possible to make a cocktail without bitters or acid or sweetness, it is impossible to make a cocktail without alcohol. It is the canvas for every other flavor in a drink. Most craft cocktail creators think about alcohol for its flavor rather than its physiological effects ... and alcohol has many. So consider this your fair warning – there’s going to be more chemistry and genetics from here on out. Don’t worry, it’s all good stuff.

First, we need some definitions. From a chemical standpoint, an “alcohol” is simply a compound with a hydroxyl group (-OH) bonded to a carbon atom. Lots of things that you wouldn’t want to ingest are technically alcohols, including methanol (or wood alcohol, which causes blindness and death), cetyl alcohol (used in shampoo and lotions), and geraniol, which smells like roses, but is probably unpleasant to taste.