We’ve spent a long time in this series talking about how. How the basic building blocks of flavor combine in appealing ways. How to maximize or minimize aroma in a drink. How to change the texture of a cocktail and how those ingredients work. All of these things are quite important in order to make a craft cocktail, but are completely unhelpful in deciding when to make a craft cocktail, or what might be an appropriate drink to make in a particular situation. Gathering important information and utilizing it to narrow the available cocktail choices deals with context.

Utilizing context can be a powerful tool to reduce the number of possible cocktails from the infinite to the most appropriate one for the task at hand, even before ingredients on hand are considered. It is easiest to pass the infinite number of potential cocktails through progressively more severe filters and arrive at an appropriate drink. We will look at each of these filters in turn, and the end result will not only be better cocktails, but ones that fit their sense of place. To this end, we will discuss seasonal drinking, situational drinking, reading the needs and wants of your guests, and drinking locally.