3 Cocktail Sins Nearly Every Home Bartender Makes. Are You Guilty?

I’ve been tending bar for more than 30 years now, everywhere from corner dives with sticky floors to James Beard Award-nominated establishments with fresh flowers in the bathrooms. And there’s one question I get more than any other when I hand someone a drink they really love: Why don’t my cocktails taste this good when I make them at home?

You’ll swear you’re using the same ingredients. You’ve got the fancy ice mold. Maybe you even bought that Japanese jigger you saw on Instagram. But your cocktail still comes out kind of…meh.