· Blenders International · Water Science
How much of a cocktail is water? Dilution behind the bar — shaking, batching and the highball
A Manhattan is half water by the time it reaches the guest, and a highball is closer to nine-tenths. In a single serve the ice adds that water invisibly; the moment a bar batches, pre-dilutes or puts a drink on tap, someone has to pour it in deliberately — which makes water the one ingredient on the back bar that nobody specs and everybody serves.