Many cocktails are decorated with garnishes, helping enhance the flavour and aroma of the drink, but also to improve its overall appearance.

A garnish is essentially an edible ingredient that is either placed on the rim of the glass (such as an orange wedge), sprinkled or floating on top of the cocktail (such as chocolate), or even used as a stirring rod (such as celery sticks).

Although garnishes may conjure up the image of paper parasols for some people, in reality these are not strictly supposed to be used for this purpose as they are not edible. A wide range of ingredients can be used instead, ranging from orange or lime wedges, any type of red berry, to fresh herbs or leaves, confectionery or even coffee beans.

Used in the appropriate way, garnishes can enhance a cocktail; of course the opposite is also true. Given that they will often be in contact with the drink and may be eaten by the drinker, any ingredient used to garnish a cocktail should always be thoroughly cleaned beforehand.

Fruit should not look damaged or blemished and olives should be washed carefully to make sure no oil contaminates the appearance of the cocktail.

If you are preparing garnishes in advance (or using sections of fruit that have been cut previously), it is worth noting that citrus fruits perish after one day when placed in the refrigerator. Likewise, the best way to preserve olives or cherries is to leave them in their own juices and refrigerate them at all times.

How to garnish a cocktail:

Each cocktail recipe differs in its use of garnishes, but certain ingredients and techniques are used more commonly than others. In most cases, garnishes are added at the very end, once the cocktail has been served in the appropriate glass.

Orange, lemon or lime peels are often used as garnishes. These can be tied into different knots, or peeled to achieve a desired length. Citrus peels can also be used to provide a ‘zest twist’ – a fuller section is devoted to this technique in this section.

One other common method is to squeeze an orange, lemon or lime wedge into a cocktail, or to fix it on the rim of a glass. A wedge is usually referred to meaning one eighth of the fruit. For best appearance when cutting citrus fruits, always first cut the two ends at the top and the bottom of the fruit.

In some cases, garnishes are served on cocktail sticks and placed across the rim of the cocktail glass, or in the cocktail itself. This includes olives, fresh berries and cherries. Cocktail sticks can also be used to serve a slice of orange or lime/lemon, often together with a cherry. This way of presenting a garnish is known as a ‘sail’.

Some recipes refer to ‘sprinkling’ or ‘dusting’ chocolate or nutmeg on the surface of a cocktail. Although chocolate can sometimes be sprinkled by hand, for best results one can use a grater or vegetable peeler. Sprinkling usually refers to a finish that is less fine than dusting. In particular, dusting with chocolate refers to sprinkling a fine coat of cocoa powder on the cocktail. It is important to use good quality and fresh ingredients wherever possible to enhance the flavour of the cocktail.

Some ingredients are simply used as stirring rods and placed in the cocktail itself. This includes celery sticks in Bloody Marys, and cinnamon sticks in toddies or hot cocktails. Others, like mint or basil, are often used to garnish juleps.