Batching your cocktails is exactly what it sounds like: preparing cocktails in large quantities to serve later on. Bars often use this technique to quickly pump out craft cocktails, but pre-mixing spirits for your own celebration can also take pressure off your shoulders as a host, allowing you to enjoy time with your guests.

When batching, you can scale up and follow the usual ingredient ratios for your cocktails, but quantities might need to be adjusted for intense mix-ins like flavored syrups or bitters. Dilution also works differently with big batches, so either add half an ounce of water to the batch and serve neat, or serve your drinks on the rocks.

As for which cocktails benefit from batching, choose lower-proof recipes with no ingredients that could spoil (dairy and eggs) or become bitter (fruit juice) as the cocktail rests, and only add carbonated ingredients right before serving. The most obvious choice for batching is punch, but you can and should think beyond that.