Inventive cocktail garnish ideas

There’s nothing like kicking back after a hard day of work and relaxing with a good cocktail. Still, even for the most loyal and regimented drinkers, the kind of people who swear by the same drink recipe, a lack of variance can become a bit boring. This isn’t to say that you should completely give up on your signature taste and move onto another, but it may be worth exploring what you can do to spice things up. Garnishes are a great way to try something new without having to deviate too greatly from your favorite libation. Use them to impress your culinary academy friends or for personal enjoyment!

Gummy candies
For the more playful and young at heart, gummy candies allow refreshments to become not just a drink, but also a fun experience. According to BizBash, The Sugar Factory in New York uses gummy sharks to finish off a blue cocktail that they serve. Try this at home for any drink that you’re making involving large amounts of blue curacao or rum to add to the nautical theme and effect.

Bacon and bloody marys
For many people, the thought of mixing meat with alcoholic beverages sounds relatively unappealing. For others, though, certain drinks are only made more fabulous through the addition of barbecued, fried or broiled ingredients. One mainstay in this group is the bloody mary. While some restaurants have gone so far as to add pieces of rotisserie chicken and other meats into this vegetable-derived cocktail, it may be best to keep it simple. Try cooking up a batch of bacon the next time that you’re serving bloodies and simply splitting the side of a piece in order to fit it on the rim of the glass. Your guests will love the addition, and they’ll have an instant, included stirring straw.

Cups as garnishes with coladas
As Serious Eats has shown, some places don’t let garnishes be limited to what you can fit around the cup or glass. Next time you make a piña colada or another fruity drink, try simply cutting a pineapple in half and using that as your cup. This will not only offer a fruity addition to your cocktail but will also serve as a beautiful, tasty and disposable garnish.