A. J. Rathbun, author of CHOW-approved cocktail books Good Spirits and Luscious Liqueurs, shares the proper order of ingredients for making a cocktail: Start with ice. Add your base alcohol, then any secondary liqueurs, then your juice or mixers. Rathbun's most recent book is Dark Spirits.

What's the Best Order of Cocktail Ingredients?

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CHOW.com Senior Editor Lessley Anderson has a simple but surprising tip that will keep your coffee powerful, even as the ice melts.

How to Avoid Diluted Iced Coffee

CHOW Kitchen Editorial Assistant Christine Yue Gallary shows you how to make the fancy chocolate and cheese shavings.

How to Shave Chocolate and Cheese

Blogger Adrienne Capps shares her recipe for making a house hot sauce.

How to Make Your Own Green Hot Sauce

Blogger Adrienne Capps shares her recipe for making ketchup from scratch. It involves a lot of spices, so you’ll want to follow the written recipe to make this condiment.

How to Make Your Own Ketchup

Bartender at San Francisco's Heaven's Dog and owner of Small Hand Foods, Jennifer Colliau will blow your mind with this bartender secret: You do not need to boil your simple syrup. In fact, it's preferable not to! Jennifer shows you how to make simple syrup using cold tap water in this video.

What's the Best Order of Cocktail Ingredients?

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