Cocktail Memorization using Images Representing Specific Amounts of Each Ingredient

[Suthnautr (David J Curtis)]

Here I have uploaded some images I created using a combination of A.I. image creation and some manual editing by removing unwanted objects and adding desired features… so it’s a process, yes. But I look at every minute I spend doing it as study time which only aids in retention and helps in recall.

I use trees to represent 3s. So a tree is 3/4 oz. Therefore anything IN, ON, or in some cases NEAR a tree is 3/4 oz. So let’s look a moment at the drink “Blood and Sand”, a classic 1920’s-1930’s cocktail.

This drink is made up of equal parts (3/4 oz ea. of) of Scotch and Sweet Vermouth, two ingredients that make up a drink called a “Rob Roy” (1890-1900), which is a classic old “Manhattan” (1870-1880) but made with Scotch instead of Whiskey (Rye Whiskey back then), PLUS 3/4 oz of Cherry Liqueur (Cherry Heering) and 3/4 oz of Orange Juice. You’ll not that the photo shows a tree, some oranges, some cherries, AND a Scottsman in a Kilt… (???) - that’s my “Rob Roy” a famous play in Manhattan in the 1890’s, called Rob Roy and so it gives me the ingredients of Scotch and Sweet Vermouth. How YOU adapt YOUR Container Object to memorize quantities, and what you use to represent specific ingredients is based on your experiences in life - who and what YOU know and are most comfortable using. Maybe you never heard of a Rob Roy - so the Scottish guy in the image won’t mean squat to you. That’s ok - just think up something (or some things) that work(s) for you.

I also create various objects to represent garnishes. For twists I used to use Flip Flops, and for wedges Boots. But I’ve upgraded Flip Flops to Swim Flippers. They’re bigger, so easier to picture. The Blood & Sand gets an Orange Peel Garnish - so Rob Roy has on a pair of Orange Flippers.

The Next Sample Drink is the “Naked & Famous” which is one more of those “Tree” container object drinks making it easy to understand how it works. As you can see the Hulk is standing in a tree - 3/4 oz LIME juice (Hulk is lime green, I like using that image, it sticks for me), and he’s holding a Parasol (aparasol = the ingredient Aperol) = 3/4 oz Aperaol. Then there’s a Yellow Chart… which is Yellow Chartreuse - 3/4 oz of that… and last there’s some goofy guy with thick round glasses who I know as “Mr. Magoo” with the word “Dell” (as in Dell Computer) written over his chest. Magoo represents “Maguey” which is a term meaning Agave. But in this case there’s also a Mezcal brand named “Del Maguey”… so I use Mr Magoo with the word Del on his chest. It’s a cheat, but I know what it means. You’ll have to adapt whatever you’re doing or using on the fly to make it happen for you… but the concepts are what you need to focus on - what works best for YOU. So 3/4 lime juice, 3/4 Aperol, 3/4 Del Maguey, 3/4 Yellow Chartreuse. Modern drink.

Now he’s a real complicated one - Neptune’s Wrath.
Multiple Container Objects - I’m using a cereal box, I’m using a Tree, I’m using a Quarter Horse, and I’m using a Tea Cup. This image is an earlier rendering.

So we have the actor who played the lead role in the television series “Roots” on a cereal box. Cereal boxes are what I use as container objects representing 1 1/2 oz. The brand of Gin used in this particular recipe is Castle Key Roots Gin, which is why Kunte Kinte is in the picture. I added some dialogue where he’s saying he doesn’t even LIKE gin. So 1 1/2 oz Castle Key Roots Gin. In the tree (3/4 oz container object) is a Monkey (Simple Syrup) and Sponge Bob (Lemon Juice) - 3/4 oz of each. Below that is Vincent Van Gogh (a well known Absinthe drinker) on a Quarter Horse (1/4 oz), so 1/4 oz of Absinthe but he’s also holding a Green Chart standing for the ingredient Green Chartreuse - so 1/4 oz of Green Chartreuse. And, finally we arrive at the little egg there down in the Tea Cup - the T (or “tea”) representing 1 oz - one oz of egg white. You’ll also note that Sponge Bob has two hats on his head - that’s my signal that the drink goes in a “Nick & Nora” glass. In a later rendering of this image I added some yellow swim flippers to Sponge Bob’s feet to represent - can you guess? …if you’ve been paying attention - a Lemon Twist. Right!

The Vesper!
A James Bond Movie creation
Also using multiple container creations. In this case a Canoe (1/2 oz), a Cereal Box (1 1/2 oz), and Model T (there goes that “T” again - for 1 oz)
Boris is in a Canoe container - 1/2 oz Vodka (Russians and Vodka)
James Bond (the ultimate Brit) GIN is in or on a Cereal Box (1 1/2 oz Gin)
Lilly Munster is in her Model-T (1 oz Lillet Blonde)

I’m throwing in the walk on Water too. It’s a fun drink and was easy to remember.
The Nun is playing with her Rosary Beads. Nun in this case is Amaro Nonino. The Rosary is Rosemary Simple Syrup. She’s in a Canoe (1/2 oz) so it’s 1/2 oz Amaro Nonino and 1/2 oz Rosemary Simple Syrup.
Next we have a Moose driving a Model-T (The T is 1 oz, the Moose is French “Pamplemous” meaning Grapefruit - so 1 oz of Grapefruit juice. …but the moose is also wearing a Toupee which means a Coupe Glass.
Now for the Tree (3/4) with the sign - Bar Hill Vodka - 3/4 oz Bar Hill Vodka

For speed of execution and precision I’ve found that drawing the images out by hand and using colored pens and pencils works, but I now prefer using AI because of the vividness. It’s a lot trickier and I do have to perform my own edits manually, but for me it helps.

[Faxton]

I’m currently reading the Cocktail Codex and find your work in combining mnemonics and cocktails intriguing.

I’m looking to incorporate your system with 6 memory palaces for the 6 broad category cocktails mentioned in the book.

I find the big Indy 500 alphabetical order approach a bit daunting and I’m not sure how to build several memory palaces around this type of format.

Just for starters I tried out your system on the classic “Old-Fashioned.” While it’s a simple drink to remember by brute-force based on it’s basic ingredients, I find it good practice for trying out you system. So thanks so much!

I don’t have or use AI, but I do have a vivid imagination, so I just use visualization prompts in the form of written notes and work from there.

Side by Side (Old-Fashioned)

I. Mason Apron Attire George Washington
(2 oz. American Whiskey (Bourbon or Rye))

Holding an Old-Fashioned Glass with a Large Cube of Ice

With Orange Flippers (Orange Twist)

II. A Brown Gorilla
(Raw Sugar or Simple Syrup)

On a Horse (1/4 oz)

Wearing 2 Boxing Gloves (Double Rocks)

Holding 2 Drill Bits in Each Hand
( 2 Dashes of Angostura Bitters)

With Yellow Swim Flippers
(Lemon Twist)

[Suthnautr (David J Curtis)]

Hi Faxton, That’s great - I have done the same thing as you, and still do when needed (vivid imagination augmented with rudimentary scene layout sketches, maybe a little dialogue added to flesh out the story board logic - then add marker notes for recal of some type/brand/minutia/detail).

I’m glad you brought that up though, because many times I’ll take a side job for a night doing a big event and 15 or so other bartenders will show up as well. We’re told that there are seven to nine drink recipes (5 to 7 ingredients each of varying pours), not given any copies to study, and merely have a finger pointed toward a hand-written sign behind the bar for the bartenders to work from.

In those cases I write them out on cards, then during the 15 to 30 min or so that we are sat down waiting for someone to explain things and assign us each to a bar area, I do a quick memorization to last the duration (usually 2 to 3 day events).

Not a personal commercial here, but one for Mnemonics (vs Nothing): I will always get dozens of people coming to me during the event to re-make their drinks made wrong by the other bartenders.

The Big Indy 500 Alphabetical Approach

I like that. Kind of catchy. I use that just to get over the humps, and know it helps me. The extra effort makes it a lot easier when I organize and create personal-use alphabetized bartending books (which I flesh out with more details as I go)

The alphabetized books are then excellent for when I’m going over recipes in my mind, and find that a detail is fuzzy… either by running through a memory palace or a written list.

I look at all of the extra organizing and writing work as part of my study time. The deeper I think the better. I usually research more and ask more questions doing that.

However I don’t use stations or loci for every ingredient - that would be way too wasteful. I use the each station as the peg just for the name of the drink itself - and that becomes the premise of the story (like the title of a play). Take the drink called Neptune’s Wrath. Just one station - all the ingredients are linked to one another through story.

…so you don’t need to spread all your ingredients out over multiple locations, just incorporate them all into one story.

I hope I read your meaning right. If not, let me know. Thanks Faxton.

[Faxton]

Your visuals for teaching is so top notch.
I’m so old fashioned with my note cards and lack of artistic abilities.

Yes, I agree and also feel the same way about using only one drink for each station in the designated memory palace. Then the story of the drink holds together in that one location.

So the Memory Codex (mind you I am a newbie in general and just on chapter 1) asserts that there are essentially only 6 basic cocktails:

Old-Fashioned
Martini
Daiquiri
Sidecar
Whisky Highball
Flip

And everything else is just a riff off these basic drinks tweaking the Classic Cocktail (OG):

Core (C)
Balance (B)
Seasoning (S)
Extended Family (EF)

So in chapter one of the book, they highlight the Old-Fashioned and give various examples. The subsequent chapters dealing with the other 5 basic cocktails in similar fashion.

Again being a newbie I don’t know how much truth there is in this attempt of over-simplification, but as far a mnemonics and memory palaces go, it seems like a promising scaffolding requiring only 6 memory palaces.

So for again for starters, my first memory palace would be for the Old-Fashioned and it’s kin of classic drinks (13 locations):

1. Old-Fashioned (OG)
2. Vermouth Cocktail (C)
3. Ti’ Punch (C)
4. Fancy-Free (B)
5. Monte Carlo (B)
6. Chrysanthemum (B)
7. Stinger (B)
8. Improved Whiskey Cocktail (S)
9. Champagne Cocktail (EF)
10. Mint Julep (EF)
11. Sazerac (EF)
12. Sherry Cobbler (EF)
13. Hot Toddy (EF)

I still like the Alphabetical categorizing and see how this format would be helpful for drills and editing purposes like you said, and as “expansion packs” widen your repertoire. A sort of Index of Recipes.

I’m sure there are other ways to group your memory palaces with your cocktails, but for right now I see the 6 as a sort of manageable magic number for me right now.

So I have note flash card recipes for drilling
And I have the Story Board Notebook
And I have your Wonderful System

[Faxton]

[Faxton]

[Faxton]

[Suthnautr (David J Curtis)]

I think you’ve got it - There will be a lot of"real World" Atilla the Hun drinks out there in Bizarro World category versions of their own (think “Steak and Potatoes” on the menu made using the “house version” of that, but created with Chicken and Rice because the family 5 year old decided it was a good idea.) so make one more memory palace that’s either a Circus Fun House or the Haloween Haunted House for those drinks to fit neatly into.

[Daniel_360 (Daniel Timms)]

I love the application of AI art to illustrate the mnemonics you’ve developed for these cocktails. And cocktails seems a very suitable application of these mnemonic techniques.

One question I have though: how do you know that you’ve memorized every (salient) detail of the images (or, equivalently, of the recipe)? Taking the first example, where the orange flippers represent orange peel, it seems it would be typical to forget a detail like that when imagining the image.

[Suthnautr (David J Curtis)]

That was the case when I was using flip-flops in my earlier attempts, but since flippers are larger and goofier, I find that they tend to be a lot easier to work with. However - a swim fin can also be worn on the head as in this example where the quarter horse (1/4 oz) of Hulk (lime juice) is wearing a green swim fin (lime peel garnish) on his head like a hat. It’s big and goofy enough to stand out like that. If it were a green boot (or pair of boots) it would be a lime wedge/squeeze garnish.

For Sponge Bob it was easy enough because he lives under water already, and Neptune is a God of fresh water and the sea, so it tied together as he’s the central figure in my narrative.

Whatever doesn’t work I re-arrange, re-narrate, and re-stage. Anthony Metivier gave me a great way to think about it when he said (paraphrasing) once that we’re like directors of a play or a scene -
and so sometimes when something doesn’t quite work, just re-do it until it works.

My ultimate goal is to get each recipe so nailed down that for all intents and purposes I can’t forget it. The challenge there is that from job to job every place now has its own “version”. That was not how it was when I started out bartending.

Back then I knew 300 or so drink recipes and wherever I worked, bars in Manhattan didn’t have drink menus… so I made my own 26 page drink menu and handed it out myself.

Now every 5 minutes it seems someone has to “BRAND” their version of the Rum and Coke, not to make it better, but just to drive me even more nuts. So that sort of makes the whole point of permanent memorization a Sisyphean task, because tomorrow, next week, month, or year… it’s going to be replaced anyway, and usually by something Bizzaro World out of balance.

Sorry for the seeming digression - but if the garnish or the glass seem to get lost, re-image them creatively. A little more research will help there. I look up the origins of glassware, for instance, to get references - as with the “Nick & Nora” glass. I came up with some old movie references, including one of “The Thin Man” played by “Nick” Charles (actor William Powell) and his wife “Nora” (Myrna Loy) were aided by David Graham (actor Jimmy Stewart)… so I use Jimmy Stewart when I can fit him in neatly, if not I use 2 hats that were popular at the time (you can see Sponge Bob wearing them in the Neptune’s Wrath drink I posted before.

[Faxton]

I think the old mnemonic adage of

making it big

AND

putting it in motion

Helps here (Roth).

Plus the context of the drink itself should be more than enough to jog one’s memory and flesh out the details of the recipe story as you unpack Mr. Potato Head.

[Faxton]

Old-Fashioned (proprietary recipe)

Circa 2504 BC

[Faxton]

Working with 8 distinct but similar drinks I can see where one can occasionally forget if it was an orange or a yellow flipper. So another old mnemonic technique applied to David’s system would be to multiply them and have several characters all wearing the same color flippers. That way if you forget you can cross-reference and maybe you’ll remember that “Oh yeah, they were all wearing yellow flippers.” I like the idea of also having characters wear them on their heads (I didn’t think about using that until David mentioned it). That would fall into the “make it silly and obscene” category of mnemonics.

Here’s station #6 in the reception room for “Champagne Cocktail” with both characters wearing yellow flippers.

[Faxton]

Cloudy with a chance of yellow flippers.

[ For those ones that just won’t stick ]

[Suthnautr (David J Curtis)]

You can also use two or three different items to represent twists if the colors are hard to recall over time. For instance green flippers (green and flat) for lime peels, yellow hand held fans (yellow and flat) for lemon peels, and maybe an orange frisbee (orange and flat) for an orange peel. Then you virtually can’t mix up which kind of twist it is.

Sometimes I will create more than one image I can use to represent something so a lot of similar recipes in a row don’t blend/fade into one another- or if they do blend and I see that it could become a problem during execution.

[Suthnautr (David J Curtis)]

@Faxton

Old-Fashioned (proprietary recipe)

Circa 2504 BC

Yes, yes - quite delicious, but the Dung Beetle Simple Syrup has got to be fresh to get the most compliments. Also the Spiced Mummy Bandage wrapping twists need to be slightly toasted to appreciate the full aroma.

[Faxton]

Offensive (Old-Fashioned)

Mummies (Martini)

Denounced (Daiquiri)

Smelly (Sidecar)

Wimpy Hobos (Whisky Highball)

Flamboyantly (Flip)

[Faxton]

Progress Report Bookmark

[Suthnautr (David J Curtis)]

Haha… it took me a minute to locate my print copy of The Cocktail Codex for your reference… “the Mr. Potato Head approach, a term coined by former Death & Co head bartender Phil Ward. The process is simple: take out one thing and replace it with something similar. Voilà! Mixology”

[Faxton]

Sorry for the improper bookmark.

That particular brand of alcohol would most likely be a heads or tails (if you catch my drift), but I just grabbed whatever google pics threw my way. Another run through the still should correct that.

The Mr. Potato Head approach also equally applies to your mnemonic system as well. In that you have all these color-coded play accessories components to add to certain characters. Very much and plug-and-play approach very useful for recurring measurements and garnishes and whatnot.