Founder of Sakaba

Kir

Kir builds Sakaba, the cocktail app for iPhone and iPad, and writes the Sakaba blog.

Every recipe a post prints is the app’s own, and everything it says about Sakaba is checked against the app before it is published. Questions and corrections are welcome by email.

Articles

10 Whiskey Cocktails You Need to Know From a three-ingredient Manhattan to a hot mug of Irish Coffee — ten classic whiskey drinks, with exact ratios, across bourbon, rye, and Scotch. 2 min read 10 Gin Cocktails Every Home Bartender Should Know From the bone-dry Martini to the herbal Southside — ten classic gin cocktails, with exact ratios, worth having in your back pocket. 2 min read Built vs. Muddled: The Two Techniques Beginners Skip No shaker, no strainer, sometimes not even a mixing spoon. The two easiest ways to make a cocktail are also the most overlooked. 2 min read Shaken vs. Stirred: When to Use Each (and Why It Actually Matters) It's not about theatrics — it's about texture, dilution, and clarity. Here's the real rule, with classic examples of each. 2 min read The 8 Bottles That Unlock Half Your Home Bar You don't need a liquor store's worth of bottles to make dozens of classics. Here's exactly what each core spirit gets you. 1 min read Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Boozy: How to Read a Cocktail's Flavor Profile Every classic cocktail is a balance of four axes. Once you can read them, you can predict whether you'll like a drink before you make it. 2 min read 5 Rum Cocktails for When It's Too Hot to Cook From a three-ingredient Daiquiri to a blended Piña Colada — five free rum classics for the hottest weeks of the year. 1 min read The Real (and Disputed) History of the Negroni Everyone repeats the same 1919 Florence story. Here's what's actually documented — and what isn't. 2 min read Where Gin Actually Comes From (It's Not What You Think) Not a 17th-century Dutch doctor, not soldiers at a siege, not a wooden cat. The real, messier lineage from medieval medicine to your Martini. 2 min read Why It's Called a "Coupe" (and Why the Marie Antoinette Story Isn't True) The shallow glass under half your favorite cocktails has a real origin story — and it's not the one that gets repeated at every bar. 2 min read