A few technique basics...

When it comes to actually getting down to business and making your drinks there are a few things you should know:

1. You most likely have a bartender friend that brags about his/her ability to free pour. I call shenanigans. In a speed bar where the speed with which you can crank out a drink is more important than the quality of the drink itself, free pouring reigns as king. In your home bar, or a place of artisan quality drinks, there is no excuse for not measuring your pours. Learn to make things exactly the same way every time. The only variation in the taste of your drink should come from the fruits and juices you are using, not from varying amounts of liquor. Liquor is a constant.

2. If you are using fruits and juices in your drink, there will be some slight variation. Some limes are very tart, some are slightly sweet. You will never know what you have until you taste it. If you want to be incredibly anal, you can taste the juice before you add it to your drink so that you may compensate for this variation. Also this leads to the obvious point that fresh fruit tastes better. Fresh juices also taste better. Squeeze them yourself.

3. Ice counts. Unless you live in NYC, tap water isn't good enough for your ice cubes. Break out the Brita or bottled water and make your ice from clean, filtered water. If you get really fancy, you can use cubes sized for the glass you intend to use. Remember, the bigger the cube, the less overall surface area your ice has. With less surface area, your drink will have less meltage. The goal of ice is to keep your drink cold, not water it down.