First off, greetings, and happy 2021! If you’re doing a dry January and still able to keep it up after these first couple of weeks of the year, then I tip my hat to you. It’s been a helluva month for going without booze. Personally, I always prefer to do a dry February; you know, the short month… but, I digress. On to today’s topic!

The Pareto principle is often known as the 80/20 rule. In 1896, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto noted that 80 percent of the land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. Since this observation, the principle has been extended to many domains. In the world of business operations and manufacturing, it is usually applied as the adage that 80% of the effects or issues are generated by 20% of the causes; analysis of which can help you to focus your efforts.

I also find that the 80/20 rule can apply in many areas of my life, especially when I’m feeling lazy at home, but still want a tasty cocktail. I find that you can get 80% of the results with only 20% of the effort. And this is definitely true about cocktails.

Going out for cocktails is grand. I enjoy the world-class presentation and the delicately crafted garnishes. There are wonderful, subtle flavors to infused alcohols and hand-crafted syrups. Going to a great cocktail bar is as much about the experience of getting all of those details right, about going for 100% despite the effort. That is what you are paying for¹Remember this if you’re getting a crappy or lazy cocktail from somewhere — maybe don’t go there for cocktails.

At home, you can certainly have a lot of fun going to those same lengths. You can build intense and gorgeous garnishes. You can have a lot of fun with home-made infusions and many other such things.

But some days, at the end of a long day perhaps, you may just want something quick and easy. This is when it’s important to remember that you can get a lot for a little. You needn’t let the effort involved dissuade you. Don’t let the “rules” of craft cocktails get in the way of you just having something to sip on²The people who have mentioned to me that they don’t like making cocktails at home because they think it’s too much work always surprise me.

Your ice does not have to be perfect³Ice from a machine is probably good enough, honestly. You can forgo the garnish or just do something quick a simple (go ahead and plop that cherry or that orange peel in the bottom of your glass; a cocktail pick is not required). You can use the wrong glass or the wrong mixing container.

Of course, it is not without at least some effort. There’s still that 20%. No matter what, it’s important to get your measurements at least mostly right. And having fresh fruit can be key as well. A freshly squeezed lime is not that much work, and is dramatically better than a bottle of lime juice that’s been at the back of the fridge for who knows how long⁴I do make some exceptions for this. Limes and lemons are easy enough to fresh squeeze as needed, but other things like orange juice, or pineapple juice can be a pain, and so I’ll make the compromise there.

Not that much work right? A couple ounces of this, a half an ounce of that. Stir it or shake it in whatever you want, and then sit back, relax, and enjoy. It doesn’t need to be that complicated.