What Craft Cocktails Taught Me About Building Better Systems

In tech, we talk a lot about precision, iteration, and user experience.
Oddly enough, I learned to appreciate those values not just in code — but in cocktails.

Yes, cocktails.

During the pandemic, I got into mixology. Not just pouring random spirits into a glass, but truly understanding flavor design, layering, and structure. I started noticing the overlap between crafting a drink and building scalable systems.

Here’s what I found:

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1. Ingredients = Dependencies

Use too many, and it becomes fragile. Use too few, and you lose depth.
Just like with packages or APIs — minimal, intentional choices work best.

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2. Ratios = Architecture

A Martini with the wrong ratio is just cold vodka.
A system with poor balance? Unusable.
Structure creates harmony — in flavor and in flow.

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3. Technique Matters

Two devs can use the same tools and ship very different results.
Two bartenders, same gin and lime — but only one makes magic.
It’s not the stack. It’s the hand that stirs.

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4. Presentation = UX

You taste with your eyes first.
A great UI, like a great garnish, isn’t fluff — it’s onboarding.

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When I want inspiration, I go here.
It’s a clean, fast-loading site with beautifully simple cocktail recipes — like an open-source repository for drink design. No clutter. Just clarity.

Sometimes, stepping outside your field is how you get better in it.
Sometimes, a perfectly balanced Negroni is the best pull request you’ll ever file.