Level Up: Get A Little Fancier
This is about adding some personality to your bar — you’ve got the standards, you’ve mixed all the “and tonics” and a few of the classics and you’re ready to level up a bit. There are about a million things you can do. Here are a few things I recommend because I have fun with them.
Absinthe
I have a lot of absinthe feelings. I LOVE absinthe, and an absinthe rinse can add a dramatic depth to many a cocktail — it’s a very strong, anise/wormwood/fennel flavor that almost changes as it hits different parts of your mouth. It’s also necessary for making my all time favorite cocktail, the Sazerac. You can also drink absinthe all by its lonesome (with just water and sugar), but be careful! It’s a helluva liquor and it’ll knock you on your tuchus before you can say “should I be hallucinating right now?” And by the way, hallucinations were Not A Thing! That was just some propaganda put forth by the wine industry because it was being threatened by absinthe sales.
Campari
This is an Italian product that tastes like bitter orange. It’s necessary for mixing a Negroni, which is one of my favorites but is an acquired taste for most. Up until this point, I haven’t done a Negroni post. Perhaps it’s time to.
Lillet Blanc
This is a light orange taste, a far cry from the above Campari. You can even just have this on the rocks with an orange twist, if you like, that’s how light and pleasant it is.
Pimm’s No. 1
Summer is coming. Pimm’s is fruity and citrusy and tastes like happiness. Plus we’ve done a few recipes with Pimm’s: the Pimm’s Cup and the Wimbledon.
Saint Germain
I love Saint Germain — it’s elderflower liqueur and it goes well with a lot of stuff. To mix with Saint Germain, try the Saint Germain Gin and Tonic and the Hatter Day #2.
Fancy Bitters
Nothing says personality like weird bitters! And for my weird bitter needs, I’ve lately been turning to Bittermens. My two right now are Xocolatl Mole and Hellfire. The Hellfire has become like my Frank’s Red Hot of cocktails: I put that shit on everything.
Tea Strainer
Sometimes in posts on this here Autostraddle, I tell you to “fine strain” something. That means run it through a tea strainer to keep things like pulp, seeds and bits of leaves out of the final product. If you’re going to, say, muddle raspberries or use mint leaves, make sure to grab yourself a tea strainer.
PLANTS!
I feel like no one thinks of this, but yes, plants. Plants are good for bars because fresh ingredients are good for drinks. We just got three that we’re planning to utilize heavily over the next season: spearmint, chocolate mint and basil. They sit in our kitchen window and they make us happy as people. But also they will make us drinks.
Stock Your Bar With Knowledge
This is all well and good, but having all the fun toys is no fun if you don’t know how to play with them. And the internet is a fine resource, especially our Liquor In The ____ and BPM tags. But sometimes you just want to sit down with a good book and some post it notes. These books are for those times:
I don’t say “everyone should have” very often. But everyone should have The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David A. Embury. The book came out in 1948, and Embury had plenty of access to pre-prohibition recipes. And this isn’t a recipe book (or rather, it isn’t just a recipe book). It’s a guide to alcohol, technique and all sorts of booze-related knowledge. Plus it’s written almost like a blog? Like, it’s very anecdotal and personal — almost like you’re reading from Embury’s journal and he’s just choosing to share with you. The downside: this book was written a) by a man b) in a very different era, so beware the sexism.
Also try Mr. Boston’s for a quick inspiration hit. While The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks is very much a technique guide, Mr. Boston’s is the opposite — very much a recipe book. But it’s good to have for flipping through and getting some ideas in your head.
Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All gives you both information about bitters and the cocktails they’re used it, and it’s gorgeous. Like, really pretty — the amazing photography is inspiration enough, you will want to mix all the drinks.
What Not To Stock
So remember when I said to only stock those two or three mixers? It’s because when it comes to fruit and fruit juices, I don’t think you should keep them around. It can be really tempting to stick those pre-juiced lemon and lime juices in the fridge for when you need them, but I warn ye against that and all that jazz: it’s just so much better to use fresh! Juice limes, lemons and oranges a few hours before you’d like to use them and keep the juices on hand for the next few days at most. The same goes for things like cream and eggs (though you may have them in your kitchen for other things anyway!). Some drinks you can whip up at the drop of a hat, like a Saint Germain Gin and Tonic. Others just require a bit more planning.
So tell me — what do you have in your home bar? What do you want that you don’t have? What did I get totally wrong? Show me pictures of your mixing space, tell me what you’re obsessed with making right now.
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I myself am a huge Vodka drinker – I blame my mother for this – and would Absolutely (ha) recommend Tito’s. It’s made with corn, so it has a bit of a sweet aftertaste, and is gluten free!
If you want to splurge I’m also a huge fan of Chopin vodka. It’s a little bit more expensive, but it’s suuuuuuper smooth, and if you get the kind distilled from potatoes, also gluten free!
Finally, if you’re budget conscious, I highly recommend Blue Ice Vodka. You can get a bottle for under $15 here in California, and I honestly think it’s just as smooth as Tito’s. They also make a version of it that’s a potato vodka, for all my Celiac’s friends.
See, and this kind of comment makes me think that maybe I would be a vodka drinker if I’d been introduced to the right vodka before I formed an opinion?
Ugh, okay, maybe I have to approach vodka with more of an open mind.
They also make vodka from grapes and cucumbers. I have yet to try the cucumber based vodkas, but I do like the grape(it was Puff Daddy’s vodka he sponsors). I will agree that Tito’s is pretty good a is blue ice. I am also told Rain vodka is pretty good too and suppose to be organic.
Crappy vodkas taste terrible and give you terrible hangovers. I personally like a Chopin and soda with a hefty dose of fresh squeezed lemon juice.
Also, I will sometimes make frozen pink lemonade and vodka, but those are dangerous.
Yet another vote in favor of Tito’s!
I have SO MANY feelings about building a home bar (and I get asked about it often, having worked at a well-reputed craft cocktail bar)! I can’t even begin to get into all of them, but I’ll just say that if anyone wants specific advice beyond what’s here (almost all of which I am behind 100%!), feel free to drop a line.
One note about tools, though: don’t bother with a proper jigger, just get the 2 oz. Oxo measuring cup. Much easier to use, and better if you ever need to measure 1/4 or 1/3 oz., which can be hard to eyeball in a jigger.
Oh, also! If you need to use up a bottle of vermouth, just drink it on ice with a twist (orange for rouge, lemon for blanc or dry). It’s the way vermouth was originally intended to be consumed, and it’s delicious! And a surprisingly good way to pace yourself, relative to cocktails.
Wait, but my jigger/pony has lines for 1/3 and 1/4? Regardless, I’ve had my eye on that OXO measuring cup because backyard party pitcher season is almost upon us. Good investment?
*Great* investment! While, yes, some jiggers do have lines inside, they’re usually hard to read because the jigger is opaque. The angled clear plastic, while less elegant (they do make a shockingly expensive steel version), is so much easier to read. Plus you can use it as a shot glass in a pinch!
Dear Ali, This post has saved both of us from me sending you about a dozen emails full of questions when I set up my bar in my next apartment. So, thanks.
for gin my personal favorite is hendricks. tastes like roses and cucumbers. i would also suggest signing up for all your favorite brand’s email lists as they often throw events where they’ll teach you to make new drinks with their alcohol. so you get to drink for free + get new ideas.
Hendricks is my spirit animal.
Just got the big old Mason jar shaker and it’s so great.
It is also really good to have one of these nifty pups on hand for champagne or other bubbly bottles – keeps it from going flat quickly: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/champagne-wine-stopper/s618780
Gran Gala, Combier and Luxardo Triplum are a few other quality Cointreau alternatives that are usually a bit easier on the wallet.
As pretty as the bottle is, I keep my Lillet Blanc in the fridge because I’m very fond of sipping it over ice as mentioned! Domaine de Canton is another nice liqueur, ginger, and I’ve had a lot of fun playing with Belle de Brillet in the past year (cognac infused with pears? yes)
Last but not least I absolutely hate all modern lemon squeezer/juicer contraptions and my life improved the day I got a vintage doohickey on Etsy, like this one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/180801751/clear-glass-vintage-juicer-with-handle?ref=market
AWESOME POST.
You know what I want?
One of these.
You know what I can’t get while I still live in my wee apartment? One of those. *sigh* That glass one is really super pretty, though! I am coveting it.
I am a big fan of absinthe(not the American kind which are absinthe like), it’s the only liqueur I can drink a handle of, while still being lucid(not blacking out), and wake up with a hangover. I like to have it straight up with ice. I will need to try this Sazerac you mentioned. For Dinah Shore I made B57s, which is absinthe mixed with coffee liqueur, and a hit of Irish cream. It came out very nice, sadly my friends wanted the honey Jack or lucky charms and marshmallow vodka. lol Speaking of which, I also like to have coffee liqueur in my cabinet so I can make White Russians(out of protest I need to think of a new name).
I dunno if the Vermouth brands you suggested have it, but Martini and Rossi, have a Rossoto(sp?), which is a dry white mixed with their red. For me it can be a nice drink to have with a hint of gin, and ice on a warm day.
Yeah, I brought my absinthe back from Paris. I’m trying to use sparingly until I can get back to purchase more.
They have some very good ones they sell here, like Lucid(French), Grand Absinthe, and La Fee. All are a bit pricey(unless you get the Grand Absinthe in 100ml which cost like $11). If I one day become just really rich and after my transition, I will probably have just a shelf dedicated to absinthe.
Love a negroni in the summer! And I’m looking forward to trying the St Germaine gin and tonic. As I’ve gotten older I’ve been losing my sweet tooth, but have come to crave bitter. Weird?
Drink your Brandy like a Wisconsinite! Brandy Old Fashioned. You’re welcome.
When I finally moved into my own place I was determined to make myself a home bar exactly like this so I would feel like an ADULT but instead I’ve ended up with like nine bottles of cheap vodka lying around haphazardly in my kitchen. Maybe this is a sign that I should actually get that bar going.
This is that sign! Do it do it do it!
Cocktail Kingdom has some pretty rad cocktail equipment and books. It’s pricey, but it’s stainless steel mostly so you only need one set of things. Fine mesh strainers for drinks served neat are awesome. They allow you to use fresh herbs and produce, without getting a mouthful of pulp or pepper.
Isn’t a tea strainer a great thing?! Mine was two dollars at the Shoprite, upped my cocktail game by a billion.
I got Kraken rum solely because of the awesome label/bottle, thankfully it also tastes awesome.
I like vodka, but somehow never actually have any of it around the house, it’s something I only drink it when I’m around people who prefer it to whiskey
Kraken makes my gf fall off…not her clothes her whole self, so I get a whole bottle to myself.
I worked in a cocktail bar when I was 18 (UK-where all the legal age limits are lower!) and started collecting bar stuff back then. I still have 2 nice heavy shot glasses that the guys used to flair with. I have a Boston Shaker and strainer, no jigger as I was taught to use pourers and count so I have pourers, I recommend regular cleaning!
We’re a tequila household with a side of rum (Kraken/Jerry), gin (bombay sapphire for pref but usually Gordons) and bourbon/fireball unless I’ve been on a Bushmills mission.
I highly recommend adding a bottle of grenadine to the bar, tequila sunrises just look impressive and take no effort. Sadly locally good tequila is hard to find or stupid expensive so we have Jose or El Jimador (reposado),damn Britain and the belief that tequila is a novelty drink. Bittermans is around £20 from amazon which is frankly insane (a bottle of decent alcohol is cheaper) so that’s a no go sadly. A good quality ginger ale is good to have around. We always have cheap tonic water and soda.
I’ve never mixed with Mezcal but I made little ceramic shot tots for my GFs Uni graduation gift and it tastes great out of them. Smoky and delicious, espresso cups would work, ceramic barware should be a bigger thing due to its natural insulation properties (I also made beer steins and a quaich).
Also if you don’t have a tea strainer in a pinch you can use a coffee filter and patience. Or, as I did with my mulled (hard) cider at Xmas, use a French press.
I never thought I’d be interested in stocking a bar. I am now super interested in stocking a bar!
Thanks for this Ali! I feel inspired!!
I actually bought the “bar10der” cocktail multitool thing Ali recommended in the Liquor in the Gift Guide post. Cons: My mother would not even let me use the corkscrew on it because she was so unimpressed by its quality and bought me a not-attached-to-a-multitool corksrew immediately, and I already had at least four bottle openers so I didn’t need that function either. Also, if I use one part of it and then want to use a different part without washing off the entire thing, it gets sticky really fast – I just muddled some limes but now I need to pour a jigger of rum and oh whoops there’s a lot of lime juice running down my arm now, isn’t there?
However, there are pros as well: if I’m going to a friend’s party where I plan to mix cocktails, it is a damn sight more compact and easy to carry than an actual set of ten separate bar tools would be, all the parts I care about using do work, and other college students (especially when tipsy) look at me in awe for owning it, let alone actually using it. I doubt I would want to buy it if I lived in my own actual house with a serious home bar where I had room for extensive equipment, but at college where my kitchen supplies are all piled in a cardboard box, it’s perfect.
It’s also worth noting that I mainly learn cocktail recipes from Liquor in the ___ posts, and the comments sections thereof, so almost all my cocktail tools and skills come from this website. Many thanks to all of you.