My latest order from Court Liquors
You’re stocked up on toilet paper. If you’re not, someone has helped himself to your share. Let’s hope you’re not running out. You’ve also stock-piled canned food, medicinal supplies, and paper goods. Thanks to your plan of attack at the supermarket, either virtual or actual, your closets and pantries are packed to the gills. You’re good to go.
But what about your bar? Have you supplied it too?
If you haven’t and you want to (and I am assuming you do if you are reading this post), note that determining which spirits and cocktail ingredients to buy can be a bit more tricky than figuring out what beer and wine to have on hand, since there are many options and possibilities, but it’s much easier than figuring out which stores still have toilet paper on their shelves. And the task is made even more simple in these very strange times because it’s not like you are going to have company over anytime soon, so you don’t need to worry about anyone’s tastes and preferences other than your own.
Since cocktails are built from a wide variety of spirits, liqueurs, fortified wines, and mixers, there’s barely a limit to what to buy, other than what’s dictated by the size of your liquor cabinet and wallet You could be like me and try to have at least one of everything, so that anytime I come across a recipe that I want to try, I’ve got the bottles at hand. A Midnight Marauder with mezcal, Bonal, Cynar, and mole bitters? Check, check, check, and check!
But I don’t recommend this strategy. It leads to way too many bottles (see photo of my latest delivery if you need convincing), many of which will go untouched for weeks or even months at a time. Instead, take one of these more moderate approaches.
One way to go about it is to base your selections around one or two of your favorite cocktails and possible variations of them. As an example, picking the Manhattan, the mother of stirred cocktails that contain vermouth, would lead you to buy bourbon or rye or both, sweet vermouth, and aromatic bitters (e.g., Angostura), along with whole oranges or lemons and/or real maraschino cherries for garnish. Add a bottle of scotch to your order and you can swap out the rye/bourbon for a Rob Roy. Split the measure of sweet vermouth with dry vermouth and you have a perfect Manhattan. Use that dry vermouth with gin and viola, and you have stirred for yourself the most classic of classic cocktails, the martini. Want to be daring and try something different? How about the Cynar mentioned above? Add some of it to the regular Manhattan and you’ve replicated the modern classic, Little Italy, which originated at the Pegu Club in Manhattan, which has sadly closed forever because of the Coronavirus. You can use this approach for any of your favorite cocktails, e.g., margarita, Negroni, old-fashioned, gin and tonic etc. Buy the essentials along with a few bottles to create variations. For inspiration, Google, for example, “Negroni variations,” and see if any of the results intrigue you and then buy the ingredients to make them happen at your home bar.
Another approach is to base your selections around one or two of your favorite spirits. If it’s tequila, you’ll obviously need the fixings for a margarita: limes and a sweetener, typically either agave syrup or orange liqueur. Don’t stop there. Find some grapefruit soda and you’ve got a paloma (or use grapefruit juice and bubbly water). Jazz up either of these popular drinks with mezcal, a small addition of which will add a touch of smoke. Or totally swap out the tequila for mezcal to up the smoked agave experience. What about rum to invoke the summer? Get a light and a dark one, along with some mixers: Ginger beer for a dark and stormy, limes for real daiquiris and mojitos; bubbly wine for an Old Cuban, another modern classic from Pegu Club. RIP
If this all is just too overwhelming to figure out in this time of a global crisis, another option is to order cocktail-making kits from a local bar or restaurant. For instance, Paul’s place of work, Talula’s, is boxing up what you need to make their signature gin & jam and infante. Going this route kills two birds with one stone: it simplifies what you need to make yourself a drink and it supports your favorite eateries and watering holes that are facing troubling economic times.
When you can host people again, we’ll re-explore bar stocking strategies, as there will be other considerations that you’ll have to make, chief of which is having a little something for everyone, just as you might do for wine: white, red, rose and sparkling.
Until then, stay safe and healthy!