AROMATIC BITTERS I’ll admit it took me a while to appreciate the place that bitters occupies among bottles in my home bar. Recipes called for them and I’d use them but it was out of some sort of detached necessity. Only when I started to explore more classic cocktails and cocktails with a short list […]
DARK RUM Dark rum is more varied than light rums and you’ll want to find a good one to stock your bar with. You also can’t go simply from the color of the rum to supply a “dark rum” for cocktails as they range from aged rums to spiced rums to black strap rums. The
ORANGE LIQUEUR A lot of drinks call for some form of an orange liqueur and there are a lot of them to choose from, so I kept this core bottle generic for bar setup. The flavors and quality (and price) can vary quite a lot and how much you’ll taste the difference will depend on
SWEET VERMOUTH Vermouth is classified as a fortified, aromatized wine and can be found in sweet and dry varieties. In choosing just one variety for a 10 bottle bar setup, I went with sweet since there are a number of well-known classic cocktails that call for it. The one very notable drink that uses dry
BRANDY Brandy seems like a bit of a throwback to have in your bar. Perhaps this is why it’s a bottle that I’ve opted to keep in a decanter. Brandy is produced by distilling wines or a fermented fruit mash. The standard bottle for your home bar will be the wine variety. Since it’s produced
TEQUILA Few liquors get a reaction quite like Tequila. Many have experienced an evening of too many shots, leaving them to recoil at the mention of having a cocktail with this wonderful agave liquor. They’ll kindly select something else for their libations. I like the challenge to see if I can change their mind! The
BOURBON/RYE Bourbon and rye are distinctly different whiskies but for the sake of simplifying your initial bar setup I’m suggesting one or the other. Purists may disagree but they can work interchangeably in many drinks if you only have one or the other on hand. Bourbon is made from corn and is sweeter and has
GIN Think of gin and one often thinks of the predominant flavor of juniper berries. Long shrugged off as what grandma drinks, I consider it one of the most complex bottles in my bar. Add to this the explosion of boutique varieties over the past few years and the options are even greater. I often
LIGHT RUM Ah, light rum – the gateway to tropical drinks with umbrellas! This is a bottle that see a lot of usage in my bar, especially during the summer. There are plenty of drinks that feature just light rum and others that combine with other rums to add more complexity. I’ve tried a lot
VODKA Vodka Deriving from the Slavic word for water (voda), vodka practically is water in Russia and parts of the former Soviet Union. I lived in Ukraine for over two years and consider the experience to have left me with an unofficial doctoral degree in this libation! It is often defined as odorless, colorless and
