DRINK

In Part 1 we covered Home Bar utensils and in Part 2 we looked at Bar Glassware. Here's the third and final part of the home bar series - liquor.

This is not a definitive list. There are a lot of excellent brands that are not mentioned here, and more are launched frequently. Don't be afraid to experiment with any of the numerous other brands and tell us about your experience.

Pick and choose from my recommendations below to help you stock your home bar. I have added flavors to some of the items to help you choose the ones you can start out with based on your preference. Everything in the modifier section is essential, items 1 -10 in the color/flavoring section are strongly recommended. Favorites are italicized.

A basic cocktail may consist of:
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There are six main base liquors you should be familiar with, and these are Gin, Rum, Brandy, Vodka, Tequila & Whiskey.

Gin is probably the most misunderstood of the major base spirits. Vodka, considered by some to be the best of all spirits couldn't be any further from the truth. Here, gin is king of all the liquors. It has a strong profile - taste, aroma and a world of exotic profiles that differ from one gin to another depending on the herbs and spices used in it's distillation. Gin is not your father's drink anymore. Get familiar.

It's widely believed that the English invented gin. No - the Dutch did. It was discovered in the 17th century by Franciscus de la Boe (aka Dr. Sylvius), a Dutch physician at the University of Holland. English soldiers returning from the 17th century war brought the drink back with them to England where it soon became the national drink.

007 gets his martinis with vodka - but martinis traditionally call for gin. Plus 007 likes his martinis shaken and not stirred - (also wrong, or right) but let's save that debate for a later post, shall we? (more...)

Since you've already been acquainted with Gin, our second base liquor is Rum. Rum has a dark and murky past dating back to the 17th century when it was the drink of choice for pirates, slave runners, American colonists and the British Navy. Rum was created in the Caribbean (credited to the arrival of Christopher Columbus - who planted the plant there), when sugarcane plantation owners realized they could create a unique liquor from adding water to the juice of the sugarcane plant.

All rum then by default comes from sugarcane by-products - fermented sugarcane juice, sugarcane syrup or sugarcane molasses. Rum is usually broken into two classes, light or dark. Light rum is typically young (may be aged in un-charred oak barrels) or un-aged rum perfect for mixing in cocktails. Dark rum on the other hand derives its color as a result of aging in charred oak barrels which imparts a more pronounced flavor. Deeper colored rums have usually been aged longer and should be sipped straight like fine cognac. (more...)

First we covered Gin and Rum. Our third base liquor is Brandy. Brandy is distilled wine, i.e. brandy comes from grapes and can be produced anywhere in the world where grapes are grown. Some of the best brandies in the world are made right here in the USA, France and Greece.

American manufacturers usually start out with distilled grape wine that's close to 170 proof - and they bring this value down to around 102 by adding water. Then the product is aged in white oak barrels, and caramel is added to increase the color. Brandy must be aged a minimum of two years, but is more commonly aged from three to eight.

Brandy may also be produced from wine made of other fruits beside grapes. You can have cherry brandy, apple brandy (very popular), blackberry brandy etc. If it's a fruit, you can make brandy from it. Then you also have fruit flavored brandies, which differ from fruit brandies in that the former is flavored with the stated fruit in the bottle.

Cognac is nothing but fine, french brandy. However not all brandy is cognac. Huh?

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So far we've covered Gin, Rum & Brandy. Next up is Vodka ...

Vodka’s [wódka] first written record dates to the early 15^th century in Poland and about the same time, in Russia, a group of monks returned from Italy (always with these monks and alcohol) with secrets of distillation that allowed them to begin producing a similar ‘water of life’ from which the term ‘vodka’, a diminutive of ‘voda’ (water), derives. Some cite the skimming of lighter and pure alcohols off of vats of frozen wine in the 9^th (!) century as the first incidence of vodka production. As far as whether the Poles or Russians first developed what we think of as vodka today, I’ll let them sort it out; they’ve been fighting for centuries anyways. If you happen to be a Pole or Russian, maybe you can set the record straight in the comments section ….

For many years vodka was used primarily as a medicinal substance and was often, and still is, infused with many herbals, fruits, and botanicals; especially in Poland. Several traditional flavors you’ll find in vodka’s native lands include: (more...)

At the Casoni Bar in Florence, Italy around the 1920s - Count Camillo Negroni asked his bartender to add gin (our kind of guy) to the most popular drink at that time, the Americano (1 oz Vermouth + 2 oz Campari). The Count reportedly wanted something with a little more kick. Like all wise bartenders, his reached for a bottle of gin and made history.

A Negroni is one part each of gin, red vermouth and Campari. It's traditionally served on the rocks in a tall glass, but it's much better prepared in a martini fashion.

The Negroni is a wonderfully complex drink that will knock you down if you try to have more than 3. It's an all out slugfest from the botanicals in the gin vs the spicy (more...)