There was a previous version of this back in 2016, and a lot of the content will be the same but I figured I’d start a new thread for this decade.
I’ve gotten into making cocktails for my wife and I after work, and want to be able to whip up a few items for friends when entertaining. We have bar glasses (although I need a set of coupes) and most of the liquors (rum, vodka, gin, bourbon, scotch, whiskey, tequila), a few liqueurs (Cointreau, Aperol, Campari), and some odds and ends (bitters, ouzo, sweetened lime juice, tonic, ginger beer, cranberry juice).
I’ve been making a lot with Cointreau, and we love an Aperol spritz on a hot day. I think I’m looking mainly for additional liqueurs and mixers to let me make a wider variety of common cocktails. Of course, any cocktail suggestions are welcome as well. Also variations on types of liquors that make for a well stocked liquor cabinet.
I’ve been making a variety of margaritas, sidecars, negronis which have gone over well.
I recently got Noir Bar by Eddy Muller who hosts the film noir series on TCM. He used to bartend, so he blended his love of noir movies with paired cocktails. More than just a cocktail recipe book, it’s also beautiful.
But he has a section on a well-stocked bar that I found very interesting.
Angostura and Peychaud’s bitters; sweet and dry vermouths; Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano, if you want to make Vespers; maybe Clamato juice for a Caesar,eh?
A good garnish can take your cocktails to the next level. Olives, cherries, citrus peels, those little pickled onions, even the cheesy little paper parasols can turn a good drink into a great one.
Seltzer or soda water, Pimm’s, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth. The full spectrum of rums: light, amber, dark, maybe spiced if you like it. Amaretto. Lemon-lime soda, cane sugar cola.
Our current summer favorite alcoholic drink is the Kalimotxo: half red wine, half cola, poured over ice and garnished with a large slice of fresh orange. Another summer favorite is Tinto de Verano: half red wine, half lemon-lime soda, a shot of sweet vermouth, poured over ice and garnished with a slice of orange or lemon. The cider-based, ginger-liqueur type cocktails will have to wait until the end of September.
“Craft Vodka” is a marketing tool. Vodka is supposed to be tasteless, or nearly so, and even $100 vodka tastes the same once mixed. But do NOT get the cheap stuff in the big plastic bottle. Get Smirnoff or something.
I’d say that a well stocked home bar would have the following:
Base Spirits:
Gin (London Dry)
Rum (amber & white; amber can do most everything white can in a pinch)
Whiskey (bourbon & rye, but bourbon can sub in most drinks)
Tequila (white/plata/silver)
Brandy (cognac is classic, but E&J is just fine and cheap)
Liqueurs:
Cointreau
Orange curacao (the Pierre Ferrand dry curacao is the standard by which others are judged)
Maraschino (Luxardo or nothing)
Other stuff
Angostura bitters
Orange bitters
Sweet (italian) vermouth. (Carpano Antica is amazing, but pretty much any of Dolin, Noilly Prat or Martini will be fine)
Ginger beer (Fever Tree, Bundaberg, Q are all good)
Simple syrup (make it yourself)
Fresh lemons, limes, and grapefruits.
Club soda
That’s the minimum, IMO. It gets you through a whole lot of the old school drinks like the Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Sidecar, Daiquiri, Margarita, Gin Rickey, Tom Collins, Moscow Mule, and all the other buck-type drinks (spirits, ginger beer, lime juice).
You’re also really close to a bunch more - with grapefruit juice, you can do La Floridita daiquiris, with mint, you can do mojitos, with sparkling wine you can do French 75s (gin or brandy).
The next things from there that I would get would be to split between bourbon and rye, make some grenadine (POM wonderful juice 1:1 with sugar) get dry vermouth, and probably green Chartreuse (if you can; otherwise try a substitute like Ver). That’ll get you a whole bunch more cocktails, especially if you add a few juices like pineapple or orange.
If you get into it, I recommend the books “The New Craft of the Cocktail” by Dale DeGroff, and “The Joy of Mixology” by Gary Regan as basic cocktail books. If you’re interested in Tiki drinks, “Smugglers Cove” by Martin & Rebecca Cate is the best I’ve run across, and if you’re interested in old-timey drinks, 'Imbibe!" by David Wondrich and “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails” by Ted Haigh are good.
And Pechaud’s is necessary for a Sazerac, and you might as well stock Sazerac while you’re at it. We toasted John Le Carré with Vieux Carrés upon his death. And absinthe (or if necessary, Pernod) makes the heart grow fonder.