I opened this thread to say that Eddie Muller’s book arrived today, and here’s a post from the club soda thread about Gimlets. That drink is literally the first one I saw when I went to the recipes pages.
There’s a two-page chapter called The Well-Stocked Bar How to Assemble an At-Home Bar. I think I’ve never heard of more than half of the Liqueurs & Aperitifs. The spirits are more familiar: Bourbon, Rye, Scotch, Gin, Light Rum, Dark Rum, Tequila, Mezcal, Vodka, Brandy, and Cognac. We never have all of those at once. (I can’t remember the last time there was vodka or scotch in the house.) ‘All cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is Cognac,’ as the saying goes. I only buy Cognac occasionally, since Napoleon brandy is good enough for me. I’ve never bought mezcal, though I’d like some to sip on.
As for the rest, we never have dry vermouth, but we always have sweet vermouth. Of the Bitters and Sweeteners, we always have Angostura and Peychaud’s. There’s a little jar of simple syrup I made, in the fridge. Orange bitters? Don’t have any. For Mixers, we have club soda and tonic water (sugar-free, since the Moll doesn’t drink it), but no ginger ale. And then you have the fruits. Not big on fruits, and fruit rots if you don’t eat it. Yes we have some Luxardo cherries, but everthing/anything else is bought fresh.
The next section is about ‘tools of the trade’ and glassware. We just don’t have the space. We use what we have.