Here's a little history lesson about
yours truly. One day when I was say four or five years old, my father
was tasked with watching us kids. Upon my asking for something to
drink he gave me some “juice” and oh what “juice” it was. As
the night wore on I asked for further refiles of the divine liquid
which filled me with an energy I'd never known before sending me into
a sleep fit for a grizzly bear. Upon further investigation, dad
realized he'd been supplying me with wine coolers all night. Whoops.
From those humble beginnings as a tot
I steadily grew my love for booze. Early on it was samples of my
brothers wine or Guinness (a beer I loved then yet can't abide now),
later it was whatever I could get my mitts on. Upon reaching legal
drinking age I blossomed into a full scale beer connoisseur, taking
in everything in sight be it import, craft, or Milwaukee swill. There
was always a dream to one day have my own stocked bar at home, fit
with all the fine liquor a man could ever need. I achieved that dream
over a year ago and now I think it's time to start sharing some tips
and reviews with you fine people in a new feature for the site.
My first tip about having your own bar
is don't freak out about the equipment. Much as drink snobs will
demand you only serve certain drinks in an exact glass type, or only
shake instead of stir, let's be real. Even if you have the right
glass type, it may be dirty, same for your shaker. Not to mention
that a glass can't save bad booze, or ruin the good stuff. I advise
you just acquire your drinkware slowly. More than anything I
recommend buying gift sets when possible. Not only do they cost the
same as the booze would anyway, but before you know it you'll be
swimming in glasses. I also advise investing in a jigger as shot
glasses don't have consistent sizes outside of certain geographical
areas.
Secondly the two anchors of your stash
should be a good vodka and some decent gin. Both are incredibly
versatile, functioning in anything from simple mixed drinks to more
complex cocktails which means there's always a use for them. More
importantly, you don't necessarily have to break the bank to get a
decent bottle. Granted there's tons of them out there but since we're
not reviewing them today let's just throw out some quick tips for
shopping. If you're looking for vodka and have no clue what you want,
try to aim for something Polish, preferably distilled from potatoes.
Overall these are smooth, and easy to blend with whatever drink you
have in mind and can be gotten fairly cheap. With gin it's best to go
English, as a nice London Dry can work wonders even within the twenty
to thirty dollar range.
One of the most oddly difficult
challenges you'll face when stocking the bar is Rum. By and large,
rum drinks are way too complicated, which is made worse by the
existence of multiple styles such as white, dark, spiced, and even
flavored brands like Malibu. If you feel like you must have one to
start with, I'd suggest a white as they usually have more versatility
than their darker counterparts. Of course if you simply want to pound
it down with Coke, then by all means get something spiced.
My last tip for today which will lead
into our review is about the difference between Triple Sec and
Curacao.. I won't give you a full lowdown on the difference between
the drinks, there are far more knowledgeable folk out there to keep
that straight. Most bartending guides will rightly tell you to have
some form of orange liqueur on hand as the sheer amount of drinks
utilizing them is staggering. Problem is the vast array of brands
with significant differences in quality means you can easily lose
your mind and overstock the bar with variations of these staples.
Often folks will make opt to just get one of the more pricey
varieties with either Grand Mariner, or Cointreau, but I'm here to
tell you there's a better, less costly option out there. Let me tell
you about Bauchant.
Bauchant Orange Liqueur is an orange
and honey cognac form France. It's 80 proof (that's 40% alcohol), and
unlike it's more popular brethren can be purchased in the twenty to
thirty dollar range. Most importantly, it is an outstandingly smooth
drink that can blend with nearly everything, helping to remove the
need for multiple orange fluids.
I'd never seen the stuff until it
recently began to creep into nearby stores and the owner of one such
establishment who comes across as some kind of rat pack reject
recommended it. His guidance doesn't always lead somewhere good but
in this case he was on the ball.
The smell, flavor, and even the color
of Bauchant is properly balanced to function in drinks that demand
Curacao or Triple Sec. It's also great to play around with recipes in
the winter as the honey and cognac give it a slight warming effect.
Honestly I can't praise Bauchant
enough. There's a chance of better orange liquors existing on the
market, lord knows I wouldn't mind getting the similarly priced
Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. That being said, There's such a fine
balancing act of flavor, quality, and budget at play here that I
can't imagine a proper bar without it.
No comments:
Post a Comment