For quite some time now I've enjoyed entertaining, whether in my dorm room, apartment, or my parents' house. The major thing missing has been alcohol. While I enjoy being around people having a good time, whether that involves alcohol or not, I don't like to drink much myself, which makes it difficult to make drinks for others. However, I would like to throw a cocktail party or two in the future, and so I'm thinking about how to get started.
Some google searching has led me to cocktail.com, and specifically their page on tastings. I figure that's a good start in determining which brands are good values. I've also snooped around cocktails.about.com, which has a section on establishing a home bar. They have a rather extensive list of "essential spirits": bourbon, brandy, canadian whiskey, dark rum, gin, light rum, scotch, tequila, vodka, and rye whiskey. Then there are the liqueurs: amaretto, irish cream, creme de cacao, coffee liqueur, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, and orange liqueur. That's a lot.
I've also seen the Good Eats recipe on cocktails, which unsurprisingly I found fit my style. He presented just three cocktails (martini, daiquiri, and julep) to make very well, with the idea that you should be able to adapt to others from there.
So given that I'm not going to drink a lot myself, what should I be stocking, and what are the most likely drinks that people will want to have available? What should I learn to make well? Any other good resources, with recipes, reviews, etc?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Here's my list, in order of priority.
Vodka
Light Rum
Scotch (top shelf)
Tequila
Triple Sec
Gin
Raspberry Stoli (vodka)
Irish Cream
Midori
I threw the scotch in there because many of the other alcohols are generally mixed with something sweet. If you have a guest who doesn't like sweet drinks, scotch is a good thing to have on hand.
As for particular drinks, I'd learn to make a good Mojito. People love them and are impressed when someone makes one well.
Post a Comment