6 A juicer
If you’re planning to make Margaritas or Daiquiris for a party, trust me, you want some kind of electric citrus juicer. It saves an awful lot of time and effort. And it will also allow you to squeeze fresh orange or grapefruit juice for breakfast. That’s a win in anyone’s book.
7 A blender
There are only a couple of drinks in this book which use a blender, and, to be honest, you could shake them if you have to. However, I find my KitchenAid Artisan Blender indispensible: a good blender allows you to whip up frozen drinks, blend fruit juices and so on. Plus it’s good for making soup – and what’s soup if not a hot, non-alcoholic cocktail?
8 A killer black dress
Or a sharp suit. Obviously.
Spirits
It goes without saying that, without spirits, there are no cocktails. Apart from the non-alcoholic ones on pages 130–43. In this book, I have deliberately tried not to prescribe certain brands in favour of others, but there are a few instances where the recipes have to be specific. For example, a Zombie is not a Zombie without Bacardi 151, and that’s all there is to it. But, by and large, buying should be determined by the following points:
1.Quality matters, regardless of those who claim (wrongly) that cocktails were invented to hide the deficiencies in Prohibition-era booze. Buy the best you can afford.
2.Buy the brands you like. This cannot be said enough. People spout a lot of blether about booze and wine, particularly about wine, but there is one golden rule: if you like it, it’s good. To hell with the pedants and snobs. There’s not a huge amount of difference between various brands of vodka so I trust you to choose your own, but when you look at gins in particular, there’s so much variation that you have to try a few to pick your favourite. I lean towards Beefeater and, for a change, Plymouth or Sipsmith, but that’s not to speak against Tanqueray, Hendrick’s or Bombay Sapphire, or any of the others, for that matter.
When it comes to rum you should note that, beyond quality, different rums provide different flavours. White rums are distinct from amber and dark rums while aged rums and rhums agricole are different again. It’s worth experimenting to find the ones you like – like wine regions, different countries produce distinct products, and there’s lots to explore.
The same goes for whisky. Ryes and bourbons have subtly different characters. So, too, do Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey – they even spell the word differently! But, while quality is important in a cocktail, it’s a crime to mix anything with a good malt whisky. Those that have have been found bludgeoned to death with tam o’shanters in dim back alleys. You’ve been warned.
3.Space. Most of us don’t have room for a lot of bottles, so buy for the cocktails you make most often.
Vermouth
Every bar needs a sweet vermouth and a dry vermouth, depending on the drinks you favour. As a fortified wine, it keeps for a while, though it does deteriorate slowly over time, so keep open bottles in the fridge. I favour Noilly Prat for a dry vermouth and Martini for sweet, and I’m a big fan of the Cocchi di Torino range for their extraordinary character and flair. Try a few different brands (ideally in other people’s bars) to find the ones you like.
Bitters
Bitters lift and distinguish a cocktail. Often, they turn out to be the secret ingredient which makes a drink sing. These days, a lot of bartenders make their own from wildly diverse ingredients. You absolutely, categorically need a bottle of Angostura bitters in your bar. It will last for ages, and it is highly adaptable. But if you have room, a bottle of orange bitters will always come in handy, as will some Peychaud’s bitters from New Orleans. And one of my favourite bitters companies, The Bitter Truth, makes a very handy five-bottle travel box – the celery bitters within makes for an excellent Bloody Mary.
Garnishes
The peel of citrus fruits used to make twists should always be unwaxed. One bartender I know makes an Essence of Sex Wax, which is used for greasing surf boards but, beyond that, I can see no earthly reason for wax to come anywhere near a cocktail. The wax on citrus fruits may help their preservation, but it hinders the release of the oils in their peel which, when we use a twist, is what we’re after. Speaking of which, if you want to add a touch of fancy, squeeze the oils through a lit match or lighter. They will ignite and caramelize in the flame, which makes for a lovely aroma, particularly in an Old Fashioned.
Make sure you have a sharp knife, or a channel knife, and a chopping board for prepping all kinds of citrus and other fruit. Though, to be honest, when it’s just me, I often cut a twist of citrus with a potato peeler…
While we’re on the subject of garnishes, look out for good quality maraschino cherries. Luxardo, who make a fine maraschino liqueur, sell the real thing in jars. I recommend them.
Sugar Syrup
You can buy sugar syrup in bottles, but it is very easy to make at home and considerably cheaper. Simply measure out equal quantities of caster (superfine) sugar and water, say 250 ml (8 fl oz) of water to 250 g (8 oz) of sugar, into a saucepan. Then dissolve the sugar completely in the water over a low heat (the heat isn’t strictly necessary, it just speeds up the process). Allow the mixture to cool, then store the sugar syrup in a sterilized bottle for up to a month in the fridge.
Bar Style
There’s no excuse for not having a stylish bar. It’s the perfect place to reflect your taste. Scour the internet, charity shops and flea markets to find quirky glasses, plates, napkins and cocktail forks to customize yours.
Size DOES Matter…
…when it comes to glasses. I am a little obsessed with collecting small Martini glasses which hold, traditionally, a gulp or three, so you can drink that chilly charmer while it is still suitably cold. (If you see any, do get in touch…)
Make sure that you have the right glass for the right drink, size-wise at least. This is not Big Gulp time at the drive through. It’s the cocktail hour… At all costs avoid those ridiculous bucket-like glasses that should really only be sold at novelty stores for keeping marbles, goldfish or small coins in. Anything but a cocktail.
Shaken vs. Stirred
This is really about ice. Ice and dilution. When you shake a cocktail, you break the ice cubes, leaving tiny shards of ice in the drink. These shards dilute the drink, balancing the flavours in a shaken cocktail. When you stir, this dilution is commensurately less.
Since ice both chills and weakens a cocktail (chilling is good, weakening less so…), there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you get the best from it.
1.The more ice you put in the shaker, the faster it will chill a drink, shaken or stirred, with less dilution. With a shaker, more ice is better.
2.The size of an ice cube matters: the