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Cocktail Base Liquors - Gin Whisky Vodka Cognac Scotch Tequila Rum - Building a home bar - part 3 of 3
In Part 1 we covered Home Bar utensils and in Part 2 we looked at Bar Glassware. Here’s the third and final part of the home bar series - liquor.
This is not a definitive list. There are a lot of excellent brands that are not mentioned here, and more are launched frequently. Don’t be afraid to experiment with any of the numerous other brands and tell us about your experience.
Pick and choose from my recommendations below to help you stock your home bar. I have added flavors to some of the items to help you choose the ones you can start out with based on your preference. Everything in the modifier section is essential, items 1 -10 in the color/flavoring section are strongly recommended. Favorites are italicized.
A basic cocktail may consist of:
A Base
- Gin - Look for anything 40% Alcohol by volume or up. Some to try are Beefeaters, Bombay Sapphire, Gordon’s, Plymouth & Tanqueray (Tanqueray #10). Store in a freezer - because the ABV is 40% or more the liquor will not freeze which also means your bottles will not break. Your base liquor will be icy cold when you’re ready to prepare your cocktails.
- Vodka - Same as above, look for stuff 40% ABV and up. Some to try are: Stolichnaya, Smirnoff, Absolut, Ketel One, Grey Goose, Belvedere, Skyy. Store in the freezer.
- Tequila - Jose Cuervo 1800.
- Cognac - V.S.O.P.’s from these labels: Martell, Courvoisier, Remy Martin, Hennessey (Privilege).
- Whiskey - Jameson (Irish whiskey), Jack Daniels (Tennessee whiskey), Jim Beam (Rye whiskey), Crown Royal (Canadian whiskey)
- Bourbon - Makers Mark, Knob Creek, Jim Beam, Wild Turkey
- Rum - Bacardi Light, Bacardi Dark, Myers’, Captain Morgan, Wray & Nephew Overproof, Appleton V/X
- Scotch (blended) - Cutty Sark, Johnnie Walker Black, Dewar’s, Chivas Regal
A Modifier
- Campari
- Sweet (aka Italian or red) vermouth - Cinzano, Martini & Rossi
- Dry (aka French or white) vermouth - Noilly Prat
- Bitters (Angostura & Fee’s orange bitters)
- Fresh citrus juices (orange, lemon & lime)
- Simple Syrup aka Simple Sugar Syrup (we’ll show you how to make some in a later posting)
Color / Flavoring
- Maraschino - cherry flavor
- Creme de menthe (white) - mint flavor
- Grenadine - sweet cherry flavor
- Sloe Gin - cherry like flavor (actually made from the sloe berry - but we’ve never had a sloe berry before, have you?)
- Southern Comfort - honey-peach, bourbon base
- Cointreau - orange flavor
- Blue curacao - orange flavor (blue is just added for coloring only)
- Grand Marnier - orange cognac flavor
- Drambuie - honey flavor, scotch base
- Chambord - raspberry flavor
- Benedictine - spicy herb flavor
- Amaretto - almond flavor
- Peach Schnapps - apricot flavor
- Apple Schnapps - apple flavor
- Brown Creme De Cacao - chocolate flavor
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