What do you have in your stash?

When I started the first thing I wanted to know was “what liquors should I always have in my bar?” I came to find that there’s no right answer. When you think about it everyone’s bar is different because your bar should cater to your taste. If you’re buying it,it should be used. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it!

Now I found the 2 main ways that work best are:

• Pick a couple of your favorite cocktails and buy all the ingredients needed for those cocktails. That way you can build off of flavors you already enjoy. For example you like martinis buy vodka and vermouth. You can do a basic martini cocktail. Then if you want to change it up add a flavored syrup.

Now you have 2 completely different cocktail experiences with same base. (Of course I added a little Grand Marnier to the blood orange to give it a little something extra, but talk about that in the near future)

• Now the second way is the way I chose to do it. This way can be a bit more costly initially but cheaper in the future if you want to add to your stash because you’re entertaining guests or want to try something new.

Now I am not a fan of flavored vodka and rums etc. I feel sometimes they are just too artificial. If I want a certain flavor I would use a base liquor such as gin, vodka, rum etc and I then I use syrups, fresh fruits and liquor cordials to present the flavor. This makes it easier because then I just need the basic liquors in stock to play around with different brands. I recommend never get the cheapest option. You want it to taste good, not just get you drunk.

These are the clear liquors I started with: rum, tequila, vodka and gin. I found that I can make most cocktails with these 4. These are the brands I prefer. You may prefer another. Do your research. Ask for recommendations.

Now let’s talk darker liquors. I was not initially interested in these liquors. These came several months into my interest. I have to say actually it was my husband. He liked the cocktails I was making but he was more interested in trying to make traditional drinks. His first interest was whiskey sours. Real whiskey sours. I’m talking egg white and bitters. So I did some research and Bulliet whiskey. My husband preferred the bourbon I prefer Rye because it’s a bit sweeter. I was shocked how good it was. I was always intimidated by dark liquor (brought me back to under age drinking years). These are not the only ones. Again I state make your bar YOUR BAR! If you don’t like it, don’t buy it!

Now you have your base stash. The next step is cordials and flavored liquors (which is what I call them). These will compliment your base liquors for each cocktail to you make. I will talk about those in my next post!