Stocking a Home Bar 1.0

The bottles you need to buy

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White vermouth and red vermouth Vermouth is not a spirit, but wine, so it doesn’t last forever. In fact, it tends to be rather delicate and it’s good policy to refrigerate unused vermouth and to buy a new bottle before each big party. For more information on vermouth, please see our vermouth primer.

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Tags: spirits, tools, Gregory Dal Piaz, how to, bartending, party cocktails, entertaining, classic cocktails

Bartending Set the Bar for the Party Season 1 Comment

Cocktail Recipes Festive Flutes 2 Comments

Comments

courgette

124481 139

"I never use brandy in a cocktail..."!!!!

Greg, I gasped at that line! As your Christmas gift, I'm going to recommend that you try first the venerable SIDECAR (many variations on proportions, but I like 2 oz brandy, .5 oz Cointreau, .5 oz lemon juice); and then the classic STINGER-- incidentally, a perfect Yuletide drink, and ideal for any Mad Men-themed occasion: 2 oz brandy, .5 oz white creme de menthe. The Stinger was enormously popular in the 40's -60's, and then merely reliably popular in the 70's and into the 80's.

These two cocktails justify the existence of blended brandies!

Dec 25, 2010 at 1:16 PM
mannee

83613 1

I actually have a question I'm hoping somebody can help me out with. Do spirits have a shelf life? Can they go bad?

Dec 26, 2010 at 11:11 PM
therealpou-
r

102383 3

Non-sugared or non-scream-based spirits (vodka, rum, whiskey, scotch, etc.) don't have a shelf life and typically can be kept almost indefinitely.

Dec 29, 2010 at 11:09 PM