A NYC scene I’ll miss – firehouse on our block, dalmatian and all

Bertessa is leaving Manhattan (EE and Dahlia are coming too), and the time has come to close the bar. Actually, the bar is the last piece of the apartment getting shutdown, but it is looking pretty picked over:

Yeah, there are bottles left, but note how low they’re running

EE’s beautiful living room, obliterated

We’re decamping for Houston where the bar will be re-born bigger and better than ever, in a customized area of the kitchen. Just as soon as we get around to installing a kitchen, anyway:

No more cabinets, but the floors are purdy

The old one wouldn’t do, so it had to go while we were getting the floors re-done. We figure it won’t matter much since we’ve gotten in the habit of not cooking anyway. We’ll have a microwave and fridge; what more could one need?

I’ll let EE glory in the details of design, remodeling, etc. I’ve come here to lament my bar.

The bar started as a little cart with some bottles, but the cart couldn’t handle the expanding load. I customized the utility closet/pantry and got a stunning amount of bar space in the deal. EE made it look spiffy with some paint and good light. It’s a special space. Hidden behind the seemingly mundane door. Still a bit rough around the edges. Cozy. My first bar.

Originally designed to share space with a cat, the bar outlived the cat and presided over a motley collection of toiletries, laundry supplies, dog food, and tools. It enabled grand visions of cocktail making and dabbling with infusions and liqueurs that were critical to allowing this blog’s development.

The final days of a developed bar are strange times. Open liquor doesn’t do so well in such a hot truck for such a long time. Plus, many of the bottles are stoppered with re-used corks or other innovations. The challenge of consuming the remainder is in the variety. It’s all well and good to make a margarita with the remaining tequila, but what happens when the Cointreau runs dry before the tequila? The bar quickly fell all out of whack, and the whole goal was to avoid replenishing it. This led to some odd drinks (trying to do summer coolers with a surfeit of whiskeys) and to one great realization: make the missing ingredients myself.

This realization of self-creation shall be the First Principle of the new bar. In order to handle the Cointreau dilemma, I bought a bag of juice oranges for $1.50 and used excess brandy to make my own. It is fresh, light on the tongue and amazing. Even better is the orange-ginger liqueur I made at the same time. I used the peels and moonshine to make wicked orange bitters. We still can’t drink everything, but I’m inspired to buy only the bases that I need and certain specialties I can’t infuse or distill myself.

There is not currently a Second Principle. I’m just not very principled.

Coordinated variations on a strong milieu are good for any party, whether at a home, a restaurant, or somewhere bigger and grander.  The Plaza’s setup allowed for a calmer, well-lit, introductory space with gorgeous architecture in which to have a drink and settle in.  Guests could then move up to a darker, swanky lounge and nightclub atmosphere – complete with a bar made out of ice!

Did the ice bar really add a lot?  Was it worth reviving memories of sea-sickness in cruise ship casinos?  I’m not sure, but it definitely beats the perfunctory folding table covered with cheap white linens.

The ice-encased cocktail menu atop the bar made of ice

I had high hopes for the home of the fabled Oak Room (which I like extra because they have a website background similar to ours here), not to mention of ELOISE.  I was a bit disappointed, but the mixology was definitely a step in the right direction.  There was a cocktail menu (encased in ice) – a clear sign that someone’s heart is at least in the right place.  The menu tended toward the sweet, vodka, and champagne.  None of these are my thing.  No worries, they had a full bar, so you could call your drinks, almost.

If you, gentle reader, should soon find yourself with the task of negotiating a hotel bar package:

It is unfortunate that even the home of such a great bar can’t pass my simple dive-bar sizing test with their party bar package.

In classic “full bar package” fashion, there was plenty of great booze, but no liqueurs, bitters, digestifs, aperitifs, fresh fruits or juices.  One of the bars managed to not have dry vermouth (they were very ashamed of that, to be fair).  I don’t believe that hotels should be allowed to sell bar packages without guaranteeing at least a bottle of Angostura bitters.  This one correction would open a world of simple classics any bartender should be able to make.  Imagine what would happen with the introduction of Campari.

This is the kind of detail over which to get serious.

Brides, grooms, and mother-in-laws to-be, listen up! Bertessa says: Bitters and Campari at the bar(s) = better than flowers in the bathroom.  Not that they were present at my my own reception (the Campari, not the flowers – which were most certainly there).  But I have since gotten a little bit older and a whole lot wiser, maybe…

For all the shortcomings of hotel bar packages, it is fun to see more people wandering around with martini glasses (even when filled with green apple martinis – I was really shocked to see that early ’00s trend) than beer bottles.  We are heading the right direction.  And the Plaza is a sweet place to party.

I’ve gotten requests to help others start their home Mixology Stations, and that is just what this post will attempt to do.  Luckily I’ve been asked to opine on this topic previously and another time the in-laws asked what was needed for a fun Christmas.  The answer was about the same…

Rude interruption from the readership rabble: “Tess, you’re a dork, why not just call it a bar?”

Bite me.

A bar is more complicated, and sounds a bit trashy to bring into one’s home.  More importantly, though, this blog is about mixology, not say, beer and wine.  I’m not saying I’m never going to write about beer or wine, but I don’t mix beer and wine.  I think we would all agree that beer and/or wine would be a part of any bar.

Alright then, on with it.

Tools

There are some basics that you have to have.  I wouldn’t buy anything too gimmicky, but I’m not sure you can get by without the following:

• shaker
• jigger
• stirrer
• strainer

Glassware

Drink from your morning latte’s crumpled Solo cup if it fits the circs.  If you’re going for the more traditional style or registering for your wedding, start with at least four of each:

• high ball glasses
• martini glasses
• tumblers

Liquor

“I only like X!”  Then only buy X.  Why fight it?  But if you want to be able to host with the basics, some basics are required.  All of these are placed here with the idea of MIXING drinks (remember, this is building a Mixology Station), so if you get all high and mighty about what is best on its own, then buy that for serving on its own.  If you’re a fiend for labels and want multiple high-end whatever, then by all means, get more of that whatever.  I won’t object anytime you add another bottle to the cart.  Basics:

• Gin – I keep Sapphire and Hendricks and think gin is basically the best base liquor
• Whiskey – you need at least one, even if you don’t drink it, regardless of what I said before.  They should be (in order of importance):
  • Bourbon – don’t spend a ton, but make it good.  I recommend Buffalo Trace
  • Scotch – something in the middle range if you’re not into scotch already
  • Rye – whatever you can find.  It’s needed for Manhattans
• Tequila

Am I really leaving off vodka?  Damn straight I am!  Unless it is infused, it does nothing for mixing flavors.  If you want to stock it, go for it, but buy something really cheap for mixing, as people truly can’t tell the difference.  I also left off rum.  Rum is hard.  Poor rum, go marry a Coke.

Liqueurs and Such

SHOCKER: The real key to mixology is not the liquor, but the random stuff you have to put in it.  This becomes more subjective, but the list below is ordered with necessities at the top and things I prefer descending below:

• Cointreau – no way around it, this is critical
• Vermouth – sweet (red/Italian) and dry (white/French)
• Bitters – keep at least Angostura.  Look for specialty flavors like Fee Brothers or Regan for Orange/Lemon/Peach, etc.
• St. Germain’s Elderflower liqueur – just makes mixology too easy
• Campari – I love the stuff, turns a drink red, people accuse me of having a girly drink, and then I give them a taste…
• Absinthe – I’m using LeTournement and think it adds great flavors
• Domaine de Canton’s Ginger liqueur – great way to spice things up

This is a starter list.  Recipes will call for all kinds of junk, but you can pretty much cheat using the first three items in this list.

Other Things You’ll Need

• Citrus – mainly limes, but some lemon too
• Olives – they can be be in vermouth in a jar in the fridge indefinitely
• Onions – get the ones in sweet vermouth; I’ll write many odes to them in posts to come
• Fruit juices – unsweetened cranberry is #1, after that it just depends
• Any fruit you can put in the freezer – blueberries and cranberries are particularly useful
• Mint – you can freeze this too
• Sparkling water – feel free to get a siphon
• Tonic – particularly in the summer

Wait, I don’t have this much space, you’re not a dork, you’re a nut!

If you go with the first two items in each list, you’ll be fine.  A lot of where and how to store things comes down to aesthetics, and there’s nothing wrong with picking your bottles to enhance your decor.  Plus, you should use the fridge.  I keep the gin, plus the citrus, olives, etc in the old icebox.  My own bar cart is pictured at the beginning of the post, but I also think a minimalist setup like the below is sweet.  Make your own, since this is expensive:

Ultimately, your Mixology Station should match your style.  If it limits your menu, so be it.  Just be sure you limit it to drinks you like.

Ingredients, Stations, Mix!