I’d settle for aeroplanes having cocktail shakers, but I wouldn’t mind an aeroplane shaker…

I’m not exactly a frequent flier, and I don’t usually drink when I fly, but an overnight trip to Chicago gave me the opportunity to see what I could do with American’s coach beverage selection.  Since American also has wi-fi onboard, I can also write this blog (very awesome except that the people next to me get a sneak peak).

Making drinks in coach is no easy feat.  An evaluation of the circs:

Ingredients

• surprising range of basic liquors
• multitude of  high fructose corn syrup-based mixers
• citrus in tiny chunks (though I’ve never seen such tiny pieces of lime elsewhere)

Obstacles (freshness and quality complaints about the mixers aside) – lack of…

• Vermouths
• Liqueurs
• Bitters
• Hardware (mixers, muddlers, strainers)
• Garnishes (beyond those little citrus chunks).

On the big plus side, the flight attendants are way more accommodating than I feel they should be.  Their primary responsibility is passenger safety, they have a lot of people to serve, and yet they will humor some dude asking for random drink ingredients.

I understand that they don’t have room for everything on that cart, but really, just a little vermouth would open up a whole range of possibilities.  I’m sort of shocked that they haven’t started selling little martini sets in plastic shakers.  For $10 you could get a little souvenir shaker that comes with  gin and a tiny packet of vermouth.  They could provide the ice and a twist from the cart.  Some airlines are venturing into this realm, but my trip is for business, and hence getting where I need to go, on time, was my main consideration.

While the TSA’s 3-1-1 rule would easily allow for a baggie with ample liquor and vermouth to make drinks, we’re having fun here, not being weirdos.  Aside: EE preemptively forbade me from carrying around my own bitters, as some do with Tabasco, pepper mills, and artificial sweetener - actually not something I had thought of, and not a bad suggestion.

Drinks On A Plane – What I Came Up With

• Scotch & Ginger Ale.   I made this on the way out, last night, using Dewar’s white label, Canada Dry, and lime.
  1. Pour 1/3 the scotch over ice
  2. Top with Ginger ale
  3. Squeeze some lime
  4. Stir
  5. Repeat until the scotch runs out
  6. Resist the urge to drink the remaining ginger ale – it isn’t a good chaser

• Gin & Cranberry.   A classic.  I made it on my flight coming home tonight, using gin, cranberry, and lime.
  1. Fill 1/3 the glass with gin
  2. Top with cranberry juice
  3. Squeeze lime
  4. Stir
  5. Maintain the 1/3 gin, 2/3 juice ratio

Of course many other classics are possible on a plane:

• Gin & Tonic – always possible, but typically lacking enough gin to tonic.  An ideal situation, when traveling with 2 people, is to get 3 little gins and 1 tonic to make a drink for each of you.   For whatever reason, this feels more right to me on a train.  A discrete trip to the snack car and a return with 2 little G&Ts is a very sweet gesture, or so I’ve been told.
• Rum & Coke – debatable as to its classic cocktail merits, but it is definitely a good way to go if you just caught a flight for warmer climes.

Maybe I’ll be more prepared with ideas when I start my holiday travels.  Maybe there’s a reason I tend to abstain on planes.

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!