Demetri - Cocktail Time The Happiest Hour!

Summary

There is a little bit of bartender in everyone who enjoys a good cocktail we secretly yearn to be able to flip the glasses, balance the bottles and slide drinks down a bar to within an inch of a customers hand. Few of us will rarely have the opportunity to reach those heights in the world of mixology.

But, we all are capable of making a good cocktail and serving it up with pride. This book is designed to help you do just that these drinks are older classics or modern-day classics that are making their way to that list. Youll find the ingredients, from the liquor to the mixers, are readily available, some of them right in your pantry.

Weve also included some information about the tools needed in a well-stocked bar, as well as some suggested staples to keep on hand. Find your recipe, crack open the bottles and start pouring. We know youll be happy with the results.

Enjoy!

Introduction

Mixing a good cocktail isnt so hard to do, but it does require some reliable pieces of equipment and ingredients. Below youll find some good information to guide you into setting up a great bar in your home a bar where you can make almost cocktail a person might request.

Bar Equipment : The equipment used by bartenders not have to be expensive, but good quality assures that it doesnt have to be replaced often. At a minimum, a good bar set up includes:

• A cocktail shaker : Usually a large metal cup with a very tight fitting top which covers a strainer.
• A Hawthorne strainer: Used to separate the liquid from the solids in drinks that require it, as many drinks are served without ice or the fruit that added flavor to it.
• A jigger: A measuring cup device that has a cone on each end. The large ones measures 1 1/2 ounces while the smaller one most often measures one ounce. The jigger ensures consistency and better measuring for cocktails. Shot glasses are often used rather than jiggers, but jiggers are better.
• Bar spoon: A small bowled spoon with holes in it and a twisted handle. The bar spoon is longer than a normal spoon to make stirring drinks and other things easier in a bar.
• A muddler: A thick piece of wood that is skinny at the top and wider at the rounded bottom. Used to mash fruit or ingredients in the bottom of a glass or mixer to release flavors. Necessary to make Old Fashioned and other classic cocktails.
• Ice: Most home bars use ice buckets, but having an ice crusher, scoopers, tongs and such are essential to a good home bar.
• A blender: An essential piece of equipment for many mixed drinks, and a blender is a quick way to do the same thing that muddling, but with less time.
• Cutting board and paring knife: Essential for cutting fruits and other condiments for drinks.
• Bottle opener, beer opener and corkscrew: Cannot have a bar without these handy things.
• Sipper sticks, stirrers and straws: These will almost always be required for any drink.

And all bars should have a good supply of containers for storage of ingredients, mixing large quantity drinks and for serving them. At a minimum, a couple different types of glasses are essential:

• Highball: Tall and slender, usually 10-12 ounces; used for non-shaken drinks, such as Bloody Mary.
• Martini: Triangular shape with a flared bowl; usually 3-12 ounces for martinis and margaritas.
• Flutes: Used primarily for champagne or other bubbly drinks, ranging from 4-10 ounces.
• Old Fashioned: Short and squatty glasses with thick bottoms, usually 6-10 ounces. Sometimes called rocks glasses.
• Wine glasses: With or without stems and come in a wide variety of sizes and designs.

There are other things that make a home bar more efficient and effective, such as mixers and spirits all of which will be covered in future books.

Table of Contents

(To access a recipe, place the cursor on the title, hold CTL and CLICK)

Old Fashioned

Ingredients:

• 1 orange slice
• 1 maraschino cherry
• 1 teaspoon sugar, white
• 2 drops of bitters, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon soda water
• 2 1/2 ounces rye or bourbon (to preference)

Instructions:

1. In a cocktail mixing glass, muddle the orange, cherry, bitters, sugar and soda water until the flavors are released and the orange slice is broken up. Sugar should be melted.
2. Add the bourbon or rye and pour over the rocks to serve.

Real Manhattan

Ingredients:

• 4 ice cubes
• 2 ounces bourbon
• 2 dashes angostura bitters
• 1 ounce of a sweet vermouth
• 2 maraschino cherries for garnish

Instructions:

1. Fill a mixing glass with ice; add the vermouth, bitters and bourbon. Stir until chilled.
2. Strain the cocktail into chilled glass; garnish with the cherries dropped into it.

Southern Mint Julep

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups fresh mint leaves
• 1 bottle whiskey, such as Southern Comfort
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup additional mint leaves

Instructions:

1. Make mint simple syrup: Muddle the water, sugar and mint leaves in a sauce pan until mint is very fragrant. Cook until the sugar dissolves completely, about 10 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil over. Cool for 10 minutes and strain the mint leaves out.
2. Pour the entire bottle of whiskey into the simple syrup; stuff the remaining mint leaves into the empty whiskey bottle. Fill the bottle with the simple syrup and put the cap on.
3. Put the filled bottle into the freezer overnight, which will cause it to freeze to the consistency of a slushy for serving.
4. Rim the glasses: Put the egg white on a saucer; dip each glass rim into the egg white followed by dipping it into sugar until the sugar rim is as thick as desired (see photo).
5. Fill with the frozen mint julep and garish with a sprig of mint. Serve immediately.

Long Island Iced Tea

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce each: vodka, gin, white rum, white tequila
• 1/2 ounce Triple Sec
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup brown cola, or as much as desired
• 2 fresh lemon wedges as garnish

Instructions:

1. Using a cocktail shaker, fill it with ice followed by all the liquor and lemon juice. Shake vigorously to chill and mix well. Pour all the mixture into 2 tall glasses; fill to the rim with cola and garnish with lemon slices.
2. Serve immediately.

The Classic Margarita

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup tequila
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons simple syrup
• Ice cubes
• Lime wedge to use as garnish

Instructions:

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with all the ingredients except the lime wedge; shake to both mix and cool the drink.