I recently held a large cocktail party with an open bar and was overwhelmed at the prospect of getting all the famed cocktails covered, and while I over spent in the process I now see sticking to the classic categories of alcohol can be truly versatile. One disclaimer, I have some preferred brands based on my own experience, do what works for you, and your budget. If anything this could be a good guide to get you on your way. Also build this up over time. I once had a collection of 20+ vodkas i bought slowly over the course of a year, when a New Years Party was in the works I had quite the ultimate vodka tasting (not recommend by the way unless you have Excedrin on hand). That said, have fun with it, try a few key cocktails at a time and build up your core ingredients and special recipes. You can even work through our Happy Hour Tuesday section of our blog to get some great cocktail ideas, most of which you can make using this list.
Once you make your grocery list, please share your best and or worst cocktail bar experience!
Here are the must haves / Top 15 Bottles for the Ultimate Home Bar or Cocktail Party:
- Ketel One (Vodka) $24
- Highland Park 12 yr (Single Malt Scotch) $45
- Macallan 12 yr. (Single Malt Scotch) $90
- Beefeater (Dry Gin) $16
- Bombay Sapphire (Gin) $30
- Wild Turkey (Bourbon) $18
- Cazadores Blanco (Tequila) $20
- Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum (Dark Rum) $16
- Havana Club (Anejo Rum) $15
- Rometti Limoncello (Lemon Liqueur) $24
- Cointreu (Orange Liqueur) $35
- Grand Marnier (Orange Liqueur) $34
- Compari (Red Bitters) $24
- Angosture (Bitters) $10
- Martini (Dry Vermouth) $10
Mixers:
Soda, Sprite, Tonic, Cola, Orange –Cranberry- Tomato- Pineapple Juice, homemade simple syrup.
Garnishes:
Cocktail Olives, Limes, Lemons, Oranges, Other exotic fruits, Sugar, Salt, Pepper.
Vodka: While true mixoglist will say vodka is an excuse to not be creative, I say if its good for Bond its good for me, thus I default to one of the better vodka’s out there Ketel One.
Scotch: This is the break the bank section of your bar set up however for any true enthusiast a nice singe malt is a must. I’ve included two in my top 15 selections for good reason. The Highland Park is a good value ($45 for a 12 yr) and it’s spice notes work well as part of creative cocktails such as a London Sour. There are a lot of incredible scotches out there but you also need one neat, not to be messed with…Macallan is a very nice smooth all-around scotch.
Gin: I’ve also broken this up into two bottles as well, Beefeater is cheaper and works well in cocktails as it has a nice baseline in flavor without getting a lot of the floral notes. Bombay on the other hand is much more complex and is your default to a good classic gin martini.
Bourbon: Unless you’re set up in West Texas, Bourbon neat may not be your most popular request, however its imperative in many cocktails. Wild Turkey is a great low cost option.
Tequila: There’s a lot of great sipper Tequila’s out there i.e 1942, however your average Margarita lover wont know the difference from Don John, to Don Julio. I find that Cazadores is a great tasting tequila that can be used in many forms without Don Julio rolling in his grave.
Rum: is broken up into two bottles one a spiced rum, another Anejo or aged rum which carries a stronger flavor but generally smooth. While I’ve added Havana Club to the list, for our US readers you wont find this on any shelves here, so Sailor Jerry’s is a great choice.
Lemon Liqueur: Rometti Limoncello lives two lives, one is a stand alone liqueur celebrated by great Italian heritage, the other one of the most versatile liqueurs for cocktails out there. From adding a twist, or freshly squeezed lemons, or citrus. Limoncello is the answer, and of course Rometti Limoncello is one of the best-handcrafted 100% natural limoncello’s you can find commercially in the US.
Orange Liqueur: Two of the best brands here are incredible compliments to cocktails, Cointreu and Grand Marnier. Countreu is a great additive if you don’t want to over sweeten the cocktail while still giving it a nice citrus balance. Grand Marnier on the other hand is about twice as sweet, so for the right combination this can smooth things out nicely.
Bitters: I think bitters are making a come back as the mixology trend is at its peak right now. Compari is a red bitters one of the most traditionally used in Italy and is quite refreshing. Angosture is your true cocktail bitters and one of the best I’ve tried.
Vermouth: While there are many choices here Martini is widely used, and is key for your Martini’s, Manhattans, Negroni among others.
Whats your best and or worst cocktail bar experience?
CHEERS!
Firelit Coffee Liqueur, made in Alameda, California by St. George Spirits distiller Dave Smith and business partner Jeff Kessenjer. By blending aged and unaged grape brandy—usually chardonnay, zinfandel or syrah—cane sugar and cold-brewed coffee sourced from small roasters in the San Francisco Bay Area, they’ve created a coffee liqueur that drinks like a lightly sweetened cup of robust espresso.
Meanwhile, Tempus Fugit has taken on crémes, sweeter liqueurs that have gotten a bad rap from all the vile-colored, artificially flavored versions on the market. Their Créme de Cacao is distilled from cacao beans and then macerated with more cacao and vanilla, giving the pleasantly sweet liqueur an intense, pure chocolate flavor. The Créme de Menthe, a blend of distilled botanicals and mint, makes for a deeply flavored, straw-hued spirit balanced toward the savory end of sweet. Combine both with a generous splash of cream for a seriously delicious Grasshopper.
In Philadelphia, the creative minds at Art in the Age have created Rhuby, inspired by a tea the 18th century botanist John Bartman produced after Benjamin Franklin sent him rhubarb seeds. The spirit, like Bartman’s Garden Tea, combines the tart sweetness of the red stalks with carrots, beets, pink peppercorns and other unusual additions. It’s bright and tart, a spirit that almost demands fruit pie.
For those whose tastes run less sweet, there is a slew of newly available Italian bitter liqueurs. One of the most striking is Zucca Amaro, from the town of Saronno right outside of Milan, best known for amaretti cookies and amaretto liqueur. Rather than the almond notes of those specialties, Zucca Amaro is based on a Chinese variety of rhubarb. The opposite end of the spectrum from Rhuby, it’s smoky and spicy as a Chinese herbalist’s shop, dusty with ginseng and light menthol flavor. Amazingly light on bitterness despite its dark color, it mixes fantastically well with tonic water.
Far less aggressive but just as interesting is Cardamaro, from Piedmont. With cardoons and thistle for flavor over a wine base, it’s fairly light (only 17 percent abv). There’s a hint of bitterness to contrast bright citrus and a remarkable amontillado Sherry-like flavor. With its herbal and vegetal flavors interlaced with spice and its delicate sweetness, it works equally well as an aperitivo or a digestivo.
From hilly Marche comes one of the most fascinating Italian bitter liqueurs: Amaro Sibilla. Distilled over wood fires and bittered by both gentian and cinchona, it has smokiness that registers as coffee and chocolate intensity combined with a brighter menthol note, ending on a lip-sticking dark honey flavor.
Great amaros aren’t exclusive to Italy: Colorado also boasts one. Leopold Brothers, known for their small-batch whiskies, liqueurs and gin, have recently introduced Leopold Bros. Fernet, a fernet-style amaro. Instead of referencing any historical recipe, brothers Todd and Scott started with bitter aloe as their foundation and included ginger, dandelion, citrus, mint, cocoa, vanilla and fresh flowers among the botanicals. To add a particularly American signature, they added sarsaparilla root and sweetened it with molasses. Quite floral, it tastes like a lighter version of Italian fernets, with the bitterness in the mid-palate retreating into refreshing menthol flavor.
St. George Spirits distiller Lance Winters has gone to great lengths to capture the essence of place in the new Mt. Tam edition of his gin, harvesting wild juniper berries, California bay laurel, coastal sage and Douglas fir tips from the forests of Marin. The addition of wok-roasted spices and citrus peels serves to establish a traditional gin foundation for what drinks and feels like a foggy stroll through the redwood groves. If you’re feeling rugged, add some ice and nothing more; if not, enjoy it with seltzer or ginger ale to avoid clear-cutting the flavors.
Previously only available at The Balvenie Distillery in Speyside, Scotland, Tun 1401 Single Malt Whisky by master blender David Stewart has made it way to the US in limited quantities. The hand-picked selection of The Balvenie rarest whiskies—some going as far back as the 1960s—are combined and rested for four months in the wooden blending tank named Tun 1401. The resulting single-malt whisky is deeply spiced with plenty of brown sugar flavor, menthol-like salinity and a richness that makes it smooth straight out of the bottle despite the high alcohol.
With a trio of whiskies already available in the US—the Yamazaki 12 and 18 years, and the blended Hibiki—Suntory’s fourth release is the first single malt made entirely from the company’s Hakushu distillery. Located deep in the forests of Mt. Kaikomagatake, in southern Japan, the distillery ages this 12-year-old whisky in a combination of used American oak barrels, Sherry butts and Japanese oak barrels. The finished product is distinctively crisp and lightly smoky, with a pleasant fragrance from the Japanese wood.
Single-malt drinkers often frown on blended Scotch whiskies, but Master blender John Glaser of Compass Box aims to change that with Great King St., a new series of blended Scotch whisk-ies. His first release, Artist’s Blend, is about half Highland and Speyside single malts combined with aged Lowland grain whisky; then it settles into an array of new French oak casks, first-fill American barrels and ex-Sherry butts before going into the bottle at a potent 43 percent ABV. The end result is rich, round and fruity with hints of toasty oak, vanilla and spice. It’s designed to be enjoyed straight, but it also works well with a little sweet vermouth and a dash of bitters for a classic Rob Roy.
When fifth generation distiller Gustavo Ortega Zeller set out to create an elegant expression of his family’s rum, he took a page from Scotch producers and used a combination of American oak and Sherry barrels to age the molasses-based spirit. Blended from 5- to 14-year-old casks, the 1888 is almost ruby amber in color and filled with caramel, dried fruit, spice and toasty flavors that make this drink like a fine brandy.
Rometti Limoncello 