Boozehound - Jason Wilson [98]
I’d also like to thank some of my great drinking companions over the years: Trine Skj⊘ldberg in Copenhagen, James Wood in Boston and Edinburgh, Vanessa Polk in the East Village, Kevin Meeker in Haiti, Italy, and Philly, Addy and Sonja and Hjalti in Reykjavík, the old Jersey Shore crowd (including Chris, Snap, Fran, and Game Girl), whoever played “apartment golf” that fateful night in Burlington, Vermont, and the whole gang at La Quercia in Pieve San Giacomo. I’m sure there about 9,999 more people who’ve bought me a drink in my lifetime … Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten. I’ll get the next round.
Thank you to Haddonfield, New Jersey, for being a dry town. It makes things a little more challenging to live here, keeps me on my toes.
An extra-special thanks is reserved for my family, including my in-laws, Jack and Mariann, who have hopefully forgiven me for taking their daughter away from California, and especially my own mom and dad, who surely could not have imagined the strange trajectory of their son’s career, and yet have steadfastly supported it all the same. One thing, however, Mom: You once said that drinking wouldn’t get me anywhere. Well, I hate to you inform otherwise … but …
Thanks to my brother Tyler, who has imbibed with me all over the world—from Iceland to the Netherlands to Portugal to Central America—and who may have the finest home bar of anyone in North America. And I would also like to give a shout-out to my youngest brother, Brad—though he is a teetotaler, we love him anyway.
I save the most love for those who put up with me every day, or at least when I’m not off tasting this or that. Cheers to my boys, Sander and Wes, who will only be allowed to read this book, and this acknowledgment, many years from now when they are twenty-one years old.
Finally, last in the acknowledgments but first in my heart, thanks to my beautiful, talented, and patient wife, Jen, my trusted first editor. Surely someday soon she can write her own gimlet-eyed book, called Living with Boozehound.
APPENDIX
HOME BARTENDING is a source of much anxiety, which is likely one reason why people don’t experiment with new and interesting spirits. But really, making great cocktails in your kitchen is easy. Just keep a few basic truths in mind:
Always use fresh citrus. Whenever a recipe calls for lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit juice, squeeze the fruit yourself.
Never use premade mixes. Remove “sour mix” from your shopping list. If you’ve only ever had a margarita made from a Day-Glo mix, then you have been living a lie. Besides, how much time and effort are you really saving? A real margarita only has three ingredients to begin with!
Always measure. A cocktail is about the balance of flavors and textures, and ratios matter. Yeah, it looks cool to free pour, but most of the best bartenders measure out their drinks.
Never shake when a recipe calls for stirring, and vice versa. It makes a big difference. Also, when a recipe says “shake well,” for god’s sake, shake well!
Always take care of your vermouth. Don’t be one of those people who thumb their noses at vermouth—it’s an essential part of a cocktail maker’s repertoire. Remember, vermouth is an aromatized wine, so you must keep it in the refrigerator and replace it every month, because otherwise it will go bad. For this reason, I like buying small bottles for home use.
Never forget the bitters. There’s a reason the recipe calls for bitters. Bitters balance flavors and add texture to a cocktail.
Stocking the Basic Bar
Though this book has been mostly about obscure booze, you’ll notice that many of the cocktail recipes listed throughout call for more familiar spirits. In fact, liqueurs, amari, and eaux-de-vie are most often the supporting players in cocktails; almost all cocktails call for a base spirit in one of the following six categories:
Gin. I always stock a Plymouth gin, a traditional London dry gin like Tanqueray or Beefeater’s,