Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Unhappy Hour--Let's Host One!

Last weekend it was 95 degrees, and it's still running about 5-10 degrees above normal. I made myself a Pimm's Cup with blood orange, cucumber, lemon and Gala apple. I like Pimm's Cups because it's like sangria, but for one.

I have started to head out to happy hour (or unhappy hour, as I like to call it) with coworkers. On Mondays, Havana Cafe has $3 mojitos. Thursdays we go to Stockyards, which has $4 drinks and free sliders and chips and salsa. But I am thinking about stocking my bar in order to host myself now that I have a futon.

I currently have Maker's Mark, and plan to buy a big bottle of vodka from Costco and some of the new Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey, as well as laying in some ginger ale. But what else? The Cosmo Girl's Guide To The New Etiquette circa 1971 (it was my mom's!) has 4 and a quarter pages on drinks you should mix for a man, including a French 75 and a Zombie, and says you can get away at with a minimum of Seagram's 7, vodka or gin, and sweet vermouth (I guess the men the Cosmo Girl wants all drink martinis), but times have changed.

What's stocked in your bar? What are your signature drinks?

3 comments:

Cookbook said...

Good gin. I like Hendrick's personally but a gin & tonic is easy to make and is refreshing, too.

Keep some good bitters on hand, too.

I picked up some cucumber liqueur last year at Lilly's and it's fantastic. The company makes a variety of other interesting liqueurs too.

Kerry said...

I wanted the cucumber liqueur too, but I would have to special order it from BevMo!. They only had blueberry in stock.

Ginger said...

I keep around the basics and mixers. Most of my friends are happy with that and doing some shots!

I have a pretty extensive bar with specialty stuff, but I really only whip it out for special occasions.

Here's what I normally keep:

Rum
Vodka
Whiskey and/or bourbon
Gin
Something fun to shoot, like sambuca or Jagermeister
Bailey's or other cream liqueur

If I have a theme or plan for the night, I'll often whip up a signature drink for that evening!

Good luck!