The Bartender’s Best Friend a complete guide to cocktails, martinis, and mixed drinks Mardee Haidin Regan 00 bartenders FM_FINAL 8/26/02 3:10 PM Page ii 00 bartenders FM_FINAL 8/26/02 3:10 PM Page i The Bartender’s Best Friend 00 bartenders FM_FINAL 8/26/02 3:10 PM Page ii 00 bartenders FM_FINAL 8/26/02 3:10 PM Page iii The Bartender’s Best Friend a complete guide to cocktails, martinis, and mixed drinks Mardee Haidin Regan 00 bartenders FM_FINAL 8/26/02 3:10 PM Page iv This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2003 by Mardee Haidin Regan. 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TX951.R368 2002 641.8'74—dc21 2002068981 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 00 bartenders FM_FINAL 8/26/02 3:10 PM Page v This book is for my husband, Gary Regan, light of my life and this bartender’s very best friend. 00 bartenders FM_FINAL 9/17/02 4:22 PM Page vi Acknowledgments Oh my, I’m not very good at remembering everybody who has impressed me, blessed me, or obsessed me. Susan Wyler, my friend and editor, knocked my socks off with her generosity, enthusiasm, and tender loving care—huge thanks for that. Andrea Johnson and the production team were the soul of patience as I dug my way through the manuscript, mucking things up or not, querying too much or not—more thanks to you. Then, too, I heartily thank the sage though curmudgeonly Stephan Wilkinson, who named this book; I heartily thank my husband, Gary Regan, for smilingly withstanding the tumult I create in our lives; and I heartily thank every single person I ever met, just because each moment and each encounter is that important. Now, turn the page, the rest is much more fun and interesting. Contents Introduction: About This Book 1 Bartending Basics 2 Equipment 2 Ingredients 6 Glassware 34 Basic Garnishes 37 Bartending Techniques 38 Drink-Making Techniques 40 The Home Bar 46 Stocking a Home Bar 47 The Cocktail Party Bar 49 Drinks A to Z 51 The Professional Bartender: How to Be the Best 334 A Bartender’s Glossary 342 Bibliography 349 Index 353 Introduction: About This Book Cocktails are fashion—they bespeak the era of their creation. Cocktails are an expression of style, and like music, art, archi- tecture, theater, and design, in many ways they reflect the attitude of the nation. Right now cocktail culture is soaring. No matter where you look—in magazines, newspapers, films, and on television—you see people drinking cocktails. Many of our favorite cocktails reflect our mind-set. Some are based on classic combinations, some are casual and irreverent, often verging on downright silly, and many are the result of any number of incredible new ingredients in the marketplace. You couldn’t get root-beer schnapps in the fifties. Cocktail trends are an aspect of pop culture. Although some drinks hearken to our childhoods, scores of others take their inspiration from foods, films, television, songs, books, and world events. One sizeable group of drinks are alcoholic concoctions that taste like something entirely different—a cookie or a candy bar. Another group of drinks requires a helper—it takes two to drink a Mouth Margarita. And then there are the drinks whose names are X-rated. Don’t object. That’s the way it is. And they sell like wildfire. Who is the bartender’s best friend? The best tipper at the bar? Probably. But in writing this book, I’ve tried to be a friend to the bartender by including many cocktails and mixed drinks that are actually ordered at bars nationwide. When someone orders a Manhattan, you might not have to look in this book, but the recipe is here if you need it, and if somebody asks you to fix them a Schnapp, Crackle & Pop , and you’re a little bewil- dered, just turn to “S” and you’ll be serving one up in no time. On a more serious note, the bartender’s very best friend can often be an experienced, sober driver or the local taxi service. Why? Because as enjoyable and fun as drinking and serving cocktails, wines, and beers can be, the unimpeachable fact is that alcohol affects our bodies and our minds, impairing our judgment and reaction time. Don’t drink and drive, and don’t let others drink and drive either. What’s ultimately most fash- ionable is being alive to enjoy another day. Introduction 1 Bartending Basics Making a cocktail has just four requirements. The first three are easy: You need ingredients—the spirits, the juices, the ice, the sodas, the garnishes. You need equipment—a shaker, a strainer, a spoon. And you need something to serve the drink in, be it the finest lead crystal cocktail glass or a paper cup. The fourth requirement, however, is the tough one. You need to understand how to use these elements, and, ideally, you must acquire a grasp of how they intermingle. And therein lies the rub: You can make drinks or you can master drink-making, the craft of bartending. The choice is yours; the basics are outlined here. Mastering the craft requires thought, effort, and just like getting to Carnegie Hall—practice, practice, practice. Equipment Tools and the methods of using them define the quality of the job performed. And just as a carpenter invests in his saws, a chef in his knives, or a painter in his brushes, a bartender needs to have the right stuff on hand to make the job easier and more professional. Once the proper tools are in place, you’re good to go. Here’s what’s needed: Barspoon: An ingenious long-handled spoon that has an almost teardrop-shaped bowl and a twisted shaft that makes stirring with one hand very easy. Absolutely essential if you want to do it right. Bar towels: Two kinds—small, absorbent terrycloth towels that can be used as a bar mat to soak up spillage, splashes, and condensation; tightly woven, flat-weave cot- ton or linen dishtowels for polishing glasses or grasping wet, chilled wine bottles that are being held in a wine bucket. You’ll need several of each. Blender: A heavy-duty machine capable of rendering ice cubes and other ingredients into slush. Can opt for the 32- or 48- ounce container; I prefer a metal to a plastic base. Essential for frozen drinks. 2 The Bartender’s Best Friend Boston shaker: The most important tool for cocktail making—a two-part implement consisting of a mix- ing glass bottom and a taller, slightly wider, flat-bot- tomed metal cup. In use, the metal half is upended over the mixing glass, overreaches the juncture of the two rims, and allows the bartender to shake with ease and with no spills or leaks. The cups are “broken” apart. If pouring from the metal half, a Hawthorne strainer is used; if pouring from the mixing glass half, a julep strainer is used. Bottle opener: The standard tool for removing bottle caps, a number of different designs are available, but all deliver the same end result: getting that metal cap off the bottle. Can opener: The handheld kitchen tool that will remove one end of a can, useful for very thick mix- tures, such as coconut cream.