Sunday, June 10, 2007

So, What'll You Have?

Does anybody drink anymore? When I went off to college, I "liberated" several bottles of liquor for my college dorm room. As a result, we had the best stocked bar on State Quad. Of course, we drank our share of beer as well. We would go down to the distributor and get a case on Friday night and usually head back on Saturday (to return empties) and get another case. I suppose we could have gotten two cases on Friday, but we probably would have drank both on Friday then. As it was, sometimes we were looking for change in the couch to get enough for more beer. At year's end, our dorm had a hayride, and we went off with a "cocktail" of our own creation, using what was left of the bar. It involved, gin, maybe rum, and iced tea mix (we needed the color to disguise it in the Coke two liter bottles we put it in. I think we enjoyed it . . .

Anyway, recently the Post dedicated several pages of its food section to stocking a bar. So, again, I ask you, does anybody drink anymore? I mean, yes, I enjoy my vodka, and I might even reach for that before the beer. Especially now that summer is here and I can make vodka collins. So, do you have a full bar at home? What's in it? While you go check, fix yourself the semi-official drink of Bermuda.

Dark & Stormy
  • ice
  • 1 to 2 coin-size slices peeled ginger root (optional)
  • 2 ounces dark rum, preferably Gosling's Black Seal (from Bermuda)
  • 3 to 4 ounces chilled ginger beer (be sure to use ginger beer and not ginger ale)
  • 2 thin lime wedges, for garnish

Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice and the ginger. Add the rum and stir. Top with the ginger beer. Squeeze the lime wedges over the drink and drop them in.

If you leave out the ginger and replace the dark rum with vodka, you'll have made a Moscow Mule.

3 comments:

Anna van Schurman said...

I'm not going to drink a dark and stormy, but here's what's in the bar:
2 bottles of Boodles gin, 1 bottle Maker's Mark; 1 bottle Knob Creek; 1 bottle dry sherry; 1 bottle Sauza gold; 1 bottle Cristal rum; 1 jar olives (unopened); 1 bottle dark rum (Martinique); 1 bottle Ketel One; Rose's cosmo mix; Godiva liqueur (I think that should be in the fridge); 1 bottle port I bought on my 30th birthday, so old and probably skanky; 1 bottle dry vermouth; 1 bottle sweet vermouth; 1 bottle chocolate and curacao liqueur; 9 nip bottles of flavored rums from the Caribbean; 1 nip bottle Edradour scotch; 1 bottle Oban; a bottle of Pimm's; highball glasses, wine glasses, champagne flutes, liqueur glasses, pilsner glasses, and martini glasses

I hope someone's still drinking! Or is it just us?

Anonymous said...

Since we throw a holiday party most years, we've got a fairly well stocked bar. Of the 6 essentials listed in the article, we're only missing the tequila. Since we fix caipirinhas instead of margaritas, no one misses the tequila.

Kim Ayres said...

I never really got into drinking heavily. I'll have the occasional glass of wine or a single bottle of beer, but any more than that and I start to feel uncomfortable.

I've always suffered from the most appaling hangovers whenever I've drunk too much and it's far outweighed any enjoyment I could have had the night before.

This is the only reason I never became an alcoholic.