A Gentleman's Bar

[Kent Wang]

If you are truly serious, consider reading the eGullet cocktail forum. Many of the top writers and bartenders in the international cocktail community are on there.

 

[Huntsman]

Good advice so far. I'd suggest a summary of the above: get a good 'well' liquor and then an 'exemplar' of each of the major classes of spirits, and then some of the better cordials. Always mix your drinks with fresh juices. Use filtered water for your drinks and ice. Use the best sodas you can get -- ginger ales that actually have ginger and such.

Building a bar can be a lifelong pleasure when one is not given to getting snoggered all the time.

Enjoy,
Huntsman

 

[KBW]

In the same price range there's MANY bourbons better than Maker's Mark. I drink a lot of bourbon as well as my friends and Maker's is vastly overrated.

 

[fullmetalgenesis]

Originally Posted by KBW

In the same price range there's MANY bourbons better than Maker's Mark. I drink a lot of bourbon as well as my friends and Maker's is vastly overrated.

I'll happily take recommendations.

 

[Aaron01]

Originally Posted by fullmetalgenesis

I'll happily take recommendations.

Woodford Reserve is pretty good, so it Knob Creek, Old Barton's, etc... Honestly I'm more into Scotch and Rye than Bourbon.

 

[dkzzzz]

To tell you the truth, if you are just turning 21 you probably have not had a lot of experience with hard liquor.
Hold off your buying spree and figure out which drinks you truly like.

I remember myself at 21 and I can tell you that my tastes in hard liqueur changed dramatically since then.
Changes in taste are not necessarily due to experience or good advice, our taste changes with age due to physiological changes.
So, before you jump into Gin and Scotch try them and decide if you like to drink them.

 

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

So, before you jump into Gin and Scotch try them and decide if you like to drink them.

This is very good advice.

 

[casanova]

Unfortunately, developing a knowledgeable palate for spirits and cocktails takes years, and can't be faked. There's no shortcut other than to work your way through all the various drinks and combinations, learning what works for you and what doesn't and, hopefully, eventually reaching an intuitive understanding of balance of flavour and strength and all the other factors at play.

That's a bit dull for Jack though, so I'd recommend a fresh 21 year old newcomer to this world to just find a few drinks that you enjoy drinking, learn to make them really well, and wait till you tire of them before you move onto the next.

After 12 years in the game, I'm just beginning to eye up the world of cognacs, which I always just knew I wasn't ready for before now.

It gets you indecently smashed too.....

 

[Connemara]

Gin, scotch, bourbon. The Holy Triumvirate.

Your life will be 100000x better with Knob Creek, Plymouth, Tanqueray, Cragganmore, Laphroiag, Caol Isla, Woodford Reserve, and Evan Williams Single Barrell in your cabinet.

 

[Ludeykrus]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

If you are truly serious, consider reading the eGullet cocktail forum. Many of the top writers and bartenders in the international cocktail community are on there.

x2. Egullet is something of a mecca for food and alcohol appreciation.

Originally Posted by Connemara

Gin, scotch, bourbon. The Holy Triumvirate.

I'd agree here, but Scotch and Gin can be an acquired taste to alcohol newbies, and one can make some costly mistakes with diving head into scotch. If you are serious about it all, I would recommend starting out by fully exploring bourbon. Premium bourbons are dirt cheap compared to premium scotches, and are more accessible by the masses. It is a great way to acquire and tune your palate. I would suggest starting down at very cheap bourbons and trying them all, tasting the differences to see what is present and how they vary. Then start working up to more and more expensive brands to see different styles become more assertive.

And a martini is not a martini without gin.

 

[casanova]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Gin, scotch, bourbon. The Holy Triumvirate.

Your life will be 100000x better with Knob Creek, Plymouth, Tanqueray, Cragganmore, Laphroiag, Caol Isla, Woodford Reserve, and Evan Williams Single Barrell in your cabinet.

And Lagavulin naturally?

 

[Jason762]

Originally Posted by casanova

And Lagavulin naturally?

YES! That stuff rocks! First Scotch I tried.

 

[Ludeykrus]

Originally Posted by Jason762

YES! That stuff rocks! First Scotch I tried.

The first scotch I tried was Ballantine's.....

Haha!

 

[Huntsman]

Mine was Johnnie Walker Red. That's an interesting topic in itself, everyone's alcoholic odyssey. Mine was wine, then brandy and vodka, then really, really good vodka, then scotch, then really, really good scotch, now pretty much everything else.

~ Huntsman