Cocktails in the Time of COVID-19: Support Small Businesses, Show Your Neighbors Some Love, and Drink Well

To me, one of the best things about cocktails is the way they bring us as humans together. I love bellying up to a bar, watching the bartenders do their thing, and striking up conversations with the other people around me. I love having friends over and mixing drinks, chatting and laughing as we while away the hours over delicious tipples. A solo cocktail is a fine thing, to be sure, but for me, the whole experience is so much better when it’s shared.

But right now, my friends, that sharing is on hold. As communities across the US (mine included) and the globe deal with sheltering in place and physical distancing, we need to press pause on raising a glass together out in the world.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are some easy ways you can partake of the joy of cocktails, support your local small businesses, stay connected with friends and neighbors, and level up your drinks game in the process, all while staying safe. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Seek Out Small Businesses for Cocktail Supplies and Inspiration

Here in Oakland, and throughout California, non-essential businesses are closed until at least early April, which is a real blow to the wallet for many small, local companies.

In addition to supporting your favorite local bars and restaurants by buying gift certificates you can use once things are back in action, or by ordering food (and here in California, cocktails!) for pick-up, here are a few ideas for how to show small businesses some much-needed love.

• Spice up your simple syrups, tinctures, and infusions by buying fresh spices from small spice shops. If you’ve gotta be cooped up inside for a few weeks, why not take this opportunity to experiment with making your own flavored syrups, cordials, and other cocktail ingredients? You might not have a spice shop in your area, but Oaktown Spice (based right here in Oakland) and Skordo (based in Portland, ME) are two fab options that deliver throughout the country.

• Hit up your local bookstore for a new cocktail tome. Yes, Amazon will bring nearly anything right to your door, but please consider buying from a local bookseller instead. Stores themselves might be closed right now, but many are offering free delivery or no-contact pick-up options. I just ordered David Lebovitz’ new Drinking French from East Bay Booksellers, an awesome local shop here in Oakland; it’ll be in my hands tomorrow, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I’m contributing to keeping a store I love afloat.

• Go local with your booze buying. Even if you normally stock up on liquor at Costco, a chain supermarket, or a store like BevMo, consider spending a few extra bucks to grab a few bottles from your corner store, a nearby independent grocer, or a local bottle shop that offers delivery or no-contact pick-up.

Raise a Glass with Friends and Neighbors

Even if those around you still look and seem hale and hardy, now’s probably not the time to get the gang together for drinks. But that doesn’t mean you need to drink alone.

If you live somewhere that makes this feasible, how about coordinating with your neighbors to all open your doors, step out onto your stoops, or poke your heads out the windows at the same time one evening to enjoy happy hour together from a safe distance? The same idea holds for far-flung pals: have everyone make a drink, hop on a video chat, and enjoy a temporary escape, a good cocktail, and the company of friends.

Want to take it a step further? Arrange with nearby neighbors or friends to do a batched cocktail “chain letter”: each person mixes up a batch of their favorite drink and leaves it in a bottle on another participant’s doorstep. Make it a one-time thing or keep it going for several evenings to get the chance to mix up and taste multiple different drinks. (Of course, it’s extra important to follow safe handling and safe prep procedures now, and to bow out of the round robin if you or anyone under your same roof feels at all unwell.)

Have Extra Time Right Now? Use It to Branch Out with Your Cocktails

Finally, if you’re sheltering in place or simply spending a lot more time at home than you normally do, you might find yourself with extra time on your hands. (You might also find yourself needing to keep any young ones who might be at home with you entertained and safely occupied for way longer than usual, in which case you’re quite possibly ready for a drink.)

How ‘bout devoting an hour or two (or forty-two: no judgment!) that you might’ve spent doing…well, anything out of the house to diving deeper into cocktail making?

I for one typically tend to breeze right past any cocktail recipe that involves anything homemade that’s more complex than simple syrup, especially in the midst of a busy week. But now, friends? Now is the time to make those multi-ingredient syrups, to delve into cordials, maybe to make a tincture or two.

It’s also the time to experiment with the bottles gathering dust in my bar (lookin’ at you, cachaça!) and to find creative ways of finishing off those with a lingering inch of booze remaining.

Make your own ice! Get fancy with the garnishes! Bust out the vintage glassware (ahem) instead of the plain glass tumbler! Master your shaking technique, or get in a mini workout by shaking up a Ramos gin fizz! The options and adventures are endless.

We’re in This Together

When the worst of this pandemic is behind us, things have stabilized, and we can once again get together in person (responsibly!), it’ll be so very awesome to physically clink glasses again.

In the meantime, let’s do everything we can to stay connected even though we’re keeping a safe distance. Cocktails can bring us together with our friends, our neighbors, and our local businesses, and can help keep us united and sane during these immensely uncertain times.

I raise a glass to you and yours and wish you health, happiness, and some new cocktailing skills.

Read This: Peterson's Holiday Helper: Festive Pick-Me-Ups, Calm-Me-Downs & Handy Hints to Keep You in Good Spirits

There’s plenty about the holidays that might drive you to drink, from being stuck in the middle seat on a flight that’s unmoving on the tarmac for an hour due to bad weather to houseguests who take “Make yourselves at home” a bit too literally to endless bouts of wrangling wrapping paper and ribbon.

Luckily, author and “therapeutic concoctionist” Valerie Peterson has the cure for what ails you all season long, from Thanksgiving through the turn of the year. Her book Peterson’s Holiday Helper: Festive Pick-Me-Ups, Calm-Me-Downs, & Handy Hints to Keep You in Good Spirits will cheer you up the moment you crack its cover, even before you’ve mixed a drop.

Peterson’s Holiday Helper: Your cocktail-filled guide to seasonal sanity

Nostalgia, Cheekiness, and Booze

Part of what makes Peterson’s book so charming is the design, with its riot of vintage holiday photos of families, decorations, barware, and festivities. Flip through the pages and you’ll find it hard not to feel like there’s a glittery tinsel tree or footie pajama-clad kid just over your shoulder.

Also amusing are Peterson’s (mostly) tongue-in-cheek tips for holiday survival, including suggestions for what to say if you forget a co-worker’s name at your company Christmas party, pointers on successful re-gifting, and suggestions on which holiday movie to watch based on your mood. (Feeling homicidal? Go for Lethal Weapon.)

But, of course, the heart of this book are the drink recipes. All of the nostalgia and cheekiness would be for naught if the recipes were duds, but luckily that’s not the case.

From Holiday Chore Chasers to Socializing Spirits to Aftershock Therapies

Peterson divides her recipes into seven chapters, each focused on a particular holiday ritual or activity. Full-of-Tradition “Toasts,” for example, takes common seasonal traditions and tweaks them into modern cocktail form, while Present-ation Potions runs with the theme of drinks to sip while dealing with all things gift-related.

Liquid Misteltoe: Your key to surviving the company holiday party.

But really, the best way to use this book, in my opinion, is simply to flip through and find a recipe that grabs you.

Many of these drinks fall on the sweeter end of the spectrum, with the kinds of richer ingredients you might be more likely to sip during the cold months, but these aren’t just sugar bombs. By and large, the recipes balance out the sweetness with citrus, brandies, and other ingredients that offer structure and backbone.

Try These

Of the recipes from Peterson’s Holiday Helper I’ve tried, my favorites are the Emergi-Gift Coffee Liqueur and the Fruitcake Fizz. The coffee liqueur is just what the name suggests: a formula for mixing up your own java-based sipper, using fresh ingredients (strong brewed coffee, vanilla beans). I’ve made and gifted this liqueur several times, and it’s always delicious. Plus, by making your own, you can experiment with different kinds of coffee, different levels of sweetness, and so on.

The Fruitcake Fizz takes the flavors of that beloved/reviled (depending on your perspective) holiday baked good and translates them into a tall drink based on cherry and regular brandies. Not too sweet and not too tart (and also not actual fruitcake you have to pretend to like), this is a delicious, easy-sipping drink.

Fruitcake Fizzes: Bring on the brandy, hold the terrifying Technicolor fruit.

One for You, One for Them

This sweet book is reasonably priced enough that you can easily pick up a copy for yourself (which you should definitely do if, like me, you love cocktails, irreverent humor, and midcentury nostalgia) and grab a few as gifts for the hosts/hostesses you’ll encounter this season, or for anyone else who might need some boozy support over the holiday season.

Butterscotch + scotch + coffee = Christmas morning bliss.

Pair the book with a bottle of something festive, and/or some charming vintage seasonal barware, and you’ve got an awesome gift that’ll keep you from being the reason your gift-ee goes running for a Dark and Snowy or a Snubbed Reindeer during “the most wonderful time of the year.”

As always, whether you’re sipping a delicious cocktail to celebrate with friends or to unwind after a traumatic encounter with the line to see the mall Santa, please tipple responsibly.

I Made You a Thanksgiving Cocktail: Cherry Pie Sour

We don’t always think of cocktails and Thanksgiving as being an obvious match. In many cases, if you’re drinking on Thanksgiving (and I hope you are, responsibly), you’re probably drinking wine, as its lower alcohol content makes it easier to sip throughout the day without winding up too tipsy for turkey.

But cocktails definitely have a place at least somewhere in the day. A lower-octane aperitif like a sherry-based cocktail or a spritz would be a great match with appetizers, and if there’s a happier pairing than mixed drinks and pie, well, friends, I can’t imagine what that might be.

Pie + Cocktails = <3

Having pumpkin pie? Something with allspice dram would be delicious with pumpkin or sweet potato pie—the Lion’s Tale gets my vote, especially as its backbone of lime juice helps it balance out the sweetness and richness of the pie.

Going the pecan route? Bourbon is an obvious candidate. A smooth one neat or as the base spirit in a highball would be delicious, as would a bourbon Manhattan with pecan or chocolate bitters instead of the traditional Angostura.

But it’s definitely fruit pies that are my favorites, and they’re what inspired the cocktail I created this evening: the Cherry Pie Sour.

Cherry Pie Sours, ready to make your Thanksgiving dessert even better.

A Whole World of Sours

Most of us think “whiskey” when we think “sour,” but you can use pretty much any spirit in a sour. (After all, what’s a Margarita but a tequila sour, and what’s a Gimlet but the same idea with gin?) Mix a spirit, acid (citrus), and sweet, and you’ve got yourself a sour.

Inspired by the sour’s flexibility, I riffed on the classic whiskey sour, subbing half of the whiskey (rye, in my recipe) with Cherry Heering, replacing lemon juice with lime (lime + cherry are a happier pairing in my book), and ramping down the simple syrup a bit due to the sweetness of the Heering.

I ended up with an easy-sipping drink with a nice sweet/sour balance (just like a good fruit pie), an interesting undercurrent of rye (as a stand-in for pie crust, kinda), and a fetching deep-red hue.

The basic template here is super flexible: use a different kind of brandy (Calvados, applejack, pear…) if you’ve got a different kind of pie. Mix and match the citrus. Use an infused simple syrup for an extra layer of complexity. Add egg white if you like your sours richer. Make this cocktail your own.

And if, like me, one of your Thanksgiving pleasures is eating pie for breakfast the next day, mix one of these up, serve it on the rocks with some club soda to lighten it up a bit, and raise a glass to all you have to be thankful for.

Cherry Pie Sour

Makes 1 drink

1 oz. rye whiskey

1 oz. cherry brandy (I used Cherry Heering)

1 oz. lime juice (use lemon or half and half if you prefer)

3/4 oz. simple syrup

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Enjoy with pie.

5 Tips for Cocktail Party Success

We learn both from our mistakes and from our successes, and as someone who's thrown many a cocktail party, I've had plenty of both. That means there's lots I've learned, and lots I now do to make the experience of having people over for drinks a much less stressful and much more fun one.

Here are my top 5 lessons learned over the years about hosting cocktail gatherings.

1. For the love of your sanity, don't mix individual drinks. 

Yup, it's tempting to show off your cocktail-making chops by shaking or stirring each of your guests the tipple of their choice. But unless you're a professional (or at least very experienced) bartender and are serving a very small crowd, taking this route means you're basically going to spend most of the evening stuck behind the bar or in the kitchen with a shaker in your hands. Not so much fun for you, and not so much fun for your guests, who presumably came to your fête at least in part because they want to hang out with you. What to do instead?

2. Make friends with punches and other batched drinks.

If "punch" brings to mind that little blue-and-red Hawaiian dude mixed with a bottle of 7-Up and some bottom-shelf vodka, think again. There are endless recipes online for punches that are both easy and tasty, with actual decent ingredients—stuff you'd be happy to drink and proud to serve. 

Almost as easy as filling a punch bowl with deliciousness is batching simple cocktails. With the right equipment (a good mixing glass, a spacious cocktail shaker, a sturdy barspoon, etc.) and the ability to scale up ingredient lists, it's basically a tiny step from mixing one Manhattan or one Paper Plane to mixing half a dozen. Just be sure to steer clear of anything that's high maintenance (cough Mojitos cough Ramos gin fizzes), and do yourself a favor by doing some basic prep work like juicing citrus in advance.

3. Don't forget about the food and the booze-free drinks.

Sure, it's a cocktail party, so it makes sense that your focus is on the tipples. But having the right—and enough—food is just as important as having delicious stuff to sip. Here, too, do right by yourself and plan for stuff that doesn't require you to be laboring over the stove or remembering when to pull things out of the oven. An awesome cheese plate is always your friend, as are dips you can make in advance and serve at room temp. Serve 'em with bread and crunchy stuff (chips, crackers, crudité), and don't forget something sweet.

Also don't forget that you'll need at least one thing to drink that's sans alcohol. If you know for absolute certain that everyone attending your fiesta will be enjoying whatever cocktails you're serving, you can get away with stocking up only on water (bubbly and still) for when folks need to take a break. But if there's even a chance one of your guests is abstaining from the hard stuff, be a champ and offer something more exciting. I often make a punch bowl full of non-alcoholic sparkling basil lemonade, with a bottle each of good vodka and gin on the side for folks who want to spike their own glass.

4. Enlist help.

Several years ago, after a long stretch of being a one-woman show when it came to hostessing, I hired a bartender to handle the drinks at my birthday party. And OMG, it was a revelation: suddenly, I didn't have to be the one to watch the levels in people's glasses and offer refills as needed, or to gather the glasses left hither and yon, or to deal with washing all of those glasses (et al) at the end of the evening. Instead, I got to actually hang out with my guests, have someone make me drinks, and basically have a grand old time.

Even if you're hosting a small crowd, consider hiring or enlisting someone (a bartender, a trustworthy neighborhood college kid, your roommate or SO...) to pitch in with stuff throughout the party: refilling chip bowls, opening bags of ice, fetching empty glasses, and the like. It makes a big difference to have another pair of hands, and another set of eyes watching to be sure things are running smoothly.

5. Decide—and communicate—how strict you're going to be with your party's end time.

Finally, well before you open your door to your first guests, do some thinking about how long you actually want people milling about your house, and let them know what you decide. Don't mind the idea of folks lingering until the wee hours? Say something like, "7 p.m. on" in your invite—and just be prepared for the chance that at least a few people will be refilling their glasses and scraping the last bits off the cheese plate even when your eyelids start to droop.

On the flip side, if you want to be sure guests get the hint that you're not going the Lionel Richie route, make that clear—something like "The drinks will start flowing at 7, with last call at midnight." And then be prepared with a few subtle but firm hints as the witching hour approaches—going into clean-up mode, actually cranking up the Lionel Richie, putting away the booze, what have you—so you don't have to end an awesome evening on a bummer note with folks who just won't leave.

Happiness Is (Drinking with) Other People

Americans are relentless in our pursuit of happiness, and there's been no shortage of books over recent years telling us how to succeed in that pursuit. While most of these books advise us to look inward to find our happy place, Ruth Whippman takes a different tack: true happiness, she says, comes from our interactions with others.

In her book America the Anxious: Why the Pursuit of Happiness Is Driving Us Crazy and How to Find It for Real, Whippman, a Brit now living in the U.S., makes the argument that the self-help books we love so much are leading us astray. In our self-reliant American way, we try to tap into our own inner wellsprings of happiness, but what we should really be doing, Whippman suggests (with studies and research to back her up), is finding our bliss via meaningful relationships with others.

In a recent article in the New York Times, Whippman writes, "[W]hile placing more and more emphasis on seeking happiness within, Americans in general are spending less and less time actually connecting with other people. Nearly half of all meals eaten in this country are now eaten alone. ... The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Time Use Survey shows that the average American now spends less than four minutes a day 'hosting and attending social events,' a category that covers all types of parties and other organized social occasions. That’s 24 hours a year, barely enough to cover Thanksgiving dinner, and your own child’s birthday party."

The antidote? Less time making that attempt at happiness a solo pursuit and more time with others. While there are, of course, endless ways of being with your tribe, I am duty-bound to suggest having folks over for cocktails as one of the best. 

Go wild and have a full-blown cocktail party, complete with hors d'oeuvres and fancy drinks. Text a few friends to come over on Friday for whatever you feel like mixing up, accompanied by some chips and dip. Gather your housemates, set down your phones, and raise a glass. And if you're far from the people you want to have a drink with? Round them up on Skype or Hangouts or FaceTime, grab your drink of choice, and connect with them virtually. 

It doesn't matter how simple or elaborate your gathering is, or whether you're clinking glasses in person or via webcam; what matters is that you gather. These connections, these interactions with others—these, says Ruth Whippman, are the true key to happiness.

Fall Cocktails Call for Fall Glassware

Picture me doing that thing from an old-school cartoon where I go down for a nap, wake up "a few minutes" later, rub the sleep from my eyes, and realize months have passed. That has basically been me this week, slowly coming to the dawning realization that it's late OCTOBER, people, but HOW?! (Also, not so much napping has transpired, alas, though I could sure use some.)

But OK: here were are. Even the Bay Area, which has been clinging hard to summer this year, has given up and started the slide into fall, complete with plunging temps, tumbling leaves, and changes in the light that are both beautiful and a li'l depressing. So let's celebrate the season with some autumnal cocktails, shall we, and some autumnal barware to go along with them.

Cider time!

Pretty much every year, I vow I'll go apple picking, despite the fact that that invariably devolves into "Maybe just picking up some apples from the farmers' market, ha ha...ha. Ha?" But this sweet apple-bedecked set inspires me to pretend that I've spent an afternoon in a sun-dappled orchard. 

Use them for: something that screams APPLES, like Freutcake's Bourbon Maple Apple Cider.

Leaves get the fancy treatment

Back in the day, Libbey made dozens of different types of glasses in this charming-but-classy Golden Foliage pattern. Chances are good your grandparents had Golden Foliage glasses, or maybe your aunt and uncle who always seemed ready to throw a party, or possibly that kindly neighbor who waved you inside from raking leaves to serve you a slice of something sweet and a glug of apple juice in a leaf-bedecked tumbler.

It's your turn now to carry on the Golden Foliage tradition. Why not start with this lovely set?

Use them for: cocktails in other fall hues that play off the warm gold and frosty white, like this gorgeous ruby Pomegranate Bourbon Cocktail from Kelly Carambula.

Harvest time!

Apples are not the only fruit that come on the scene full force in autumn, and dammit, it's time some of those other fruits got their due. Enter these elegant tall glasses, which let pears, grapes, and lemons take the spotlight in gorgeous gold and black, backed by white leaves. Step aside, apples.

Use them for: cocktails or mocktails based on Clean Eating's Vanilla Pear Shrub. Add club soda or ginger beer to keep things booze free; throw in a splash of aged rum or rye to spike it.

You'll find more sweet fall-themed glasses in my shop (along with some spring stuff, if you're a friend in the Southern Hemisphere). Have a favorite seasonal cocktail? Leave a comment and fill me in. 

Bourbon, a Most American of Tipples

Happy 4th of July!

While there are plenty of worthy drinks with which to celebrate Independence Day today—my hat's off to the hundreds of amazing microbrews, wines, and spirits produced in the U.S.—my vote would be for bourbon.

By law, only American whiskey made of at least 51% corn mash can be called bourbon. There can be (and definitely are) excellent whiskies from around the world, but there can't be Japanese, Canadian, or Scottish bourbon. This spirit is uniquely ours.

(That old saw about how bourbon must be from Kentucky? Not true. For a long time, Kentucky was home to many of the largest bourbon distilleries, and it still produces a phenomenal amount of the stuff, but bourbon made in Colorado is just as much bourbon as the liquid gold that comes from the Bluegrass State.)

There are, of course, endless ways to enjoy bourbon, but in the spirit of keeping things simple on this holiday so you can spend more time with family and friends (or, hey, more time lounging around in your pj's—no judgement!), I'd like to offer two deliciously straightforward recommendations: the Boulevardier and the Gold Rush.

Boulevardier

A riff on the classic Negroni, the Boulevardier swaps out gin and replaces it with bourbon for a drink that's a little smoother, a little less herbaceous, and 100% sippable. With its equal parts, the Boulevardier is my favorite kind of drink, as it doesn't require allocating space in my brain for memorizing measurements or ratios.

Shake 1 ounce each bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth over ice, strain into a coupe glass, and raise a toast to the U.S. of A.

Gold Rush

Gold Rush cocktails with Gold West the board game make for a fun old-time California evening.

What sounds like a classic from the days when bartenders sported wax mustaches and arm garters the first time around (that is, the early 1900s) was in fact created by T.J. Siegal for the New York bar Milk & Honey in the mid-2000s. The Gold Rush is another riff on a classic—in this case, the Bee's Knees—and another example of what happens when you replace gin with bourbon. (No hard feelings, gin!)

While there's a bit more effort here—you need to make honey syrup, which basically involves heating equal parts honey and water until the honey melts, and then letting the mixture cool—it's well worth it. The Gold Rush is not only a delicious and refreshing summer drink, it's also easily batchable, so mix up a bunch and enjoy them while watching the skies light up tonight.

3/4 oz. honey syrup (see above)

3/4 oz. lemon juice (fresh squeezed, of course)

2 oz. bourbon

Shake all ingredients with ice and serve over ice in a rocks/Old Fashioned glass with a lemon twist.

Here's to you, bourbon, pride of a nation!

My 2017 Cocktail Resolutions, Part 2: Going Beyond Bourbon

Though my home bar sports a few dozen different bottles—whiskeys, gins, vodkas, brandies, amari, and on down the line—I fully admit that the ones that get emptied fastest are the bourbons (and sometimes the ryes). I make no bones about American whiskey being my spirit of choice, and my knee-jerk cocktail is often bound to be a whiskey sour, a Paper Plane, or a Manhattan.

But woman cannot live on whiskey alone, so my second cocktail resolution this year was to challenge myself to branch out a bit and turn to other types of booze when mixing drinks.

Into Brandyland

As part of my efforts to learn more about brandy (so I could share that knowledge with all of you, natch), I spent some time in that world in February and March, so much of my branching out happened in that particular family tree.

There were Sidecars, of course, and they were predictably delicious, but I also went a bit farther afield.

The Saratoga cocktail from Julie Reiner's The New Cocktail Hour

So, yes: the Saratoga from The New Cocktail Hour by Julie Reiner does in fact have rye in it, but it also has cognac, sweet vermouth, and orange bitters, so I'm totally counting it in my not-just-American-whiskey tally, especially since it was delicious. (I'm sure these charming pressed glass Nick and Nora glasses enhanced the taste even more.)

Andrew Friedman's Bardstown

Next up was the Bardstown cocktail from Seattle bartender and bar owner Andrew Friedman. I picked this one while flipping through the book West Coast Libations because, let me be honest here, it was the drink that required the least effort (no infusions, no emulsions, no special syrups), and for which I had all the ingredients on hand. 

Was one of those ingredients rye? Yes. Yes, it was. You might sense a theme here. But what if I defend myself by noting that this beauty also has applejack, and thus fits with the whole brandy theme?  (Bonus: I served it in one of these classic "bamboo stem" coupes.)

Bardstown

By Andrew Friedman of Liberty Bar, Seattle; from West Coast Libations by Ted Munat

2 oz. Rittenhouse 100-proof rye

1 oz. Laird's applejack

1/2 oz. Cointreau

1 dash orange bitters

1 dash Angostura bitters

Long orange twist, for garnish

Stir all ingredients with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the orange twist.

The A.J. cocktail: just crazy enough to work

I wrapped up my time in Brandytown with a cocktail called the A.J., from Mittie Hellmich's Ultimate Bar Book. The A.J. combines applejack, grapefruit juice, and grenadine, and, on paper, looks suspect at best. (Applejack and grapefruit??) But friends, somehow it works.

Last Stop: Campari

I wish I could tell you that beyond my tinkering with various brandies I got into some truly creative stuff, and finally figured out what to do with that bottle of Ramazzotti, or that crazy-ass coca leaf liqueur my friend Rob gave me for my birthday back in, um, 2011, or that rhubarb liqueur that's been all but untouched for years now. 

In fact, I did none of those things. But I did keep putzing around.

Tequila, let's do this.

On one of the coldest nights we had all winter (yes, that's a relative measure in Northern California, but still), I dusted off my bottle of silver tequila, squeezed a grapefruit, and made Palomas. Tequila is a spirit that has never excited me (and sorry, mezcal, but smoky just isn't my thing), but in the Paloma, I can start to see its appeal.

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day a la Dale DeGroff

St. Patrick's Day here at In Our Cups world HQ involved not green beer (or, in fact, any beer) or terrible shots, but instead a round of Wild Irish Roses, Dale DeGroff's take on the Jack Rose, which subs Irish whiskey for applejack. That bottle of Bushmill's at the back of my bar hadn't seen so much action in years. (Love those Libbey Royal Fern glasses? Find 'em here.)

Tally ho, sbagliato!

Finally, I rounded out March with the Negroni Sbagliato, the "mistaken" version of that classic with Prosecco standing in for the gin. (And check out those charming Libbey Tally Ho lowballs!) If I'm drinking something bitter and bubbly, there's a 99% chance it's an Aperol Spritz, so, hey, double pat on the back for a cocktail that's neither a spritz nor features American whiskey. 

I've got plenty more exploring to do over the coming months—I will open that bottle of falernum! I will figure out something to do with cachaça other than make Caipirinhas! And dammit, Ramazzotti, I'm coming for you. And let's be honest: I didn't actually go way out in left field with most of my cocktailing over these last couple of months. 

But it did feel good to crack open some infrequently used bottles, and to get myself out of my whiskey-first habit for a bit. If you, like me, have neglected bottles hanging around your home bar, I definitely encourage showing them some love.

Booze School: Brandy 101

Class is in session! Welcome to Booze School, a new occasional series dedicated to demystifying spirits, sharing some fun facts, and giving you enough smarts about booze that you're confident in your ability to pick out a bottle or order a glass you'll dig.

Because it's the spirit that most befuddles me, I decided to start with brandy.

OK, What Exactly Is Brandy, Anyway?

There are so many things that fall under the brandy umbrella that, if you're anything like me, it's easy to become baffled by what the spirit actually is. In the most basic terms, brandy is a spirit distilled from fruit, and occasionally from herbs. (And without re-muddying the waters, I also tried a nettle brandy while in Croatia last year, but let's ignore that for now and stick with the fruit thing.)

The most common fruit used in brandy, by a mile, is grapes. Cognac, Armagnac, grappa, pisco, and many American brandies are grape-based. There are some differences in how different grape-ish brandies are distilled (grappa uses the skins, seeds, and stems left over from winemaking, for instance, while pisco, cognac, and Armagnac use grape juice or wine), in the grapes used to make them, and in how they're distilled and aged—hence the vast differences in the end products.

There are plenty of other brandies that rely on other fruits: Armagnac comes from apples, kirsch from cherries, slivovitz from plums, and Hungarian palinka from apricots, to name just a few. I've yet to hear of brandy made from bananas, pineapples, mangos, or other tropical fruits, but otherwise, if it's a fruit, there's a solid chance there's a brandy (or eau de vie, or schnapps, or rakia) made from it.

When Is a Cognac Not a Cognac?

Though the whole world of cognac can get complicated quickly (more on that in a moment), one aspect of it is pretty straightforward: cognac is simply grape-based brandy from the Cognac region of France. In the same way that all Champagnes are sparkling wines, but not all sparkling wines are Champagnes, all cognac is brandy but not all brandies are cognac. 

Same basic deal with Armagnac: it's brandy from a particular area in France, so not every brandy can be called Armagnac, but all Armagnac can be called brandy. Because it is. Capice?

VS, VSOP, XO, WTH?

Unlike other brandies, cognac has a grading system that indicates how long the youngest bit of brandy in each blend has been aged. (Like non-vintage Champagne, cognac from different years is blended, so a barrel of cognac will contain brandy that ranges in age.) Those abbreviations you see on cognac bottles? They tell you things.

• V.S. (Very Special): A cognac blend in which the youngest brandy has been aged for at least two years in an oak cask.
• V.S.O.P (Very Special Old Pale), also sometimes called Reserve: A blend in which the youngest brandy has been cask-aged for at least four years.
• XO (Extra Old) or Napoléon: A blend in which the youngest brandy has been cask-aged for at least ten years. Prior to 2016, the requirement here was six years of aging, so presumably if you were to go out and buy a bottle of XO cognac right now, chances would be decent you'd be buying a six-year, not a ten-year.
•  Hors d'age (Beyond age): The national cognac bureau in France (yes, there's such a thing) officially says that Hors d'age is the same as XO, but in practice, distillers sometimes use it to indicate cognac that's been aged beyond the ten years at which the scale tops off.

There are other bits of potential bafflement on cognac labels, just as there are on many wine labels, but we're sticking with the basics here. Want to nerd out? The Wikipedia entry on cognac is happy to oblige.

How to Drink It

Brandy is delicious in cocktails (but of course); stay tuned for an upcoming blog post in which I dive into that very subject. Perhaps the most famous of this lot is the Sidecar, with cognac, triple sec, and lemon juice, but if you do some digging, especially into older cocktail books, you'll find plenty more.

Some would argue that where brandies—and cognac and Armagnac in particular—really shine is sipped on their own. Do you need brandy snifters, with their big, balloon-like bowls and narrow mouths? Not necessarily. Their shape is designed to warm up the spirit a bit as you hold the snifter in your hand, thereby releasing more of its aromas, and then preventing those aromas from escaping by narrowing the glass toward the top. So while something like a coupe wouldn't be great if you want to sit down and slowly sniff and sip your brandy, a stemless wine glass would totally work. 

There's a delicious and incredibly varied world of brandies out there. Get sipping!

My 2017 Cocktail Resolutions, Part 1: Balance Boozy with Light

I'm not exactly a master of keeping New Year's resolutions (let's not count how many years I've vowed to drink 64 ounces of water a day—though I'm still trying to stick with that one), so I tend not to make many of them.

However, this year I figured I'd try something a bit different: instead of going for the usual, I'd set goals related to cocktails. Hello, motivation! And to keep things even more interesting, my plan is to work on one resolution per month, rather than making a whole batch at the beginning of the year and then having to try to keep them all going at once.

So join me on this year-long adventure of (let's be honest) completely softball goal setting and achieving. First up: lightening up.

Un-Dry January

Many people aim to take a month off from drinking after the holidays, which has spawned the idea of dry January. First of all, were I to lay off the hooch altogether, I'd pick a month without 31 days (hello, sweet 'n' petite February). But second of all, unless I had a compelling medical reason not to drink (or consume carbs, or enjoy chocolate, or start every damn day with coffee), trying to go cold turkey for a full month would just make me feel grumpy and resentful.

However, that doesn't mean there's nothing to be said for taking it a bit easier this month as a way of resetting and rebalancing after the holidays. 

Keeping Level

This tasty sipper is the Apparent Sour from bartender Bobby Heugel. Three ingredients, lots of deliciousness.

Enter The Art of the Shim: Low-Alcohol Drinks to Keep You Level, by Dinah Sanders. Sanders argues that while delicious high-test cocktails—that is, those made from full-proof spirits (whiskey, vodka, gin, etc.)—are delightful, sometimes they're not quite right. Maybe you're having a drink before or after a dinner that includes lots of wine, for example, or maybe you're enjoying some day drinking. In both cases, hitching your wagon to Manhattans may leave you tipsier (and fuller) than you want to be. So, shims to the rescue.

Shims are cocktails made with amari, vermouth, sherry, cordials, or lighter liqueurs that don't pack the same punch as full spirits (think Chartreuse, allspice dram, and the like). These aren't necessarily simpler cocktails than their boozier kin; they're just less alcoholic. As Sanders writes, the goal of a shim is "more drink, less drunk."

Test Run

There are a few dozen recipes in this book, each categorized by Kind (such as Spiritous Dry or Juicy Bubbles), Mood (Spicy & Stimulating, Lively & Cooling), and Era (Prohibition, Years of Reform). They also run the gamut from exceptionally easy to bartender-ly involved (i.e., involving homemade spiced syrups and the like). 

I picked one of the easiest in the book, Bobby Heugel's Apparent Sour, because I had just come off a five-day hellscape of a cold and was feeling lazy. But while the cocktail took only slightly more than zero effort on my part (shake Aperol, St.-Germain, and lime juice; strain; consume), it had a delicious complexity, and, as the name suggests, was pleasantly tart. 

It also had the benefit of not wearing me out as I sipped it while I made dinner. Bonus.

I'm not going to claim I've gone completely without boozy cocktails this month, but it has definitely been nice to take things in a lighter direction for a few weeks. And in the two remaining weeks of January, I have plenty of more complex shims to choose from in Sanders' book. 

It's all in the name of sticking to my goals.

Ask a Bartender: Shane, What Are Some Awesome + Easy Holiday Cocktails?

The end-of-year holidays deserve special drinks, whether you love these celebrations and festivities and want to drink in their honor or whether you simply want something delicious to sip as you curl up away from the world and wait for the season to pass.

To get some ideas on interesting takes on holiday drinks that go beyond the ordinary but aren't complicated or labor intensive—because, c'mon, you've probably got enough to—I turned once again to my pal, bartender extraordinaire Shane Hobart. (And in case you missed my first post about Shane, in which we chat about all things shrubs, you can find it here.)

Emily: So, Shane, it's what some people consider "the most wonderful time of the year" (though, really, total darkness around 5 p.m. is definitely NOT wonderful). What's your favorite thing to drink around the holidays? And what's your favorite drink to serve?

Shane: Agreed, certainly not the most wonderful time for fresh, seasonal drinks, but there is always fun to be had! Spring, summer, and early fall are such easy times for drink specials—I can simply pop into the local market and see what was picked that day. Now things aren't quite as easy. It's a good time to get back to simple classics, like my favorite, a well made 3-1 rye Manhattan with Antica Formula vermouth (stirred of course!) and brandied cherries. We are also running a barrel-aged Manhattan at the restaurant, which is fun and a great display.

I also like to use shrubs, syrups, and reductions when fresh items are limited. A few of the drinks that I have run recently are a cider Old Fashioned, a cranberry mule, and an apple Sidecar. I also really like one of my bartender friend and coworker Michael's drinks, which he calls Winter Dreams. It's a fruity yet elegant combination of vodka, pomegranate juice, St. Germain, and sparkling wine.

In case you've been wondering what a midcentury Scandinavian Christmas angel looks like, these rocks glasses have the answer.

Emily: Wow—those all sound pretty delicious. I can definitely imagine sitting down with one (or, fine, a few) of those and escaping from the holiday craziness for a while.

Tell me more about the cranberry mule. What is a mule, anyway, and is it related to a buck (like the Kentucky Buck)?

Shane: The cranberry mule is a variation on a Moscow Mule, which is really just a vodka buck in a fancy copper mug! So basically a buck is just any base spirit, with citrus, and either ginger beer or ginger ale. Apparently no one knows definitively why it was called a buck, but it was possibly due to the "kick" of ginger beer. As for the Moscow Mule variation, the story goes that it was created at a bar in LA in the 1940's. Allegedly a bartender was helping a vodka salesman, a ginger beer salesman, and another trying to sell copper mugs, by using the three together. Though it's hard to imagine in our Tito's crazed world, vodka was not embraced in America for some time. The Moscow Mule helped make it more appealing to consumers.

As for my spin on the classic, I made a cranberry simple syrup using a few bags of fresh cranberries and equal parts water and sugar. I bring the cranberries and water to a boil and then add the sugar and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Then I gently mash the cranberries a bit to extract more of the juice, and strain out the solids and leave it out until cool. After that it can be kept in the fridge for several weeks and may need to be double-strained if you plan to use it from a bottle with a speed pourer.

For the drink, I use two ounces of Grey Goose, half an ounce each of the syrup and fresh lime juice, and then top it off in a tall glass with Regatta ginger beer. I like functional garnishes, so I do a little triangle of lime, but I suppose you could do something fun with cranberries. A piece of crystallized ginger works well too!

Let's hope one of those boxes under the tree contains some vintage cocktail glasses.

Emily: That sounds delicious, and it also sounds like a drink that would be a cinch to make once you've got the syrup on hand. I can totally see making a batch of these to serve at a party: they're seasonal and a little bit fancy, but also easy enough to whip up in larger quantities, which is always a good thing when you're hosting.

On that subject, are there other batch-able drinks you'd recommend that have some holiday pizzaz but, like your cranberry mule, don't require tons of ingredients or lots of work?

Shane: You can't go wrong with a big batch of Sangria, red or white. It is really forgiving and allows you to customize as you like; such as with St. Germain, your favorite juices, spices, or liqueurs. All you really need is a decent wine, a spirit such as orange liqueur or creme de cassis, some nice fresh squeezed citrus juices, and maybe a bit of soda or sparkling wine.

I think it could easily be made a bit more elegant and seasonal as well, by adding a cranberry liqueur, a rosemary or cinnamon simple syrup, or maybe some Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur. These are just some ideas, but I think it can be really simple as well, such as a nice rosé champagne. As I mentioned in our last discussion, I like to start with one ingredient I want to use, say rosemary, and then go from there. I look it up in my Flavor Bible to see what it pairs well with, search the internet for drinks that come up, and then start trying ideas out. And remember, always test out recipes you find online, as that are often not as good as they sound, and don't be afraid to tweak them to your liking!

Seasons greetings, seasons drinking...

Emily: Ooh—white sangria with rosemary simple syrup as an extra hit of flavor sounds like it would be awesome. I may have to give that a try!

One final question for you: if you could ask for a bottle of something special for Christmas, what would it be? 

Shane: I would ask for a bottle of 8-year, cask strength, single barrel Willett rye. It's hard to come by, but I have loved every Willett rye I've tried. And since it is overproof, it is also the base I would want to have a drink made from. I love the strong stuff made into a Manhattan! The vermouth, bitters, and gentle stirring temper the heat, while highlighting the best aspects of the whiskey.

But since that stuff is over $100, when you can find it, I would also be happy with a bottle of Uncle Val's gin. It is a product out of Oregon, and the "Botanical" offering is so floral and smooth that it almost tastes like a classic martini with vermouth, already mixed and ready to go! Another great bottle, and also perhaps a crossover spirit from bourbon to scotch, is Aberlour A'bunadh, a scotch aged in sherry casks. 

It's a great time to be a spirit and cocktail lover, with so many high quality options from around the world. Cheers and safe and a happy holiday season to all!

---

Thanks to Shane for sharing his holiday cocktail tips and ideas. And Shane, I hope Santa brings you at least one of those bottles on your list!

Ready for a super-simple, super-delicious, beautifully festive holiday cocktail? Shane's cranberry mule is the way to go. The only part that really takes any effort is the syrup, and even that is basically just putting stuff in a pan and letting it cook for a few minutes. Once that's out of the way, you're ready to mix these things up individually or in batches, and the syrup will keep for a couple of weeks in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.

Cranberry Mule

Recipe courtesy of Shane Hobart

Cranberry Simple Syrup

1 bag cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Cocktail

2 oz. vodka (Shane uses Grey Goose) 

1/2 oz. cranberry simple syrup

1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

Ginger beer (Shane uses Regatta)

Make the syrup: Bring the cranberries and water to a boil. Stir in the sugar, lower heat, and let simmer for about 20 minutes. (The cranberries may pop as they cook, but that's a good thing, as they'll add more flavor to the syrup.) Remove from heat and gently mash cranberries. Strain through a sieve into a clean container to remove solids. Let cool. If you don't use all the syrup immediately, store it in a sealed container in the fridge.

Make the cocktail: Shake vodka, syrup, and lime juice with ice. Strain over ice into a highball glass. Top with ginger beer and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a lime wedge, cranberries, a chunk of candied ginger, or some combination of all three. Because why not? It's the holidays.

May your days be merry and bright, and may all your cocktails be this delicious. Happy Holidays!

It's Tom & Jerry Time (and Nope, Not the Warring Animals)

A handful of years back, in Boston on the day before Christmas Eve, I ended a day of shopping with a trip to No. 9 Park for a few drinks and a bite at the bar. There in front of the impressive array of bottles on display was a bowl much like the one above, with "Tom & Jerry" spelled out in fancy gold letters, along with matching mugs.

I watched in "What the hell..?" fascination as the bartender scooped some batter from the bowl, added something hot and something boozy, and wound up with a mug of steaming deliciousness that smelled for all the world like a cross between Christmas cookies and eggnog.

That was my first introduction to Tom & Jerry, a seasonal nog-like drink that used to be hugely popular, fell out of fashion in all but the Midwest (Wisconsin especially), and is now enjoying something of a renaissance. 

Friends, Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and it's time to get on the freaking Tom & Jerry train.

Made in Czechoslovakia back in the day, these mugs are mod and adorable.

Did I Mention We're Not Talking About the Cartoon?

You're not alone if you hear "Tom & Jerry" and immediately think of that (frankly kind of terrifying, no?) cartoon that launched a thousand "Itchy & Scratchy"s. But this drink has precisely zip to do with the cat and mouse who are out for each other's blood; instead, it was likely named after characters in a novel by Pierce Egan, a British writer in the 1800s.

What did they have to do with this concoction? That's a mystery to me, but it still makes more sense than the animals. (Check out this article for more background, including some educated guesses as to the drink's unflagging popularity in America's Dairyland.)

This set + "It's a Wonderful Life" = pure delight

So What's in It?

There's a reason Tom & Jerry is generally limited to the holidays, and that reason is its rich, delicious ingredients list: eggs, sugar, cream or milk, brandy, and, what the heck, some rum for good measure. If you've ever made egg nog from scratch, you know it's well worth it, and you also know it's basically drinking liquid custard ice cream base. A little goes a long way.

But hey, it's the holidays, and there's much to be said for taking the time to make an admittedly labor-intensive and fantastically re-toxing drink like Tom & Jerry. Robert Simonson has a delicious version over at the NY Times, with some interesting extras like vanilla extract, a smidge of rum in the batter, and a couple dashes of Angostura bitters.

So go for it: no regrets, no retreat, no surrender. Whip up a batch, bring out the Tom & Jerry set, and gather some friends (and some cookies) for a sweet evening of cheer.

And should you find yourself without an amazing midcentury Tom & Jerry bowl and/or mugs? I've got you covered. Pop on over to the Holiday Barware section of my shop for several options, along with some other damn charming seasonal glasses.

Fill 'em up!

My Thanksgiving Drinks Plan

I considered traveling for Thanksgiving for about a New York minute, then promptly reconsidered and decided to host a potluck Friendsgiving for any of our peeps in the Bay Area who are also sticking close to home. Yes, I have to clean the house and make sure we're well stocked with enough plates, silverware, and glassware (um, not really an issue on that last one), and I'll be cooking a few things, but the potluck-ish-ness of this feast means the entirety of the meal doesn't fall on me. 

In the spirit of keeping things simple and low-stress, I'm also keeping the liquid part of tomorrow's menu straightforward and unfancy. Here's what's on tap.

Booze-less Options

We'll have a handful of kids joining us for Thanksgiving, but even if we didn't, I'd plan some fun stuff that doesn't have alcohol in it, because it sucks to be the person who's not drinking for whatever reason and has only water or milk to choose from. 

I always keep a stash of interesting soft drinks on hand (holla, San Pelligrino!), so those will come out, along with sparkling water with "spikers" like lemon and lime juices and simple syrup. But the centerpiece will be this Sparkling Apple Cider Punch from Liz DellaCroce of the Lemon Bowl. Will there be a bottle of bourbon next to the punch bowl for those who want to go that route? Yup huh. I'm all about choices.

Wine and Beer

I'll have a couple bottles of wine on hand (because I always do), but in general, I'm leaving this category up to my guests. I generally try to have one bottle of red and one bottle of white at the ready when things kick off, just in case the person responsible for bringing more of either of those gets stuck in traffic, but beyond that, my friends will decide where we go on our wine journey.

And to round things out, the friend who knows the most about beer (and also happens to be German) will bring a 6-pack or two for those who want to go with brew tomorrow.

Cocktails

Thanksgiving is not the time for me to hang out behind the bar mixing drinks, but I'm also kind of constitutionally incapable of having a party of any kind that doesn't include at least a few cocktails. So in addition to the spikeable punch, I'm going to put out the makings and recipes for a couple of dead-simple drinks that guests can make themselves:

The Paper Plane: equal parts bourbon, Aperol, Nonino, and lemon juice, and 100% delicious

• Sam Ross' classic Paper Plane, with equal parts bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice
• The Applejack Old Fashioned from Julie Reiner, which replaces rye with applejack and sugar with maple syrup, and is basically autumn in a glass.

After-Dinner Drinks

Is there any meal that calls out for after-dinner drinks as much as Thanksgiving dinner? I'm gonna say no—which is why tomorrow will be the time when I pull out from my bar everything that's a dessert wine, a cordial, a liqueur, a digestif, or an amaro and let everyone choose their own adventure. There will also be tea, coffee, and hot chocolate for the non-tipplers, those whose livers start to cry uncle, or those who just want to mix things up a bit. 

---

2016 has been a doozy for many folks, so I'm even more excited than usual to be able to bring together a bunch of people I dig for a day of eating, drinking, talking, laughing, and generally being reminded that there's still plenty of awesome in the world. However you're celebrating tomorrow, I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving and plenty to be grateful for in the year ahead!

Ask a Bartender: Shane, What's the Deal with Shrubs?

As one of my brother's closest friends in high school, it was Shane Hobart's part-time job to serve as a member of the crew that delighted in annoying me, the younger sister. Luckily, we've both come a long way since those days, and I now find Shane not just tolerable, but in fact really awesome. 

In addition to being a stand-up human being, Shane is a professional bartender, so I figured I'd tap into his smarts and share them with you here. I happened to notice a photo he posted to Facebook featuring a jar of homemade shrubs he was making, so I roped him into giving me the lowdown. We also chatted about how he got into bartending in the first place, the home bar tool he can't live without, and what he'd serve for a boozy Thanksgiving.

Emily: So, Shane. You served in the Marines, you worked in restaurants...how did you make your way to bartending?

Shane: Good question! It certainly wasn't by design, although it almost makes sense if I look back from where I find myself currently. I did in fact start my adult life with a five-year enlistment in the Marine Corps, which is a story that definitely requires a Manhattan, but it provided what I've come to understand is an invaluable foundation for just about any subsequent path in life.

Along the way, I have also tried to balance my desires for a relatively simple life, an alternative to the traditional "rat race," a love of free time, a desire to pursue some academic goals, and the practical fact that I have been in and out of restaurants since I was 13.

So if I look back with some creativity, I can roughly detect one of many conceivable paths to bartending! Join the military, start a family, read Walden, go to school for teaching, work your way up the restaurant food chain (pun not intended, but why not!), and you might just find yourself in my shoes. I guess it's just one possible outcome of following your heart in life while simultaneously staying true to a plan of not having a plan.

Emily: I love it! So, how does your approach differ when you're bartending at work vs. making drinks for yourself and Tashique {Shane's wife} at home? Do you tend to play things a bit safer at the restaurant and then do your experimentation and off-roading at home? Or do you hew to a few classics at home and keep the experimental stuff at work?

Shane: That's one of the best things about bartending as opposed to serving: the creative outlet! It can be intimidating and you have to have a thick skin sometimes, especially when a customer doesn't like a drink you put a lot of thought and effort into. Although I tend to stick to twists on classics and focus on the most seasonal ingredients, I always wish that I had more time and product for experimentation.

As far as at home, I have a limited inventory right now: a bottle of gin, a rye, a vermouth, Campari, some orange bitters, and a mango vodka for Tashique. I have tried drinks out at home in the past, but it's much easier to make a fully stocked bar your laboratory if at all possible. It's also true that after making drinks all night, many bartenders are perfectly happy to sit down and enjoy a whiskey neat!

It's also essential to taste everything that might make sense conceptually, our sound cool in theory. So many things sound good on paper but fail horribly in reality. I like to start with a single ingredient that I want to work with, and go from there. Then I'll often consult my favorite bar book that's not a bar book, The Flavor Bible, and see what other ingredients pair well with it. From there I use my knowledge of classic drinks and some proven standard proportions (as explained well in Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology) and start testing.

Emily: Very cool. I always love being able to sit at a bar, tell the bartender what spirits and flavors I like, and then leave myself in his or her hands and see what drink I wind up with. I did that recently at an awesome bar in LA and ended up getting one of the best cocktails I've had in a long time.

So, even though you report keeping things pretty simple at home, I know you're doing at least some off-roading, as I saw the photo of pear shrub in the making you posted recently. Give me the lowdown: what's up with shrubs? What are they, and how do you use them?

Ready, set...shrub

Shane: Shrubs are something I have been late to the game discovering, but that in many respects fit right into my drink philosophy. They date back to ancient times, as a means of preserving fruit and also making water safe to drink. They are simply a combination of fruit, sugar, and vinegar. They're efficient, as they offer a purpose for less-than-ideal fruit, and they have a relatively long shelf life, making them ideal for the transition into winter.

I'm still experimenting with what works best, but the recipe I like {see below} calls for chopping the fruit of your choice, mixing it with sugar for 24 hours, then adding vinegar and mixing for another 24 hours. Even if the shrub is a bit edgy, use in a cocktail offers ample freedom to balance it out.

Emily: I've also heard that shrubs are full of beneficial bacteria, thanks to the vinegar, so that's yet another reason to love them. And it sounds like you can basically use whatever fruit you have available, yes? (Though maybe not citrus fruits, as citrus + vinegar could potentially hurt.) A cranberry shrub would be awesome as the base of a Thanksgiving cocktail, for example.

Shane: Yes, you can use any fruit. Some fruits, like the pears I did, don't yield as much liquid as others. Herbs and other spices can be added, too, though I prefer to simply use the fruit and then add other flavors later in cocktail form. 

Shrub recipes and procedures vary somewhat. I would say that with juicy fruits or berries, equal parts fruit, sugar, and the vinegar of your choice should be fine.

Just add vinegar

Emily: OK, two last questions for you. First, what's the one tool or supply you think every home bartender should have? And second, what will you be sipping on Thanksgiving this year—before, during, and after the meal?

Shane: I think every home bartender should invest in a good, functional jigger. Consistency is so important. How can you work on a drink if you don't know exactly what's in it? I've worked with bartenders who think measuring is only for amateurs, and it's always funny to me when their drinks get sent back. Sure, master bartenders can pour an exact half ounce every time, but I still believe that measuring is part of professionalism. I think most people are comforted seeing bartenders measure, just as they are comforted seeing their server write down their order. But for home, it's a must. I use a double-sided, Japanese style jigger by Cocktail Kingdom.

As for my Thanksgiving plans, Tashique and I usually go to her Mom's house. It is a Jamaican household and they are not big drinkers overall. I usually volunteer to bring wine, and bring sweeter and fruitier wines for them and some drier ones for the Mrs and me. I enjoy bringing something slightly off the beaten path yet still approachable, like a nice gewürztraminer and a fun new world jammy red blend. But if I were planning a more boozy affair, I love starting with a bubbly concoction (maybe using your cranberry shrub idea), maybe a nice cru Beaujolais with dinner, and a nice port or cognac for dessert!

---

Giant thanks to Shane for sharing his insights and his smarts. If you find yourself in Madison, Connecticut, go pay Shane a visit at Bar Bouchée, where he'll mix you up something delightful.

Ready to get on the shrub train? Here's Shane's recipe for pear shrub, along with a delicious cocktail to use it in.

Shane's Pear Shrub

Shake, wait, repeat.

Core and chop your pears of choice. Add them to a clean, sealable glass container, such as the mason jar in the photos here. Add about 1/2 cup sugar for every 2 cups of chopped pears. Give the mixture a shake when you first add the sugar, and then again every few hours.

After 24 hours, add about 1/2 cup vinegar for every 2 cups of pears you used. (I used apple cider for this one, thinking the apple and pear combo made sense, but champagne vinegar should work fine, too.) Follow the same shake-every-few-hours procedure you did with the sugar. After another 24 hours, strain out the fruit and transfer the shrub to a clean, sealable glass container. The shrub will be fine for several weeks in the fridge. Use it in cocktails or with sparkling water to make a shrub soda, a fun non-alcoholic option!

Pear Shrub Martini

2 ounces Maker's Mark bourbon

1 ounce pear shrub

1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and serve—with a slice of pear to garnish, if you're so inclined.

Read This: The New Cocktail Hour by André Darlington + Tenaya Darlington

Although I consider myself a fairly skilled home cook, one of my favorite cookbooks is Keys to the Kitchen by Aida Mollencamp, which, although aimed first at people who are just learning their way around the kitchen, has plenty to recommend it for those of us who've been cooking for years. Mollencamp covers the basics, serves up straightforward (but never boring) recipes, and then explains how to build and riff on them.

I get the same vibe from the awesome and accessible The New Cocktail Hour: The Essential Guide to Hand-Crafted Drinks, by brother-and-sister duo André and Tenaya Darlington. The driving force behind the book is the desire to make the idea of mixing up your own craft cocktails at home an appealing and approachable one, whether you're starting from scratch with the three basic bottles the authors recommend or already have a fair amount of experience as a home bartender.

A little education to go along with your tipple

The first part of the book is divided chronologically, with recipes for classics from the earliest days of the cocktail (think cobblers and crustas) through the modern day, followed by a section dedicated to seasonal and thematic cocktails—tiki drinks, Champagne-based drinks, and dessert drinks, for example.

Once they've covered the cocktails, the Darlingtons move on to recipes for mixers and accompaniments—from simple syrup to, kid you not, méthode Champenoise ginger beer. Don't want to brew your own ginger beer? No worries: they recommend their favorites that require no more work than popping a cap, and also include comprehensive notes on what to look for in all kinds of spirits, with their brand suggestions for each.

You're getting thirsty...

If I had to pick the one thing I like best about The New Cocktail Hour, I'd say, Nope: can't choose just one. Here are two: I love the fact that each recipe includes a flavor profile, a la wine tasting notes, and I also love the interesting, fun, and fact-filled intro to each recipe. I read this book as my bedtime story for several weeks, so awesome and engaging was it. (Also? So much more cheerful than the bedtime book I'm currently reading about Soviet prison camps.) 

Whether you're new to mixing drinks at home or are an old hand who's ready to try new things, The New Cocktail Hour has a lot to recommend it. And if you'll forgive me for raising the specter of the holidays already, I'll just say that it—perhaps along with, oh, I don't know, some amazing vintage cocktail ware—would make a seriously fantastic gift for your fave cocktail lover. 

Raise a Glass

Earlier this year, I had friends over for a mid-afternoon party in honor of a pal who'd recently gotten a new job. The dining room table was crowded with a crazy array of food people had contributed to the potluck lunch. Edith Piaf's Greatest Hits were on the stereo. 

Drink-wise, the festivities started out classy, with Martinis and a batch of subtle and delicious cocktails that featured brandy and homemade grenadine, courtesy of my friend Kam, then went rapidly and precipitously downhill when I dug out a bottle of Watermelon Pucker from the back of my bar and dared anyone brave enough to take a swig. (The verdict: liquid Jolly Ranchers mixed with general perplexedness at the existence of said bottle in my possession the first place. Let's not talk about it.)

We ate and drank and listened to "Padam" and "C'est Toi" and talked and gossiped and laughed. It was a simple and unfancy and utterly delightful afternoon, and it was roughly a million times better than just wishing Geri well at her new gig via Facebook. 

Our highly connected modern lives are amazing—I love being able to stay in touch with friends across the country and around the world with a few clicks—but would I rather be able to catch up with my people over drinks in my living room than through email or texts or social media? Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.

Yes, makers of midcentury glassware, we get it: cockTAIL.

At their best, cocktails bring people together, and, at the risk of going all manifesto-y on you, I gotta say that I'm pretty sure that's what we need more of right now. (Cue that Carpenters song.) You can of course enjoy that togetherness at a bar, but there's also so much to be said for inviting the people you dig into your home. 

I started In Our Cups to indulge two of my great loves: seeking out amazing vintage cocktail ware, and then letting that cocktail ware inspire me to have people over. Sometimes I get all fancy, with carefully chosen drinks and themed appetizer spreads, and sometimes—well, sometimes I force Watermelon Pucker on my friends when they least expect it. 

But the point isn't the fanciness, or the lack thereof: it's the people, and the music, and the laughter, and the gossip. It's the temporary setting aside of phones and talking face-to-face, no software required.

Raise a glass with me, won't you? Raise a glass to opening your home, welcoming your friends, and being together. There's nothing else quite like it.