Build-a-Bar

Drinking in is the new drinking out, so stock your home like a cocktail champ.

by Felicia D'Ambrosio

Felicia D'Ambrosio THE USUAL SUSPECTS: Putting together a home bar may seem like a daunting task, but it becomes much easier once you realize what you like — and what you're looking for.

[ mixology ]

If going out drinking is a sport, then it is a young person's game. From getting shoved out of the way by harried servers to feeling wallet-checked by the final tab, painting the town red can leave you a bit bloody. That's why you should try stocking your home with the spirits and mixers that grease the wheels of social interaction, and invite friends in, rather than out.

Assembling the elements of a home bar doesn't have to be difficult — especially when you start with the "three-cocktail" approach, a method long endorsed by drinks writers.

Take note of three individual cocktails you enjoy drinking in bars, and research their ingredients. Becoming familiar with the liqueurs and mixers that make up your favorites will expand your repertoire and hone your mixing skills. (Check out cocktailchronicles.com and thecocktailguru.wordpress.com for inspiration and recipes.)

Now that you're armed with the knowledge to mix with alacrity, you can go shopping. Head to your state store to pick up the fundamentals: one bottle each of vodka, gin, rum, tequila, whiskey (bourbon, rye or blended Scotch), triple sec, bitters and sweet and dry vermouth. This array allows you to satisfy any guest's basic request for a highball, a base spirit plus a mixer like juice, water or soda. (Buy mixers in small bottles to avoid waste.) Keeping lemons, limes and oranges in the fridge, along with olives and maraschino cherries, will complete the basic set-up.

When purchasing spirits, remember that the most expensive brand is not necessarily the best choice, especially for the purpose of mixing. Top-shelf booze is best sipped "neat" (right out of the bottle) or on the rocks, where flavor is most apparent. Taste several choices neat, before committing, to get an idea of their flavor profiles — especially if you're the type who stays loyal to a single liquor brand with every drink order.

In an article for the Jewish Exponent, Katie Loeb, head bartender at Oyster House (1516 Sansom St.), suggests visiting a bar to taste through spirits before settling on a bottle for the home. "If you always order a Tanqueray and tonic, try Bombay or Beefeater instead," writes Loeb. "Or perhaps taste one of the new-generation gins like Hendrick's or Bluecoat ... . The other alternative is to buy mini-bottles at your local liquor store and give them a try at home."

Though vodka earns sneers from aficionados for its lack of flavor, there's no denying its popularity. That's why it shouldn't be overlooked. "Different base elements create mouthfeel rather than flavor," says Preston Eckman, beverage manager at APO Bar + Lounge (102 S. 13th St.), of the spirit. "Potato vodkas are sweeter and creamier. Winter wheat and other grain vodkas are softer and mellower on the palate, while rye vodkas are more robust, with a sharp, almost spicy, mouthfeel."

Those who enjoy the neutral canvas of vodka might try a home infusion with fresh or dried fruits, herbs, tea or even hard candy. Though the timing varies from ingredient to ingredient, basically all you have to do to create an infusion is soak your flavoring element in the liquor for at least 24 hours. Eckman offers the method for the grapefruit-peel infusion that was featured on APO's fall cocktail menu: "Peel the zest from one grapefruit, leaving the white pith behind, and add it to one 750 ml bottle of vodka. Let that stand in a cool, dark place for 24 hours, then strain."

On to brown liquors. Malt Advocate managing editor Lew Bryson suggests avoiding the bottom shelf when it comes to whiskey. "If you're setting up a first-time home bar, get Johnnie Walker Black," says Bryson. "Don't go cheaper. JWB is a solid blended Scotch, it's a step up, and you can have a rewarding session just sipping it neat or on the rocks."

As for other brown liquors, the old adage "bourbon is for sipping and rye for blending" is good advice. Bryson's maxim on skipping the bottom shelf applies here, as well — Bulleit, Maker's Mark and Jim Beam Black are all impressive enough to make juleps and Manhattans without demolishing your budget.

Sweet (Italian) and dry (French) vermouths are one of the original elements of classic cocktails. Noilly Prat and Dolin dry vermouths add complex flavor to drinks. The best sweet vermouths, like Carpano's Punt E Mes and Antica Formula, are delectable enough to sip on the rocks. Keith Raimondi of Village Whiskey (118 S. 20th St.) reminds us to keep low-proof, wine-based vermouths tightly capped in the refrigerator, as they spoil quickly.

Now that the liquid essentials are stocked, visit Economy Restaurant Supply (69 N. Second St.) to pick up tools at wholesale prices. Most pros use a Boston shaker set consisting of large 30-ounce and small 16-ounce shaker tins — filling the larger tin with ice and adding ingredients is how most cocktails begin. Invert the small shaker into the large and shake until the whole thing is too cold to hold. Filter chilled drinks with a springy Hawthorne strainer that fits neatly inside the tin.

Besides tins and strainers, a muddler is fun to have around, as it allows you to mash herbs, fruits and other flavoring elements into your drinks — you can't make a mojito without one, though the handle of a wooden spoon works in a pinch. Purists should pick up a spiral-handled bar spoon to prepare all-alcohol drinks, which are traditionally stirred — that's because shaking spirits alone can introduce thousands of tiny bubbles that result in a diluted, opaque-looking drink ("bruised" liquor). A $1 peeler is critical for making citrus twists, and measuring jiggers keep your proportions correct. Short "rocks" glasses and tall "Collins" glasses round out drinking ware.

Those interested in adding aesthetic value to their bar should check out Philadelphia designer Josh Owen's Cube Jigger, a six-sided measuring tool that integrates the most common bar measurements in one elegant cast aluminum piece. The award-winning cube is $25 at Portfolio, the museum store at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

(felicia.dambrosio@citypaper.net)