How to Start your Home Bar | How to Drink
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
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This video is my baseline thoughts on all the things you need, and don't need, to get your home bar started. I'll talk about which bottles to buy, which not to buy- but more importantly about the approach you should sue in collecting bottles. I'll talk about what gear to buy when starting out, which books I like, I'll talk about ice. In short, all the questions I get asked the most, in one video. Sorry to say there's no drink in here.
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Shelby Benton
Dennis Groome
Ryan Wolfe
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Whiskey Tribe
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Directed by: Greg
Edited by: Rachel Ambelang & Greg
Produced by: Meredith Engstrom & Stefano Pennisi & Greg
Cinematography by: Greg
Created by: Greg
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I needed this video so bad
this video was truly awesome! i can't wait for the next one :)
Just started watching your channel and man you do a great job, most relatable and understandable cocktail/bar videos I have seen
Very helpful. Thanks so much!
Yeeess my good man. been waiting for a vid like this. Lasgooo 💪💪💪
Instructions Unclear. I now own multiple taverns across Kentucky
Task failed successfully
You used the wrong ingredients, but got the right recipe.
Didn't know Justified was coming back!
I’m from Kentucky ✊🏼✊🏼
Not agin Gerald for fucks sake
One of the best times I ever had and one of the best things I ever did on the whole bucket list of things was to run "my own" bar. When I was stationed on the Sinai peninsula of Egypt supporting the MFO each contingent was allowed to have it's own bar. Our contingent was considerably smaller than many of the others (12 people total) who had large stateside equivalent type bars (compared to 100 or so people). We had a small "patio bar". In a pinch we could probably squeeze in 20-30 people tops elbow to elbow but generally only had about 10 or so people at a time and we only opened on the weekends and kept a quiet laid back more "exclusive" less frequented speak easy kind of a place. Prices were fixed by the command at $1 a beer or mixed drink and we weren't allowed to operate "for profit". Basically just enough to pay operating costs and to fund morale activities like plaques and cookouts and such. Tradition was that the newest person there who wanted to started off "working" (no pay) at the bar and eventually took over when the current person left (generally a 6 month stint). Because of messed up paperwork with my replacement I ended up staying in country for an additional 6 months. So I ran, tended, bar backed, and managed a 1 man show for closer to 12 months. Because we were a small, quiet, less "party" type bar I was able to carry a small amount of a lot of different beers and liquor as opposed to slinging cases and cases of MGD. It was an amazing time and I loved every minute of it and would do it again in an instant.
Sounds wonderful!
I was literally just sitting here thinking about this subject as we speak. Perfect timing. Lol
Same, oddly enough
my 21st is in 8 days, the best timing
I literally was talking to friends yesterday about making cocktails at home because we can't go out and get them anywhere right now. After work I went out and picked up bourbon, simple syrup, peychaud bitters, a jigger, a bar spoon, and a set of large ice molds. It's a start, but at least I can make a killer old fashioned now.
Well i got a few bottles of whisky and rum. So I got that going for me, which is fine
That's the best feeling
I like what you said about buying what you like to drink, this is the same advice given to me last year when i wanted to start a small home bar. I like Black and white Russians, so i started with vodka and Kahlua, and from there i found recipes for Dirty Girl Scout (freakin' yum by the way) and Canadian Duck Fart (sounds gross but good) and went out and bought what i needed for those. So in the long run I'm building on recipes instead of just sinking a bunch of money into bottes i may never use. I've also been making my own 1 gallon batches of beer and wine for years which adds in some nice additions to the little home bar that could.
Thanks for the videos and the work you put into them, you have a lot of recipes i NEED to try.
Love that you're a fellow role player! I have table topped, larped, posted on forums, and am now on SL. You should check it out some time if you haven't already. All the perks of tabletop and LARP and none of the drawbacks, plus a few other bonuses.
I'm a fan of this program even though I don't like alcohol, the info is fun and well delivered. I'm also a fan of that lovely Yashica camera on you background shelf, I have one myself and have run 6 or so rolls of film through it and still have yet to take a decent picture with it.
I use an integrated strainer however, it is a 3 in one tin, strainer and measuring jigger.
They've held up for 3 years no problem. The only issue I can see happening is if you're new to shaking a cocktail.
Love the video. The one thing that I thought was missing was talking about glassware. I basically make everything in whiskey glasses, but it would be nice if you could go through a video talking about "essential" glassware, and then "superfluous" glassware, or "nice to have" stuff. I've been working on my home bar for about 2.5 years, and I still found this valuable.
Virtually any cocktail can be made on the rocks, and therefore will use a glass that is functionally identical to the one you use for milk or OJ with breakfast.
If you want to put in a touch more effort than that, it'll depend on which cocktail you want to pursue first. In a more general sense, if they're not in the rocks glass, they're probably in the martini glass or coupe glass. That trifecta (martini, coupe, rocks) would be my layman's recommendation, in the absence of any knowledge of your preferences.
Lovely video. The only thing I'll disagree on is to boil/not boil water for using the directional freezing method to make clear ice. I've found that regardless of the water source boiling it greatly AIDS in ending up with much clearer ice blocks. I'm sure there are a ton of variables and maybe it's just my setup and or method but that's what I found doing it both ways multiple times.
I normally make a 1.5 to 1 simple syrup and swish around 0.25oz 100proof vodka in the bottle before filling it up. I use it for my iced tea as well as drinks. I've had it in the fridge over a month with no sign of growth.
Have considered creating my own "bar." We usually have Long Island Iced tea and margaritas. The wife prefers the latter. This is amazing you did this
Instead of boiling water, I just keep a tiny bottle of Cruzan 151 on hand that I use to rinse my bottles just before pouring in my syrups. Hand sanitizer is only 120 proof, so I figure the 151 should do a pretty good job of sterilization.
Hey you passed a million subscribers, congrats! Thanks for your content
Would love a show about basics. Thanks for the information.
I remember the first time I tried cracking a big cube of ice with my bar spoon I was shocked at how easily it did so. And how little force I needed to use to get it to do so.
me building a bar: light rum, gold rum, dark jamaican rum, overproof rum, spiced rum, cane syrup, grenadine, orgeat, passion fruit syrup, raspberry syrup, cinnamon syrup, falernum, maraschino, triple sec, blue curacao, apricot brandy, angostura aromatic, banana liqueur, galliano, campari, absinth, and a shelf stuffed with limes, plus a couple of oranges and grapefruits 😂 covers some 15 cocktails that i know of
Great show, this content was so legit! More videos like this, maybe with a drink or two for you while your talking, would be really cool. I like your idea of certain techniques.
Excellent vid, Greg! Being an ex-brewer, I use Iodine based products to sanitize my juice and syrup bottles.
I'm glad you made this video. Any advice to take this on the go and make cash cause ya know covid.
My beginner self with no shaker uses reusable togo coffee mugs. LOL still avoiding the unavoidable addition over here.
Oh my God. This is great! Thank you so much!!
I think my books would be Imbibe and Smuggler's Cove.
my one bottle bar is Christian Brothers Brandy.
Basics with Greg? Is that stealing content? Idk but I’m all for it
One warning about simple syrup, I left the shot pourer in the bottle and ants found their way in and drowned, so always replace the lid!!
Oh yeah, that’s part of a reason I quit using them. Also a drawback of the fancy dasher bottles. Eh- adds character to it
I'm watching this in bed at 5.30 am while recovering from covid in self-isolation. I'm 18, drinking age here is 21 and my parents don't drink.
What am I doing to myself.
Prepping for college.
@@Mach1Greeble good answer
"Start your bar around a single spirit."
*Looks into my liquor shelf, sees three different types of whiskey*
I'm a genius
Those are rookie numbers there son... *looks at the 28 whiskies in my bar case...
3? Armature....
guys guys he said 3 types. clearly hes got 60 scotches, 120 bourbons, and atleast 1 canadian
@@satyammishra4224 who said OP is human. Everyone who puts "guy" in their name is obviously a beaver
Looks at shelf
3 whiskeys, 3 rums, and a bottle of gin
Ah yes
"Buy the ingredients for the cocktails you plan to make."
Excellent. I have now filled by cabinet with bottles of Vodka and Kahlua, and my fridge is filled with heavy cream.
Jackson Rockwell The Dude abides.
Similar, but I like Negronis and Negroni derivatives, so I went a different route. I have a bottle of vodka, but I can't say that it gets much use. I bought it about six years ago and it's still 3/4 full.
Im thinking just a Fridge full of heavy cream that is not in a container and when you open it it goes everywhere.
@@Dirtyboxer1 Good. Vodka should go unused except in the rare cases where neither gin nor light rum can replace it.
I just use any type of coffee creamer for my white Russians.
My shaker: an old pasta jar.
My bar spoon: a chopstick.
My mixing glass: A keep cup coffee cup.
My jigger: A medicine measuring cup.
I thought I was the only one using a chopstick to stir a drink!
Did you purchase those things from Williams & Sonoma for $350?
@@OlDurtyGurty along with tax, it was about $395
@@OlDurtyGurty /facepalm Clearly the "azn" part of my username was lost on you.
My shaker is a mason jar, my bar spoon a spoon, and my jigger is my kitchen scale. It measures in fluid ounces.
Look at this man, teaching me the right questions instead of giving me the wrong answers.
You sir will be quoted.
@@raynyday1101 seconded
he’s like a rabbi 😂
me: cuts and freezes all of my citrus no matter what, literally drinking a cocktail made with a frozen lemon right now
Gregg: you cannot freeze your citrus
me: 👁👄👁
Freezing has a drying effect. Half the use of citrus is in the peel, since the oils there are really flavourful. A twist from a previously frozen orange will not be the same as a never frozen one. Juice, however, I have heard stays about the same for whole fruit, though cut fruit will oxidize (it seriously does. Juice an orange, then taste it immediately vs in an hour or two) as well as have the drying effect. But I tend buy the bottled stuff anyway because I just can't be arsed to juice a couple limes on my reamer every time I want a Daiquiri, so don't take my word on that.
@@DrBrangar so you basically refuse to drink tasty daiquiris?
That emoji looks terrifying on pc
@@poseidon527 I know it's been a year but yeah you're right, the eyes are like dead fish eyes thousand yard staring into my soul.
Well it’s all relative.
Yes, fresh citrus is a lot nicer than citrus that has been frozen. And it doesn’t handle being frozen amazingly.
But frozen citrus is a million times better than those bottles of ‘lime’ or ‘lemon’ juice that taste like dish-soap and sadness.
If I don’t use up a whole citrus I slice up the rest into wedges and toss them in the freezer.
And those frozen citrus wedges are my backup always ready if I forgot to get any or my fresh have gone bad.
For cooking and for drinks.
Those frozen wedges work as a last minute back up and is better than no citrus at all.
And if I get lots frozen wedges in the freezer I make mixed citrus lemonade.
Not as amazing as the same drink would have been using fresh fruit, but better than just tossing perfectly editable and delicious citrus straight into the compost.
And it does still yield tasty and delicious result, just not as perfect as it could have been.
Oh my God, greg is the guy in the math problems! "Greg bought 31 oranges and 25 limes..."
Sheldon Robertson how many of each drink is he making per day?
Sheldon Robertson mm that’s quite the conundrum.
@@tannerwise8788 You should be able to solve this for a probability distribution over days using dynamic programming. 😁
LMAO he really is!!!
@Sheldon Robertson any specific species, or just the most common?
Step 1- don't be an alcoholic because you'll drink your whole bar
To late. That’s why I watch this show, drinking through others
That's what I'm sayin. If there was a bar in my apartment, the only way I'd ever leave is on a stretcher 😂
@@nmarrs8539 Misery loves company!
You can also cover up your alcoholism by having a "hobby". Pretend like you don't have a problem. You know, stock up on vodka every other day in case there's guests coming.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Pro-tip for making crushed ice drinks: Sonic sells pebble ice in 10 pound bags for like $3. It’s great ice and makes your drinks look restaurant-quality.
melts too fast for cocktails
@@TwoAPTMLMusicProductions Clearly, you don’t know the Educated Barfly ‘whip shake’ technique. Works great with sonic ice for almost any drink.
Thanks commenter McCommentFace
You just changed my entire life.
Sonic has the best ice!
What are the odds he talks about starting your home bar the day I turned 21, cool.
Thx for the Bday wishes everyone
Happy Birthday! 🎂🎉🥂
Happy birthday bro
Ayyy happy birthday bud
Why did you wait untill 21???
@@BShadoWxD Drinking ages differ. 21 for USA I think
Bottles: 2:06
Syrups: 5:19 (Sugar 2/1 Water)
Bar Tools: 11:40
Ice: 19:40
Books: 23:40
ant: *discovers Greg's 500-pound stash of sugar
"the...the promised land"
Greg: "Chose a cocktail that you like most and just buy the ingredients you need to make them."
Me, thinking about my Long Island Iced Tea: "...(deeply breath)..."
Moment of silence for everyone who needs everything
I started with LIIT on purpose for this exact reason. I figured if I got all the stuff for that, I could have LIIT any time. But also, I would probably be 3/4 of the way to most other drinks as well and build slowly out from there. It's worked well so far.
Timothy Johnson smart idea
@@timothyjohnson224 That was essentially my thinking as well, lol.
Luckily my favorite cocktail is one part Scotch, in a glass. Unluckily that means I spend the GDP of a small nation on my bar and that's still pretty much the only drink i can make.
"I'm gonna be talking for a really long time"
*excited alcoholic noises*
Lmao
Yep! yeah, saw it, and nearly killed myself choking my vodka down excitedly
The more important question is-
*How do I NOT drink the bar I’m trying to build, before it’s built?*
Unironic advice here, put the alcohol somewhere you can't see them. A storage closet or something similar. Out of sight, out of mind!
Billybob James good idea. I legit thought about stashing it at someone else’s house until I have everything I want.
@@Jack_Arbor I'd loose everything twice as fast at a friend's house than if I just left it at my place.
God, right? I'd probably notice that I have what I need for a cocktail I've never tried and make it, then realize I have the stuff for another too, and another, and another... Then I'm passed out on the floor with even less of a bar than before.
THIS! 🙉
Greg: ”A bottle of rum.”
Me: *glancing at the nine bottles of rum in my bar cabinet*
Rumchads rise up!
This happens to me every time I come back from visiting family into Dominican airports sources cheap a good rum
I’d love a guide how to literally build a home bar. The furniture part of it, layout and so forth.
THIS
When you said knives are knives I just thought about the scene from the new incredibles movie where mr incredible is losing it while trying to help dash and he’s like “ MATH IS MATH “
captain jack's life: "if you're going to rough it, you can get by with one bottle of rum"
Well that explains why the rums always gone
Yes mate
I like this comment
Me trying to start a home bar: "Why is the rum gone?"
"101 Quarter Ounce Pours" is a great name for a book.
He could write an entire book on this subject with that title and make bank xD
“Fresh eggs are the same thing, you’re gonna want to buy a chicken”
Greg becoming self aware of his addiction to spilling.
after watching this video, Greg should have spilled something to keep his record intact...
what?!?
I'll have you know 'obviously more than a barspoon' is a legit measure
I started with the Daiquiri. If you have white rum, simple syrup and lime, it's so easy to branch out. Not only can you do a ton of variations on the Daiquiri (even the maligned but delicious Strawberry Daiquiri), other classics like the Mojito and the Piña Colada are only a couple of cheap ingredients away.
I started with bourbon and Gin. And with that I focused on Old fashions and Gimlets. And from that I started to expand based on those core spirits. Which then lead me down paths of other drinks to which I then bought ingredients for them. Etc. Now I have a bar where I can make anything from an old fashion to a paper plane or a gimlet to Gordon’s cup. And I came to that slowly (slightly accelerated recently with the pandemic) but all of those cocktail ideas etc was done because this channel. Thanks, Greg.
The pandemic helped me out as well. It was my first attempt at stocking my home for more than one style of drink so I chose a few favorites and practiced making them from the moment I woke up until the time I went to bed, then from the afternoon until the evening.
The pandemic is literally why I got into it. I keep thinking maybe I'm drinking to much, but then I remind myself that when I got Demerara sugar, instead of "I'm excited to drink," my thought was "I'm excited to see how this changes the taste of my daiquiris with that Haitian Barbancourt"
I started watching your channel as well as The Educated Barfly last October and decided to build my own home bar. I started with the ingredients for an Old Fashioned and practiced that. Easy enough and a grand classic cocktail. I enjoyed it so much and my guests complimented me on my technique so I decided to slowly add to the bar. Now every two weeks when I get paid I pick another cocktail from one of the two show's episodes, and buy the ingredients for that specific drink. Here I am 10 months later and I have a full bar, to the level that anyone who comes over is relatively impressed. At this point guests will bring bottles over of liquor they think I would like, or bring ingredients to make drinks with what I already have, and leave the bottles or ingredients with me to keep with the bar. My bar has grown to over 35 bottles and maintained, it's a beautiful thing. Thanks!
Laughing because I’m watching this 2 years later and he says those jiggers with the handle “suck” and he almost exclusively uses those now. Just made me laugh 😆
I don't think he's talking about the kind of jiggers he uses now. The ones he's talking about basically look like little hammers. They're like the Japanese ones but with a rod sticking out the side.
Really great and helpful episode-I remember catching a Q&A livestream of yours near the beginning of quarantine where you briefly went over the must-haves for a home bar when buying on a budget and taking notes on it like crazy, and this felt like a really refined and easy-to-reference expansion on that spiel.
Personally, I've really enjoyed the more behind-the-scenes and educational episodes and just the longer-form rambles in general, so I'd love to see that followup video about techniques and other practice tips!
I bought a bottle of everclear and a package of hypodermic needle.
The good old "Trump Sanitizer"
Hey Greg, have you ever heard of a manga and anime called "Bartender"? If so could you attempt to create one of its drinks like "Old Pal" or "Alexander"?
I would love to see that.
Those are both classic drinks as well. The Alexander was popular throughout the 80's and 90's and could be seen along side the sweet and fruity vodka martini craze, if I recall correctly. The Old Pal, also a old, old classic from the 1920-1930's and has only somewhat been in the whiskey/bourbon revival of the past decade (which we've seen similar drinks come up like the Old Fashioned and the Negroni)
The Manga was pretty decent in it's portrayal of older drinks and if you liked it, you may like Sleepy Barmaid (Madoromi Barmaid) which is fairly new and started 3 years ago (2017).
I agree, find the one you like, and build from there. My beginner bar is made entirely around the 1 drink I made up, the "Florida Georgia Lime."
In a pint glass, over ice:
2 oz vodka
2 parts peach tea
1 part orange juice
Lime garnish
It was this channel that made me want to try my hand at mixing drinks for my friends. I would pick a few drinks that I would want to make and buy all of the ingredients that I need. Five months, and almost $500 later, there are very few drinks that I don't have the ingredients to make. It has been an exciting journey, and I owe my inspiration to Greg. To say thank you, here is a drink that I made at home. Maybe someone has done it before, but I haven't seen the recipe yet.
The Gingermeister
2oz. Scharf Jagermeister
1oz. Ginger Syrup
1oz. Vodka
1 Can of Ginger Beer (Ginger Ale is fine)
Shake on Ice, strain into collins glass with a long single piece of ice in it, fill the rest of the way with ginger beer (or ginger ale, it's fine).
Just a little recipe from my bar to yours. Thanks for everything.
This concept is basically how my home bar is entirely gin with an occasional bottle of scotch mixed in
Nonalcoholic ingredients. He mentions it a few minutes in.
tequila and rum for me lol
When life gives you lemons, make limoncello. And by life I mean I bought way to many lemons.
"there's no cocktail in this episode" Alright I'm out. "I'm gonna talk for a really long time." Ok I'm back in.
When I was a kid (I'm 34, so late 80's- early 90's) my parents used to go to Tom and Jerry parties. I'm curious if you've ever heard of this cocktail and if you have a recipe for a Tom and Jerry.
"Tom and Jerry parties" sounds like a weird sex thing.
Bar talk and cocktails channel made cocktail called Tom and Jerry. Maybe that what you looking for, or it is another cocktail called Tom and Jerry :D
Fun fact: it was Walt Disney's favorite drink.
You must be from Midwest.
@@AdamS-nv5oo Way to not make broad generalizations Sir.
I recently discovered this channel; after binging your entire rum playlist, I went out and bought 10 different cocktails' supplies with a single quality low-funk rum, and half dozen fruits and modifiers. So far, it's working out pretty good.
I started my home bar because I started watching this channel dude, thanks for that! First bottles I bought were to make the Mai Tai, best drink ever.
Literally the exact same
Dido .
Funny enough, I actually went out and bought all that and spent a load of money when I wanted to get into mixing my own drinks. A year later, I still have a bunch of those bottles, though none of them have gone unopened. So if you do the stupid thing like I did and blow a bunch of your money, depending on how often you drink, the upkeep costs aren't that bad. If they are, well, you might need to talk with someone about your drinking habit.
I started with an inherited cocktail book from my grandfather and the idea that I would work my way through it alphabetically. I already had some stuff when I started, but it was still a daunting task. I'm still working my way through it alphabetically with one serving of one drink per day, and my approach is to go to the store on a weekly basis to defray the costs. At the beginning of each week I take stock of the drinks I'm scheduling for the week, and buy the fresh stuff that I need, like cream or citrus. I've been at it awhile now and I'm pretty well stocked, and I only need to buy a bottle of this or that every month. I've been at it for 2 years and am working my way through the S's now. I just bought a $30 bottle of sherry last week for my upcoming sherry cocktails in my book. But when you're just starting out, it can be kind of expensive; but even in the beginning I was only spending $50-75 a week on stuff I needed and most of it has lasted awhile
@@psmuldow basically i do something similar. though i don't go through a book. i make about one new cocktail per week only but i do try to do at least one new one every week and buy whatever i need for that. the only thing i seem to go through is cointreau since i like it a lot and i add it to drinks even when it isnt called for lol
i have about 3 different rums 4 or so whiskeys 2 different gins a small bottle of tequila vodka which i don't use much since i really don't do much with vodka or tequila. no interest in most vodka drinks except for my wife who doesn't much like alcohol. i have tons of liqueurs though. you don't need expensive stuff you need variety and that just takes time.
@@psilocybemusashi Yeah, having variety is key. It does take a lot of time, and can get expensive if you put your collection together piecemeal. When I'm looking for new bottles, I look for stuff that isn't bottom-shelf gut rot but also not top shelf, high dollar items. I go for unique, affordable options that don't break the bank. I recently found a single malt Scotch that is aged in chardonnay casks that has a really interesting flavor profile that was $35 for the bottle. I try to get my liquor for less than $50 a bottle; I feel I can get good quality and solid variety at that price point
*stares at my cabinet full of different rums*
...yes...
The advice you give here at the beginning is basically what helped me finally get over my newbie anxiety and just start making cocktails. Way back when, I bought bartender's guides, Dale DeGroff, Old Mr. Boston, whatever, I could find, and then would get totally overwhelmed by the options. Spent years just sipping bourbon and meaning to get back to it. Watched your "5 easy three-ingredient cocktail" video and videos on very, very simple drinks. Old Fashioneds. Whiskey Sours. Manhattans. Just got the stuff I needed to make those, and made them over and over again until I felt like I could do a Whiskey Sour in my sleep. Checked out "Best Prohibition-Era Cocktails" vid next, and noted anything that I had most of the ingredients for.
I got a little pocket notebook and hand-wrote all my favorite recipes from your vids + simple cocktails in "The Craft of the Cocktail" by hand. Now they feel like *my* homemade recipes because they're in my handwriting, haha. I made my own Grenadine per your recipe -- pomegranate molasses and orange flower water will put you back about eight bucks, and having a bottle of that around is a frickin' GAME CHANGER, especially for prohibition cocktails. I keep a wantlist of different boozes at Binny's so each time I have a little cash, I'll add a new fancy bitters or a good bottle of jamaican rum to my shopping cart. My wife got me gum arabic (so I can make gomme syrup) and a dasher bottle for absinthe for our anniversary, so Sazeracs are coming up next!!
After like five false starts, I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of this! But I refuse to let go of my cobbler shaker, haha! I've never gotten the seal right on my Boston Shaker and it always leaks while shaking on the second drink, and then seals shut on the third. Maybe I'll get the hang eventually, but right now I'm working with the tool that works for me.
Thanks for the channel! This is the one that finally made me confident to open up the bar and try something beyond sipping bourbon every night.
It's funny you out this out today, this week I started my journey into mixology. My wife surprised me with a bar kit that came with a very nice set of weighted Boston style shakers and went out and rounded up some ingredients for the coffee cocktails from your videos. They came out fantastic, and tonight I am going to make the potion #2 from the Zelda video you did a while back. She snuck in a order of butterfly pea blossom powder (she knows I like visual effects) so I think it will be a grand time. I am also looking forward to hosting our friends for Dungeons &Dragons&Drinks.
Thank you for making these videos Greg, they have been very enjoyable, entertaining, and will give me more excuses to spend time with our friends.
The overwhelming impression I got while reading Liquid Intelligence was 'Dave Arnold is a madman, and I trust him with my life.'
love how its a 28 min vid, it was posted 5 min ago... and some putz already hit thumbs down.... well, they are wrong. and I am going to watch it to prove it.......
I wish this video existed when I was getting started at mixology.
Now I am a professional bartender and man I agree with everything.
Also, if you care about the results, quality and technique of your cocktails, also choose one and dedicate yourself until you find it almost perfect.
For me it was de Mojito, and to this day I have received no complains about it, it's perfectible tho
I've got a bottle of tequila, rum, bourbon and gin. Citrus and simple syrup make SO MANY COCKTAILS out of those.
I built up what I have so far based on Greg's vids, FWIW.
add some bitters and you pretty much have everything you'll ever need
@@benburch shoot, I forgot I have peychauds and ango
This is SO weird!!! I JUST bought a bar on OfferUp , and I’m picking it up today! Your video couldn’t have come at a better time! And I totally agree with your recommendation to buy your ingredients according to whatever drinks you plan on making at the moment, then add on from there. I started making tiki drinks at the beginning of quarantine, and I’ve amassed quite a collection already! It’s all very exciting. 😄
That food analogy for the bar setup is brilliant! I recommend the 5 basic spirits (Rum, Gin, Vodka, Tequila, Whisky) when starting out just based on people's usual taste and the ability to do highballs; starting with you favorite cocktail just make sense. Cheers
I stock ginger beer, limes and every spirit that mixes well with those 2
So, every spirit there is?
This metodi rocks.
your evil for that read more
Where's the mules at dude!!!!
Foghorn
Well, that makes you a chicken, Buck Buck
I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home
I came crawling home last night, like many nights before:
I finally made it to my feet as she opened up the door.
And she said, "You're not gonna do this anymore."
She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
"So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
"And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."
She said: "Just bring your Friday paycheck, and I'll cash them all right here.
"And I'll keep on tap - for all your friends, their favorite kinds of beer.
"And for you, I'll always keep in stock, those soft aluminum cans.
"And when you're feeling macho, you can crush them like a man."
She said: "We'll rip out all the carpet, and put sawdust on the floor.
"Serve hard boiled eggs and pretzels, and I won't cook no more.
"There'll be Monday night football, on T.V. above the bar.
"And a pay phone in the hallway, when your friends can't find their car."
She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
"So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
"And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."
She said: "You'll get friendly service, and for added atmosphere.
"I'll slip on something sexy, and I'll cut it clear to here.
"Then you can slap my bottom, every time you tell a joke.
"Just as long as you keep tipping, well, I'll laugh until you're broke."
She said: "Instead of family quarrels, we'll have a bar-room brawl,
"When the Ham's bear say's its closing time, you won't have far to crawl.
"And when you run out of money, you'll have me to thank.
"You can sleep it off next morning, when I'm putting it in the bank."
She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino, to decorate our home,
"So you can feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"When you and your friends get off from work, and have a powerful thirst.
"There won't be any reason, why you can't stop off here first."
She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
"So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
"And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."
Beautiful
I would love to see some "experiment" videos, in the vein of GugaFoods / SousVideEverything. Make a classic cocktail several times over, varying only one thing. Maybe an old fashioned with several different base spirits, or different brands of whiskey, or shaken vs stirred, or gomme syrup vs simple vs simple+egg white. Then just try all the variations and compare and pick your favorite. For bonus points, bring the production crew in to sample them and give their ratings as well.
Anyway, I love the channel. Carry on.
Fun drinking game: drink every time Greg looks down.
I'm dying to know whats on the floor!
I watch videos on 1.5 speed when I'm trying to learn something from them. I would die if I did this 😂😂
I’m 14 and have been very interested in mixology and my parents now worship me, only problem I can’t taste what I make😓😂😅
I've literally been thinking about this all quarantine. Your timing is perfect my man.
A knife with a fork at the tip is probably a serving knife or a cheese knife (cheese knives have a curved fork).
When I did research into making flavor-infused alcohols (As a welcome home gift for my brother who was returning from a tour of duty in a dry country), I found rinsing the jars with hydrogen peroxide first, and then give it a rinse with boiling water should kill anything in the jar. You will want to use rubber gloves when handling the jars and the hydrogen peroxide, as it will also attack the cells in your skin. It's just that human skin cells are a lot tougher than the bacteria you're trying to kill. (If you see those alleged health experts touting the benefits of hydrogen peroxide as a skin care regiment, please don't do this. Those bleached patches of skin is where the hydrogen peroxide is slowly killing off the skin cells.)
Likewise, if you're using wide mouth jars instead of bottles, it's a lot easier to fill a large pot of water, put the jars in (making sure to get out the trapped air) and let them boil for a little bit.
A book that riffs on getting one bottle and then making several drinks from it is The One-Bottle Cocktail, by Maggie Hoffman (Ten Speed Press, 2018). Lots of good ideas in it. The text is enjoyable to read. Everything you want!
I will not so patiently wait for a follow up series. Kind of a “Basics with Babish”, but “How To: How To Drink”? Rehash some of what you’ve covered already, but be super specific about what’s used, why it used, and how it may impact flavor and experience.
Don't really mess around with mixing much at all, so don't know how this might throw things off taste wise, but:
For your simple syrup crystallization issue, have you considered adding a minute amount of corn syrup to the mix when initially dissolving the sugar granules? The different molecular structure should keep it from ever freezing up on you and prevent even the slightest bit of crystal formation.
Again, as someone without much if any experience with various mixed drinks, and especially without much of any palette for the minor nuances there-in, I'm curious if that would do anything taste wise. Perhaps make it even slightly more sweet than your already admitted overly sweet solution.
THIS!!! This channel is a great example of the superiority of UA-cam over television! Thank you!
youtube is evil but videos are good. i haven't had cable or an antenna for over a decade now... really it has been at least 15 years without a tv. i am not bragging my point really is that youtube is evil. sure they don't have a problem with this channel but you will get deplatformed if you have an opinion that some professor at some university thinks is offensive to someone. that isn't freedom. that is tyranny and youtube is helping to spread tyranny. youtube used to be good. today it is thought police.
"That little fork on the end, dunno what you're supposed to do with that". That's because that's a cheese knife. Specifically I think it's called a soft cheese knife or a fork-tipped spear/pronged knife. The pronged tip is to help in serving harder cheeses.
5:58 Heheh... you said "doo doo".
Yeah - I had to say it. It's Friday.
I agree that both the Imbibe and Liquid Intelligence books are fantastic, I wouldn't necessarily suggest them to beginners. They're what you move onto once you figure things out and want to do a deep dive. For beginners, I really like The Bar Book, by Jeffrey Morgenthaler. While it has some drink recipes in it, its focus is on technique. It basically started out as a training guide for new bartenders. From mixing and shaking techniques, to all the ways you can make syrups and infusions, it'll really help you step up your game. Liquid Intelligence gets into more of the theory, and covers crazy techniques like using centrifuges and other lab equipment to make ultra pure syrups and stuff like that. I love that crap, but I got more practical knowledge from The Bar Book.
For drink recipes, I usually use a series of apps from MixologyTech, though they're only available on the iPhone/iPad. The Easy Craft Cocktails app is a good into app with most of the most popular craft cocktails. PDT Cocktails has all the recipes from Jim Meehan's book and really focuses on earlier pre and prohibition cocktails. Beachbum Berry’s Total Tiki app is the definitive guide to tiki cocktails. There's a couple apps in this series that cover modern classics, new cocktails, punches, etc. The great thing about all these apps is that you can enter your bar inventory into them, and the app can tell you what you can make, and also suggest the additional ingredients that'll give you the most bang for your buck for increasing the number of drinks you can make. You only need to update the ingredients in one of the apps, and it'll sync it with the other apps. These are bar far the best drinks apps I found, and are worth the $10 a pop price. Don't waste your time with the 99 cent apps with 5000 drink recipes. They're most likely crappy apps, and the recipes are often suspect.
Dude fuck developers who only support one platform. Can support that shit. Only excuse is when you're a fledgling developer still working on your first apps.
Great video! In building my bar, I am always trying to understand better what substitutions work and don't work when making a drink. The spectrum of vermouth types, amari, sherry are fun to explore, but I'm always looking for guidance. Techniques and tricks would be fun too! Thanks.
For me, im starting with my first 3 favorite drinks.
My starter bar is going to be:
Whipped Vodka
Tequila Rose
And peach Soju
And the mixers to go with each one:
Orange Juice/SunnyD
Strawberry Rockstar
Peach Calpico
I just started a home bar with lots of spirits, and I found that having the plastic pours for the bottles helps making less of a mess
I will open a bar themed around Jack Daniels that will host drinking contests. I’ll call it “The Jack-Off!”
Best, “what you need to start a bar” video on UA-cam. Thanks!
Hey Greg! Thank you for the awesome starting video! One scientifically pedantic, but important question, when you are prepping your 2:1 simple syrup is that 2 parts sugar plus 1 part water by mass or by volume? Thank you!
Hi you posted this forever ago but I've only ever seen it made by volume
My favorite thing for my home bar is the app "my bar"
It let's you list out your ingredients that you have in stock, and then it tells you every cocktail in its database that you can make using your list of ingredients, including if you can make a cocktail by substituting one of your ingredients for something you dont have, and it gives you steo by step instructions to make it. Any cocktails not in the database, you can add. Like literally you add rhe recipe, with a picture of the drink in your own hand or on your own table, and boom, everyone now can see that drink recipe and it will tell you if you have everything to make your new recipe. Also, itll tell you what ingredients you are missing to make other cocktails, so like looking at my list, if I buy some cranberry juice, suddenly there are 9 new cocktails I can make because I already own everything else to make them except the cranberry juice. And when you run out of an ingredient, say you use the last of your rye whiskey, you can remove the rye from your "in stock" list and over to your "shopping" list, so when you stop by the liquor store next you literally have a list of things you are out of that you regularly use.
The "Do the vertical integrations first, so it carries over to the horizontal integration" analogy is such a great analogy! Wonderful work
Ah yes, with this information I am now prepared to start my own bar. This information shall be of value to me in a year in a half when I turn 21.
"some people says that they are less accurate for pouring, that they are a bit more wonky"
Ah yes, because we don't want any spillage uhm, Greg?
Start with a crap ton of spices juniper ginger pepper corns whole spices fresh spices and herbs go to a spice store that sells box spices you can get them cheaper than at the grocery store get a ton of spices and lots of empty bottles and a base of vodka you can make so many spirits get a couple charred barrels definitely buy rum then get a whiskey whether it's bourbon or scotch or American they're all whiskeys pick your poison pick your favorite bourbon and whiskey scotch they're all the same just where they're from go for your favorite I do a three Bottle bar and then take the vodka maybe three bottles to start with D as much vodka as you can afford because you can make so much with vodka as the base of flavorless blank base it's the most blank liquor and you can make your own Jen just get that crap ton of spices
Greg’s grenadine recipe is the best I’ve made so far.