My Bar

Welcome to my bar.

Although this website was created to chronicle my journey of investing, early retirement goals & financial planning – I thought it would also be fun to include one of my other passions/pleasures – booze.

I’ve always enjoyed having drinks with friends & family, but over the last couple of years I’ve been a lot more interested in the craft of making drinks, experimenting with new flavors, and trying different types of alcohol.   We recently moved into a new house this past year – and I finally got my own little bar in the family room.

I plan on using this section of the website to chronicle my journey into learning more about spirits, liqueurs & cocktails.  I’d like to also use this spot to track some new concoctions I’ve made.

Easy to make Cocktail Recipes

Black Manhattan

Whiskey Sour

The Pink Lady

Negroni Fizz

Negroni

Amaretto Sour

The Chan Man

Maraschino Sour

Pisco Sour

And a few other tasty treats below…

Boulevardier

I like this drink because it is easy to make, uses my favorite spirit (Bourbon) and packs a punch.  This drink is very similar to another favorite of mine (Negroni), except it uses Bourbon instead of Gin.

Ingredients: 

1 & 1/2 oz Elijah Craig Bourbon

1 oz Campari

1 oz Cinzano

Lemon Peel

Directions:  Stir on ice for 10 seconds & strain into old fashioned/rocks glass over a large ice cube.  Garnish with a lemon twist.

Pimms Cup/Pitcher

This is my go to summer drink at the cottage.  There are many reasons to like a Pimm’s cup, namely:

• Extremely refreshing
• Can make a pitcher or a single glass
• There is no right/wrong way to make a Pimm’s- -experiment with different fruits, veggies. liqueurs, and measurements.

When I am making a pitcher – I usually include the following:

• Cucumber
• Mint
• Lemon
• Lime
• Strawberies
• Blueberries
• Raspberries

When I am making a single glass, I usually just use cucumber & mint, but add some Cointreau.

Directions:  Add whatever fruits, veggies and herbs to a pitcher filled with ice.  Pour as much Pimm’s as you want in (depending on personal preference), top with Ginger ale.  Enjoy.

Manhattan:

I decided to use Knob Creek 100% rye for this variation, as I haven’t had it in a while and wanted to see how it would blend in a Manhattan.  I also used Cinzano instead of the normal go to Martini branded Vermouth as I already had an open bottle.  Truth be told I recently bought a bottle of Dillons Sweet Vermouth which I have been really wanting to try – but decided against opening it until my current bottle of Cinzano was empty.

Ingredients:

2 oz Rye Whiskey (I used Knob Creek 100% rye small batch pictured above)

.75 oz Sweet Vermouth (I used Cinzano)

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Garnish with 2 Cherries

Directions: 

Add all ingredients to mixing glass filled with Ice, stir for 10-15 seconds.  Strain into martini/cocktail glass & garnish with a cherry or two.

Overall it was pretty tasty – and very boozy.  You will feel a buzz after a sip or two.  I’m not a huge fan of Cinzano- so I’d like to try this again once I replace my vermouth with Dillons or Martini again.

Rum Old Fashioned:

Lately I’ve been sipping on Diplomatico Exclusiva Rum. It is great on its own – however I was curious to try it in a cocktail.  I checked out the Diplomatico website to see what they recommended -and noticed they had a recipe for a Rum old fashioned.  This made me very happy – as this is my favorite cocktail – with my current favorite sipper…Needless to say I had to try it.

This rum is very sweet on its own – so I reduced the amount of simple syrup I’d normally use.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 Oz Diplomatico Exlusiva Rum
• .25 oz Simple Syrup
• 4 Dashes Angostura Aromatic Bitters
• Orange Zest/Orange peel GarnishDirections: Add Rum, Simple, Bitters in mixing glass with ice, and stir for 30 seconds.  Strain into cocktail glass/coupe.  Twist orange over drink and drop in.

Cheers!

Sidecar:

This is a drink I had been planning on making for quite some time – but for whatever reason it didn’t happen.  Last night I finally decided to try it – and boy am I glad I did.  It was delicious.

Ingredients:
2 oz Brandy
.5 oz Cointreau
.75 oz lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Shake for 30 seconds.  Strain into a sugar rimmed coupe.  Enjoy!

Advertisement