*Hic* You're my besht mate, you are! (Your Bar)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Your Bar
Date:	08/12/01 (164 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of booze, Exactly what you want

Disadvantages: Expensive

Hell's bells! A category that lets you talk about booze! Woohoo! How come I haven't found this before? Oh, hang on, I have. How come I haven't written in this category before? Tsk. I don't know. I'll spank myself later. Hmmm? maybe that's not really a punishment though. Anyway, I'm waffling.

You want me to set up a bar for you? All purpose - so ready to cater for a party or a few guests at a moments notice? Hmmm? I could do my best, I suppose. What was that? Money no object? Splendid, first let me give you my consultancy fee!

There's a fair amount of planning that would go into setting up an all-purpose bar, but hey, I'm Irish, this sort of thing is second nature, so I'll wing it. The first thing you have to consider is catering for as many people as possible without having to buy every single type of drink under the sun. So the "money no object" thing is not necessary. Actually, this is quite handy because it's my dad's 60th birthday soon, and I'll be stocking up the bar for a bit of a gathering, so I can start planning while writing this.

Where do I start? OK, well, for starters, the largest fridge you can get your hands on is a good idea. Why? Well, it's an all-purpose bar, so you have to be ready for anything - even unexpected guests. Having a separate, alcohol fridge is a must.

OK, first up is the beer. Being Irish, we don't really go for your ale types of beer, the three main types over here are lagers, semi-stouts and stouts. A crate of both (24 cans or bottles per crate) lager and stout will start you off. Obviously, there is only one stout and that's Guinness. Nothing else will do, and I don't want any clever person trying to extol the virtues of Murphy's or Gillespie's because they're both minging, and I'm having none of that rubbish. The lager is different because while some people are lager snobs, most people will take what
9;s offered if it's cold enough, so aim for something bog standard like Carlsberg, Carling, Fosters or Heineken.

What next? Oh, wine! Hmm... I know nothing about wine. Oh, this is easy! Wine is a personal choice, isn't it? I'll let you decide what wine you want yourself, then. A couple of white and a couple of red should do the trick. You could also buy a bottle of fairly expensive bubbly to keep in the fridge for those surprise celebrations.

Right, now let's consider the spirits and liqueurs. I'll start off with the bare essentials, and then add a few out of the ordinary things, just to spice it all up.

You can't go wrong with a bottle of vodka. If you're a drinker then what about a bottle of Smirnoff Black or Stoli. If you use it in cocktails then perhaps a bog standard Smirnoff or Absolut would do the trick. There's no point in throwing away money, is there? You could, if you're feeling rich, splash out on a few flavoured vodkas. I do recall once having some Absolut Kola Kube vodka which was simply gorgeous - very sweet though, but would be nice for a shot or two.

Another drink that always proves handy to have is white rum. I know nothing about white rums, but my mates all drink Bacardi. Is that good rum? There are also dark rums around, or even spiced rums. I know nothing about these, but add them to your list if you like them.

Every good bar should have a Gin. I like Gordon's, personally, so I'll suggest that. Of course, if you prefer other gins, then by all means add your favourite brand.

It's always good to have a whiskey on hand to sort out the men from the boys. But what do you choose? Irish? Scotch? Bourbon? I prefer Irish myself (well, I would!), and so I would recommend Powers, or a nice old Bushmills. Again, this obviously depends on your taste and preference (or that of your guests).

Now that I've gotten the standards out of the way, what
about a few drinks don't really fall into that category? I'm talking about liqueurs and stuff that aren't the staples of a big bar, but are nice every so often, and could be used as ingredients in a few cocktails.

Bailey's Irish Cream is a good one, which the ladies especially like. Is also good over ice cream, or even in ice cream!

Peach Schnapps - quite nice with lots of ice and a splash of lemonade, can also be used in many cocktails.

Tequila - it makes you happy! etc. Tequila can be used as shooters or slammers, but can also make nice drinks like sunrises or marguerites.

Apple Sourz. Practically no one has heard of this, but I love it to pieces. It's an apple-flavoured liqueur which is very tangy and lovely. I mix it with lemon vodka and it?s yummy. I'm sure I could find other uses for it though.

Mixers (for non-drinkers, designated drivers and cocktails)

Obviously, the staples of Coke and lemonade (You can use famous brands if you wish, and I suppose I could allow you to have diet varieties, although why people drink diet mixers with calorie laden alcoholic drinks is beyond me!) are a necessity. To these, I would add pure apple juice, pure orange juice and cranberry juice. Tonic water and bitter lemon are also quite handy, for the gin drinkers. Some people just like mineral water, so some of that would be quite useful as well - both still and fizzy. Grenadine is one that I would like to have as well, if only for making Tequila Sunrises, but I'm sure there are other uses.

Some minor things that are always handy in a well stocked bar: freshly squeezed lemon juice (or one of those Jif squeezy thingies), tonnes of ice (cubed and crushed) and those wedges of fruit (just to be complete). Some sugar and cloves is also well handy, and a kettle in case you fancy a hot port or a hot whiskey.

Handy links.

Cocktail links and recipes:

http://cocktails.about
.com/library/blatoz.htm
http://www.cocktail.com/
http://www-is.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/cow/ cow.html

Possible the finest site for cocktails:
http://spirits.excite.ca/fridge.asp
Which asks you what you have in your fridge, bar and cupboards and then tells you what you can make! Quality! Even better if you have an Internet ready fridge that talks.

Buying booze:
http://www.tesco.com/
http://www.victoriawine.co.uk/ (currently under construction or something, cos I can?t access it!)
http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/

I would like to have brought you more online alcohol vendors, but I can't find any apart from these big name sites. Anyway, I hope you found this a helpful resource if you are ever likely to be asked to stock a bar, or are having a party.

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