Colossal Cookbook/ColossalCookbook.cdr/alco/microbar/mbtut2.tut

Text File | 1984-11-05 | 12KB | 410 lines

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THE BASIC BAR:  SUPPLIES AND METHODS
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Since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Mr. Boston Bartender's
Guides have passed down the secrets of mixing the perfect drink.
This First Electronic Edition now contains over a thousand recipes,
including many new cocktail recipes, made easily accessible by
powerful cross-indexing using your personal computer.

The winning methods are gathered here for you to use with
complete confidence.  You need only follow this advice to achieve
the extra artistry that will mark you as a professional.

There are a few practical rules to follow for stocking your bar
and mixing drinks.  You'll want to be able to satisfy the tastes
of your guests quickly, so that you can enjoy the conviviality of
good spirits.  Following, you'll find the supplies you'll need to
keep on hand to take care of anyone after a long, dusty day.  And
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with the mastery of a few simple techniques carefully explained
here, you'll find it easy to concoct quickly any drink calling
for mixing, mashing, muddling, or simple stirring.



EQUIPMENT

The right tools make the job easier.  For home or professional
bar you'll need to have handy:

1.  Can and bottle openers
2.  Easy-to-use corkscrew
3.  Traditional corkscrew
4.  Glass stirring rod or long spoon
5.  Coil-rimmed bar strainer
6.  A tall, heavy-duty mixing glass or shaker
7.  Small, sharp paring knife for cutting fruit or for shearing
    off rind.
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8.  Wooden muddler or the back of a large wooden spoon for mashing
    herbs, fruit, etc.
9.  Large pitcher
10. Fruit juice extractor
11. Set of measuring spoons
12. A jigger measure with easy-to-read half-and-quarter ounce measures
13. Ice bucket and ice tongs

    Electric blender (optional)
    Glassware







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GLASSWARE

The best glasses should be thin-lipped, transparent, and sound
off in high registers when "pinged."  Clean, sparkling glasses
show off good drinks to great advantage.  The proper glass
enhances a drink.  Here are illustrations of the basic glasses
you will need, but you may find variations you prefer.  Beside
each recipe in the recipe section are line drawings of the
classic shape used for each drink.

You might also need a coffee cup, coffee mug, or punch cup for
some of the recipes.






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Glass Name

1.  Delmonico          9.  Pousse-Cafe      17. Cocktail

2.  Collins            10. Parfait          18. Whiskey Sour

3.  Whiskey            11. Flip             19. Cordial or Pony

4.  Highball           12. Red Wine

5.  Old Fashioned      13. White Wine

6.  Beer Mug           14. Sherry

7.  Beer Pilsner       15. Fluted Champagne

8.  Irish Coffee Cup   16. Brandy Sniftner


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STOCKING A BAR

If you keep a 750-milliliter bottle of each of the spirits
mentioned here, you'll be able to create just about any
combination of drinks and that should satisfy just about everybody.

* Gin
* Vodka
* Rum (Light and Dark)
* Bourbon
* Scotch
* Tequila
* Vermouth (Sweet and Dry)
* Red and White Wine
* Brandy, Port, Sherry
* Any assortment of Liqueurs popular in your crowd


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When you want to get fancier you can diversify the standards with
sophisticated variations:  Irish as well as Scotch Whiskey;
Puerto Rican as well as Jamaican Rum, etc.  Time, experience, and
your most frequent guests' tastes will shape your bar offerings.

Choose a selection of mixers from the following:

Colas
Ginger Ale
Club Soda or Seltzer
Tonic or Quinine Water
Lemon/Lime Sodas
Fresh fruit juices, especially:
   Orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime
Canned juices:  Tomato, pineapple, cranberry
Sugar Syrup (See p. 15 for recipe)
Water (in a small pitcher)

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To garnish you'll need:

* Jar of cocktail onions
* Jar of stuffed olives
* Lemons
* Limes
* Oranges
* Strawberries
* Celery stalks
* Bananas (for Banana Daiquiries)
* Bitters
* Cassis (Black Currant Syrup)
* Cinnamon sticks (for hot, mulled wines)
* Mint leaves (if you're into juleps)
* Tabasco sauce
* Worcestershire sauce
* Horseradish
* Maraschino cherries
* Cucumber
>* Pineapple

Certain fancy tropical-type drinks require these exotic additions
to your potable collections:

Coconut milk
Grenadine syrup - Made from Pomegranates
Orange flower water - (or substitute Mr. Boston Triple Sec)
Orgeat syrup - Almond flavor syrup
Papaya juice
Passion fruit juice
Raspberry syrup
Light cream
Heavy cream
Whipping cream

You'll also need:  Salt, pepper, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar.

To Make Simple Syrup or Sugar Syrup:
In a saucepan, gradually stir one pound granulated sugar into
13 oz. hot water to make 16 oz. simple syrup.
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About Bitters

A little goes a long way.  Made from numerous and intricate
combinations of growing things (roots, barks, berries, and herbs)
which are each uniquely flavored, they add zest to mixed drinks.

   Angostura Bitters - Made from a Tinidadan secret recipe.
   Abbott's Aged Bitters - Made in Baltimore since 1865.
   Peychaud's Bitters - These come from New Orleans.
   Orange Bitters - Made from the dried peel of mouth-puckering
   Seville oranges and sold by several English firms.

Vermouth

Vermouth is a white appetizer wine flavored with as many as
thirty to forty different herbs, roots, berries, flowers, and
seeds.  There are nearly as many vermouth formulas as there are
brand labels.

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The dry variety (French) is light gold in color and has a
delightful nutty flavor.  Sweet (Italian) vermouth is red, richer
in flavor, and more syrupy.  Both are perishable and will lose
their freshness if left too long in an opened bottle.  Use with
care and discretion in mixed drinks - be sure to follow the
recipe since most people now prefer "drier" cocktails.

Ice

Bar ice must be clean and fresh and free of any flavor save
water.  If necessary, use bottled spring water.

Rule of thumb:  You will always need more ice than you have.
So buy extra and expect to make an ice run anyway.




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Ice goes in the cocktail glass first.  That way the spirits
get cooled on the way in without any unnecessary splashing.  Ice
can be crushed, shaved, cracked, or cubed depending on the drink.
If you can store only one kind of ice, buy cubes.  Most
highballs, old-fashioneds, and on-the-rocks drinks call for ice
cubes.  Use cracked or cubed ice for stirring and shaking;
crushed or shaved ice for special tall drinks, frappes, and other
drinks to be sipped through straws.










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TECHNIQUES

How to Chill a Glass

Always chill before you fill.  There are three ways to make a
cocktail glass cold:

   1.) Put the glasses in the refrigerator or freezer a couple of
       hours before using them.
   2.) Fill the glasses with crushed ice just before using.
   3.) Fill the glasses with cracked ice and stir it around
       before pouring in the drink.

If refrigerator space is not available for pre-chilling, fill
each glass with ice before mixing.  When the drink is ready,
empty the glass, shake out all of the melted ice, and then pour
in the drink.

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How to Frost a Glass

There are two types of "frosted" glass.  Glasses should be stored
in a refrigerator or buried in shaved ice long enough to give
each glass a white, frosted, ice-cold look and feel.

For a "sugar-frosted" glass, moisten the rim of a pre-chilled
glass with a slice of lime or lemon and then dip the rim into
powdered sugar.

For Margaritas, rub the rim of the glass with a lime, invert
glass, and dip into coarse salt.

How to Muddle

Muddling is a simple mashing technique for grinding herbs
such as mint smooth in the bottom of a glass.  You can buy a
wooden muddler in a bar supply store.  It crushes the herbs, much
as the back of a soup spoon might, without scarring your glassware.
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To Stir or Not to Stir

Pitchers of cocktails need at least 10 seconds of stirring to
mix properly.  Carbonated mixers in drinks do much of their own
stirring just by naturally bubbling.  Two stirs from you will
complete the job.

When to Shake

Shake any drink made with juices, sugar, eggs, or cream, or
use an electric blender.  Strain cocktails from shaker or blender
to a glass through a coil rimmer strainer.

Pouring

Pour drinks as soon as you make them or they will wilt.  Leftovers
should be discarded or they will be too diluted by the time you
get to "seconds."

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When making a batch of drinks at once, set up the glasses in a
row.  Pour until each glass is half full, then backtrack until
the shaker is empty.  That way everyone gets the same amount,
thoroughly mixed.


Floating Liqueurs

To create a rainbow effect in a glass with different colored
cordials requires a special pouring technique.  Simply pour each
liqueur slowly over an inverted teaspoon (rounded side up) into a
glass.  Start with the heaviest liqueur first.  (Recipes will
give proper order).  Pour slowly.

The rounded surface of the spoon will spread each liqueur over
the one beneath without mixing them.  You can accomplish the same
trick using a glass rod.  Pour slowly down the rod.


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The Secret of Flaming

The secret to setting brandy (or other high alcohol spirits)
aflame is first to warm it and its glass until almost hot.  Warm
a glass by holding it by its stem above the flame or electric
coil on your stove until the glass feels warm.  (Avoid touching
the glass to the flame or coil which could char or crack it).

Next, heat some brandy in a saucepan above the flame (or in a
cooking pan).  When the brandy is hot, ignite it with a match.
If it's hot enough it will flame instantly.  Pour the flaming
liquid carefully into the other brandy you want flamed.  If all
the liquid is warm enough it will ignite.

Warning:  Flames can shoot high suddenly.  Look up and be sure
there's nothing "en route" that can ignite.  That includes your
hair.  Have an open box of baking soda handy in case of
accidents.  Pour it over flames to extinguish them.  Use pot
holders to protect your hands from the hot glass, spoon, or pan.
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When Using Eggs

Eggs go into the shaker before the liquor (so that you can
make sure the egg is fresh).  To separate yolk from white, crack
the egg in half on the edge of a glass.  Pour the egg yolk from
one half-shell to the other, back and forth, until the white runs
down into the glass below and only the yolk is left in the shell.

Use cracked ice to blend egg with other ingredients you need chilled.


Using Fruit and Fruit Juices

Whenever possible use only fresh fruit.  Wash the outside peel
before using.  Fruit can be cut in wedges or in slices.  If
slices are used, they should be cut about one-quarter-inch thick
and slit toward the center to fix slice on rim of glass.  Make
sure garnishes are fresh and cold.

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When mixing drinks containing fruit juices, always pour the
liquor last.  Squeeze and strain fruit juices just before using
to insure freshness and good taste.  Avoid artificial,
concentrated substitutes.

When recipes call for a twist of lemon peel, rub a narrow
strip of peel around the rim of the glass to deposit the oil on
it.  Then twist the peel so that the oil (usually one small drop)
will drop into the drink.  Then drop in the peel.  The lemon oil
gives added character to the cocktail which many prefer.

To Open Champagne or Sparkling Wine

When the bottle is well chilled, wrap it in a clean white
towel and undo the wire around the cork.  Pointing the bottle
away from people and priceless objects, hold the cork with one
hand, grasp the bottle by the indentation on the bottom and
slowly turn the bottle (not the cork!) until the cork comes free
with a pop!  Pour slowly into the center of the glass.
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To Open Wine

Cut the seal around the neck with a sharp knife just below the
top.  Peel off neatly, exposing the cork.  Insert the corkscrew
and turn until the corkscrew is completely inside the cork.  With
a steady pull, remove the cork.  If the cork crumbles or breaks,
pour the wine through a tea strainer when serving.  Or decant
through a strainer into another container for serving.

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