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When I was looking through my drink database, I spied Tony Iamunno's Butterfly Sting with its Punt e Mes-Swedish punsch combination and wanted to improve on it. I recalled the Swedish punsch-apricot liqueur combination that I first discovered in the Havana Cocktail and then the apricot-Punt e Mes duo found in the Slope. Thus, I set my Muhammed Ali tribute riff in motion. For a spirit base, I split things up with a funky Jamaican rum and a rich Cognac, and for a name, I opted for the Handcuffed Lightning from Ali's quote, "I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."

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From the Knowledge Vault

Stocking a Better Bar

Last time, we talked about how to go about building a better home bar. Once you’ve done that and have all sorts of empty space (because you paid attention, and your bar holds about twice your current supply of liquor, right?), we should now get on to the fun part – how to best fill your shiny new liquor cabinet.

Now I know that I’m going to catch it in the comments by declaring some brands “essential” versus others. I know y’all are a bunch of passionate drinkers, and I also know that in certain areas, y’all have much more experience than I do tasting and thinking about spirits. But that’s not going to stop me from doing just that. The good news? After making declarative statements about which spirits you should have in your bar, I’m going to let you in on a few secrets about how to find rare and discontinued bottles that have helped me in the past. So take a deep breath, and enjoy the ride.

I’m a firm believer in Alton Brown’s mantra of buying things that serve many purposes. Unless you’re into a certain segment of the liquor market, you should strive for buying liquor that lets you make as many cocktails as possible. Once you’ve tasted a good representation of what’s out there, decide what to focus on, and buy more of those things, but with the understanding that if you run across something special and hard to find, you really ought to buy it. But more on that later.

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Recent Additions

Collins Importante — Amaro, Rye, Bitters, Soda water, Lemon juice, Simple syrup, Lemon peel, Sage
Capsized in Calabria — Amaro, Gin, Cap Corse Blanc, Aromatized wine, Bitters, Lemon
Ottoman Old Fashioned — Gin, Bourbon, Apricot liqueur, Lemon peel
Candy Apple Red Ferrari — Cognac, Campari, Fernet Branca, Apple cider vinegar, Simple syrup, Orange peel
July 3rd — Whiskey, Fernet Branca, Peach bitters, Citron liqueur, Lime juice

Recent Discussion

Re Passion Chartreuse, 1 day ago David Pittman commented:
Refreshing and tasty. A very nice summer drink.
Re The Botanist, 1 day ago drinkingandthinking commented:
Predictable but pleasant. A less boozy vesper with notes of ...cinnamon? I used Blue Coat dry.
Re Twice Smitten, 2 days ago bstanton commented:
Very refreshing. Made with Aperol. Next time will try with Campari. Highly recommend.
Re Mexican Necromancer, 2 days ago yarm commented:
This is a level up in complexity from the Mercy, Mercy!
Re Eve's Vacation, 6 days ago Shawn C commented:
The cocktail itself is brilliant. I used my own pomegranate grenadine syrup (had some particularly dark and intense aryls for this batch) and a fresh lime off the tree. The pomegranate was a great pairing with the fig which can be a bit intense if not properly mated. The Strega provides some slight mint/alpine herbal and bolsters the anise in the Mahia. The bitters provide a slight chili heat to the finish.