A bartender's half-dozen

Tony Abou-Ganim spoke last night to an overflow crowd at the Musem of the American Cocktail in New Orleans. His topic? "Stocking & Tending Your Home Bar." As the title would suggest, it was more like a Cocktail 101 introductory class than the usual 300-level advanced seminar in bitters chemistry that the Museum typically hosts.

Abou-Ganim noted that his approach was inspired by David Embury, the author of the 1948 classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Embury urged his readers to master a half-dozen cocktails. Why? Allow me to quote Mr. Embury:

The average host, who makes no pretense of being an expert on liquors, can get along very nicely with a knowledge of how to mix a half dozen good cocktails. In fact, if he can make only two or three and always makes them well he will stand much higher in the regard of his guests than will the indiscriminate chop-suey dispenser who throws together a little of everything that chances to be laying around loose with no regard whatsoever for the basic function to be performed by each ingredient.

God, I love to quote Embury. Anyway, here are the Embury Six:

1. The Martini
2. The Manhattan
3. The Old-Fashioned
4. The Daiquiri
5. The Side Car
6. The Jack Rose

Abou-Ganim started with a similar list, then improvised and added one. Here are the Abou-Ganim Seven:

1. The Martini
2. The Negroni
3. The Margarita
4. The Manhattan
5. The Daiquiri
6. The Mojito
7. The Cosmopolitan

Both are fine lists, and either would help chop-suey dispensers up their game. Abou-Ganim's list, of course, reflects some shifts in recent years. The Margarita and Mojito both need to be listed no matter what the haters say. People love them, and for reasonable reasons. It's great to see the Martini, the Manhattan and the Daiquiri soldier on a half-century later. But where's the Old-Fashioned? Inexcusable. That's always seemed like a perfect training ground for any aspiring cocktail maker — make a good Old-Fashioned reliably, and you understand balance. And a shame about losing the Side Car (which has actually rallied of late) and the Jack Rose (a small round of applause for the return of Laird's bottled-in-bond, please!). But something has to give.

I was particuarly happy to see the Negroni surface on Abou-Gamin's list — that wouldn't have been on anyone's list five years ago, but it's had a great revvial. It's my fallback drink, and I enjoy making it with different gins, each of which bring subtle variations. But I guess I wouldn't include it on a homework list only because it's so easy — 1:1:1 gin:vermouth:Campari. It's pre-balanced.

That brings us to the Cosmopolitan. Sigh. I don't get the Cosmo and I never have. It's an OK drink, and I don't hate it as much as those speakeasies that evict you if you but order it. But it feels like a piece of reproduction furniture. It starts with the elements of a classic, but fails to assemble them with the same elan and flair. And putting it on a list just encourages others to keep making it. Blue pencil, please. Gone.

Compiling these lists is like balancing a budget — if you add one thing, something else has to go. I guess my six would look like this:

1. The Martini
2. The Old Fashioned
3. The Daiquiri
4. The Manhattan
5. The Mojito
6. The Margarita

Each of these are simple, but none are trival — all require paying attention to slight variations in spirits, citrus, or vermouth. (OK, the mojito has pretty ample room for error, but it's a good training ground for working with fresh greens.)

Here's the bottom line: If you can make those six perfectly every time, the building blocks are in place to go much higher.

Comments

[Rick]

I take exception on the Negroni. That's one of those drinks that subtle variations in anything shows through when you taste the drink. Which gin did you use? How long did you shake it for? Rocks or up? It's one of those second to learn, lifetime to master drinks and makes for an excellent litmus test for a good bartender (maybe even with playing with the ratio's a bit). It should definitely be in the list.

I would leave off the Old-Fashioned, too. If you can make a Manhattan you're fairly close and there's enough ingredients in an Old-Fashioned that there's a lot of room for error (though your point to make it in order to understand balance is a valid one.)

[Wayne Curtis]

Rick -- Point taken on the Negroni. It can surely be fine tuned toward perfection, and doing so is educational. But I still think that the margin of error on it runs fairly wide -- it's hard to make a bad Negroni if you own a jigger. That's not the case with an old-fashioned., which I think is a lot trickier to get right than a Manhattan. But I included both since they're representative of old-fashioned and new-fashioned 19th century cocktails.

[Tony Harion]

I love the negroni, but i can see it not being an essential for the occasional home bartender to know as it may be an acquired taste for guests.

Having the sidecar in the list gives people a good drink to mix with brandy/cognac so I´d keep it (besides the fact that it´s one of my favorites). Balancing a sidecar can also be a great exercise and a great path to learn more about cocktails. There is a lot of room to play with and just a small twist will result in completely different variations without subbing any of the ingredients.

Man, you gotta love a good sidecar!

And.. since you have the whiskey and the mint from the mojito, why no keep that julep on hand too…