The Handbook - How To Guides
 
 
 
31 Days: Style Tips and Tricks
 
Volume 5
 

All the tips and tricks needed to shape up for 2013. Each day brings new, expert advice on how to look your best and live life to the fullest, while having a little fun doing it.

Food & Drink
Day
24

Essential Spirits

Think of it as a rite of passage. Most guys will simply pour whatever they have gathering frost in the freezer, but a gentleman mixes legitimate cocktails from his bar. This doesn't require a fancy piece of furniture (a simple tray will suffice) or even an immense amount of bottles. Build your bar by starting with the base spirits. Add your favorite mixers and you'll churn out a surprising number of classic cocktails and create a few new concoctions of your own. Herewith, the five bottles every man should have on hand.

  What to Know Found In Ones to Consider
Vodka A definite crowd pleaser, vodka has relatively little flavor compared to other liquors, which is why it blends so well with mixers. It doesn't require any aging, but it does benefit from multiple distillations and filtrations. Martinis, vespers and vodka tonics, of course.
 
Good

Stolichnaya

 
 
Better

Tito's

 
 
Best

Grey Goose

 
Gin Gin derives much of its flavor from such botanicals as coriander seed, licorice root, cassia bark and its predominant ingredient, the piney-flavored juniper berry. Dry gin is aromatic and light in flavor and body. Martinis, negronis and gimlets.
 
Good

Tanqueray

 
 
Better

St. George

 
 
Best

Hendricks

 
Bourbon Declared by Congress as the national spirit, bourbon is a corn-based whiskey that must be aged in new, charred oak barrels for at least two years, a process that gives it much of its distinctive flavor. Old fashioneds, Manhattans and whiskey smashes.
 
Good

Maker's Mark

 
 
Better

Woodford Reserve

 
 
Best

Booker's

 
Tequila Look for 100 percent agave—the cactus-like plant from which the spirit is made—if it doesn't say so on the label, it's mixto (agave cut with sugar) and you don't want it. Keep a silver tequila on hand for margaritas or an aged reposado or anejo for sipping. Margaritas, palomas and sunrises.
 
Good

Jose Cuervo Tradicional

 
 
Better

Patron Silver

 
 
Best

Don Julio Anejo

 
Rum Often associated with the Caribbean, rum is made from distilled, fermented sugarcane juice. The flavor and color depend largely on how long it has been aged, and you definitely want your rum to be aged. Daiquiris, mojitos and Cuba Libres.
 
Good

Mount Gay

 
 
Better

10 Cane

 
 
Best

Appleton Estate

 
 

Further Reading

Behind every great bartender (literally) is a roughed-up, stained copy of The Savoy Cocktail Book. Filled with 750 popular recipes, the book has been an industry must-have since it was first published in 1930.

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