A couple of our good friends got married this weekend. The wedding was beautiful (as was the bride), and the reception was so much fun. Plus, of course, open bar.
I don't drink a lot. And when I do, it's usually at home with friends rather than out at a bar. So, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to bar drinks. I told the bartender I wanted something fruity, and she recommended Sex on the Beach. (insert joke here) Later in the night I tried a Long Beach Iced Tea, recommended by one of our friends, which is basically a Long Island Iced Tea but with a splash of cranberry juice instead of cola. Both drinks were pretty good.
So the last couple days I've been browsing online to try and find different drinks that I can try the next time I have the occasion to. Trouble is, on a site like drinksmixer.com, there's SO MUCH on there. And, since I'm not a drinker, none of it sounds familiar to me. I have no real way of knowing what are standard drinks, what are local drinks, and what some college kid just made up on his own. In our age of information dissemination, I wonder how common it is for someone to order a drink, and the bartender not know what it is. And, common or no, I wouldn't want to be caught in that situation.
I did find a list of Popular Drinks Every Bartender Should Know, so I suppose I'd probably be safe ordering any of these. And honestly I think it would be really fun to have a well-stocked liquor cabinet and try out different mixes on my own -- in moderation, of course. But that could get to be a rather pricey hobby, I'm sure.
It actually IS a fun hobby. Wife sent me to Bartending school for a 30th BD present and it was quite enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, though... it is hard to weed out the standard vs. local things. I STILL have a hard time with it.
While getting a decently stocked bar is not *too* hard, I have found that the hardest part these days is with speciality liquors/juices. Every restaurant and bar is coming up with their own unique drinks, many of which are REALLY GOOD. But they rely on some "banana liquor" or "papaya nectar," which not only are hard to find... but typically don't keep well enough to stay stocked in the bar.