Simple Living Liquor Cabinet!

[rosarugosa]

What's in your ideal liquor cabinet? My actual cabinet contains way too much stuff. My ideal streamlined cabinet would only contain:

Cognac VSOP (Courvoisier or similar)
Cachacas (for mojitos)
Laphroaig scotch
A decent Vodka (just one, unflavored. DH favors Ketel One, and I would never be able to tell the difference, so fine with me)
Myers Dark rum (for Dark & Stormys)
A decent bourbon (we currently have a local called Nor'easter and another called Berkshire Bourbon)
A decent rye
Campari

And a couple of different types of bitters. I love bitters!

[iris lilies]

I think vodka is a good basic liquor to have around. Otherwise, doh, I do not know. I was not until very recently a drinker of hard liqour. I accept vodka because it can be mixed with anything to make it taste like anything!

My crowd, now decimated from moving away, was a wine and beer crowd.

I have 3 friends who drink Scotch and bourbon, but I would never stock my cabinet with liquor just for them.

In my house the bottom line has always been this: you can get a decent glass of red wine. Don’t count on anything else

[iris lilies]

Bitters! That is so funny you should bring that up because I was just writing to my friend about bitters. I priced them at the liquor store and Whoah they are expensive so I did not buy any. She has some in her refrigerator. I told her I was going to take them. This is my friend who moved away.

now I’m anxious to try Bitters is because it is so very British I love the idea of Bitters.

[gimmethesimplelife]

New Amsterdam Gin for me for the win.....mixes well with tonic and is often on deep discount all over town. Barring that......a Mexican tequila bought in Algodones for less than 1/2 it would cost in the US and a bottle of Presidente Brandy (from Mexico also).....goes well with 85006 neighbor airport worker gossip. I'm not much of a drinker, neither is anyone else under my roof so that would be a Simple Living Liquor Drawer (don't need a whole cabinet) for me. Rob

PS Came back to add it's interesting that I sold wine all those years waiting tables and I don't list any wine in my liquor drawer......add a bottle of something white and Portuguese. Whatever TAP Portugal served in economy on my flight from Vienna to Lisbon in 2015.

[rosarugosa]

We started delving into bitters because we were trying to make good Old Fashioneds at home. We got a bottle of grapefruit bitters from Fee Brothers that is so good!

[bae]

I need:

Rum - for rum balls, and putting in tea when I'm getting a cold
Brandy - for making brandied cherries and some dessert items
Absinthe - for drinking, carefully
Sherry, decent but not too good - for cooking, sauces
Local-made Genever-style gin - for drinking and to support my neighbor who makes it
Grappas - a selection - for drinking

Now, I also keep a good supply of Port wine on hand, for drinking and sauces, but that's in the wine cellar, not the liquor cabinet. Ditto the sake.

[herbgeek]

We are mostly a beer/wine/cider household. That said, I do also have vodka, but that's mostly used for herbal tinctures. I have rum for rum balls and mojitos. I have a greek moonshine, some aperol for spritzes, and some Maple Rye and Maple Liquor from a recent trip to Vermont. There's a bottle of elderflower liqueur that a friend raved about, but I haven't really found a use for it.

[Gardnr]

Vodka-prefer 44North Huckleberry or Grey Goose-plain

Devils Cut Whiskey-Jim Beam hubby's favorite sipper

Irish Cream for weekend coffee

[jp1]

Our household is strictly beer/wine. So for us our liquor cabinet is a room with lots of wine racks and a kegerator. While there's nothing simple about being a couple who drink alcohol, at least there's no plastic involved. (hopefully society never gets to the point where decent wine is sold in plastic bottles!)

[Tammy]

My husband keeps a variety of high end whiskeys on hand. From all over the world. I would have zero alcohol if I lived alone. Not really into it.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Honestly I often have 3 buck chuck around!!! Not that I drink in any quantity but sometimes. I like hard apple cider so have some of that. I have some vodka but don't really use it (I think I thought I'd use it for pasta maybe, also could be used for cleaning products - but neither have happened). I'd like to cook with sherry and brandy as I see recipes, however I don't really I guess as I haven't acquired them.

[JaneV2.0]

I always drool over restaurant reviews featuring exotic drinks (at exotic prices), but trying to recreate all of them would seem to be a fool's errand. Not to mention that I don't need help to be unsteady on my pins. So I just have a half a bottle of brandy my beloved brought me two years ago, and I have a swig of that every once in awhile.

I've never liked wine--I've been to wine tastings, and I'm sure there's some variety I wouldn't mind. I used to drink spritzers, but then I used to drink Scotch. Didn't particularly like either of them. Or beer. On the other hand, I love kombucha, which is much more my speed.

[dado potato]

Similar to Tammy above, I have abstained from alcohol for a few years, and there is no doubt in my mind that life is simpler and less expensive without consuming/supplying alcoholic beverages.

DW likes gin and tonic in the summer months, and I like to "pamper" her by occasionally splurging on Fever Tree brand tonic. In cooler weather, like many Wisconsinites, DW must have Korbel brandy, which she mixes with diet cola (OMG! blech!)... or a (more ambitious cocktail, festooned with fruit!) Old Fashioned.

P.S. The "Old Fashioned" in Wisconsin is made with Korbel brandy. I understand that elsewhere the "Old Fashioned" is made with whisky.
http://ediblemilwaukee.ediblecommunities.com/drink/wisconsin-state-cocktail-old-fashioned

[Float On]

My cabinet is pretty small. Vodka in freezer, Rum, Frangelico, and lots of wine. Irish Creme in the fridge.

[beckyliz]

Wine whites and reds, preferably on the dry side
A good basic vodka for mixed drinks
A good sippin' bourbon
A decent tequila for margaritas

[rosarugosa]

Similar to Tammy above, I have abstained from alcohol for a few years, and there is no doubt in my mind that life is simpler and less expensive without consuming/supplying alcoholic beverages.

DW likes gin and tonic in the summer months, and I like to "pamper" her by occasionally splurging on Fever Tree brand tonic. In cooler weather, like many Wisconsinites, DW must have Korbel brandy, which she mixes with diet cola (OMG! blech!)... or a (more ambitious cocktail, festooned with fruit!) Old Fashioned.

P.S. The "Old Fashioned" in Wisconsin is made with Korbel brandy. I understand that elsewhere the "Old Fashioned" is made with whisky.
http://ediblemilwaukee.ediblecommunities.com/drink/wisconsin-state-cocktail-old-fashioned

That's really interesting. I didn't know there was a Brandy Old Fashioned!

[Gardnr]

Forgot, my special treat is at the cabin. Chocolate martini: vanGogh double expresso Vodka, Godiva Choc Liquor......in addition to the vodka and whiskey.

[Teacher Terry]

They only know how to make a good old fashioned in Wisconsin

[rosarugosa]

Maybe we need to add a bottle of Korbel brandy to our cabinet, now that we've gone to the trouble of acquiring bitters, sugar cubes, and maraschino cherries. :)

[happystuff]

I don't have a liquor cabinet. Beer and wine (usually 1 six pack and/or 1 bottle at a time) goes in the fridge. Alcohol just isn't one of those things we stock up on.

[razz]

Just a 'very simple' living chuckle - my entire personal liquor collection is a pint plastic bottle of vodka with three vanilla beans for vanilla favouring. I need to replace this about every other year or longer now that I think about it.

[catherine]

I don't have a liquor cabinet. Beer and wine (usually 1 six pack and/or 1 bottle at a time) goes in the fridge. Alcohol just isn't one of those things we stock up on.

Me, too. I'm sorry to say that one of the reasons is because if it's there we'll drink it. Like M&Ms sitting on the kitchen table. Better to keep the temptation a car ride away.

[Teacher Terry]

When we go to wine country yearly we buy about 10 bottles to bring home.

[Rogar]

I get one or two bottles of decent whisky or scotch in the cold seasons. Other than that, it’s beer.