Stocking Up Part 2

Hey I know the last post was about stocking up. This one is about mixers. No not the party where you go to meet people. These are the mixers that go in your cocktails.

Mixers covers almost everything else that can go into a cocktail. Soda / pop, seltzer, juices, water, fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices sugar, salt and syrup.

First the liquids. sounds easy enough, right.

Soda / pop: This covers one of the easiest categories. Rum & coke, seven / seven, jack & coke, etc... Soda / pop or pop / soda is most often store bought but also covers tonic, and home made soda. It is a carbonated liquid most people have grown up with.

Seltzer: Is water that is in a canister and has been carbonated by a cartridge of Co2. think of old black & white films where someone gets spritzed in the face by one of these bottles. They were more popular until around the 1950's, but rarely seen today. If you want one you may have to look around for one. They will add a dramatic flair when used in front of your guests The Co2 cartridges should be found in gourmet stores and sporting goods stores.

Juices: These are juices from fruits and vegetables. Either fresh or store bought. For fruits you can use a fruit reamer, hand juicer, or the squeeze method. For vegetables you are going to need an electric juicer. The electric juicer will work for fruit if you have one, but these baby's are the best way to get things like fresh carrot juice.

Remember fresh juice will always taste better than store bought.

Water: Yes plain old water, not sparkling. Not just for ice cubes either. You can just open a tap, but most municipalities fluoridate, and add extra chlorine during the summer. If you are going to go to the tap let the water sit in the refrigerator over night, the chemicals will evaporate. a water purifier will take out some of the chemicals in the tap water. I recommend using bottled water. And I am one of these people that doesn't agree with the whole lets just buy water, most of it comes from a tap anyways.

OK enough of me ranting. Now we will move on to the rest.

Fruits & vegetables: I am lumping both of these here for one reason. We are not using them as garnish. In a drink like the Mojito the fruit, in this case limes, are muddled in the bottom of the glass. This process makes them part of the mixer category.

Herbs, spices and salt:  Herbs are parts of plants. Herbs can be left whole, slightly bruised or muddled. this is how they release their essential oils into the drink. Spices are also parts of plants but are usually grated due to their hard texture. Salt is a mineral and that is the only reason why its separated from the other two.

Syrup: Is just that. It will often be simple syrup, but can be many others. A chocolate martini with chocolate syrup drizzled around the inside of the glass adds a very nice contrast and flavor. You can buy the syrups easily enough. But you can also make many different types. If you have room in a refrigerator they will last quite a long time. I have made some and put them in condiment squeeze bottles to make storage and use easier. Let the syrup cool before adding them to a plastic bottle.

That should do it for today. As always,
Cheers:
Steve Aniolowski / Spicy