Drinking with My Dog

CHAPTER 1

YOUR HOME BAR

OBVIOUSLY, YOUR POOCH WON’T BE DRINKING THE HOOCH, but you might want to invite over your dog-loving human friends to taste your delicious concoctions. Making cocktails is fun, and you don’t have to be an expert in the kitchen or have bartending experience to make great drinks. You can also create a charming home bar whether you’re simply placing a few items on a cart in the corner of your living room or transforming your basement into the neighborhood watering hole. With a few bottles of spirits, a smattering of liqueurs, a cocktail shaker, and some fun glassware, you will show everyone that you are “top dog” when it comes to mixology.

Below, you’ll find a list of glassware to round out your collection as you become a serious home bartender. Don’t fret if you don’t have the funds or space for all of these. Even if you served every drink in this book in a paper cup, it would still taste delicious. If you do get into the spirit of collecting, though, I suggest perusing virtual or in-person flea markets and resale stores for cool vintage pieces. Also, keep an eye out for shelter thrift stores. Many rescue groups take donations of gently used clothing, glassware, furniture, and other household items to sell in their own secondhand market stalls or shops. I have found some of my most beautiful glassware at these, and I also donate to them regularly because the money from sales helps pay for pet food and vet bills. Who doesn’t love shopping for a good cause?

The glassware, bar tools, and ingredients in the following sections are a guide in case you’re ready to go all out, but don’t let these lists intimidate you. If you have a mason jar (instead of a cocktail shaker), a glass (of any kind), a tray of ice, some liquor, sugar, and lemons or limes, you can make many drinks in this book. And, at the risk of restating the obvious, do not give alcohol to your dog. All ingredients throughout this book are meant for human consumption only.

GLASSWARE

BAR MUG • A thick glass with a handle for cold or warm drinks.

CHAMPAGNE FLUTE • A long, narrow, stemmed glass used for sparkling drinks.

COCKTAIL COUPE / COCKTAIL GLASS • The original wide-bowled Champagne glass, and also used for classic stirred cocktails.

HIGHBALL/COLLINS/TALL GLASS • Ideal for fizzy drinks, with the Collins being a bit taller than the highball. Throughout this book, wherever directions suggest “strain over fresh ice in a tall glass,” you can use a shorter highball glass, a taller Collins glass, or even a tall water glass. Whatever you have on hand will work.

MARTINI/COCKTAIL GLASS • This V-shaped cocktail glass holds every variation of “tini” drinks you can think of. It was traditionally called a “cocktail” glass, so throughout this book wherever directions suggest “strain into a cocktail glass,” rest assured that you can use any kind of cocktail glass you wish.

RED WINE GLASS • A goblet with a wide rim allowing for more oxygen to react with the surface area of the wine, thereby allowing the flavors to “open.”

ROCKS/DOUBLE ROCKS GLASS • A short, wide glass used for sipping spirits served neat/“up” or “on the rocks”—no ice and with ice, respectively. The double rocks is, obviously, a bit bigger than the plain rocks glass. Throughout this book, any drink that is served “up” in a cocktail glass could also be served “on the rocks” in a double rocks glass. Not everyone loves stemmed glassware, so any cocktail from a Cosmopolitan to a Martini can also be served over ice in one of these glasses.

WHITE WINE GLASS • A smaller, tulip-shaped wine glass.

KITCHEN TOOLS AND APPLIANCES

BLENDER • For blending frozen cocktails.

CUTTING BOARD AND PARING KNIFE • For cutting fruits and veggies.

GRATER • For grating ginger, nutmeg, and chocolate, for instance, and for zesting citrus peels.

ICE CUBE MOLDS • Look for trays with fun shapes or larger openings. Larger cubes melt more slowly. When making ice blocks for a punch bowl or pitcher, use a small plastic tub (such as a yogurt or cottage cheese container). You can also use tonic water or juice in place of plain water so that as it melts it adds more flavor to the big-batched drink rather than water it down.

JUICER • Freshly juiced fruits and vegetables make for more delicious cocktails.

MEASURING CUP • For measuring batched drinks.

PEELER • For taking the skins off fruits and veggies; helpful for making lemon or lime twists.

SMALL SAUCEPAN • For cooking syrups or purees.

BASIC BAR TOOLS

BARSPOON • Used to stir drinks, a barspoon has a long stem, with the spoon measuring about 1 teaspoon.

CITRUS PRESS • This handheld kitchen tool is shaped like half an orange, lemon, or lime, and easily squeezes out juice while holding back seeds.

COCKTAIL SHAKER • These can be both decorative and functional. A three-piece shaker has the strainer built in. A professional set of shaker tins has a larger and smaller tin that seal when shaking liquid. A Boston shaker has a tin that fits over the mouth of a pint glass. I like using these in my cocktail classes, because the students can see the ingredients as they go into the glass, making it easier to follow along. Next, we add ice and seal it with the metal tin over the top before shaking. With a Boston shaker, you will need to use a Hawthorne strainer, a round, slotted metal lid with a spring in it to hold back ice and other solids when pouring the liquid into the cocktail glass.

ICE SCOOP • When you put out a bowl of ice at a party, you will need to provide an easy and sanitary way for people to scoop it into their glass.

JIGGER • Measures liquids in ounces or milliliters.

MUDDLER • Made from wood, plastic, or metal, a muddler is essentially a pestle with a long handle to reach the bottom of a cocktail shaker and is used to press the juice or oils from fruits and herbs.

SIEVE • If you are shaking berries or muddling herbs, you might want to double strain your drink. To do this, hold a small sieve above the cocktail glass to catch little bits of mint leaves or berry seeds as the contents of the shaker pass through it, so they don’t get stuck in your teeth when you take a sip.

INGREDIENTS

BAKING SPICES • Some of the recipes in this book call for spices, including cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg.

CITRUS FRUITS • Limes, lemons, oranges, and grapefruits are just a few of the fruits you’ll find in the recipes in this book.

CREAM • Typically, drinks use heavy cream, but half-and-half can be substituted for anyone watching their fat intake. For those who prefer nondairy, coconut creamer is a good substitute.

EGGS • Egg whites and egg yolks are used in a variety of drinks to add texture, mouthfeel, or froth. If you’re looking for a vegan substitute for egg whites in cocktails, try aquafaba or the liquid in a can of garbanzo beans found in any supermarket. See here for notes about adding raw egg to drinks.

FRESH HERBS • Mint, basil, and thyme are most common in cocktail recipes, although you’ll find many recipes using other herbs, too.

FRUITS AND VEGGIES • Just about any produce can be used in drinks, making for more fresh and flavorful beverages.

SEA SALT • For rimming glasses. See here for a note about rimming glasses.

SUGAR • Granulated white or raw is ideal for making syrups; note some vintage cocktail recipes call for a whole sugar cube or lump.

FETCH THE BOOZE!

Just as your pup’s face lights up when he sees his favorite ball, you might be surprised how much you enjoy showing off your newly honed cocktail skills. And you’ll find yourself seeking new “toys” at your favorite liquor store. I especially love bringing back an unusual spirit or liqueur from a trip to sip with friends while sharing travel stories—and photos of the dogs I met!—in faraway destinations. Whenever I land somewhere new, I try to understand how the people there eat and drink. It’s a peek into that culture’s local customs, tastes, and values. Also learning to make delicious things abroad is a very tactile way to share your experiences with your peeps back home.

Below is a list of spirits and other ingredients to create a foundation for your home bar. If this is new to you, don’t get overwhelmed because you do not need to have all of these things to get started. If you’re on a budget, buy bottles in increments. And, if you are particularly limited on space or funds, here is a little insider tip: Just about any cocktail can work with vodka in place of the spirit the recipe calls for. So, if you can only buy one bottle for now, make it vodka and add more spirits to your home bar as you can.

DISTILLED SPIRITS

Let’s demystify alcohol so that you can walk into a liquor store or shop online with confidence. Keep in mind that “more expensive” does not always translate to “better quality.” If you shop at a store that has knowledgeable clerks to help you choose the right product for you, that’s even better. The following list gives you an overview of the spirits used in this book, including what they’re made from and what they might taste like.

CHAPTER 2

RESCUE ME!

WALK INTO ANY SHELTER AND YOU’LL SEE SOME POOR FURBALL