Adult Beverages

Adult Beverage - that's what the kids call anything with alcohol, or with a taste they don't like. Over the holidays, we've partaken of many adult beverages such as, wine, champagne, beer, margaritas, etc...

My favorite adult beverage, when I go out, and a bar mixes into the equation, is a cocktail called a Manhatten. This season I decided I wanted to learn how to make one. Surprisingly, getting what I naively thought would be easy-to-find ingredients has turned into a treasure hunt.

You see, I know next to nothing about hard liquor. The first question I faced was, what kind of whiskey bourbon should I use? I mean, do you know how many brands of bourbon there are out there? And whiskies? And let's not forget, bourbon whiskey? sigh Well, some of them are very expensive, and some of them are sold in very large quantities. So, I opted for Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. That was actually pretty easy, considering what was to come next.

After finding the bourbon, I was encouraged. So, next, I needed vermouth. I've never bought vermouth before. According to one recipe, I needed sweet vermouth. To the liquor store I drove. I browsed the shelves. Hmmmm, vodka, rum, more vodka, whisky... no vermouth. Odd, I thought. Well, I needed some help. I walked over to the register where a tall, young Indian with a turban on his head was watching me. He asked in a sing-song accent, "May I help you?"

"I need some vermouth, please. Where do I find it?"

"What did you say? Vodka?"

Here, I thought I had enunciated my words quite plainly. But, maybe his hearing is like mine, and he didn't quite catch what I said.

"Oh, no. I said that I was looking for the vermouth"

He gave me another quizzical look, and said,

"I've never heard of that before. What is it?"

Okay, this isn't working out too well. I don't know what it is, or how to explain what it is! How can I tell this fellow something I don't know? So I say thanks anyway and leave, thinking to myself - "If the guy at the liquor store doesn't know what vermouth is, how the heck am I going to find it?" This didn't bode well. As I drove toward home I recalled another small liquor store in an old run-down strip mall, so I took a run at that one next.

I briefly checked the shelves, not really expecting to find what I was looking for, given my experience at the last store. Nothing. I found the man at the counter, another Indian, but older. I said I was looking for vermouth. This time, he knew right away what I was looking for. He pulled two bottles off the shelf behind him.

"Which one do you want?" he asked.

Heck, I don't know. I had forgotten if I needed sweet or dry vermouth. I like dry wine, so I picked dry vermouth - Martini & Rossi - only later to find that I should have picked the sweet. Oh well, I'll make Perfect Manhattens. I'm not even sure I know the difference!

Next, I asked him if he had any bitters, Angostura® bitters. He looked at me in much the same way as the last counterman, "What's that?"

sigh

I now have all but one of the ingredients for my cocktail - although, from the varying recipes on the net, I have ascertained that I don't really need a dash of bitters. I just want it.

But bitters will have to wait until I figure out where to buy it.

Tonight I will mix my first Manhatten...