Fiddler on the Roof

Setting up a home bar and you’re all ready with your vodkas and whiskeys, but seem to be missing out on a certain something? Tired of shots and spirits on the rocks? Save your frettin’ and fumin’ for a rainy day pet, ‘cos we got some great ideas lined up for you – all ready to shake ‘n stir up things around the ‘ol celler!

1. FRESH JUICES
   Fruit juices should be right up there on your list this season. With a dash of lime juice and light rum, your ordinary apple juice could become a potent Apple Daiquiri; conjure up a petit Fuzzy Navel with peach schnapps and fresh orange juice; whip up the fav party Champagne Punch with strawberry nectar; or better still, stir in pineapple juice, cranberry juice and fresh OJ with vodka and you could have the perfect Sex on the Beach right here at home!
   
   Taken undiluted, these fruity drinks could also be the best energy drinks. You could churn them into rich smoothies, shakes, mocktails and summer coolers too! (Real, 1l; Rs70)
   
   
2. BAR BASICS
   For innovative cocktails it’s good to keep ingredients like Angostura bitters, lime cordial, brown sugar and coconut cream handy at all times. The classic Manhattan is made with vermouth, whiskey and a dash of Angostura bitters (Angostura, 100ml; Rs200), while other cocktail classics like the Cosmopolitan and Moscow Mule are variations on the basic vodka and lime cordial (Druk, 700ml; Rs52). Holiday drinks like Eggnog need brown sugar (Solar, 500gm; Rs45) and coconut cream is used in all tropical cocktails like the popular Piña Colada.
   
   
3. SAUCES N' SYRUPS
   These might look like an unlikely bunch for your home bar, but you’d be surprised by what you could turn up with them! Load up the chocolate syrup (Hershey’s, 680gm; Rs130) with Bailey’s Irish Cream, kahlua and vodka for Mudslide or create Cocoa Colada by replacing vodka and Bailey’s with white rum and coconut cream! Worcestershire (Lea & Perrins, 200ml; Rs175) and Tabasco sauce (Tabasco, 60ml; Rs90) usually go into spicy favourites like Bloody Mary and Caesar.
   
   
4. FRUITY FLAVOURS
   Sandeep Verma, bar and beverages expert, feels, “All fruity flavours will work wonders this season.” A sucker for all things natural, he urges that we store up on all those summer-fresh fruits – kiwis, melons, mangoes, peaches – the works. “Nothing like fresh fruits,” he avers, but in their absence syrups are our best option! Look out for flavours of melon, cranberry, peach and kiwi this summer. (Monin, 700ml; Rs440)

CHOICE OF THE MONTH: MOJITO MINT
Sandeep chooses mint syrup as his personal favourite for FnL readers. Muddled with white rum, crushed ice and lime wedges, Mojito is as refreshing as summer rain. Alternately, replace rum with vodka, stir in some brown sugar and voila, you have Mint Caipiroska!

Creativity is the essence of all good recipes, whether in matters of food or beverages – just go ahead and enjoy concocting your own inventions with these basic bar ingredients. Cheers!

Inputs: Saon Bhattacharya
Photographs: Naveesh Tejpal