Monday, May 23, 2011

Dependable Drinks

Another great question from Quora: What is a solid drink to order from an understocked bar?

Vodka cranberry, splash of soda (or Cape Codder, splash soda if they have fresh-looking limes). Here's why:

-Every bar has all three ingredients.
-The quality of ingredients will be very consistent from bar to bar: vodka varies the least of all liquors from brand to brand, soda water is soda water, and 90 percent or more of all bars use Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail.
-This is one of the most popular drinks out there, so chances are even the least experienced bartenders have had practice making a good number of them and gotten feedback on at least some.
-The most common mistake most bartenders make with a highball is mixing it too strong, but since this drink has two mixers they're likely to use a little more mixer overall and thus actually make the drink correctly.
-It's a good drink!

If you're a dark-liquor drinker and want to mix it up a bit (pardon the pun), try Bourbon and cranberry with a splash of soda instead -- fantastic.

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