Hey, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I actually came up with a more than passable cocktail of (mostly) my own devising. As all eight of my regular readers know, The Pegu Blog is not replete with original recipes. I do try to make up a new concoction from time to time, but I seldom blog about the resulting beverages because they usually lack a certain something… a certain… what shall I call it… Ah yes! A desire to say Oh, that was good! I’d like another!
However, I’ve been in the kitchen a bit lately, preparing possible ingredients for MxMo XXXIII: Made From Scratch, coming to you here and on better blogs across the cocktailosphere in November. And, while blueberry syrup doesn’t really qualify for MxMo (there being no commercial equivalent that I know of), I made some up, according to Alton Brown’s recipe. Even if you don’t like my cocktail idea below, the blueberry soda you can make with this stuff is worth it on its own. It’s quite easy to whip up, but the recipe is a bit long to reproduce here.
My initial intent, when I finished the syrup, was to try it as a substitute for fresh berries in Jacob Grier’s Blue Beetle. But I started having creative thoughts. Instead of lying down until the sensation went away, I thought about how I could riff on Jacob’s recipe.
Here is the original:

Most of the world does not have St. Germaine lying around, of course. I do, but that’s irrelevant. I decided to go with Gin, instead of the vodka and St. Germaine. The muddled blueberries and simple syrup became my blueberry cordial. The resulting drink was much darker and brighter in color than Jacob’s, and with a more in your face flavor. But it was a little flat, and I felt it needed just one more note. Rather than going with Orange Flower Water, I tried two heavy shakes of Fee Brother’s Lemon Bitters. This worked like a charm. I had produced an attractive, tasty cocktail!
Now I just hope someone out there tries one too!
So, with a nod to the Corpse Reviver family of drinks, I give you the…

Parts Two and Three in this series dealt with fairly big ticket items. With Part 4(a) I’m going to talk about something that is perhaps even more critical, but costs a lot less—at least in detail.

What’s with the 4(a)?

Upon editing this piece, I decided to break it into a three parts. The first is about the glasses you need from the start when you set up your bar. The second will cover all the other cool glasses you can add later for various purposes. The third post will be about how to acquire the glasses you start with and those you add later.

You edit your work? Seriously?

…!
Actually, yes I do. But I don’t cut very vigorously, or you’d end up in the bin almost everytime…

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When you first construct your Basement Bar, you will have to have some glassware in which to serve and drink the drinks that are the purpose of the exercise. You probably already have some of what you need upstairs, but you may not. Also, you may want to keep what you have in the kitchen, in the kitchen. For the purposes of this piece, we’ll assume you are starting from scratch. Any elements that you can cover from stock, go ahead and do so.
There is a bewildering array of glassware out there. What is more bewildering is the number of cocktail books who try to tell you that you need a minimum of four cordial glasses for your basic setup. Even the more restrained references will still tell you to have an egregious number of kinds of glasses.
To set up your Basement Bar, you will need four kinds of glasses. That’s all. Anything else can wait for pocketbook to recover and/or opportunity to present itself.
Much more below the fold: (more…)