Restaurant and bar closings got you down? Missing that cocktail hour? Well, we got you covered here at the shop with our “lets be able to make a bunch of different cocktails with as few bottles as possible” kit. We’re still working on a nice, snappy name, but the booze is all spot on! The idea here is to see how we can get y’all able to make as many classic cocktails with as few bottle purchases as possible, giving you an efficiently stocked bar that gets you the most amount of mileage. On top of that, we wanted to make sure that you don’t have to do any other prep like squeeze fresh juices. Its wintertime anyway. Save the lime for the warm months. We have here for you Johnny Drum Bourbon, Bordiga Occitan Gin, Bordiga Rosso Vermouth, Forthave Red, and Bittermens Transatlantic Modern Bitters, giving you access to Manhattans, Negronis, Boulevardiers, Americanos, and Old Fashioneds (as well as simple 1 and 1s with any of these should you keep soda on hand). We’re doing 10% off on this package, bringing you 5 bottles for $155. Pretty great way to get yourself a full bar for not a ton of dough!

These are all our workhorse boozes here at the shop, the things we all drink on the daily (when we’re not ponying up for something special that is!). They represent a snapshot of what we refer to as the MWC backbar and we hope y’all will enjoy this collection. We've included some basic cocktail recipes with professional insight from our resident spirits guru Jon Langley to get you started.

Manhattan

I tend to prefer a Manhattan on the wet side, using overproof bourbon. While you’re certainly welcome to rein the vermouth in on this, I strongly suggest keeping it as is to compete with the Johnny Drum.

2 oz Johnny Drum Bourbon
1 oz Bordiga Rosso
3 drops of Bittermens Transatlantic Bitters

Stir and pour either in a coupe or over a large rock. Toss in a cherry and have yourself an evening!

Negroni

So, I know the classic here is 1:1:1, but you know what, this recipe came around when gin was most likely stronger than it currently is and using anything other than Navy strength gin for this has always come across slightly sweet for my palette. Turns out I’m not alone! If you find other top-notch recipes from around the city’s top bars, you’ll see a trend of tilting negronis slightly gin heavy to accommodate for this.

1.33 oz Bordiga Occitan Gin
1 oz Bordiga Rosso
1 oz Forthave Red

Stir, rock, orange twist. You’re in business! Try not to drink 5 of these.

Boulevardier

So I tend to prefer a whisky heavy Boulevardier even with “normie” proof whiskey, but even with the overproof, I still veer slightly spirit heavy. If it were 80 proof stuff I’d go as high as 1.5 oz whiskey.

1.25 oz Johnny Drum
1 oz Bordiga rosso
1 oz Forthave Red

Stir, rock, orange twist. Repeat until desired life-view achieved. 

Americano

One of my favorite low abv sippers is an americano. So easy, always refreshing and interesting. And you know what? If you need to boost it up slightly, a splash of gin dries it out and fortifies it, if that’s what you’re looking for in life. I know that sort of amounts to a negroni with soda, but when I do this, I actually end up dropping the spirit down to half.

1 oz Bordiga Rosso
1 oz Forthave Red

You can build this directly in the glass. Top it up with soda. I base this on a 12 oz glass using large cubes. Filled with ice, the total cocktail volume will end up being around 5 oz with soda water and dilution. Lovely with a little lemon twist.

Old Fashioned

There are so many amazing variations on this drink (I am quite partial to a gin old fashioned that includes a few dashes of chartreuse and jaggery syrup or the “so classic it’s easy to forget it’s an Old Fashioned riff” Sazerac). The key here is where and how much water gets incorporated. I am a huge proponent of using rich syrups in old fashioned. This one calls for a rich demerara made by basically doing a 1:1 syrup by volume displacement. What this means is that if you were to make enough for household use (say 250ml of syrup. Its so dense it keeps for a reeeeaaaal long time) One would incorporate 195 grams of demerara sugar (or any other flavorful sugar you’re into) and 125g hot water. Stir. And then keep stirring. Takes a while to dissolve sugar in a syrup that’s this dense. Anyhow, this gives you more wiggle room for stirring an appropriate amount of time without watering down your drink.

2 oz Johnny Drum
1 bar spoon rich demerara (this is slightly less than 1/8 oz)
4 drops Bittermens Transatlantic Bitters

Stir, pour over a rock. Spritz it with an orange peel. You’ll know you’ve stirred an overproof bourbon old fashioned like this properly by the viscosity as it pours. Real silken.

The Spirits below are offered on a first come, first served basis. Follow the links below to purchase directly from our site or call / email us if you need some assistance.


Cheers,

  
THE SPIRITS
 
Bordiga - Vermouth Rosso
12 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
$27.99/ BOTTLE

Bordiga is a producer of Piedmontese vermouths, amari, gins, and liqueurs that speak clearly of their alpine origins. All vermouths are made with traditional Piedmontese grapes (Moscato, Nebbiolo, etc) and prominently feature local herbs such as chamomile, gentian, and juniper. This lovely sweet red vermouth has a sturdier structure than your standard sweet brown affair, due to the inclusion of Nebbiolo grapes, which lends the vermouth a nice dose of tannin. Our new favorite for mixing into all of the boozy favorites.

Bordiga - Occitan Gin (1 L)
9 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
$35.00/BOTTLE
A lovely, lean gin, clean of floral overdosing and kitchen sink infusions, Bordiga's Occitan Gin showcases wild juniper, cardamom, and angelica root as the dominant flavors. This gin blends well with just about everything and is priced to move you and your tonic water (or martini, negroni, etc.) to a new state of being.
Forthave Spirits - Aperitivo, Red
 
11 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
$36.99/BOTTLE

The fine folks at Forthave in Brooklyn concoct lovely, color-coded libations that showcase a well-informed nod to the traditions and histories of European herb-infused spirits and liqueurs. This is their delightful take on the red Aperitivo style of Amaro (think Campari but local and natural), and shows hints of subtle rose hip, citrus zest, and chamomile with a lovely textured mouthfeel and well-structured bitter backbone. Perfect in all your spritzy variations and Negroni riffs, this is what you want artisanal Aperitivo to taste like.

Johnny Drum - Private Stock 101 Bourbon
 
20 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
$39.99/BOTTLE 

There’s a story about this bourbon (because apparently part of your "I'm a bourbon maker" starter pack is some sort of tale that’s likely taller than a highball) involving a confederate drummer boy named Johnny that farmed corn after the war and, while I can't say for certain that the story is absolute apocryphal garbage, it certainly doesn't have the slightest ring of historical truthfulness to it. But you know what? Who cares! The liquid is really great over-proof corn goodness in a bottle. From the Willet folks, this is a sweet on the nose dry on the palate sort of affair that blends up beautifully but also sips smoothly. One of my standby bourbons.

Bittermens - Transatlantic Modern Aromatic Bitters
 
12 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
$18.00/BOTTLE (148ML)
A fairly modern take on a cocktail bitter, this lovely little bottle incorporates bits and bobs of various bitter traditions, from Trinidad and New Orleans to Germany and the Alps. While I would never suggest something should permanently take the place of Angostura on the back bar, there’s plenty of room for new and exciting bitters that can occupy a similar space in your cocktail recipes, and this is one of them.