by Claudia Kwan, FoodConnect contributor
claudia@foodconnect.com

Entertaining at home used to seem like the best way to avoid dialing madly two weeks in advance to find a place that could take a group of 12 on a weekend night, only to crowd into a noisy dark corner and pay an automatic gratuity for ‘service’ that was anything but.

But if you’re going to tell all your pals to come over, a case of beer and ordering pizza just doesn’t seem to do it any more. Maybe I’ve been reading too many glossy magazines lately, but the pressure seems to be on to match the best parts of a restaurant experience—most notably, with the cocktails you can mix up.

I first met the quintessentially charming Mark Brand when judging a cocktail competition in 2006, shortly after he was dubbed ‘Bartender of the Year’ by Vancouver Magazine for his work behind the bar at Chambar in Vancouver’s Crosstown neighbourhood. He may now be co-owner of Gastown hotspot Boneta, but he’s still fully in touch with his mixologist roots, and more than willing to help with advice for my home bar project.

‘Do It Yourself’ infusion
Sure, you can spend $35-40 per bottle of flavour infused vodka, but Brand believes they’re basically sugar water and ‘all this stuff that makes you sick the next day.’

Instead, he says shell out $20-22 each for six bottles of an entry-level Polish or Russian vodka, and snag some lemongrass, figs, vanilla beans, whatever grabs your fancy, and infuse the vodka yourself. “Pop them in your freezer. They’re there for you to use in cocktails when someone comes over,” suggests Brand. “Not only is it impressive, but it’s very inexpensive.”

I gently point out that it’s easy for a master mixologist to say ‘Infuse’ and have it hey presto! happen as if by magic, but for someone who’s all thumbs (i.e. me), it’s not quite so simple. So here’s how he breaks down the example of vanilla bean vodka.

-Split a vanilla bean in half, and drop a couple of the stalks in.
-Let that sit overnight, and do a taste test in the morning.
-If it’s not sweet enough for your liking, leave the vanilla beans in for another night.
-When it’s time to take the beans out, put the mix through a strainer and catch the now-infused vodka in a litre container or a plastic bowl.
-Pour back into the original bottles and put the original caps back on.

Brand says he’s happy to dish out additional details in person at the restaurant for anyone who would like them, but be warned—he’s hoppin’ busy playing host most of the time.

Bar ingredient basics
Walk into any liquor store and a dizzying kaleidoscope of bottles clamours for inclusion on your bar shelf. Brand says a few ‘base’ ingredients will allow you to make a huge range of cocktails. “Always have some brown stuff around, so get yourself a bottle of rye, a bottle of bourbon, and a good quality of bitters,” he suggests. Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark are a couple of the relatively inexpensive brands he mentions that perform well in cocktails without breaking the bank.

A bottle of gin, a bottle of vodka, and a bottle of rum also seem to be getting a good workout at my house, and a bottle of tequila will undoubtedly make its way in just before summer patio drink season.

Stay away from fancy and expensive pre-packaged garnishes, warns Brand. He believes it’s better to experiment with fresh flavours yourself than to pick up something preserved in sugar syrup and possibly produced with questionable ingredients (I’m looking at you, maraschino cherries of my youth.) However, I still think there’s something to be said for small touches of elegance created by those more skilled than I. The wild hibiscus flowers formerly produced by the Garnish Girls and now by the Designer Cocktail Company are lovely as they bloom under champagne bubbles.

Bar tool basics
Brand says a steel and glass bar shaker is a must-have for a great cocktail. I’ve had a ton of success with an all-metal shaker that has different ingredients engraved on the exterior shell in a specific configuration. Move it one notch and you have the recipe for a whiskey sour. Move it a few more and you automatically see what goes into a White Russian, a Fuzzy Navel, or a Sidecar, with 15 recipes listed in all.

A long-handled bar spoon will also help you stir up a martini or a Manhattan, and a jigger is a good idea if you want to be precise about how much alcohol you’re putting into each drink.

Also, never forget to have lots of ice in your freezer if you’re going to have people over.

Presentation is key
Good glassware is the finishing point for a stylish cocktail. “You don’t want to be pouring a really nice drink into the beer glass that you happened to get with your six pack on Super Bowl Day,” Brand mock-scolds. He says Ming Wo will often have one-off sales on four packs of glasses. I’ve had a lot of luck at the Bay on sale days.

Inventing a truly great cocktail is a challenge—there’s a reason why champion mixologists are in great demand at high-end restaurants. But there’s no reason you can’t re-create that drink at home for a fraction of the price... as long as you’re prepared and willing to put a little effort into it.

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