Friendly Quarantine Advice from our director of wine and spirits

Editor’s Note: I’ve introduced him here before, but Paul Brewer is my go-to wine, spirits and food guru. Paul can take the most dire of situations (or the best) and make it look Gatsby-level classy. He currently lives off the land in Hawaii, and the layers of sophistication he brings with him to the islands are unprecedented. I was feeling glum about my drinking situation, so I wrote to him, hoping for inspiration in the barroom as we all struggle to find balance in our new pandemic reality. Of course, he delivered.—Travis

Paul,

Each day I ride a rollercoaster. Trying to be positive while running into a series of brick walls with no way to remedy. No surfing. No restaurants. No bars. All I got right now is living room yoga and my bar cart to get through this. 

I recently chatted with a friend about how we were both down to a couple random beers in the fridge and the cork was off the last bottle of wine. I mentioned that I did have a rather extensive alcohol shelf, full of rum, whiskey, tequila, gin and lots of fixings, but that’s not usually my casual go-to.

“It’s time to get experimental,” he said. “What could be more fun?” 

I write all this to you Paul, wondering if you got any tricks up your sleeve for the quiet nights alone? I’m trying to keep my paw out of the cookie and gin jar this week, but next week I wanna come back with a vengeance. I want quarantine to elevate my drinking, not deteriorate my mind and body.  

Got any unique recipes, using classics i.e. rum, whiskey, gin or tequila? 

Simple enough for quarantine, but fun enough to spice up the monotony?

You can simply type it as a response to this for me, but I reserve the right to post.

-travis  

Paul’s response:

Trav,

I wrote a great article about this once (for you in fact), I’ll paste a portion below.

But.

It’s helpful to think of cocktail components as categories as opposed to ingredients. Strong, sour, smoky, sweet, spicy, bitter, floral (same for cooking, by the way). Once you know what you like together, you can experiment and get weird. Like a margarita makes sense: smoky (tequila) with sour (lime) and sweet (simple syrup or whatever you fancy). 

Or remember the rosita? Smoky Tequila with bitter Campari and dry and sweet vermouth. You could put something floral in there too. 

Or can you go for walks and forage? Pick some herbs from neighbors yards, then build a cocktail around whatever mint or oregano or lavender or lemons or grapefruits you find. Nasturtiums too! Your Fancy neighbors deck out their yards, time to prove that sharing is caring. That’s a fun little challenge to keep the old brain cranking.  

Infusions are fun too. We had tons of lemons, so we made lemonchello a couple weeks ago. Try a vanilla pod dropped in some whiskey, or some chili peppers and tequila or vodka. That sounds like a cocktail to me. 

Are you somewhat inspired?

The basics:

For me, this helps. It’s a principle that allows you to understand the concept, not just memorize recipes. 

So keep it simple. Start here:

• 2 Parts booze: vodka, gin, tequila, or whiskey. Just don’t fuck it up with Sambuca.

• 1 Part Sour: lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, or bitter liquids, like Campari.

• 1 Part Sweet: simple syrup, honey, agave, etc.

Freestyle away from there with more ingredients and flavors. Add more layers as you wish, but don’t forget to pay attention to your ice, and for God’s sake don’t add a garnish if it doesn’t add flavor or smell to your creation.

If you find yourself in the weeds with no idea what to make. Trust these rules, they will provide.—Paul Brewer