In one out of many remarkable scenes in the Julia Roberts flick, Pretty Girl, is one with some heavy snacking. The druggie/prostitute/best friend, Kit, in a hurry to get a fix for her munchies, pulls over none other than a bar’s condiment bin.
But , as said druggie/prostitute/best mate still prefers to pretend that she’s got some semblance of class; she steals a cocktail napkin first.
Then she proceeds, in true checkout counter style, to choose from the bar’s condiments to select her dinner. The ensuing conversation, with the bar’s owner/bartender/drug dealer went something like this:
Owner/bartender/drug dealer: “Hey Kit, this is not a buffet.”
Druggie/prostitute/best mate, Kit: “I know I know I know I am just getting a snack. Geez!”
There was one thing that I could understand about Kit: She believed that her neighborhood bar was her 2nd home. A home away from home that she was somewhat proprietal about it. A place she was comfy enough in to steal seasonings, yes, but she probably did bring Julia Roberts with her. Most times.
I've always wanted to look inside and see what’s under the neat small frosted door covering those chosen condiments. Then maybe smell every one and see how fresh things were kept. But Kit held me back, any semblance of Kit and Kit’s bad girl behaviour. But besides the necessary lemon and lime wedges, maraschino cherries, speared olives and celery stalks what else could be in there I marvelled?
These days with many barkeepers morphing into mixologists, muddling devices utilized for making cocktails need more fresh fruits, vegetables and even spices. Drinks are still made with mixers of course, and easy syrup will never be dropped, but to improve the drinker’s experience more fresh items are being ground with a muddler and then stirred into cocktails.
(A note on muddling. It is claimed to bring out the tastes and scents in a cocktail, making the drink experience more remarkable. I like the notion of a jicama-cucumber margarita “and yes I have had one and that was intensely refreshing “made with real ground-up ingredients in contrast to a bottle of mixer that has been resealed way too many times.)
And in my little city, in middle America, plenty of our wine bars, regular bars and restaurants, have either employed a mixologist to come in and make a unique muddled drink menu, trained their staff or just employed a mixologist.
Things I have seen muddled in my drinks, by way of study:
Jicama
Cucumber
Blueberry
Mint
Orange
Raspberries
Basil
Pomegranate
Peach
Thyme
Strawberry
Hence once you are supplying more, err, supplies, to your bar, you'll need more than simply one seasoning bin to pick, a la ‘ Kit, thru. Typically, you can selected from either 4 or 6 condiment bin sizes.
And just in case you've missed the whole muddling time, remember to purchase a muddler as well ,
Might as well get the entire Kit and Caboodle at one point!
John Carter is the owner of BarParts.com. BarParts.com offeres over 600 Bar Accessories and Wine accessories for the Wine Connoisseur.