The Hotel Room Cocktail

So Mr. Potter and I called one of our very bestest friends, Tom Jones (of The Logovore's Dilemma) and asked him if he'd house and cat sit.  When he said yeah, we booked a room for two days up at Porches in North Adams and got out of town for a well-deserved respite before the next round of craziness. 

We had a fine room and a great time.  What I'm writing about here, though, is not what we did.  It's about why it's a good idea to carry a simple bar with you when you travel if you like to have a drink before dinner (or thereafter).  And there are many good reasons to do so:a) bar drinks are expensive, b) on the road you're probably driving in places you don't know well, making it a DOUBLE bad idea to get fuzzy and then get behind the wheel, c) unless you're in a hip area, the local bartenders don't know how to make stuff besides the boring basics...  I could go on and on.

Of course when I'm in a major city or in a hotel with a good bar, I go seeking out a mixologist from whom I can learn and chat about brands of creme d'yvette. But when I'm going to be in the sticks, here's what we bring...

A cocktail shaker: you can use the bottom to stir drinks and the whole thing to shake

a small measuring glass (fits inside the shaker)

a few small bottles of whatever I've been thinking about the most lately--usually one of whiskey, one of rum, and one Cointreau.  Add a little bottle of red vermouth, and you're good to go for Manhattans.

a paring knife with a cover over it and a tiny bamboo board I've had for a few years

a few lemons and limes, and a wee bottle of cocktail cherries

If you want to get fancy, throw in a bottle of bitters, a bottle of agave syrup (stands in for simple syrup) and a lemon reamer.  You're now set up to make a whiskey sour, any number of rum sours, rum cokes after you've been down the hall to the soda machine...the possibilities are numerous.

Most hotels are WELL stocked with ice.  You can easily chill the glasses in the room (after you've given 'em a good rinse first; some places are more scrupulous about keepin' them clean then others) by loading them up with ice water whilst you mix your drink.  The internet is FULL of cocktail recipes, and of course you have your laptop or your mobile phone.  Cheers!

My usual hotel-room tipple?  A Manhattan on the rocks.  Easily done, tasty and effective.

See ya on the air at 4!