Every day, a different drink. Using the Bartenders Black Book as a guide, I decided to make a different drink every day. Starting from the beginning.
There are over 2800 drinks in the guide. That's over 7 years of daily drinks.
So, I went out and picked up the latest, ninth edition. I had an earlier edition (the 5th), which was really bare bones. The latest version has tons of info on making drinks, and plenty about the trade of bartending. I was after the drinks. I had looked at other guides, one even claiming over 10,000 drinks! But this is the most used guide in America. No photos, no brands promoted, just drinks.
After perusing the guide, I headed over to the local BevMo to pick up the necessary ingredients to make it through the first page of drinks. I went cheap, otherwise I would break the bank. I had some of the things I needed, like vodka, whiskey, ice of course, and some limited bar equipment. But I wanted to take photos of each drink as well, since my other passion besides drinking and writing is photography. I picked up several different glasses, a few pourers, and tons of liquor. I also headed over to the grocery store for some of the juices and garnishes.
Since I don't have a real bar at home, I converted the built-in desk on one side of my kitchen into a bar. I picked up a $15 plastic shelf system that fit perfectly in a recessed nook at the end of the desk. Each of the shelves has plenty of room for even the tallest bottles, which works perfectly.
I have a good camera, a Nikon D40, and a small backdrop and some lights. I experimented with the shot set up for a bit until I got something passable.
And now I was set. Was I actually ready to do this? I didn't want to be like tons of other blogs, starting out strong, but fizzling. I've even been guilty of that. I convinced myself that this was going to be different, and dove in.
The first drink was easy...
