Everything you need to know before getting started in the hobby of home cocktail crafting. We're covering the importance of quality ingredients, how to choose the right bottle of alcohol, and why you don't have enough ice. Oh, and we need to have a serious conversation about your bottles of citrus juice. And throw away that Margarita mix and get in here!

Recipes from the show are below after all the things.

(00:00) Introduction

(01:33) Quality cocktails require quality ingredients

(03:42) How to choose your booze

(08:17) Loose the (citrus) juice

(12:53) Homemade syrups are, well, simple

(16:53) You don't have enough ice

(23:18) It's the Cocktail of the Week: Fresh Ginger Fizz

(30:05) Closing

• 1 part sugar
• 1 part water
• Measure parts by volume or mass. Combine water and sugar in a sauce pan and heat over low heat and stir until sugar is just dissolved. Immediately remove from heat and let syrup cool to room temperature before using. Alternatively, you can combine sugar and water in a sealed container and shake until sugar is dissolved.

• 2 parts sugar
• 1 part water
• Measure parts by volume or mass. Combine water and sugar in a sauce pan and heat over low heat and stir until sugar is just dissolved. Immediately remove from heat and let syrup cool to room temperature before using. Alternatively, you can combine sugar and water in a sealed container and shake until sugar is dissolved though this process will take longer at larger quantities.

• 4 oz fresh ginger, roughly chopped (about 2-3 “thumbs”)
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and heat over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Once it begins to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for at least five minutes. For a stronger flavor, simmer longer. Remove from the heat and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature before straining out the ginger using a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. You can store in the syrup in the refrigerator for up to two weeks in a tightly sealed container.
• Note: You can peel the ginger if you want (a spoon works quite well) but it’s not necessary as the skin will be strained out later.

• 1 1/2 oz Rum
• 3/4 oz Homemade Ginger Syrup
• 1/2 oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
• 4 oz of chilled club soda
• A lime wedge for garnish.
• Combine the rum, ginger syrup, and lime juice to a mixing glass and stir to combine. Add ice to a separate highball or similar glass until nearly full. Then pour the rum mixture into the serving glass over the ice. Add the club soda by pouring the soda against the side of the glass, not over the ice, to help preserve the bubbles. Gently stir with a long spoon by pulling your spoon up the side of the glass. Make a small cross-wise cut into the flesh of the lime wedge and use the cut to place the wedge on the rim of the serving glass.

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We own and recommend these books:

The 12 Bottle Bar: Make Hundreds of Cocktails with Just Twelve Bottles by David Solmonson, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson

Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold