When a guest visits us in The Office, they are greeted with a menu of classic cocktails and neat pours of spirits from our library. For those who find themselves in a more adventurous mood, we offer the opportunity for something more unique: a bespoke, spontaneously-made cocktail created just for them.
We call this experience “Dealer’s Choice.”
Our process for crafting custom-made drinks begins with careful study of classic cocktails. Knowing the ratios of various classics gives us a helpful framework we can use to categorize individual ingredients. There are, for example, “base” spirits, which generally make up the largest proportion of a drink and serve as its foundation. There are sweeteners (often called “modifiers”) of all forms – simple syrups, complex liqueurs, sweet vermouths – as well as acids and bitters. Sorting our pantry into categories helps us begin to taste and evaluate our ingredients in meaningful ways.
We use the word “flavor” to describe the taste of an ingredient irrespective of its bitterness, acidity, etc. Angostura – apart from its bitterness – is flavored strongly of clove and baking spices, which adds a dramatically different dimension to a cocktail than the bright, floral notes of Regans’ Orange bitters. Tanqueray 10 gin – with its fresh grapefruit flavor – lends a different character to a drink than the juniper-forward taste of Beefeater.
When tasting something, we consider both its balance and its flavor. To think about balance (or “seasoning”, as we often describe it), we ask ourselves: how sweet, acidic, bitter, and/or salty is the ingredient? Lemon juice is considerably more acidic than orange juice, for example, which implies the two can’t be used interchangeably in a drink. Angostura bitters contains far less sugar than Campari, though the two have similar bitterness levels.
Understanding balance in this way allows us to think about recipes abstractly rather than prescriptively. Instead of rum, simple syrup, and lime juice, we can think of a Daiquiri as a base spirit seasoned with sweetener and acid. If we understand how much “real estate” needs to be occupied by each of these components, we can begin to think creatively about substitutions that might add complexity and surprise to the drink.
With an understanding of the flavors of our individual ingredients, we can begin to think about how we’d like to combine them. Much of the spontaneity in flavor we strive to achieve in The Office is drawn from our culinary experience as chefs – we study flavors and how to assemble them in interesting ways all day in our kitchens. As with recipes, we often tend to conceptualize flavors: if a drink tastes good when made with pineapple juice, we reason it might also taste good with other tropical fruit flavors (bearing in mind that sweetness and acid levels may need adjustment as well).
When first attempting to offer a Dealer’s Choice experience to someone, it can be helpful to start simple. Choose a classic cocktail recipe with which to begin, and try riffing by swapping or splitting just one ingredient. Resist the urge to add too many ingredients at once; a drink is rarely made more special by throwing everything but the kitchen sink into it. We find that the most memorable concoctions are those that feature a few distinctive flavors in a clear and recognizable way– too many flavors at once end up muddying the entire drink.
THE OFFICE: CLASSIC COCKTAILS
Want to learn more?
What separates a good cocktail from a truly great one? Which tools, techniques, and ingredients are critical to building a delicious, memorable drink? Master all aspects of crafting well-balanced cocktails, including:
Why some cocktails are shaken while others are stirred
Which glassware best suits your drink
How to taste and evaluate spirits
How to "riff" on classic recipes to craft spontaneous, bespoke cocktails for yourself and your guests
Measuring approximately 8.5" x 11.5" x 0.5", this beautiful leather journal will be equally at home in your kitchen, your bar, or on your coffee table. Rich and engaging, this is not a typical Gentleman’s Guide to Cocktails – it’s the definitive guide to the classics.
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