What You Need on Your Bar Cart This Holiday Season
Brooke Lark via Unsplash
Unleash your inner mixologist this holiday season with bar essentials that go beyond your typical shrubs and garnishes. Whether you need to restock your bar cart basics with handcrafted vodka, or you want to flex your bartending skills by throwing a spin on a classic cocktail, here are the bar cart essentials that you may not know you’re missing out on.
619 Spirits, Smooth and Flavor-Forward Vodka
No bar cart is complete without quality vodka, and 619 Vodka is the perfect selection to have on hand for all your holiday cocktail needs. One of only a handful of distillers operating in San Diego, and named for the city’s primary area code, 619 Spirits produces a range of premium vodkas that are distilled entirely from cane sugar, resulting in a uniquely clean and smooth taste, texture, and natural absence of gluten. The line includes 619’s Original Vodka, as well as five infusions ―Pickle, Scorpion Pepper, Rose Petal, and Coffee. The vodka can be shipped nationally via Old Town Liquor here and Keg-N-Bottle here, and is available locally at the brand’s tasting room in San Diego's North Park neighborhood, and ranges in price from $30 to $32.99. Locals who would like to stock up can purchase a bundle of three bottles from the tasting room for $70.
Bambucha Kombucha, Healthy Alternative to Sugar Packed Mixers
Kombucha may not be your typical bar cart essential, but it is the ingredient you’ve been missing in your mixology endeavors. The quintessential cocktail mixer, the Thai Ginger flavor is the best healthy alternative to ginger beer and ginger syrup, which are often loaded with unnecessary sugars and chemical preservatives, and it tastes even better teeming with beneficial probiotics. Break out your copper mugs and craft yourself a delicious and flavor-packed Thai Ginger Mule using the exotic tropical flavors from the Thai Ginger kombucha combined with vodka, lime and basil to form a balanced and flavorful tang that’s equal parts tart and sweet. With only six simple ingredients, this is an easy cocktail to whip up and impress holiday guests while the brightly colored can will add a festive pop of color to your bar cart. The Thai Ginger kombucha can be purchased nationwide for online delivery and in retailers across California including Erewhon Market, Jimbo’s, Lazy Acres, Mother's Market & Kitchen and sold out of Goop Kitchen in Santa Monica.
Chefs Life, Olive Oil That Will Give Any Gin Drink a Smooth Finish
While you may not associate olive oil with cocktails, the silky and smooth texture of extra virgin olive oil is the perfect compliment to a Gin Fizz. Pair up your choice of herbaceous gin with rosemary and grapefruit to take your cocktail making to the next level. Created by celebrity chef and restaurateur Brian Malarkey, Chefs Life is a line of custom blended cooking oils for the home chef. The Chefs Life EVOO Finishing Oil is Pure Extra Virgin Olive Oil that can be used to craft an Extra Virgin Gin Fizz or to make a Rosemary Simple Syrup by combining sugar, water, and a sprig of rosemary. The oils are sourced from regions across the world and come in a minimalist white bottle, sure to add an unexpected pop of flavor to your holiday cocktails. The Chefs Life oils are available via the website sold as a box set of three and at Kroger grocers nationwide. You can register for an affiliate link through ShareASale here.
PARU Tea Bar, Okinawa Sugar to Add to Your Hot Toddy’s
QPOC-owned PARU Tea Bar is a purveyor of specialty loose leaf teas, matcha, and tisanes (herbal teas) from around the world, founded and owned by LGBTQ couple, Amy Truong and Lani Gobaleza. The must have bar cart ingredient for winter is PARU's Okinawa Sugar to craft Hot Toddy's all season long. With tasting notes of caramel, milk and toffee, it is made with three standout ingredients—wakoucha (aged Japanese red tea), Formosa oolong, and Okinawan black sugar crystals. Offering a satisfyingly sweet, biscuit-like flavor, just add your favorite choice of Whiskey, along with honey, lemon, star anise and the Okinawa Sugar for the perfect Hot Toddy to keep warm. Based in San Diego, PARU offers national and international shipping. Link to purchase here.
