Cocktails are a headache. Somehow, there are dozens of variations on drinks with only three ingredients. There’s an ongoing debate over each recipe, each ingredient, with even the most “classic” cocktails inspiring two camps of thinking, each firmly confident that they make “the better drink.” Should that Old Fashioned be made with rye or bourbon? Should a good martini have any more than just a hint of vermouth? And should that vermouth be sweet or dry? Kind of takes the fun out of one of the more fun and social ways to get your load on.
There’s now a solution.
No more scouring the web (or our cocktail recipe selection), getting competing advice and a little overwhelmed in the process. There’s now an app for that — a single, comprehensive, beautiful and authoritative app. Patrick Janelle, the popular fashion Instagrammer (@aguynamedpatrick), became inspired by the cocktail culture of the South of France while visiting there in 2011. He began work, with the help of his two brothers, on a liquor- and cocktail-based app that emphasizes the story behind each drink. Last year he brought on Maxwell Britten, a James Beard Award-winning bartender whom he swooped from Williamsburg’s Maison Premiere, to perfect the recipe at the heart of each story.
The resulting project, an app named The Liquor Cabinet, organizes cocktails by liquor, skill level and flavor profile, allowing users to easily discover new cocktails. And when they do, they come away with more than a confused recipe. The ingredients and preparation instructions are curated by Britten to be simple, clear and James Beard Award-worthy, while a paragraph at the bottom of each recipe, named “Cocktail Story,” gives a few talking points (“Did you know the Gibson first appeared in 1908?”) while another section explains the tools required for the drink (e.g., a mixing glass, while not necessary, provides better insulation for skilled bartenders). It’s a one-stop-shop of drinking better.
The entire cocktail recipe is supported by an index of popular liquors, each sampled and reviewed by Britten to include flavor profile, backstory and the basic statistics. Looking like an expert behind the weekend bar just got a lot easier, especially if you hide your phone from the view of others.
Three Whiskey Cocktails to Make This Weekend
Three prestigious NYC bartenders taught us how to make three incredible whiskey cocktails. See the Recipes
