Has a month of sheltering in place made you tired of drinking in the same spot in your home? Never fear, I’ve created your very own, at-home pub crawl with a different cocktail paired with each nontraditional drinking room.
Art studio: If you’re a starving artist looking for an inexpensive but delicious cocktail, you can’t go wrong with a Lemon Drop (vodka, lemon juice, and sugar).
Attic/Loft: Embrace the height and mix up a Highball. My personal favorite is the Whiskey Highball (whiskey and ginger ale).
Basement: If you’re drinking underground, do so with an underground cocktail, something from Prohibition/speakeasy times. I vote for the French 75 (gin, champagne, lemon juice and sugar).
Bathtub: Any drink consumed in a tub needs to be gin-forward in homage to bathtub gin. To class it up, why not go for a Pimm’s Cup, a summery fruity cocktail made from a gin-based liqueur?
Craft room: Pretty much any craft cocktail would do, but I’d also approve of craft beer.
Doghouse: If life in close quarters has stretched your marriage thin, and you’re sleeping (and drinking) in the doghouse, pour yourself a Greyhound, the classic mix of vodka and grapefruit juice.
Entryway/foyer: If you’re going to drink by your front door, you might as well go for something you can slam. I propose the Alabama Slammer: equal parts sloe gin, Southern Comfort and Amaretto, with OJ added at the end as a safety measure.
Fireplace area: Clearly you need something involving Fireball, a cinnamon whisky. I was planning to suggest hot cocoa spiked with Fireball, but then I came across an article featuring original Fireball cocktails such as the Cinnamon Toast Crunch (equal parts Fireball and RumChata rimmed with cinnamon sugar). Now I have to move somewhere that has a fireplace.
Game room: You’re going to have to have more than one drink in order for this to work, but I believe in you: Jacks and Coke.
Garage/tool shed: Screwdriver or Rusty Nail, a mix of Scotch and Drambuie.
Garden: Lots of options here, but I vote for something involving a shrub, a concentrated syrup made from vinegar. If that’s too much effort, remember that margarita is Spanish for daisy and break out the tequila.
Home gym: Punch.
Laundry room: Dry martini.
Library: Tequila Mockingbird, a delightful combination of tequila, watermelon and jalapeno.
Man’s closet: Mai Tai.
Master bedroom: Between the Sheets (rum, brandy, Triple Sec and lemon).
Mud room: Dirty martini.
Music room: Ginny Hendrix, essentially a G&T (as the name would imply, made with Hendrick’s gin) with a splash of cucumber juice or muddled cucumber.
Nursery: Babies drink milk, so follow suit with a milk- or cream-based cocktail such as a White Russian (vodka, Kahlua and cream).
Shower: If you’re going to drink in the shower, choose a hot beverage so that the hot water doesn’t melt your ice cubes and dilute your drink. You’ll also want a drink with water as an ingredient, so that any spray drops that find their way into your drink blend right in. A hot toddy is the perfect solution. Spiced rum (or dark rum or bourbon or whiskey), lime juice, brown sugar or honey, and hot water. More advanced shower drinkers can use a travel mug or thermos for the cold cocktail of their choice.
Sunrise view: Tequila Sunrise.
Sunset view: Similar in appearance to a Tequila Sunrise, a Whipped Sunset features whipped cream vodka, pineapple juice, grenadine, and sour mix (equal parts sugar, hot water, lime juice, and lemon juice).
Woman’s closet: Pink Slipper (pink lemonade concentrate, cream of coconut, white rum and grenadine).
Angie Bryan is a former diplomat who is enjoying getting acquainted with her new home in Portland, one cocktail at a time.
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