At the back of every drinks tray or cabinet there are always some stray bottles. Some deserve to be lonely, others just end up that way. But it is occasionally worth sifting the wheat — or at least grain — from the chaff. Here is a guide for doing so.
Vermouth Only keep your bottle if you make your own martinis. If you drink them as they should be drunk you will need so little that only a martini alcoholic could ever reach the bottom of the bottle. You won’t need to buy two in a lifetime. So keep it, but on no account ever drink it on its own.
Curacao and other brightly coloured things Abandon all hope. You will never find a use for them. They cannot be used in the home. Try to dispose down the sink, otherwise at a local authority waste site.
Sugar solution Even if you are not drinking sours much these days you should keep this bottle. It will never go off, and making your own is irritating. Should you develop a thirst for a sour, once you have poured boiling water over a packet of sugar you will have to put it in the fridge before you can mix it with ice. By that time your throat will be parched and you will have ended up drinking something else.
Campari/Dubonnet These should not be at the back. Coax them forward to a position of pride.
Bourbon/rum/Southern Comfort, etc. Discover a cocktail you can use them up in. Have a blast, and then resist the temptation ever to replace them.
Absinthe Your bottle, like everyone else’s, probably dates back to that moment in the 1990s when absinthe became available in the UK. Your bottle will be half-full because you discovered the same three things everyone else did.
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