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I was once into cocktails and I am realizing that the love is coming back. I love making cocktails at home occasionally. I guess life happens and you realize that weeks pass by and you have not indulged in something you love doing. You love to paint and it has been months since you last painted. For me making cocktails is a hobby like painting and I hope I can showcase it on the blog from time to time.

This will be an ongoing series. Today we will start with the drinks and mixers. If you are into mixology or cocktail mixing there are a few things that are a must-have. You can be doing it as a hobby or as a job. If you plan to do it as a hobby and you have no idea how to start, here is a checklist for you.

For Alcoholic Cocktails

1.The drinks.

If you are making alcoholic cocktails, obviously you need the alcohol. Here are some of my favorites.

  •  Gin- Hendricks, Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire, Gordons, Seagrams and Beefeater
  • Rum- Barcadi, Havana Club, and Malibu
  • Vodka- Absolut, Stolichnaya, Belvedere, and Skyy.
  • Wine- Browse the blog for all my wine reviews. if I start naming we will be here till forever.
  • Whisky- Lagavulin, Glenfiddich, Maker’s Mark, Chivas
  • Tequila- Patron, Don Julio, Jose Cuervo
  • Cognac- Hennessy, Remy Martin
  • More: Brandy, Cream Liqueurs,  & Beer
     Read about Cream Liqueurs here


2. The Fruits & Vegetables

Fruits are used to flavour and garnish cocktails.  Every region of the world has different fruits. For example, in Kenya, we have some great passion fruit and tree tomato that we can make use of when coming up with cocktails.

  • Pineapples
  • Oranges
  • Lemon
  • Lime
  • Kiwi fruit
  • Grapes
  • Cherries
  • Strawberries
  • Apples etc
  • Cucumber
  • Mint sprigs
  • Spices (nutmeg, cinnamon etc)
  • Olives, celery, pickles
  • Cocktail onions etc.

Mojito with strawberry and mint

3. Fruit Juices

The best fruit juices to use are the freshly squeezed juices but sometimes, store bought will suffice when you cannot get the fruit easily.  Examples are

  • Grape juice
  • Lemon juice
  • Orange juice
  • Lime juice
  • Pineapple juice
  • Cranberry Juice

4. Mixers

  • Cream/ coconut cream, milk
  • Eggs
  • vermouth
  • TeaCoffee
  • Soda (Coca Cola, Sprite, 7Up)
  • Water
  • Ice cream
  • Sugar syrup
  • Water and ice
  • Ginger Ale
  • Bitters eg. Angostura Bitters
  • Cointreau, Midori, Creme de Cacao
  • Sour mix
  • Tabasco sauce & ketchup for bloody Mary’s
  • In short, things in your kitchen will come in handy. (Salt, Sugar, whipped cream etc)

These are the basic ingredients to make cocktails. What have I left out?
Enjoy…