When it comes to New Year’s resolutions I like to have a wide range of ones to go after. I see them as something that can be fun to the more serious side of things. They can be something extremely easy that could be complete the day it is written or something that is going to take most of the year and have a high chance of failure.
I usually only make a couple of my New Year’s resolutions known by posting about them as I have in the past. With the way 2020 was and what I expect 2021 to be, I thought this time around I would post about a rather fun one.
The start of this New Year’s Resolution has a beginning in December. For Christmas, I wanted to start a home bar. This can be seen in the cover image for this post. From that point on I wanted to expand the number of cocktail drinks I could make from it in 2021.
I was blessed and now have quite a solid start for a home bar.
- Cocktail shaker
- Jigger
- Bar spoon
- Glassware
- Containers
- Lemon Lime Squeezer
- Simple syrup
- Angostura Aromatic Bitters
- Jim Beam Bourbon
- Different kinds of fruit (orange, cherry, and so forth)
With all of that, I was able to complete my first goal of making an old fashioned. An old fashioned is something I’ve enjoyed drinking when it was put on as a special to order at a place I like to visit on occasion.
Interesting enough there have been several ways over the time of history that people have made an old fashioned. I prefer it with just bourbon, bitters, simple syrup, orange peel, and a cheery. Some might disagree with that and want to go with things like sugar cubes or maple syrup, and many different kinds of whiskeys.
In expanding the home bar in 2021 it’s all about what are the next things I want to be able to make with it. While there are quite a few different ways to build out a home bar from focusing on expanding into different types of alcohol, bitters, syrups, and so forth. The main focus is going to be able to make margarita, daiquiri, and mudslides.
While I could on January first order everything I needed and instantly be done with this New Year’s resolution. That would only be half as fun and not solve things I want it to solve.
Growing up I was always hard to shop for when it came to gifts. Outside of Legos, videogames, and electronics I didn’t care for much. As an adult, while I don’t care so much for Legos anymore and my interests have expanded somewhat; I’m still quite the pain to shop for.
One thing that tends to work when you are the kind of person who says things like “I don’t know” or I don’t want anything” is simply having a theme. That way you don’t feel like people are drilling you for months on end for an answer out of you. This also adds a nice element of surprise as there are so many things that could fit into a theme.
2020 was also quite a hard year for everyone. Some people struggled from a social standpoint and others financially or both. Having a home bar that I’m looking to expand creates social aspects of it in sharing and mixing up different drinks. Having that as a theme creates a wide range of items that can be acquired on the cheap or expensive end that adds to it in some fun way.
You can look at just one aspect of cocktails and things go quite deep. Just on the sugar side alone you have what I have already made simple syrup (water and white sugar). You can infuse simple syrup with different kinds of fruits. You can use different kinds of sugars like brown sugar. You also have things like sugar cubes and different ways to sweeten a cocktail with like using honey or maple syrup.
While many are hoping that 2021 will magically be a different and better year than 2020. So many are not planning to do anything different than the same old New Year’s resolutions that they have failed many times before. Instead, pick something fun to make yours out of and enjoy the blessing it creates for you in 2021. Hopefully, you will be able to make it a fun hobby to enjoy throughout 2021.
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The photo was taken and the content was written by @Enjar.
