Cocktail Hacker

So, I arrived in Columbus, GA earlier today and spent the rest of the day exploring the city and generally goofing off. At some point mid-afternoon I decided I should make myself a cocktail in my hotel room tonight. Being a simple recipe I decided on an Old Fashioned. Now comes the interesting part.

I spent about an hour driving around the city looking for a liquor store so I could procure some bourbon for my creation. Much easier said than done. After driving for an hour I had only happened upon two stores, both of which looked too sketchy to warrant a stop. I then headed to a grocery store to pick up the other necessary items. After picking up Angostura Bitters, an orange and a waiter’s corkscrew (for the foil cutter/knife) I finally broke down and asked the locals. One was able to direct me to an out of the way store a couple blocks away. It was at the far end of a strip mall and appropriately titled “Hidden Lake Bottle Shop”. There I was able to score a small (200ml) bottle of Bulleit Bourbon.

These items procured I was nearly to my goal. I still needed sugar, easy enough “borrowed” from the restaurant at which we had dinner. I also decided I needed a spoon to stir the concoction. The spoons at the restaurant were about ten inches long so some reason unknown to me, so I opted to ask for one at the hotel. The results of all my collection efforts was a quite nice cocktail. I simply combined about two teaspoons of water with two packets of sugar and three dashes of the bitters. I then stirred this until the sugar was fully dissolved. Next I added about two ounces of the bourbon and some ice and stirred until nicely chilled. Topped it all off with a strip of orange zest that I squeezed the oil out of and I was ready to enjoy.

The next time I travel I think I’ll prepare a travel cocktail kit to make things a little simpler. Here’s what I’m thinking will be included:

• Small Dropper Bottles of Bitters
• Knife (Folding)
• Spoon (Or Maybe a Titanium Spork for the Geek Points)
• Spirits (For Areas Where Procurement May Be Difficult)
• Sugar (Possibly, This is Pretty Easy to Come By)

Any other suggestions?