The three-bottle bar: The liquors you really need

Years ago, artist H. i. Williams wrote the Three Bottle Bar. In the book's foreword, the editor calls Williams "neither a collector nor a dabbler in media. He respects all media, but they are only an incidental interest. Primarily, H. i. Williams is an arranger of ingredients." Although I've never come across his artwork, or figured out why he used the lowercase for his second initial, I like his bar book's simple approach to mixing. You'll almost certainly end up with more than three bottles in your bar, but to start, you shouldn't need much more, and the three-bottle rule holds true for getting the basics: bases, mixers, and accents. By the time you contemplate all the options in these categories - or just those listed in the Virtual Blender - you'll realize why you've been going to the dive on the corner and punishing yourself with flat Gin and Tonics. But with a little knowledge and a few bottles, you can make most of the great cocktails.

The primary, or base, liquor sets the theme of both a cocktail and an event. The other ingredients in a cocktail should be harmonious with it. Mixers and accents can battle for attention, but they should be in agreement with and sublimated by the base liquor. Primary liquors fall into two categories: light and dark. Your supply of primary liquors should include a bottle of your favorite distillate, one that your closest friend enjoys, and one that the person signing your paychecks would like.

Light liquors, such as gin, rum, tequila, and vodka, are especially versatile, and can be substituted for each other in many cocktails. Take the Collins family, for instance - you can mix this proportions), no guest will leave dissatisfied. Consider starting your clear-liquor stock with a bottle each of rum and gin. You'll be able to mix drinks like the Bronx, the Mojito, the Daiquiri, the Pink Gin, and the Fig Leaf, which have especially basic recipes.

For dark liquors, such as bourbon, Canadian whiskeys, personal preferences are especially important. Although all whiskeys are similar in color, their tastes vary greatly. If you have friends or relations who enjoy whiskey, learn the particular brands they prefer. Don't assume they'll enjoy a cocktail mixed with whiskey. Scotch drinkers, for instance, would scoff at mixing that whiskey with anything. So unless you or a friend have a personal preference, stock your bar with a good dark rum, a decent Rob Roy, the Manhattan, the Ward Eight, and the substitute brandy for rye.

Until you're adept at the science of mixing cocktails, you won't need many secondary liquors, which are used to add sweetness or bitterness to drinks. They blend with the base to modify its potency in flavor and in proof. You really can't do without a bottle of both sweet and dry vermouth. Fortunately, a 750-milliliter bottle of either Cointreau, Campari, Pernod, and Maraschino liqueur. With these cordials, you can make more complex cocktails like the Sazerac, the Combustible Edison, the Delilah, the Aviation, and the Maiden's Prayer. If you find a fruit brandy to your liking, add it to your list. Until you know your favorites, buy 375-milliliter bottles, or the 2-ounce "airplane" bottles.

The most popular and successful accents used in cocktails are bitters. Angostura and Peychaud's are two brands found in most liquor stores. A dash or two adds life to even the meekest concoction. A 5-ounce bottle will only cost a few dollars. Other typical bar accents include honey, sugar, and syrups like grenadine.

Benedictine, Chartreuse, and Rusty Nail, the No-Name, and the Frisco.

Fruit juice usually acts as the mixer in a cocktail. With juices, you can control the acidity and dilution of a drink. All fruit can be used, but the most successful mixers are usually lemon and lime juices. Use only fresh fruit, unless you're mixing with pineapple and cranberry, which of course are difficult to extract juice from. When orange juice is called for, opt for Seville oranges. If you can't find this bitter variety, try a little lemon juice with the orange juice. Soda water and "still" water are also commonly used as mixers in classic drinks. A good ginger ale and tonic water are sometimes called for, but rarely an American cola, typically a mark of a Cuba Libre, which is actually different from a Rum and Coke.

When it comes to combining the elements of a cocktail - primary and secondary liquors, accents, and mixers - each should add something to the drink without dominating it. Although a gin drink is unmistakably a gin drink, a Martini tastes nothing like a Rickey Fizz, and you certainly wouldn't want it to. Before heading to your local liquor store, scroll through the recipes in the Virtual Blender. Which ones seem to interest you most? Do your selections suggest a trend? What three bottles or elements are reoccurring? Chances are you're seeing rum, gin, or vodka, a particular whiskey, and a vermouth. Start from there, and as your knowledge grows, so should your stock.