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plllog

What's in your wine/liquor cupboard?

plllog
9 years ago

...Five bottles of EVOO, a balsamic vinegar and a sherry vinegar.

Comments (29)

  • mustangs81
    9 years ago

    I just bought new wine racks to hold:
    Peanut Oil
    Pam Spray
    Voss Water
    5 Skinny Syrups
    Seltzer Water
    Safflower Oil
    Cherry Cider

  • CA Kate z9
    9 years ago

    Our racks have wine. The liquor part exists, but not sure just what except for the liquours I cook with.

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  • mustangs81
    9 years ago

    What I listed above is in the pantry.

    In full disclosure-I do have a liquor cabinet; all of the inventory is used for cooking:
    Amaretto
    Bourbon
    Cognac
    Marsala
    Rum
    Sauvignon Blanc
    Sherry
    Vermouth

  • Lars
    9 years ago

    We have wine that we bought in Paso Robles plus wine that friends have given us. For liquor, we have several rums with different flavors - a spiced one for eggnog and some black molasses ones for special drinks or sipping. I have a large selection of liqueurs for flavorings - too many to list, but they range from chocolate to Frangelico to Cointreau, etc. I have a mocha liqueur that I like with ice cream, but I seldom eat ice cream. We also have Cognac, Patron Tequila, and some Bombay gin. We stocked up for our party last summer, and the guests brought more drinks, and so we still have what we bought for that party. A lot of what we have sits around for a long time before we get around to drinking it. If I make a special meal, I open a bottle of wine, but then half of it goes back into the fridge, either for drinking later or for cooking. I also have some Chinese and Japanese wines for cooking, and I do not use those very often either.

    Lars

  • pkramer60
    9 years ago

    I must be the odd ball here because my wines are in racks in the basement where the temperature hold around 60 degrees year round. At last count it was over 100 bottles just hanging out.

    Liquors are in the dining room china cabinet and are fairly well stocked with the usual cast of characters.

    All are subject to being used when a recipe calls for it.

    Various oils and vinegars are in the kitchen, in a cabinet near the stove. Nice and dark and on an outside wall for coolness.

    What's leftover wine???????

  • plllog
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    What's leftover wine? The stoppered bottles by the stove. :) Great in sauces.

    There is good wine, plus palatable wine for cooking, a little liquor, and some liqueurs in there. It was the sheer quantity of EVOO that had me laughing. :) (The vinegars are just hiding there for the moment.) This is a deep pantry shelf with a rack. No such thing as a basement, and the outer walls are more likely to be warm than cool. Wine is too available here to be worth laying down lots.

  • prairie_rose
    9 years ago

    DH and I are not big wine drinkers, but I do have a good bottle of both red and white for our company that does enjoy wine.

    DH likes rye and I am a beer drinker, so we have lots of that on hand. As well as the usual selection of volka, rums and a bottle of scotch. I also have Baileys, Tia Maria and Butterscotch Shnapps. I keep them on hand for the crew when we are working cattle in the fall for their coffee breaks. Helps take the chill off!

    Three good flavored EVOO and 5 flavored balsamic vinegars are tucked into a cupboard where it is dark and cool. I love using them for salads and for flavoring vegies. I never thought of placing them in a wine rack, but that might be an option in the future.

  • trudy_gw
    9 years ago

    Lots of wines in basement on rack where it stays cooler. Mostly reds-cabs and syrah.

    In cabinet in dinning room, many liquors and liquors.
    Irish Whiskey
    Brandy
    Rye
    Gins

    In kitchen
    Olive oils: Herbs de Provence, Basil and Lemon
    Balsamic: Waldbourg Balsam Star Blueberry and Waldbourg Balsmam Star Beer Solera

    If any of you live near a Vom Fass, they have the best of all the above! It is a must vist.

  • ritaweeda
    9 years ago

    I'm not a wine connoisseur but I do occasionally cook with it and drink it. I don't spend a lot of money on it, I buy it at the grocery. So I try to keep a red and a white around. I've been buying the Citra Montepulciano D'Abruzzo and the Funf Reisling. I also keep a bottle of dry Sherry and Port. As for hard liquor, I only drink Vodka or Tequila but we have various others on hand, some have been in the cabinet for 10 years without being opened such as Crown Royal and various other brands of bourbon, rum, gin, scotch, Irish whiskey, a few liquors such as Cointreau, Kahlua, Frangelico, Ammaretto some Southern Comfort that is VERY OLD and opened - (does that keep a long time?) and finally I try to keep Rose's Lime juice on hand. We aren't regular drinkers except for Amberbock Beer. I don't dare not have that in the frig.

  • plllog
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Prairie_rose, for clarification, my EVOO is standing in front of the wine rack. :)

  • Swentastic Swenson
    9 years ago

    We don't have a specific rack or cupboard - there's basically wine and booze stashed all over the house.... does that mean I have a problem?? I'm from Wisconsin so it shouldn't count against me...

    For the cooking cabinet I keep EVOO and balsamic, red and white wine vinegar, ACV, fish sauce, rice vinegar, various and sundry other specialty oils. Occasionally I'll deglaze with wine or even a splash of bourbon but mostly its for drinking.

    For the liquor cabinet(s) we keep gin, vodka, rum, bourbon, rye, and scotchy scotch scotch (this girl loves her whisky). Red wines (I'm a sucker for an old vine zin) and a token white in the fridge for when the MIL comes over.

    We freeze our leftover wine (yes, Virginia!) in ice cube trays so I can pop them into whatever I'm cooking.

  • pkramer60
    9 years ago

    For those of you that keep your EVOO in a wine rack, subject light, you might find this interesting......

    The same holds true for vinegar, with fruit vinegars stored in the fridge.

    Here is a link that might be useful: How to store olive oils

    This post was edited by pkramer on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 13:52

  • jakkom
    9 years ago

    For cooking:
    - Vermouth
    - Cognac (cheap; Camus)
    - CA Port
    - Hartley & Gibson Amontillado Sherry
    - Bacardi Gold Rum
    - Mt Gay Rum

    Drinking:
    - Homemade Rosemary Limoncello
    - Remy Martin cognac
    - Tia Maria
    - Chambord
    - V. Sattui CA Madeira
    - Grand Marnier
    - Sabra

    Syrups: Orange, Blood Orange, Coconut
    Angostura bitters

    Recent high-end purchases:
    - Booker's bourbon
    - Black Saddle bourbon
    - Jim Beam Distiller's Masterpiece bourbon
    - Jefferson Very Small Batch Straight bourbon
    - Jefferson 10 Yr Straight rye
    - Redemption high-rye
    - Ron Zacapa Sistema Solera 23-yr rum

    Seldom drink wine any longer. Prefer reds to whites. Have half a dozen bottles of Mia Nipote Cab from Livermore Valley, produced by a friend of ours. Structured to go well with food, very nice. Mostly 2009s, a couple of the 2010 which were just released.

  • bob_cville
    9 years ago

    Liquor cabinet:

    Captains Morgans Spiced Rum
    Disaronno Amaretto
    Bulleit Bourbon
    Kahlua
    Hennessy Cognac
    Tanqueray Gin
    Triple Sec
    Brandy
    Cachaca 51
    Cachaca Selecta
    an Old bottle of Limoncello
    Grenadine
    several airline sized bottles
    Blandy's Medium Dry Maderia

    Wine Rack
    Several random bottles of wine that were brought by people for our Halloween party including two local dessert wines and two bottles of "champagne", plus a red wine a friend made, and a cherry wine that the owner of an auto body shop we went to made and gave to us. Yum

  • moosemac
    9 years ago

    Wine rack in the basement holds the better reds
    Wine rack in the dining room holds the everyday reds
    Wine fridge holds the whites.
    Beverage Fridge holds the small batch local beers
    Liquor cupboard holds (the list is long so hereâÂÂs the abbreviated version):
    Dry Vermouth (for Martinis and cooking)
    Dry Sherry (for cooking only)
    Numerous Vodkas
    Two or three types of Gin
    Numerous Rums
    A couple of Cognacs
    Numerous Bourbons and Whiskeys
    A plethora of cordials
    A few varieties of tequila

    We entertain a lot but our crowd does not drink like it did in the 70âÂÂs. However we do like to try new better quality items and when any of the group travel outside the country we always bring back something new to try so we end up with a lot of variety. I keep trying to send the âÂÂleftoversâ home with guests but havenâÂÂt had much success. The result is I have a very well stocked bar except for Scotch. Not one person in our group has a taste for Scotch. LOL

    I have been trying to discourage guests from bringing liquor so we can work on the existing stock but if they find something we "just have to try" it is futile. So we all take a taste and the remainder ends up in my liquor cupboard.

  • Gooster
    9 years ago

    Did people design a wine cupboard into their kitchen or just designate a cabinet?

    We have most of the collection stored in racks in the basement. We belong to wine clubs (live near California wine country) and collect bottles from throughout the world. Whites are generally stored in the wine fridge in the bar upstairs -- our bar is 11 feet long.

    The bar is less stocked than before -- reflection of the times. The basics: vodka (Grey Goose, Stoly, Absolut) several kinds of aged tequila, some aged scotch, the usual bourbons (JD) and rums (Myers), etc. Lots of sweets for use in desserts and after dinner: Chambord, Courvoisier, Amaretto di Sarona, Calvados, limoncello, Kahlua, Bailey's, etc and things like sake, Vermouth, Campari,Triple Sec, Sherry, Port, dessert wines, olives, etc.

    I'll often deglaze with red/white wine and occasionally use Vermouth, tequila, vodka, sherry, Mirin etc in sauces and marinades. An open bottle of each is readily at hand -- and some of it ends up in the pan.

  • bbstx
    9 years ago

    We have a wine chiller in a small storage room. The wine chiller was in the island in the last house, but I opted for a pull-out trash drawer in this house. It is dual zoned and houses an assortment of red and white wines and champagnes and some dessert wines. There may even be a bottle of Prosecco that didn't get drunk this summer.

    Liquor cabinet is in the kitchen. It contains
    2 kinds of bourbon
    2 kinds of scotch
    2 kinds of gin
    2 kinds of tequila
    3 kinds of rum
    some kind of apple jack
    Amaretto
    Chambord
    Bailey's
    Drambuie
    Limoncello
    triple sec
    a bottle of Fireball that someone left at my house - ICK
    2 kinds of vodka
    3 kinds of bitters (Angostura, orange, and cherry)

    I sent DH out for a bottle of vermouth. He came back with sweet vermouth. I'm learning to like Manhattans.

    Hard cider and beer, which I never developed a taste for, is kept on the floor of the pantry, with a bottle or two in the fridge. If we have company coming who might prefer beer or cider, I'll move some to the fridge. DSIL is a beer snob (but otherwise a sweetheart). He brings his own when he comes.

    DSIL is getting Luxardo cherries in his stocking. I hope he makes me an old-fashioned with them.

  • plllog
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I forgot to mention that along with the EVOO I found a bottle of Corona and a bottle of Blue Moon Belgian White wheat ale in there. Funny. The EVOO actually does belong there for the reasons PKramer referred to, and was only startling in numbers and varieties (though the vinegars just got stashed there because there was no room where they're supposed to go). The beer and ale decidedly do not belong, however, and I put them in the fridge.

    In the lower drawer of my prep fridge, along with the onions and carrots, are about a dozen interesting international ales. We have ale men in the family. :) I also have cooking beer in the pantry, housed with the pop. It's Stella Artois, which was the right price for cooking, but is respectable beer. :)

    Gooster, I didn't design the space for the wine/booze into the pantry specifically, but I did know that it was going there. It's away from outside walls, sunbeams and heater vents, and is on the lowest part of the upper case, so it's very stable.

  • bob_cville
    9 years ago

    I did custom design our wine/liquor cabinet. When we redid our kitchen several years ago, we were using a fully-custom RTA cabinet company, I drew what I wanted at the end that was to be the wine rack/liquor cabinet.

    The right side holds wine glasses, the center has wire racks for wine, and the left side contains the liquor.

    {{gwi:2135792}}

    The bottom cabinet is a large pull-out recycling center. There also now is a mini fridge next to the lower cabinet the mostly functions as a beer fridge.

  • mustangs81
    9 years ago

    Bob, that is so nice! I would love enough room in one place for all the bottles (EVOO, vinegars, cooking wines and liquors).

  • jakkom
    9 years ago

    Wow, I'm really surprised how many people have Chambord. In my group of friends/family I think I'm the only one who even knows what it is!

    pillog mentioned Stella Artois. Although I don't buy it for the house, whenever I see the Stella Cidre in a restaurant I order it. It's very good. The only hard cider I've liked better is the Pomme Aurea from Spain, made champenois style and dynamite with any kind of cuisine.

    We discovered the latter at a unique wine shop/restaurant in our area that changes both menu and wines on a regular basis through the year. When we went in September it was Spain/Portugal. For the next couple of months it's French, so we're returning with my family next week.

    bob_cville, that is a gorgeous cabinet! Very smart to have a recycling cab. Ours is hidden in the DR closet (used to be a bedroom, so the closets are very handy, LOL).

    Our liquor is in wall cab units in the DR. Wine downstairs in the basement where it's always cool. Cooking wine stays in half a base cab in the kitchen where it's easily at hand.

  • lazy_gardens
    9 years ago

    A bunch of 3-buck chuck

    Some cheap Costco staples: rum, gin, brandy

    Some really great single malt Scotch

  • mustangs81
    9 years ago

    Jkom, I'm with ya' on the Chambord thing. I didn't drink it but had to bring some home from Chambord as well as dessert dishes from Limoges.

  • bbstx
    9 years ago

    I have a friend who puts a splash of Chambord in her hard cider. I think it has a cocktail-y name, but I forget what it is.

  • trudy_gw
    9 years ago

    jkom51 your shop/restaurant sounds interesting. Experiencing different taste is fun!

    Ok what is Chambord? Guessing I should Google.

    bob_cville love the cabinet. Our stash is not located in one area, so its always a guessing game even though most is in one area.

    Forgot about my husbands likes of Beers-microbrews, Spotted Cow is a favorite along with any beer from Peace Tree Brewing Co, which is local to us. Plus Bush Light which he calls his Brother in law beer.

    Lately we have been on the Sidecar martini kick which means we have Remy Martin cognac and Courvoisire

    When our kids were growing up we had none of the above in our house....oh my how things change!

    Also forgot about his Scotch collection, Craigabus (sp), Laphroaid, Macspey to name a few.

  • westsider40
    9 years ago

    Does anyone keep evoo in the fridge? If I have more than one bottle, I do keep in the fridge. We don't use very much oil.

  • wintercat_gw
    9 years ago

    I keep my EVOO in the fridge. I transfer it from the bottle to a hermetic plastic container because it tends to solidify or half-solidify. This way I can spoon out the desired quantity instead of remembering to take the bottle out half an hour before cooking for the oil to liquefy again.

  • annie1992
    9 years ago

    I do use evoo a lot, for hummus, for a quick saute, and I've found myself grabbing that pourable bottle on the counter and using it to add a tablespoon of oil to a batch of bread or a quick saute of stir fried vegetables.

    I've tried and tried but do not like wine, hard cider, beer or liquor, and it spoils the taste of food for me. (shrug) Elery does like wine but decided it was becoming a bad habit and quit drinking altogether, so we have no liquor cabinet.

    My various bottles of balsamic include strawberry, raspberry, date, espresso and "plain". They reside in the pantry.

    My mother does like a glass of red wine so we'll buy a bottle for her occasionally. However, her favorite is "Paul Newman". She once told me that she had a nightmare where she was in bed with Paul Newman (insert pause here) and she couldn't wake him up. (grin)

    Annie

  • momj47
    9 years ago

    We rarely drink any alcohol, none of us like it. We do keep a six pack of good beer in the fridge in the basement for company, but it usually gets tossed out, unused after it's expiration date. I have a small wine rack built at the end of my cupboard, on a cool outside wall, but it's usually full of Legos, and the occasional chipmunk the cats bring in. Right now there are a couple of old dusty bottles of wine, too.