Kludging Cocktails in Non-Ideal Situations

[KatieLoeb]

Folks, there are few things easier than enjoying a tasty beverage on board an aircraft.  The essential parts of a fine cocktail are easily brought through security once you realize that TSA screeners are happy to punch the clock and get through their shift as long as no calamities occur.  Having a fine libation in hand makes me feel as if I'm traveling first class...even below in steerage.

That said, I often survive the rigors of air travel with the help of these lil' friends:

1.  50ml nip bottles.  Rye, Rum, and Bourbon?  Check, check, and check.  Making a Mile-High Manhattan?  Pre-treat your bottles with bitters before you leave home.

2.  Pre-mixed cocktails.  Hey, I can bring on liquids in quantities of 3 oz or less.  That sounds like 3 oz of batched goodness to me.  Per bottle.  And that bottle will be bringing his friends.  I throw 'em in my TSA-approved Ziploc bag along with a trial-size toothpaste, and it looks almost reputable. 

3.  A sandwich bag of pre-cut lemon and orange twists.  Or lime wedges.  Or Luxardo cherries.

4.  When these solutions aren't available, I hire someone to be my alcohol "mule".  One can get a far greater amount of cocktail ingredients on board this way, as long as you are fastidious about washing off the bottles first.  (Trust me on this)

However, I have found that airline employees and federal air marshals tend to become suspicious when the cocktail experience becomes too intense.  As result, I now tend to avoid on-flight dry-shaking of egg whites, flaming orange twists, stirring multiple drinks at once, or using a Lewis Bag to crush ice.  I also no longer make Blue Blazers mid-flight.

Hope this helps...

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Wow. You're even more hardcore than I gave you credit for.

Dry shaking egg whites on terra firma is quite enough for me. I'll save my "mile high" experiences for something providing more immediate and deeply important gratification.

[prasantrin]

This may not be in the spirit of things, but many airlines ban the consumption of any alcohol not purchased on board. I once witnessed a heated argument between a flight attendant and a man who had brought his own flask. In such situations, the flight attendant always wins, even if the guy is twice her size.

[misterdyer]

Katie~ As always, I'm happy to help infuse your "mile high" experiences with "immediate...gratification", but unfortunately I can't guarantee that it would be "deeply important".

[mssurgeon81]

Having a fine libation in hand makes me feel as if I'm traveling first class...even below in steerage

I couldn't agree more. I have a stash of little three-ounce plastic bottles that I fill with my spirit(s) of choice...then it's just a matter of choosing a mixer once on board. I have to say, I've never had the elan to bring my own garnishes, though....

[davicus]

My dad gave me this a few years back. I've never employed it, but it would certainly fit the bill for the thirsty traveler.

What appears to be an ordinary attaché...

So it's got two large decanters for spirits, two smaller ones for mixers, four cups, a shaker, a funnel, a spoon, wine key / bottle opener and a small box which I assume is for garnish...

[davicus]

Too bad bitters come in 4 oz bottles.  Isn't the limit for carry on 3 oz?  Fee brothers should come out with a travel set.

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I've seen teeny tiny bottles of bitters. Comes with 4 or 5 bottles to a pack. Can't remember where or what brand, though, but if you konw it exists, you can look out for it.

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Tabasco makes tiny little bottles of their hot sauce... you can get them at World Market. I use these bottles, filled with bitters, for my travel set. Although recently I've just been carrying around a bottle of Angostura...

[brinza]

Too bad bitters come in 4 oz bottles.  Isn't the limit for carry on 3 oz?  Fee brothers should come out with a travel set.

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I've seen teeny tiny bottles of bitters. Comes with 4 or 5 bottles to a pack. Can't remember where or what brand, though, but if you konw it exists, you can look out for it.

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Tabasco makes tiny little bottles of their hot sauce... you can get them at World Market. I use these bottles, filled with bitters, for my travel set. Although recently I've just been carrying around a bottle of Angostura...

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Splificator suggested those in his Esquire article (linked to in post #5).

I believe the bitters prasantrin is referring to is Underberg. They come 3-packs of very tiny (20ml I think) glass bottles.

Last summer my wife and I, along with a friend, went up to Presque Isle, PA for some bike riding. It was an overnight stay at a hotel with no bar. What I did was take a plastic tool box and load it up with some key ingredients: gin, rye, Campari, sweet vermouth, and dry vermouth, plus bitters, a mini shaker and a jigger. With that we knew we could make Martinis, Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, Negronis, Old Pals, and a host of others. The tool box is the kind with a snap-lid container embedded into the main lid with small compartments for hardware. I used those to store sugar cubes, stirrers, napkins, etc. We sat out on the patio in the evenings with our portable bar and received a few envious looks from other hotel guests!

[CincyCraig]

As someone who travels for both business & pleasure a great deal, I have been in the same situation of trying to make cocktail in a hotel room with limited resources as many of you have. However, I recently had my eyes opened about the danger of drinking from the glassware that you find in hotel rooms. News stations all over the nation have conducted undercover investigations of how these glasses are cleaned (or more to the point, NOT cleaned). This doesn't seam to be a issue limited to a few hotels, but rather a larger problem endemic to the entire hotel industry. Here are a few examples of the what I am writing about:

Breitbart

ABC News

WCPO

Fox Atlanta

Another expose

This is disgusting, and completely unacceptable as well. Unfortunately, you & I simply have no way of knowing if those glasses in our rooms are really clean or not. I am neither an alarmist nor do I suffer from mysophobia, however I will either getting a glass (or two) from the hotel's restaurant or bar, or I will even resort to using the disposable paper coffee cups that are found in many rooms instead of using the glasses in the room in order to make a cocktail in my room. I simply will not use the glassware in any hotel room any longer, not even when I stay at a Ritz-Carlton or a Four Seasons hotel.

[thirtyoneknots]

As someone who travels for both business & pleasure a great deal, I have been in the same situation of trying to make cocktail in a hotel room with limited resources as many of you have. However, I recently had my eyes opened about the danger of drinking from the glassware that you find in hotel rooms.

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A deplorable state of affairs, but easily remedied by wetting a napkin with bonded whiskey and wiping down the glass.

[Chris Amirault]

Where would one be forced to shake that Bourbon Sour in a Nalgene bottle and strain it through an antique tea strainer? Why, a bed and breakfast in Montpelier VT, of course!

Cheers!!

[emilyr]

Where would one be forced to shake that Bourbon Sour in a Nalgene bottle and strain it through an antique tea strainer? Why, a bed and breakfast in Montpelier VT, of course!

Cheers!!

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Or in college! The Nalgene was the cocktail shaker of choice at Marquette when I was there! I made my first martini in one.