Captain’s Grog

The second most common juice used in cocktails. This citrus juice is about 6% acid; 4% from citric and 2% from malic, with small amounts of succinic acid (this is what gives it a little bloody taste). Lime juice should be used the day it is squeezed, some like it freshly squeezed and others like it a few hours old.

A juice used in some cocktails for its tart and acidic properties. Grapefruit juice can be pre-squeezed and kept fresh for many days like orange juice, unlike lemon and lime juice.

A syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees; 67% sugar by mass. Super duper infamous in Canada. Most cocktails that use maple syrup specifically say to get 'A' grade, the downside is $$$$.

A liquid produced from macerating vanilla pods in ethanol. To be considered 'pure' the solution must contain a minimum of 35% alcohol and 100g of vanilla beans per litre. One drop goes a long way.

The essence of almond, also known as a tincture. A few drops will do ya.

Water into which carbon dioxide gas under pressure has been dissolved, creating a fizzy texture. We treat soda water, club soda, seltzer and sparkling water the same.

An alcoholic falernum syrup liqueur with ABV between 11-35 ABV; we chose the most common 11%. Falernum is mainly used in tropical drinks but can also be drank by itself. It usually has flavors of almond, ginger, cloves, vanilla, allspice and lime.

A liqueur predominantly flavored with the dried peels of the laraha orange native to the island of Curaçao. Curaçao liqueur likely originated in the 1600s from the Dutch spirit company Bols after the West Indies Company controlled trade from the island. The liqueur comes in many colors with blue being the original made by Bols, however the color is only added for effect and adds no flavor. Triple Sec (ie: Cointreau) is considered a white Curaçao.

These rich rums get their dark color from added caramel, not necessarily aging. Flavors are caramel and brown-sugar forward. Common examples are Meyers's and Coruba (Jamaican) or Gosling's Black Seal (Bermuda). A key ingredient in many classic tiki-era cocktails.

Often referred to as silver or white, these rums are actually lightly aged (1-3 years), but have had any color filtered out. They are typically molasses based (as opposed to the cane juice-based rhum agricole, clairin, or cachaça). Flavors range from light (Bacardi, Caña Brava, Plantation 3 Star, El Dorado 3) to more flavorful blended options (Probitas, Ten-To-One).

Lengthy aging (8+ years) lends some color and lots of flavor to the rum. Most often bottled as a blend of pot and column-distilled rums ('Blended' category). Varieties are available from all over the Carribean and the world.

Aromatic plants used in cocktails as a garnish or muddled into the liquor to add a light fresh taste. Common in the Mint Julep.