The One-Trick Guide to Making Your Own Barrel-Aged Drinks

It’s no longer unusual for bars to barrel-age cocktails. The small barrel has become a fixture on many a back bar. But one tends to see the same spirit-forward cocktails over and over again: Manhattans, Negronis, sometimes a Trident if we’re lucky.

A new book, "The Bar Cart Bible," includes a section on DIY aging of cocktails in barrels, including quite a few drinks rarely seen resting on oak, like the Black Russian or the low-alcohol Chrysanthemum. Start with a one-liter barrel, the book advises, and expect to wait roughly six weeks for that drink.

How-To

1. Rinse out the barrel with water. Fill the barrel with water, soaking it long enough so that the wood swells. Be sure to check for any leaks. Pour out the water. Allow the barrel to dry.

2. Funnel the ingredients into the barrel for aging. (See ideas on drinks to try below.)

3. Once a day, roll the barrel to mix the ingredients, and encourage access to all the wood surfaces inside the barrel.

4. Wait! For a one-liter barrel, the average aging time is six weeks, but you need to taste-test throughout the aging period to determine when to empty the contents of the barrel. “The goal is to avoid a woody cocktail taste,” advises the book.

5. When you’re pleased with the flavor, funnel the contents of the barrel into a sterilized glass bottle, and cap tightly.

5 Drinks to Try (Sized for a 1-Liter Barrel)

Barrel-Aged Black Russian: 21 oz vodka, 11 oz coffee liqueur

Barrel-Aged Chrysanthemum: 20 oz dry vermouth, 10 oz Bénédictine, 2 oz absinthe

Barrel-Aged El Presidente: 20 oz rum, 5 oz orange curaçao, 5 oz dry vermouth, 1 oz grenadine

Barrel-Aged Last Word: 11 oz gin, 11 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur, 11 oz Green Chartreuse

For an individual cocktail, add 3 oz barrel-aged mixture to 1 oz fresh lime juice, then shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Barrel-Aged Stinger: 21 oz cognac, 11 oz white crème de menthe