Welcome to Bar Kiley

This journey that led me to this blog started five years ago when my mom asked me to come with her to Cleveland to help my grandfather move out of his old house. He was in the process of “de-cluttering” his lifestyle and was bound and determined to get rid of the things he no longer needed. Knowing that I was fond of whiskey, my grandfather offered to give me the remains of his home bar which had sat, almost completely untouched, in his basement for the past ten years. I gladly accepted, even though I had no idea what I was going to do with his generous present. My mom and I spent the next fifteen minutes combing through the twenty-plus bottles in his collection, many of them over thirty years old. My grandfather informed me that I was to leave the vodka so that he could still make himself Bloody Marys, but the rest was mine to keep. We packed up bottles of Crown Royal and Fleischmann’s whiskey that still had their original 1969 tax label affixed to the lid alongside one or two newer, plastic bottles of run and gin. Most of the bottles were so old and dusty, however, that you could barely see the liquid inside!

                I brought my newly-inherited home bar with me to South Bend and quickly filled up the cabinet in my back pantry with my haul. The aged bottles sat there for several months, only occasionally visited in order to fetch a finger or two of “Old Smuggler” (Scotch with a History!) or Chivas Regal (served neat of course). One night, however, as my roommate and I entertained a few guests, we decided it was time to mix a drink or two using our back bar, something I had never really tried before. Little did I know this would be the beginning of a hobby that would follow me through three cities, four moves and would eventually even lead to a part-time job that helped put me through Grad School.

                As I began experimenting with mixing different drinks, I adopted a “Drink of the Month” policy. I firmly believe this is the best and most economically responsible way to build up a home bar. After three years of experimenting with drinks of the month, my home bar tops out at over 80 bottles, and continues to slowly grow each month. The other benefit is that I now also know how to make thirty-plus cocktails and have even begun to make my own liqueurs, syrups and other mixers. By picking one drink a month to serve and master, I can give my friends something new every time they come over while keeping my bar expenses to a minimum. I try to select a new drink that only requires one or two new ingredients, and then I make sure to keep them stocked all month. I almost never go through my whole stock in a month, meaning my bar grows each month simply by adding one or two simple ingredients.

This blog is my attempt to share my “Drinks of the Month” with my friends and family and maybe help you build up your own home bar. I hope you enjoy the recipes I've included. We’ll begin with a few “best of” Bar Kiley from the past and new drink recipes will be added and tweaked in the months to come. I may even add a few other recipes from Bar Kiley’s kitchen if the mood is right. I hope you enjoy this project (and enjoy it responsibly)!