What the masses opiate themselves with around here

When inspiration palls, what does the weary blogger do? Steal someone else's ideas, that's what.

So I guess the new thing is lists--playlists, inventories of one's bar, etc.

Herewith, my summer bar inventory:

Tequila (all 100 agave, of course):
Herradura
Corzo
1800 Reposado
Don Julio An~ejo
Cielo

Gin:
Beefeater

Whiskey:
big ass bottle of Jim Beam
big ass bottle of Crown Royal
Jack Daniels
Woodford Reserve
Maker's Mark
Johnny Walker Black
Jameson

Rum:
Bacardi silver
Mount Gay

Vodka:
lemon flavored Stoli
Grey Goose

Misc.
Pernod
Casanis Pastis
Romana Black Liquore di Sambuca
Averna Amero Siciliano
Morlacco Sangue liqueur
Carpano Punt e Mes
Martini and Rossi dry and sweet vermouths
Poires d'Anjou
Grand Marnier
Creme de Cassis

The opened bottle of red wine on the dining room table:
Norman Vineyards 2003 Paso Robles Zinfandel "The Monster"

In the icebox:
Pimm's No. 1
Lillet
Joseph Drouhin Chablis 2004
Robert Michele Muscadet 2001 Les Trois Fils
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Moet & Chandon White Star n.v. champagne
Diet Coke
food

And now, a word of explanation. If anyone around here offers you a drink, check for dust on the bottle. Some of those bottles could be really, really old. Like a decade old. Now, I know the whole idea with booze is that it doesn't go bad. But still. You have been warned.

Why all the retro, vintage, antique (insert your favorite eBay euphemism for "dusty old") booze? Easy. Nobody will drink it, yet throwing out liquor is like getting rid of books. It simply can't be done, people!

But nobody here drinks vodka. I swear that bottle of lemon flavored vodka is older than my oldest child. The Grey Goose is for when my father-in-law visits. The rum inventory seems thin; I think we drank up the interesting rum, and then moved on. Rum was a summer 2004 phenomenon. Nobody around really drinks gin, except in a martini, and we aren't doing martinis lately. Nobody drinks whiskey around here in the summer, but That Stud Muffin I Married made a Sam's run lately and couldn't resist filling out the collection so as to be ready for fall.

So that explains about half of the inventory. Now for the rest.

The wine is my husband's business; if it's made of grapes, I'll drink it. The aperitifs are also his thing, circa summer, 2005. Except for the Lillet and the vermouth. (And again--I'd watch it if I were you. You can trust the vermouth, but I don't remember how long that Lillet has been in the icebox.) The anise-flavored things are also his; I find the idea of Good and Plenty on the rocks completely horrible. So is the tequila, which I only drink as a margarita. His summer 2006 drink is tequila on the rocks with a wedge of lime--hence all the tequila. He has to at least try anything that looks vaguely interesting.

My summer drink since whenever is either white wine or a vermouth cassis; sometimes a beer. Or Diet Coke, which truth be told, I'd just as soon be drinking a lot of the time.

P.S. It occurs to me that this entire post could be replaced with a photograph captioned "It's my husband's fault."