Aside from freezing and canning, the best methods for preserving cocktail ingredients from the garden are syrups, shrubs, and tinctures.

But just because something is affordable doesn’t mean its garbage, and, likewise, just because its expensive doesn’t mean its top shelf.

I’m not going to tell you that you have to memorize every liqueur and spirit flavor profile in order to get the best drink on the menu.

You can dump ingredients into a pint glass, give them a stir with a spoon from the kitchen drawer, and bottoms up. No one’s stopping you.