If anyone asked me, point blank, what the weirdest thing I keep in my bar is. I would probably tell them either the Habanero infused Jägermeister I keep for shots, or the Boomsha that I use as an occasional Chartreuse substitute/as an occasional after dinner drink. Though neither would represent the actual answer. The truth is, in my opinion, it’s a series of color coded perfume bottles that are a personal dirty secret. The contents of these bottles are mundane enough. Angostura, Orange, and Herbal (absinthe) Bitters. But the reason for storing these is why these bottles were such an easy choice of an investment.

Before we go any further, have you ever tried to flare an orange? Or what about washing a glass with a dash of absinthe? Maybe you really want that clover pattern on top of your St Patrick’s Day whiskey sour?

To answer those questions from my own experience. Flaring an orange is something that is learned over the course of years and is beyond the skill level an average home barkeep should really need to learn. Washing a glass with absinthe feels like a general waste because of the difficulty of measuring enough to cover the glass and little enough to not waste an expensive liqueur. And like flaring an orange, drawing a pattern atop a sour is a skill acquired over years of practice, and often done by bar tenders who got their starts as baristas.

And that is where the perfume bottles come in. My set cost around $11 with shipping & handling. The amount of bitters they hold is, at least in my opinion, trivial in relationship to the amount that I would otherwise be wasting. On top of that, it gives you a very wide coverage of the drink that you are essentially attempting to season. In the case of attempting to “flare” a drink, not factoring in alcohol’s low ignition point, it helps ensure that you get the combustion you’re seeking. As for “drawing” on a sour. All you need to do is lay down a mold, and let the spray do the rest. And is why I hope this little “dirty secret” is something that you’ll see and want to give a shot in your own home bar