Why You Need to Have a Spray Bottle in Your Bar Cart

Absinthe, Scotch, and herbal liqueurs like Campari or either color of Chartreuse are all good rinsers. Absinthe and herbal liqueurs such as Campari, or either color of Chartreuse, are good rinsers. However, according to Food52, rinsing can be wasteful—Spray instead of swirling and dumping. You can keep a small spray bottle with your favorite rinser in your bar cart to use when you need a bit of a kick.

This little spray bottle is usually filled with Scotch. It adds a smoky flavor to a savory, dirty martini. But I am considering adding another one for Campari. Summer is approaching, and nothing brings a porch pounder together like the bitter burnt orange scent. If Campari weren’t so sticky, I would spray it behind my ears and wrists.

You can also add smokiness to your cocktail by misting it with mezcal. If you prefer your margaritas on the drier side, you could spritz the glass with Combier or Cointreau rather than mixing them into the drink. Even cheap sparkling wines can be enhanced by adding a spritz of elderflower liqueur or cassis to your flute.

You can use clear or amber bottles, but remember to wash them first, label and date once filled, and keep any vermouth-like spirits refrigerated to prevent oxidation. Use clear or amber spray bottles. Label and date them once they are filled. Keep vermouth-like spirits in the refrigerator to prevent oxidation.

Pour your drink into the glass and place it in the freezer to chill. Then spray your favorite spirit to rinse the glass. Mix the drink as usual, then strain it into a coupe spritzed with your favorite rinsing spirit.

Short-term rental platforms are here to stay—and when you think of short-term renting, you think of Airbnb. But there are a growing number of reasons to avoid Airbnb, like the plague. Aside from rising prices and poor customer service, Airbnb has been accused of destroying neighborhoods and not respecting your privacy much.

One of Airbnb’s biggest problems is listings that don’t necessarily break any rules—they’re not scams, really—but trick you into renting a place you probably wouldn’t otherwise or into overpaying. Here are the ways your Airbnb host might be deceiving you.

Carefully-staged, misleading photos

The same deceptive tricks real estate listings used can be applied to any Airbnb listing—including temporary staging, specific angles, and even outright photoshopping. Low-resolution photos also hide many defects, including cheap furnishings and hard-to-see dirt. In extreme cases like this poor tourist’s experience in Paris, the images posted with the listing could be old and not at all representative of the current state of the property. It was once a glorious place to stay, but today it’s a broken-down dump.

Omitted listing details

Sometimes an Airbnb listing doesn’t give you the whole story. For example, this couple complained that they rented what they thought was a standalone house to have all to themselves, only to discover that it was a guesthouse located in the backyard of the main house. They admit there might have been a mention of this in the listing—but again, these tricks aren’t necessarily illegal or against Airbnb’s terms of use. They’re merely deceptive.