Collaborative post:
We’ve all got drink cabinets filled with alcoholic beverages that have been there for months or years. We open them at parties, have a few drinks and leave them half-finished. Alcohol can last for a very long time before it goes off, but once you open a bottle you will definitely reduce its lifespan. In the end, you have a cabinet full of things that are going off – meaning you’ve wasted loads of money!
Party season is rapidly approaching yet again, so you may want to get some new bottles in your drinks cabinet. Before you do this, be sure to use up as much of the old stuff as possible. You can drink it, sure, but here are some other cool ways to use leftover alcohol:
Cook with it
Loads of spirits, wines and even beers are great to cook with. Some red wine adds a nice richness to sauces, particularly if you’re cooking up a spaghetti bolognese. Spirits like Mezcal or Tequila are particularly good at marinating meats or curing fish, so this is a great way to get rid of the leftover bits you don’t feel like drinking. If you have some bottles of beer lying around that you’re not going to consume, add them to a mix with flour to create a really light beer batter for frying fish and other things.
There are loads of ways you can use alcohol to enhance your cooking, so it makes sense to give it a try if you’re looking to offload some old stuff.
Use it to neutralise odours
Have you ever washed clothes and realised they smell arguably worse than before? If your laundry pile smells pretty musty and terrible, you could benefit from an odour neutraliser. Believe it or not, alcohol is a fantastic thing to use in this situation. Vodka is the common spirit of choice and can be mixed with water to neutralize odours. Simply add to a bottle and spray over your clothes either before or after washing them.
With this bottle, you can spray other things around your home too – like curtains or carpets that could do with some freshening up.
Add it to plant water
This sounds like you’re trying to get your plants drunk, but it’s genuinely a great way of extending their lifespan. Some of you may be aware that certain alcohol can have health benefits for humans – like red wine and its antioxidants. But did you know it also has benefits for plants?
Some studies have looked into this, showing that adding a few drops of clear alcohol to plant water can help them stay alive for longer. It’s believed that the alcohol makes the plants retain more moisture, so they don’t dry up as quickly. If you have some clear spirits lying around and plenty of plants to water, try adding a few drops to make them last longer.
You don’t need to drink all of your alcohol to get rid of it! Using it in cooking is a simple way to use up old spirits or bottles of wine so you can clear out your drinks cabinet. Finding other applications around the house is also incredibly useful, meaning you no longer have old beverages that are slowly going off and proving to be a waste of money. Now, you’re ready to restock the cabinet in preparation for party season!
Sarah x
