how to clean out your liquor cabinet what's lurking in the back of your liquor cabinet here's some tips for starting fresh you will need time a dust rag and a damp cloth step 1 start by clearing out your cabinet line everything up on a counter top step to sort your liquor into three groups the good the bad and the ugly good is anything you like and want to keep bad is anything that's been sitting open for too long ugly is anything old and unopened that will probably never drink or even admit you own an open bottle of liquor will remain drinkable for about a year open to the coors last about half as long cream base to the coors must be refrigerated once opened and even then we'll ask him about two months step 3 pour out the bad stuff and recycle the glass dump any bottles that have been opened in our less than one-quarter full once the bottle is opened oxidation begins to degrade the quality step 4 decide what to do with the unopened unwanted bottles they're still fine to drink regardless of age give them away or drain and discard them step 5 toss out pass through prime mixers and extras such as dried up bitters and tattered parasols dumped flat sodas and tonics and expired olives and onions step 6 dust off the bottles you plan to keep and wash and dry bar where finally wipe out the cabinet with a damp cloth step 7 restock your bar with a tasteful new batch of basics such as bourbon scotch gin and vodka grab a good liqueur or two and a collection of mixers favorite quality over quantity if you're on a budget did you know the term cocktail as a mixed drink dates back to at least 1806 when the once magazine referred to it as an excellent electioneering potion