It's happened to the best of us: friends are on their way over in a few hours and the liquor cabinet looks like it hasn't been replenished since, um, never. You thumb through a cocktail book before you scoot to the liquor store, but choosing the evening's drink seems about as easy as buying a car. But a quick visit to BRIX Wine Shop (1284 Washington Street, Boston, 617.542.2749) and your problems vanish like ice on a hot summer day. Owners Carri Wroblewski and Klaudia Mally introduced the monthly BRIX Mix in February. The packaged mix includes full-sized bottles of ingredients to make the month's featured cocktail, and a scroll that includes the recipe and a brief history of the libation's origin. The inaugural drink was the rye-based Brooklyn cocktail ($65), but a different classic cocktail moves into the spotlight each month (after it's unveiled at the store's "Thirsty Thursday" event on the first Thursday of every month).
