Sohoskiracer

After another one of my irregular hermitages home to NYC I ended up back at home with bottles of Willet Rye, Basil Hayden's 8yo bourbon, Booker's 7o single barrel and a bottle of Duquesne Rhum Agricole (I've never had a rhum agricole before so looking forward to trying it).

Just received a copy as a Christmas present, away from my home bar, but cannot wait to try some of these recipes when I get back (and go to PDT when I come home to NYC this summer - that and Ssam).

Bacardi Cocktail and Ward Eight in addition to the Jack Rose suggestion.

Went to BCL to buy Campari...but apparently the government liquor stores in BC are universally out and waiting on Campari to send them a new shipment, so replaced my quickly dwindling bottle of Tanqueray instead as well as grabbing a bottle of Havana Club and Mount Guay rum to replace my Appleton V/X (hadn't tried Mt Guay yet).

Hi Sohoskiracer - Can I ask which store you found the single glasses? I'm in your neck of the woods and wouldn't mind buying a couple smaller rocks glasses. TIA! This kitchen store on 4th by Sophie Cosmic Cafe. I don't know how good they are as I was there to buy other things, but i do believe they have some single rocks glasses. That and dont know if they have any but theres Kitchen Corner Superstore right nearby as well and they may have something...not all their stuff is great quality though.

For me the Ward 8 is much more akin to a Whisky Sour, and the Pomegranite taste is what really makes the drink; ive made one with both roses and Giffards Grenadine Syrup for comparison...well the Rose's is now in the trash so I think that sums up my thoughts. Last night did some Halloween partying (dressed up as a drinks menu fwiw) and decided to go through some cocktails I haven't had before from Joy of Mixology. Had an Aviation, and while I thought it tasted good I think I want more lemon than the equal proportion to Maraschino, not sure how much of a fan I am of the taste of Luxardo Maraschino. Think might make the next one something like 2 oz Gin 1/4 maraschino 2/3 lemon 1/2 oz simple as opposed to 4:1:1. After that was an Amaretto sour...I definitely need better Amaretto after my Disaronno runs out, it is way to sweet, and adding more lemon would hide the almond flavor I think (2:1 ratio). And last was a Bacardi Cocktail...which was the highlight of my night, I think I might make the same drink with different base rum (Havana Club 7 yr) but aside from that this is one of my favorite rum cocktails second to Mai Tais at the moment.

Out of curiosity i know proper glassware is important, however I've been making due with only a couple double rocks glasses. Living in a VERY small suite style apartment my liquor cabinet actually takes up the majority of my "bookshelf". With such constraints glassware just ends up at the bottom of my priorities, am I incorrect in this valuation?? Im assuming at least some of you think i need more glassware based upon some posts I've seen (sorry for teh small HJ, curious) In Vancouver theres a store which sells 8oz rocks i think, bought a barspoon there last week and recall seeing both single and double rocks...then again Im in Canada where the trend of bigger is better is only slowly catching on it seems

Knob Creek old fashioned, w/ sugar, lemon peel and a goodly couple dashes of angostura, nothing else (although i do prefer to stir my old fashioneds briefly in a mixing glass and then pour into a frozen rocks glass with little or no ice as opposed to building in the old fashioned glass) EDIT: And considering I went to the gym today and I guess I can afford the calories I just had an Intro to Aperol post-dinner drink, a bit on the bitter side considering I am lacking simple atm and put too little sugar in the shaker. (simple to be made ASAP, most likely tomorrow)

What, no orgeat?? That's not a Mai Tai. Close but not quite... This is what happens when I drink Mai Tais and try to type at the same time...Freudian typo (I was wishing I had Falernum to add to the cocktail while i was posting ). It was in fact a .25oz measure of Orgeat and not Falernum.

Just made my first Mai Tai...oh my goodness where have these been all my life (I've never been a rum fan so i guess i kinda avoided it ) 2 oz Appleton, 1 oz Lime, .5 Cointreau, .25 Simple, .25 Falernum

I'm not a Cynar pro but I like the Art Of Choke. Really wanted to make that one...it was my first choice, but dont have the demerrera syrup, thinking about subbing a 2:1 honey syrup though (that or ill go buy some demerrera sugar as I really wanted to try a sweetish sour (in my mind) with Laird's 100%, Lemon Juice and Demerrera or Honey). How much would it kill the drink to sub there? Also SWEET, another cocktail blog to read And to get some drink content in here I just tried a Dubbonet Cocktail, made a Dandy a couple weeks ago and liked that ALOT better, the Dubonet cocktail is really lacking the citrus notes (i added orange bitters), next time Ill use a more floral gin though. Im thinking of toying around with Dubbonet and Aperol together sometime next week...they seem like they would play well together. EDIT: Going through the blog, in the intro this appears: "So welcome to this, the public record of my foray into the world of mixed drinks. I'm mainly starting this blog to keep track of what I try and record thoughts about booze in general " Which is amazing, because 3 months ago when i started chronicling my booze drinking i subtitled it "A foray into the art of the cocktail." and said about the same thing Now I look 4 years later in Cocktail Virgin Slut (nice rebranding someone) and it is as if I see my chronicle (and journey through many, many, tasty things) unfolding before me.

Was hoping someone could give me a suggestion for a good Cynar cocktail. Just acquired a bottle and want a drink that it shines in (can't seem to decide what to make, theres an abundance of cynar recipes ) EDIT: And reading through KC i find most have exactly 1 ingredient I am missing

Its not "Canadian Rye" its just "Canadian Whisky" (a whisky that is "in the spirit of Canadian Whisky" is about the only restriction, these spirits may be colored (usually w/ caramel)). An example of a Canadian Rye Whisky would be Alberta Premium (its mash bill is 100% rye), but it ALSO qualifies as just "Canadian Whisky". Things that are Canadian Whisky but NOT rye are brands such as CC, Crown, Seagrams. Interesting difference in that CC is actually pre-mixed before barreling, meaning that they combine the results of all their distillations before aging, so all ingredients age in the same barrel and thouroughly mix. As opposed to Crown and Seagrams who first age (or don't) their distillate and after aging mix them for the final product. Why I heavily suggest the cheaper, and imo, better, CC 12 year which I use as a replacement for my friends who like Crown Royal. American Rye Whiskey, well its Rittenhouse, Bulleit Rye, Jim Beam Rye etc...not sure what restrictions are on them aside from mash bill of 51% rye+...if a drink calls for rye whisk(e)y I use Alberta Premium or Bulleit Bourbon if I want to sub a rye heavy bourbon. I'm still learning, so someone please elaborate or correct me if im wrong, this is just the impression I had, but didn't double check anything which is most likely a mistake.

Maybe I'm just used to Tanqueray then (It's my standard mixing gin, I like Hendricks in Gin & Tonics and the like). For me the Corpse Reviver 2 tasted like an OK gin cocktail in a glass with an absinthe rinse, didn't meld too well and wasn't exceptional. I think for sure I need to do some tinkering, and once i get the ingredients im most certainly going to try the above suggestions. Tonight had a Makers Mark old fashioned, muddled 1 t sugar, orange peel, 2 ds angostura and stirred, made a good old fashioned. Did the same thing with Knob's Creek Whiskey and it made a very different drink, much woodier and less of a tail to it. I think they were both equally good, just so different (I haven't used my Knob's Creek in a cocktail yet). Then was Lairds Apple Brandy Old Fashioned, which was the same as above, except using lemon peel instead of orange. This was the highlight of my night as I cook thanksgiving dinner, the citrus elevated the Apple brandy and made an absolutely stunning drink, think this is my new Thanksgiving go to.

Thanks for the tips, I used Tanqueray, so not the most forward gin, ill use my Hendricks next time and see how that plays. I don't believe we have much in the way of any of the other ingredients in British Columbia, but the Creole Shrub is on my list of things to get. I don't have the Angostura brand orange bitters yet, just Fee Brother's, thought seriously about adding them, but decided against it b/c i didn't think they'd fit quite right. Today's drink is Old Fashioneds as it's Turkey Day up here in Canada, so even though I'm American if I must participate in local customs I guess I will. Going to make a Lairds 100% Apple Brandy Old Fashioned and a Maker's Mark one (w/ a bit of orange peel muddled in, sugar, bitters, nothing else)

Tonight was a Corpse Reviver #2 (my first drink with my newly aquired absinthe...a part of me is SCREAMING that I should've made a Sazerac first...but Corpse Reviver won given that I still need to buy a bar spoon -- I've been using regular spoons, but wanted to treat my first Sazerac right ) Got the recipe from KC, was an interesting drink. I wasn't sure what I thought of it at first, but it kept inviting me back for another sip, then another, then another. And while I don't think I'd have another at the moment, it was intriguing enough that I will want to drink one again...im still not sure if I loved it (it lacked a certain amount of depth), however it was more than drinkable and further experimentation will be required.

I don't really drink any rum a week, partially because I am still enamored with Whisky cocktails, but mostly because we do not get much good rum in Vancouver, and if we do it'll be at pricate liquor stores which are prohibitively expensive. Also its winter now so drinking rum drinks just seems out of place. I will most likely venture into rum cocktail mixing next summer when I stock up on better quality ingredients from Astor Spirits and the season is right. And when the time comes I will most certainly find a slew of recipes here I am sure.

Not very interesting drinks as im new to craft cocktails, but today was Satan's Whisker's (straight), Ward Eight and a Whisky sour Satan's Whiskers from Dale DeGroffs The Essential Cocktail 1 oz Tanqueray 1/2 oz Noilly Prat 1/2 oz Martini Sweet Vermouth 1 oz Fresh squeezed OJ 1/2 oz Grand Marnier Several dashes orange bitters Wish i had different orange bitters tahn Fee Bros, think they would elevate the drink, vermouth got a little lost, wish i had tangier oranges Whisky sour was 1.5:1:1, my usual ratio if not 2:1.25:1 (Strong Sweet Sour)

Amaretto And so much less tasty than the Luxardo... but that's just my opinion. Yeah I was actually wondering what brand to use but they use Disaronno in the bar I work in so i kinda defaulted to it. We literally have this ONE genever at the Province Liquor stores, and the two private stores I visited were lacking and Oude Genever, I'm most likely going to pick up a bottle next time I'm at Astor Spirits in NY as that place is fantastic. I'm sure anyone else who lives in Canada knows how extremely limited out options are in regards to more specialty items. EDIT: So as not to waste posts, in response to the poster below Im in BC, Vancouver specifically, although relatively new to shopping for liquor here so I have not by any means exhausted my options (that and I visit NY often enough to ferry back bottles that get too difficult...like lairds apple brandy etc )

Added to my growing Liquor Cabinet: Dubonnet Rouge Apricot Brandy (Meaghers...we dont have Marie Brizzard in BC) Luxardo Maraschino La Fee Absinthe Disaronno Cynar Lillet Boomsma Jonge Genever (all we have in DC for Genever really) Jim Beam (standard replacement, its my go to if I've already made a few drinks) Knob Creek Bourbon (Need to branch off from my habitual Makers/Bulleit habits) Chartreusse (Never used the stuff, but working my way through Haigh's book so ima need it) Aperol (out of campari at the store and at home and I wanted a negroni, so with some tinkering it worked) Fernet Branca Creme de Cacao Fireball (don't judge me, my friends like to dirnk highballs and take shots...need something for when they're here) Oh and Fee Brothers Orange Bitters and some Agave Syrup., and with that i am a member of the forums Nice to join yall