Czequershuus

I must shame-facedly admit I use bottled pineapple juice, usually R.W. Knudsen. I just don't have the patience or the kitchen skills to make my own at this time, and the bottled stuff is really quite good. Plus, it keeps a fair while, which is a nice bonus.

As a big fan of puns, cocktails with really solid puns for names always call to me, especially if there ingredients are also alluring. Agave Maria (Link) 1.5 Oz Del Maguey Vida Mezcal (Illegal Joven) 1.5 Oz Pineapple Juice 0.75 Oz Lime Juice 1 bsp Fernet Branca 3 ds Peychauds Bitters 0.25 Oz Agave Nectar (Omitted) Shake with ice, pour into a rocks glass (I misread this and strained) Amazingly, even against Mezcal the Fernet stands out, but this a good thing. Smoke, menthol, and pineapple may seem an odd combo, but they work together brilliantly. I did not miss the agave nectar, the pineapple juice makes this sweet enough for me.

Reporting back on the Chartreuse Swizzle with Becherovka in place of Falernum. It worked out quite well, preserving the balance of the drink, while drying it out slightly. I don't think I like it better than the original, but it is certainly on par. As for a name(does such a small variation need a name?) I did type the cocktail into google translate and turn it into Czech. It comes out as Chartreuska Swizzle, which I think is rathe pleasing.

Given the relative heat wave of late, and my observation that bottle of Chartreuse was still quite full, I chose to revisit on of my favorite summertime cocktails. The Chartreuse Swizzle (Link) 1.25 Oz Green Chartreuse 1 Oz Pineapple Juice 0.75 Oz Lime Juice (now at mercifully reduced price!) 0.5 Oz Falernum (Velvet) Build over crushed ice in a tall glass, swizzle. So refreshing, spicy, and oddly balanced. I think next time I may try it substituting Becherovka for the Falernum, as Dan did here in the drinks thread for the Crafty and Elusive Elk.

A couple of days ago I finally got around to making the Pink Lady, or as Ted Haigh calls it in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, The Secret Cockail, for fear the terms Pink and Lady may scare away the more masculine imbibers. It is however, as good as Ted intimated in his classic volume. The recipe I used was slightly different that Ted's, however. 1.5 Oz Gin (Beefeater) 0.5 Oz Applejack (Laird's Bonded) 1 Oz Lemon Juice 0.5 Oz Grenadine 1 Egg White As for tonight, I was looking for a nice strong slug of gin, and likely some dry vermouth to accompany it. But rather that a regular Martini, I espied the cocktail onion in my fridge and decided on a Gibson, 1:1 with Beefeater and Noilly Prat Extra Dry, and two lovely cocktail onions. Sometimes you just need a snack with your drink.

In the mood for a Manhattan like something, I landed on the Antiguan Plaza (Link). It was originally listed in my notes as the Cuarto Trimestre, so I had a bit of trouble re-finding it. Antiguan Plaza 0.75 Oz Banks 7 Rum ( I used Appleton V/X) 0.75 Oz Buffalo Trace (Wild Turkey 101) 0.75 Casa Mariol Vermut Negre (Punt e Mes) 0.25 Oz Benedictine 1 ds Orange Bitters 1 ds Angostura Bitters Stir, strain, rocks, orange twist. A very tasty, rich Manhattan alternative. Really hit the spot

Owing to my local liquor stores stopping stocking Noilly Prat Original Dry, I finally opened my bottle of Noilly Prat Extra Dry. I was skeptical at first, because the marketing seems to place the extra dry in a class with M & R Extra Dry, which I do not like at all. This, however, is very close to the Original Dry. Mostly it lacks some of the richness of the Original Dry, but the botanical backbone is still present. I tired it out in my standard Martini. 2:1 with Beefeater and two olives. It performed quite well. This is an acceptable substitute for the Original Dry, I am glad I will not have to special order my standard dry vermouth.

Maybe infuse the bourbon with peach bubblegum for a while? I seem to recall SoCo having a bubblegum like flavor. Though I cannot say it is something I have ever ingested while in full possession of my decision making faculties...

On to the 1950 Spievak Zombie. 1 Oz White Rum (Cruzan White) 1 Oz Gold Rum (Appleton V/X) 1 Oz Lemon Hart 151 1 Oz Lime Juice 1 Oz Lemon Juice 1 Oz Passion Fruit Syrup 1 Oz Pineapple Juice 1 tsp Demerara Syrup (Turbinado) 1 ds Angostura Bitters Once again I shook with fresh ice and strained over crushed. Much less complex, but still a pleasing drink. I like the greater sour element here, but I feel like the large amount of pineapple mutes the other flavors too much. The passion fruit syrup does have a fantastic affinity for each other, as I saw when I had the Hart of Darkness earlier in this thread. Of the two I have had so far, I prefer the first for its spicy complexity. However, I still have at least two other versions to try.

Started my Zombie adventure tonight with the 1934 Zombie Punch recipe (Link) 1.5 Oz White Rum (Angostura) 1.5 Oz Gold Rum (Appleton V/X) 1 Oz Lemonhart 151 0.75 Oz Lime Juice 0.5 Oz Don's Mix (I approximated with homemade cinnamon syrup and red grapefruit - white unavailable) 0.5 Oz Falernum (Velvet) 1 tsp Grenadine 1/8 tsp Absinthe (2 spritzes of Kubler) 1 ds Angostura Bitters Blend with 0.75 cup ice (I shook with fresh ice and strained over crushed. I need to buy a blender) Woof, I now understand the two drink limit, as this is three drinks in one. The drink is nicely complex, but I do wish I had access to white grapefruit. Unfortunately no grocery stores near me stock them. Also I fear the limes I am getting now are a bit sub par. Still, the homemade cinnamon syrup lights up this drink, as does the small amount of absinthe. Oddly balanced despite all the rum. On to the other recipes. This is going to be a fun exploration.

Another great sweet vermouth citrus concoction is the Wig in a Box. Named after a great song, too. As for other tough to mix with ingredients, I am always frustrated trying to mix with Jagermeister. Based on the really nice herbal flavors I always think it should be useable in more applications, but it is just too damn sweet. Instead of appealing to the frat community with their new Jagermeister Spice, maybe they could shoot for the craft cocktail community and produce Jagermeister Dry.

Finally ordered BG Reynolds Pasion Fruit syrup, and set out looking for a simple experiment to try it out. I ended up doing the Hart of Darkness(link) 1.5 Oz Lemon Hart 151 0.5 Oz Lime Juice 0.25 Oz Lemon Juice 0.5 Oz Passionfruit Syrup 0.5 Oz Honey Syrup 0.25 Oz Soda Water Blend(I shook and strained over crushed ice) Very, very tasty. Also, with the 151, very, very dangerous. Speaking of dangerous, I am off to the store to buy some grapefruit so I can make a Zombie!

My determination to find good uses for Frangelico once led me to try an Amaretto Sour like construction with it, bourbon, and lemon. Turns out Frangelico does not play nicely with lemon.

I have really enjoyed both Milagro and Lunazul in terms of Blancos.

Had a Bees Knees last night using my small bottle of St. George Terroir Gin from the sampler pack. Damn, this is good gin.

I agree with Dan about leaving out the bitters when you use an olive, and I would also say if you are going the olive route skip the lemon twist as well. The variation in garnish makes a huge difference in this drink. Though I do enjoy a good 1:1 Martini with a twist and orange bitters, I find that more often I gravitate towards a 2:1 or 3:1 version with an olive or two.

Looking over my notes I realize I have had a few Last Word variants in the past week or so. I found the Final Answer (Link) when I was looking for more things to do with my Buffalo Trace White Dog. The recipe looked quite large for a rich drink, so I cut it in half. 1.5 Oz (0.75 Oz) White Whiskey (Recipe called for Death's Door, I used my Buffalo Trace) 1 Oz (0.5 Oz) Green Chartreuse 1 Oz (0.5 Oz) Maraschino 1 Oz (0.5 Oz) Lemon Juice I think there is an inherent sweetness to the white dog that tips the balance a little to far in this one. However, the herbalness of the chartreuse really does star without the gin botanicals present in a Last Word. This one grew on me as it warmed up. Other variation I had just a couple nights ago was The Last Stand (Link) 0.75 Oz Del Maguey Vida Mezcal (My Vida is now almost empty ) 0.75 Oz Green Chartreuse 0.75 Oz Maraschino 0.75 Oz Lime Juice This is one of the last word variants that truly stands shoulder to shoulder with the original. The spicy Mezcal adds a great dimension to the drink. I think Mezcal and Chartreuse is an even better pairing than Tequila and Chartreuse...

I believe you are misunderstanding the use of the word "substitute." The goal substitution is not to perfectly recreate, but to achieve something close to the original. To say there is no substitute is singularly unhelpful.

Recently tried the Downtown at Dawn from Cocktail Virgin Slut (Link), which looked like a sure-fire hit from the recipe: 1 Oz Del Maguey Mezcal (I used Illegal, which recently became available locally) 1 Oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy 0.75 Oz Benedictine 0.75 Oz Cocchi Sweet Vermouth (I used Punt e Mes) 0.5 Oz Lime Juice Shake, strain, OF Glass. I liked it, but I did not love it. It may have been a little bit too sweet for my mood that night. It could also be that my limes were a bit substandard, given the recent shortage. Either way, it is worth retrying, given that I love everything in it.

Like yogurt. I mean, really remarkable like yogurt. It is thicker than a normal liqueur but not creamy-thick. Sweet but balances by a slight natural sourness. It is nice, but I would not drink it straight other than to taste, and I fear it has limited uses. It is new enough that there are not many recipes online, other than incredibly sweet ones. But, totally worth the 14 bucks I spent. I am excited to see what else I can do with it.

Playing around with the bottle of Bols Yogurt liqueur I recently picked up. The idea of some sort of a blend between a Ramos Gin Fizz and a Lassi kept running around in my mind. This drink is sort of loosely based on that notion. Still a work in progress 1.5 Oz Gin 0.75 Oz Yogurt Liqueur 0.75 Oz Lemon Juice 0.5 Oz Honey Syrup 0.25 Oz Allspice Dram 2 Oz Soda Water Shake all but soda, strain over ice in tall glass, top with soda. I had originally left out the honey syrup, fearing it would be too sweet, but the Yogurt liqueur is less sweet in the drink than straight, or at least the lemon cuts through it very well. Really very nice with the curry I was having. I may be trying more experiments with this later - possibly a different base spirit.

Thanks to lovely sale prices, I came home with a bottle of Bols Yogurt Liqueur today, as well as the sampler pack of St. George Gins. Very excited about both these purchases.

That is good to know. I have had no experience with Suze, so I will look for recipes to try out or modify. I support the idea for hard to mix with stuff. I have a great, super bitter bottle of Pelinkovac that I can only find about half a dozen recipes for online. Might be worth people sharing their creations with theese ingredients.

Dan, what do you think of Breckenridge Bitters? I purchased a bottle about 6 months ago and find it a bit difficult to work with. I love i with soda, or in a sort of Americano variation, but I have had trouble subbing it in for Campari in general. I am curious to know you perspective.

Ah, I see. This could be a possibility, I do have a very good relationship with the staff and owner. Thank you for the suggestion. I looked through my recipes, and while it is a small category, there are a few that stand out. The Wig in a Box is the best of the bunch for me. The Supreme is really very nice. The Chet Helms is a very tasty long drink with sweet vermouth. And if you happen to have three kinds of vermouth open, the Pay Per View is worth a shot.