Craig E

In the middle of offering drink mixing services to my New Year's Eve party crew, I got challenged to make something of the most random bottles at the back of their liquor cabinet: some strange dark rum from Hawaii (that smelled a bit like Kahlua) and some "potable ginger vinegar." Threw in some simple in a more-or-less daiquiri template and added a lime wheel, and I have to say it turned out pretty good! Happy new year!

Visiting family in Orange County, got to go to the celebrated Hi-Time liquor shop in Costa Mesa. What selection! Picked up the makings for some Manhattans, and found my first bottle of long-sought-after Bonal. Hoping it makes it home in my checked baggage.

If you like Punt e Mes, Ashtray Heart. If you like Negronis, The Departed or Kingston Negroni. There are interesting flavors in a Rubber Soul or Warning Label. If falernum is allowed, The Corsican.

Same here, but I suspect the situation might have been reversed back when some of these drink recipes were devised.

Are y'all talking white, pink, or red grapefruit?

New Amsterdam Winter Fix Muddled cranberries and ginger, triple sec, gin, lemon I've done a similar cranberry gin smash before, but the ginger is a really nice addition. EDIT: only now noticed that the original recipe adds sugar to the muddle, which was omitted in the Kindred Cocktails recipe linked above. But it doesn't need it. Perhaps the sugar would help better draw out the juices of the cranberries, but the ounce of Cointreau added enough sweetness.

What is that red-labeled bottle in your Preakness pic?

Pendergast 1.5 bourbon .75 sweet vermouth .5 Bénédictine 2 dashes Angostura I suspect this drink might be a little boring with stock vermouth, but with Punt e Mes providing a slight bitter edge I like it. I taste prunes and a little smoke.

Tonight I quite enjoyed this Tequila Sunrise variant that Rafa posted to kindredcocktails, a more sophisticated take that gets its red from Campari rather than grenadine.

Now that I look at it, it's 40%! I had it in my head that it was 50. Maybe I'll swing my ratio a little further towards the 151.

I don't, and I'm desperately trying to gain some traction on this slippery slope of rum collection! Thanks for your input, Ananth and FrogPrincesse! Think I'll try 2:1 or 3:1 agricole & Hamilton.

Do you throw any fruit in the punch? EDIT: I guess from the link you already provided, no. The Death & Co. recipe calls for peaches which would be fantastic on this, but alas no la tengo.

Trying this now (Daron calvados + R&W orchard apricot) in a single-serve version and wow, it does taste peachy!

If you had these rum options for a homemade falernum base, which would you use? Plantation 3 StarsEd Hamilton 151Sagatiba cachacaRhum J.M. blancSmith & CrossRecipe calls for white rum, so Plantation seems like the obvious choice. I thought the higher-proof options might be good at sucking out flavor from the zests etc., but are they all (in their own ways) too funky? Opinions?

Here's what I've planned: APEROL GIN PUNCH Gin, Aperol, Yellow Chartreuse, lime, grapefruit, orange, orange bitters, prosecco CZECHERS IN PARADISEDark rum, Becherovka, lime, Tuaca GLASGOW MULEScotch, lemon, St. Germain, Angostura bitters, ginger beer, lemon wheel, candied ginger Frog, what do you use for the peach component of the Fish House Punch?

What's on your cocktail menu for turkey day?

Finally got my hands on some Yellow Chartreuse, and tried out the Naked and Famous. Smoky and quite sour up front. The finish, to me, is almost exactly like fresh orange juice.

Smith & Cross Jamaican rum.

Tried The Warning Label tonight. Looked to be forbiddingly intense, since everything on the ingredients list that isn't bitter, is highly flammable! Lemon Hart 151 (Hamilton 151), Cynar, Punt E Mes, Regan's, grapefruit bitters (hop bitters, why not?), Campari rinse, lemon twist. In actuality I found this quite drinkable. I realize in retrospect that adding something bitter to something bitter doesn't necessarily make it more bitter; and there's a healthy dose of sweetness in the Demerara rum and the Cynar and the vermouth that stands its ground against the bitterness. I got a good squirt from a sizable and fresh lemon zest, which added welcome brightness.

I was amused to hear the story behind this censored label of my new Hamilton 151 rum. Apparently it was after the labels went to the printer that the lawyers determined that the phrase "Demerara rum" was a copyrighted term unavailable to Hamilton. ("Rum from the Demerara River" was okay.) So I imagine some intern in New York was handed a Sharpie and told to get to work.

Glad to hear you second this, I bought it solely on the recommendation of the liquor store guy who said the same thing. Haven't cracked it open yet.

Left half are restocks. Excited about my first overproof rum.

Tried out a Louanalao and it was delicious! Muddled strawberry, Plantation 3-star rum, Campari, homemade allspice dram, lime juice, cane syrup, garnished with orange and strawberry. My strawberry garnish was too sad to photograph, but this was a yummy crowd-pleaser. Grapefruit flavors from the Campari and citrus, nice cinnamon/clove spice from the dram.

http://myamericanmeltingpot.blogspot.com/2008/04/is-gypsy-racist-word.html

This is a winner, though I wish it had a different name. Gin, Aperol, lime and grapefruit juices, simple, chartreuse rinse.