The Magic of a Good Mixer

[cdh]

Cocktails are lovely things, different flavors carefully juxtaposed in just the right proportions, works of artisan craftsmanship. This topic is not about them.

This topic is about a more simple, but no less satisfying pursuit -- the mixed drink. More to the point, the class of drinks composed of a base spirit and a mixer.

Mixers have a long history in the world of booze... Tonic water goes back to tropical colonialism, a malaria vaccine that readily mixed with gin and made colonials anxious for the sun to come over the yardarm. Bitter lemon is a close cousin of tonic, and sadly rarer than it should be. Britain has a variant that hasn't made it across the pond, the Russian mixer... which I recall from my time there in the 90s. Ginger ale, ginger beer, colas and lemon-based fizzy drinks all play roles in this class of tasty beverages, as do plenty of non-fizzy mixables. Sadly, the realm of mixers has become really quite dull as its constituents have become more or less commodity products, and our thinking has dulled accordingly.

The Gin and Tonic is the king of this realm of drinks, but not the whole of the story. We all know the virtues of the drink, and haute restauranteurs like Thomas Keller and new entrepreneurs like eG's own Jordan Silbert are making attempts to breathe some life back into tonic by making it themselves, rather than taking what the CocaCola Corp, or Cadbury-Schweppes have reduced their tonics to.

I'd like this thread to unearth particularly tasty combinations of reasonably available beverages and common booze.

I'll start off with a few observations of my own:

Aged rum and commercial tonic with a squeeze of lime is a remarkable cousin of the G&T, and should be better known.

Trader Joe's Mango Lemonade and Gin make a fabulous combination, the piney-ness of the gin and the mango's own coniferous tang marry quite well with the underlying layers of tartness and sweetness. Well more interesting than Gin & any old juice (no offense intended to Snoop Dogg.)

Let us know discoveries you've made in this class of drinks. The world of bottled beverages that could be mixers is huge... there have to be some spectacular complements to readily available booze that not enough people have heard of. Tell us about them!

[bostonapothecary]

flor de jamaica soda....

celray soda....

clayton's kola nut tonic....

squirt soda....

tamarind....

sparkling apple cider....

lambic beer (sacriligeous to mix but it tastes so good....)

personally i just make a bottle cocktail and throw the whole thing in a soda siphon and carbonate the whole mess..... though i was banned from doing it at work because on a couple of occasions i drank too much of it and got all messed up....

pisco with carrot orange consome (ferran adria)

full sparkling espresso martini (all me and the main catalysit for the ban)

fully sparkling mojito paired with my falernum sorbet (real serious)

blah blah blah flavor of the week....

i think next week i'm gonna get krunked on some mauby bark soda with some rhum agricole....

[jmfangio]

Dry Soda is a tasty new line of premium sodas in Lemon Grass, Lavender, Kumquat, and Rhubarb. My first thought when I tasted the Lemon Grass was, "Wow, this would probably go really well with gin", and, well, I was right. I'm looking forward to trying their other flavors.

[KatieLoeb]

Wow. Those Dry Sodas sound like the cat's meow for someone that was feeling adventurous. I'll have to look for those locally.

I'm a big fan of both the less utilized sodas like Fresca (grapefruit - which can be effectively faked with grapefruit juice and Sprite) or Bitter Lemon, which I just love with bourbon and herbed simple syrup. Cel-Ray could be interesting, although I've always found it to be a little salty to my taste on it's own. Might be really interesting with tequila and maybe a splash of Cassis - kind of an alternative Diablo.

I tend to have better luck finding purees and flavored syrups at my local ethnic markets, so I've gone down that path. Sour Cherry syrup from Croatia lends itself well to Sour Cherry margaritas and Tamarind and Apricot syrups have been interesting non-alcoholic additions to various cocktail experiments.

[eje]

The Fever Tree products have finally started showing up in California, thanks to the efforts of Beverages and More.

Tonic Water, Ginger Ale, Bitter Lemon, and Club Soda.

I can't wait to try the Tonic Water and Bitter Lemon.

Of course at over $5 (US retail) for a 4 pack of 6oz bottles, they are pretty expensive per ounce.

I'm thinking finally working out that home-made tonic water recipe, might not be a horrible idea.

Stirrings also has a new line of cocktail sodas, including Bitter Lemon, Tonic Water, Pink Grapefruit, Club Soda, Pink Grapefruit, and Tart Cranberry. My homies over at Married with Dinner were not too keen on the Stirrings Tonic.

Has anyone tried either of these brands?

[bostonapothecary]

most all ethnic syrups i've bought have been composed of too much glucose for the sake of preservation....

i try to find syrups or sodas that are based on cane sugar....

i've now gotten to the point that i won't use any syrup i didn't make myself in a drink. but you can study any other product as a model.

i just raided a carribean market for everything they had. then we tried to make sorbets from some of the stuff and it jus didn't work.....

most of the syrups are concentrates to make drinks like "sorrel" or spiced "mauby" you can get a snap shot of what its all about then you need to procure the real ingredients.... i usually make large batches and then put it all in canning jars.

i wish i could find some sort of micro batch carbination bottling machine to make small batches of well carbonated avante garde sodas....i only know how to induce natural carbination....

[thirtyoneknots]

In re: syrup brands, I also like to make my own syrups, but some such as Orgeat are difficult and expensive to make. A local coffee shop carries a brand called 1883 de Philibert Routin (a cumbersome name if ever there was one). I have experience with their Orgeat, Raspberry, and Vanilla syrups, and am trying to get them to special order for me some of the others. The vanilla isn't really worth the effort, as it seems to be the most artificial of the three and making vanilla syrup is hardly more difficult than making normal simple syrup (though it's still not a bad product). The orgeat and raz are marvellous. The are extremely rich and flavorful, and very sweet. In many drinks it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of syrup used while still maintaining a flavor balance. They also add a wonderful silky mouthfeel that Monin, good though they may be, cannot match. Well worth checking out. Dr. Cocktail recommends the Smuckers syrups, but I must disagree with him on that. These are much better for drink applications (though Smuckers is good on pancakes!), though hardly easier to find. As an aside, does anyone know a source for brand-name soft drink syrups? (I already have Rose's Kola Tonic, not quite what I'm looking for). After reading The Gentleman's Companion, I feel like my home (and work) bar is incomplete without the full range of syrup flavors (which also come in handy for making the occasional kid drink).

-Andy

[The Hersch]

I think the finest drink in this category is Scotch and soda. A good blended young Scotch like JW Red mixed about 60 percent good fizzy soda to 40 percent whisky. Or does the lack of flavoring in soda water put this drink out of the category?

[Chris Amirault]

Bitters and soda, specifically Campari or Fernet Branca in our house, hit the spot, especially with a squeeze of lime or orange, respectively.

[thirtyoneknots]

Bitters and soda, specifically Campari or Fernet Branca in our house, hit the spot, especially with a squeeze of lime or orange, respectively.

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And don't forget Cynar!

Another interesting-sounding one I've been meaning to try is Green Chartreuse and tonic.

[Chris Amirault]

Thought of two more.

Ginger beer and bourbon (add lime juice, gingered simple syrup and mint for a Gingered Gentleman).

Grapefruit soda, or what in New England is known as Half n Half, and tequila (add lime juice and salt and it's a version of a Salty Dog).

[Ktepi]

I'll second Dry Soda -- both the lemongrass and the kumquat are great with Campari. Sadly, they don't carry it here, only GUS (Grown-Up Soda), which I don't like as much. But I'm going to play with it.

Sun Drop goes great with all of the major base liquors. All of them. Okay, maybe not brandy, haven't tried it. But all the rest.

Buffalo Rock Southern Spice soda -- a ginger ale that's spicier than Vernor's but not as hot as things like Reed's -- is terrific with Campari or in a Dark and Stormy. I'm sure it's good with other things, but I didn't try playing around with it until I ran out of Campari. I had no idea Campari would go so well with hot ginger, but ... damn.

They don't make it anymore and I can't even find a mention on the internet, but Mexi-Cola was a cinnamon-flavored cola (cinnamon like cinnamon toast, not like "cinnamon Red-Hots") that went amazingly with dark rum.

And Cel-Ray is good with gin. I should try it with the Rangpur.

bostonapothecary: You're up here in New England and you like playing around with things, have you mixed Moxie with anything? I haven't had any luck.

[jmfangio]

The Fever Tree products have finally started showing up in California, thanks to the efforts of Beverages and More.

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The Fever Tree tonic is fabulous - definitely worth seeking out. I'm going to have to try it with Chartreuse, as Thirtyoneknots suggests.

Katie - I think I may try a twist on your Provencal Martini as a long drink, using the Dry Lavender soda instead of the lavender simple syrup. I'll report back when I get around to it.

Edited May 17, 2007 by jmfangio (log)

[bostonapothecary]

bostonapothecary: You're up here in New England and you like playing around with things, have you mixed Moxie with anything?  I haven't had any luck.

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i haven't seen moxie in a while else i'd pick some up....

i just did a large serious of highballs for our new cocktail menu. we were way too busy to keep making complex cocktails so i had to make things as cool as possible with too ingredients....

so i use a cool mixer and a cool liquor.... they all focus on a comparison or a contrast....

my favorite which has a real serious cult following is the half & half aka john daily with black tea rum and lemonade.....

perfect contrast.

i tried to do a "la paloma" with "chocolate bitters" but no one seemed to get it but me.... i made the bitters by basically adding brizard creme de cocoa with straight rye grapefruit bitters from a bitters bottle.... it was supposed to be all about the play on words and method of application.... i thought i was clever. no one else did....it tasted good too....chocolate and grapefruit....hells yeah. the bitter makes the squirt soda seem more real....

lately i go through huge amounts of cynar and soda. i have used up quite a few liquor stores supply.... its light in alcoholic enough that i can drink as much as i want....

i also drink "grizzly's" (kola nut tonic and ginger beer)

you can do alot with one liquor and one mixer.... mono infusion is awsome. sometimes your liquor will seem like it sucks and then when you mix it you will see how things like sugars unlock flavors and fill their roles as flavor carriers / flavor enhancers.

[Ktepi]

i haven't seen moxie in a while else i'd pick some up....

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Yeah, it's harder to find than it used to be even here, and I'm an hour north of you.

Other mixers I really dig:

I may have been the only fan of Coca-Cola Blak, but I loved it with rum, with whiskey, with Auburn vanilla liqueur, and with any combination of the above. (Lately I've been mixing Coca-Cola 1:1 with cold unsweetened Moka from my Bialetti, but that's not alcoholic. I'm sure it'd be nice with rye, though.)

Sort of similarly, club soda and coffee syrup -- like they use for Rhode Island coffee milk, another New Englandity that's harder to find here than when I was a kid -- is a nice base for a sweet drink that isn't as sweet as a rum and Coke, maybe more along the lines of a gin and tonic, thanks to the slight bitterness (both real and psychosomatic) of the coffee syrup. I think it would be too sweet to mix with a liqueur like Frangelico, but again, whiskey, rum, they go just fine.

Oh, and Newman's Limeade is really nice with tequila, especially when you want a fast cold drink.

[cdh]

Lots of good inspiration here.

Another (sadly departed from the market) favorite mixer was Ocean Spray's guava drink Mauna Lai. That had a great balance of sweet, tart and fruity that mixed remarkably well with both rum and tequila.

Trader Joe's peach juice and their peach-apricot juice are stellar with bourbon in a high-ball format.

A wee splash of bourbon in a sugared espresso explodes with flavor in a way I'd not have expected, given the generally insipid whipped-cream-fueled state of Irish coffees. Only a few ml are required to get the effect, and too much bourbon does wreck its balance.

Edited May 17, 2007 by cdh (log)

[bostonapothecary]

Lots of good inspiration here.

Another (sadly departed from the market) favorite mixer was Ocean Spray's guava drink Mauna Lai.  That had a great balance of sweet, tart and fruity that mixed remarkably well with both rum and tequila.

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most of those bottled juices suck because they don't presserve acidity so there is very little to define the fruit.... it all tastes like bubble gum....

i'm been enjoying guava in chris schlessinger's guava ketchup at east coast grill.... killer on a turkey melt or their plantains....

[cdh]

most of those bottled juices suck because they don't presserve acidity so there is very little to define the fruit.... it all tastes like bubble gum....

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I agree completely. I've tried the Goya guava, and it doesn't have the right acidity... adding citrus knocks the flavor balance off...

And most juices don't have the right acidity to mix well. That's why the exceptions we find here are such useful news.

[eje]

[...]

i wish i could find some sort of micro batch carbination bottling machine to make small batches of well carbonated avante garde sodas....i only know how to induce natural carbination....

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I can't find the eGullet topic about making your own sodas; but, cdh, don't you use some sort of home carbonation system?

I know there is this thing:

Fountain Jet

[KatieLoeb]

Katie - I think I may try a twist on your Provencal Martini as a long drink, using the Dry Lavender soda instead of the lavender simple syrup. I'll report back when I get around to it.

Please do! I'm a fan of long drinks, especially in the warmer weather, and working somewhere that has prime outdoor seating makes me want to serve less purely boozy beverages in cocktail glasses and more refreshing alternatives in Collins glasses to my guests sitting out in the hot sun.

[cdh]

I can't find the eGullet topic about making your own sodas; but, cdh, don't you use some sort of home carbonation system?

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Indeed I do. As a matter of fact, I've got a 5 gallon batch of homemade lemon/ginger ale carbonating as we speak. That batch taught me the utility of adding citric acid to up the acid balance while keeping the flavors otherwise proportional.

I use Cornelius soda kegs, which are 5-gallon stainless steel pressure vessels rated up to 130 PSI. They're available relatively cheaply through a number of net vendors. They'd be perfect for carbonating small batches of artisan sodas, though they aren't instantaneous. To carbonate most quickly, you need to chill everything down close to freezing, and apply about 30 PSI for a few days.

[mickblueeyes]

In TN, we can only carry Mixers with 1% abv or higher in liquor stores. The standard fare is Master of Mixes and Finest Call. Add in Bloody Bold Bloody Mary, Red Eye Bloody Mary and Zing Zang Bloody Mary and you have a full roster of what is available.

The unfortunate situation is the lack of gomme syrup (or rock candy), orgeat syrup and fruit purees other than strawberry.

Is anyone aware of a 1% abv lineup that has some higher quality and diversified purees as well as better syrups? I was hoping with the breadth of this board, we might be able to discover one in the vast reaches somewhere. TIA.

[mickblueeyes]

I thought surely someone here would know this!

[cdh]

So... why don't you go shopping for mixers at the grocery store rather than the liquor store? Lots of things that don't have MIXER on them in big letters go great with booze. See most of the rest of this thread...

Or are you regulated in such a way that you're not allowed to mix liquor store and grocery store products for sale? Or are you a liquor store manager looking to stock some mixer-type stuff to save people from having to shop at the grocery store?

Edited June 16, 2007 by cdh (log)

[mickblueeyes]

cdh, I work in the business. I am looking for brands other than MOM or FC that have 1% abv.