Flask cocktails

[TAPrice]

A bartender told me that he creates "flask cocktails" to sneak into our local festivals.

Anybody else heard of this practice? Any suggested recipes?

What would the secrets be to a good flask cocktails?

Full disclosure: I'm writing on an article for the local paper about flask cocktails. If I want to quote anyone, I'll directly ask your permission first.

[thirtyoneknots]

I'm sure there are people who like a good cocktail more than I do, though I haven't met any of them yet. Even still, there are places where whiskey alone, or with a splash or three of water, are more appropriate...like when you are trying to sneak drinks into a music festival.

I confess I have brought mixed drinks into places I wasn't supposed to before, but never in a flask. For that purpose, only a 44 oz Whataburger cup will do. Less conspicuous, more voluminous.

edited to clarify

Edited March 8, 2010 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[slkinsey]

It's tricky, because you're talking about something you're going to have room temperature.

I like Laird's bonded with bitters and a touch of simple.

[KatieLoeb]

I tend to take an Igloo filled with what appears to be iced tea or lemonade but it's the :cough: Big Girl version that's been appropriately spiked with vodka, gin or whatever. Harmless looking punches that pack one also work well. If I'm taking a flask that's in my sock or whatever, then it's just usually bourbon that I'll add to my Diet Coke I've bought at the concession stand. Boring but does what it needs to...

[MikeHartnett]

For me, it's gotta be plain old whiskey. Tastes great cool, room temperature, or otherwise. And by otherwise, I mean the 5000 degrees it's going to reach at a festival in New Orleans.

[eje]

For parties where people have asked me over and I am unsure of what might await, I some times make bottled cocktails.

One that is particularly tasty, though the name often puts people off, is Chuck Taggart's discovery:

Mother-In-Law Cocktail

[Yajna Patni]

I thought "flask cocktails" were my guilty secret! Usually gin and some tonic. keep the gin in the freezer for a while first to make it as cold as poss. I have made a mojito and dumped it in to a water bottle. Ice mint and all. I was very tasty. Best water i ever drank.

[tikibars]

The key is to keep it simple.

Obviously, nothing that needs any sort of float, no egg, nothing topped with soda or seltzer.

Nothing that will spoil.

Something that you can dump into a cup of ice, swirl around, and have it be acceptable.

I've done Negroni and Last Word from a flask, and didn't end up hating life or anything....

[Lilija]

I drink sort-of Manhattans from my beloved flask. Maker's and a dab of sweet vermouth, bitters. Good to go.

[haresfur]

This topic came to mind as I was filling a flask with bourbon to take to a kayak gathering. I ended up with sort of a new-fashioned cocktail: Bourbon, Gran Gala, and Regan's Orange Bitters adjusted to taste (always an enjoyable way to attain balance if not reproducibility - or perhaps to lose my balance...). Who needs ice, anyway?

[Rico]

I've got a ritual of many years; it's not really a 'flask' cocktail, but for the fact that it cannot be made without the contents of the flask:

1. Go to sporting event

2. Order large coke or sprite. Drink 7.5 ounces of it.

3. Dump entire flask of whiskey or whisky into newly made available cup space.

4. Heckle and cheer more effectively.

5. Don't worry that you are drinking a whiskey and coke despite the fact that you are no longer 19.

[Lilija]

I've got a ritual of many years; it's not really a 'flask' cocktail, but for the fact that it cannot be made without the contents of the flask:

1. Go to sporting event

2. Order large coke or sprite. Drink 7.5 ounces of it.

3. Dump entire flask of whiskey or whisky into newly made available cup space.

4. Heckle and cheer more effectively.

5. Don't worry that you are drinking a whiskey and coke despite the fact that you are no longer 19.

I'm right there with ya. Cocktail purists look away... ok, that half-assed Manhattan I mentioned upthread? I've dumped it into Diet Coke, in a pinch. Plain whiskey is better, though. Recently, I've adopted Wild Turkey American Honey as a lighter flask sipper. Not a cocktail, but it goes decently with Sprite, and it's tasty on its own, at room temperature. A little sweet for a proper drink, but from a flask (at the last Springsteen show I attended) it was just the thing.

[Steamtrain]

This topic came to mind as I was filling a flask with bourbon to take to a kayak gathering. I ended up with sort of a new-fashioned cocktail: Bourbon, Gran Gala, and Regan's Orange Bitters adjusted to taste (always an enjoyable way to attain balance if not reproducibility - or perhaps to lose my balance...). Who needs ice, anyway?

very nice!

i do about the same and call it the instant old fashioned.

2 oz bourbon

.5 oz solerno blood orange liquor

few dashes of bitters(angostura)

we bring beer on our kayak gatherings.

[TAPrice]

That article I wrote for the New Orleans Times-Picayune went online today. It has some tips and includes recipes from Danny Valdez, Kirk Estopinal (Beta Cocktails) and Chris Hannah:

Times-Picayune: Flask cocktails

Here are the tips I got on flask cocktails from the bartender that I interviewed:

Tips on making flask cocktails

Flask cocktails should be simple and still drinkable once they warm up.

To make enough for a flask, start with 3 ounces of a base spirit, such as rum, gin or whiskey, and add 1 ounce of a modifier, such as Cointreau, Campari or vermouth.

Then adjust the proportions and add extras, such as bitters, to create a balanced drink. You also can scale up a favorite drink to fill a flask, but be careful with bitters and citrus. Both can overwhelm a cocktail when multiplied.

• Avoid drinks with eggs or cream.
  
• Some bartenders swear that citrus is a bad idea, while others include lemons and limes.
  
• Use good-quality liquor, which often tastes better at room temperature.
  
• Opt for high-proof spirits to keep the cocktail potent.From the bartenders
  

[haresfur]

Nice article. The advice regarding high-proof spirits is an interesting point. IMO a flask drink is made for tiny sips and generally is warm (or at least designed to warm the user). That's quite different from a normal cocktail which is cold and often consumed reasonably quickly so the dilution is important. Seems the style calls for a different concept of balance.