Drinks! (2004–2007)

[eje]

Speaking of Mr. Regan, I made a pair of slightly altered* Porteños from his last Cocktailian column.

Cherry minty-licious.

*for two: 3 oz W.L. Weller 12 year bourbon, 1 tsp. Fernet Branca, 1 oz Creme de Griotte, juice of one lime, 3/4 oz Velvet Falernum.

[johnder]

Tonight before dinner I made a few drinks Phil came up with at Pegu, a last word variation based on Rye instead of Gin and lemon instead of lime.

Sure hits the spot.

[KatieLoeb]

Tonight's effort:

Red Feather Boa

[eje]

Last night's Cocktail:

Guava Hurricanes for 2, based on the Hurricane recipe from the Gumbopages website.

* 1 1/2 ounces Wray and Nephew Overproof White Rum

* 2 ounces Myers dark rum

* 1 Satsuma Mandarin, Juiced

* 2 ounces fresh lime juice

* 1/2 cup Guava Juice (I used Ceres)

* 1 teaspoon rich simple syrup

* 2 teaspoons grenadine

* Cherries with stems, and orange slice to garnish

* Ice cubes

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and chill. Strain into two iced collins glasses.

[elixirofthetropics]

1. Appleton XO neat

2. Appleton XO chilled

3. #2 with a splash of lime juice.

[DERF]

Hello Everyone, I'm Fred also know as DERF, here is what I mixed up last night.

Gosling's Gold and Boylan Cola, with a little extra Gosling's Gold Floating on top.

Sometimes I use Gosling's Black Seal to float on top if I make a second one.

Start with a 32 ounce Tumbler, fill with ice, add 5 or 6 ounces of Gosling's, then pour entire bottle of Boylan Cola in and top off with 1 ounce of Gosling's Gold or Black Seal.

Never shake or stir, let the Cola do the mixing, then Enjoy.

Thanks: Fred

Edited March 8, 2006 by DERF (log)

[eje]

After a particularly long, cold, and wet commute home, this Brooklyn variation was quite warming and nice.

2 oz rye

3/4 oz dry vermouth

1/4 oz (generous) homemade Nocino

1/4 oz Maraschino

While I do think Michter's Straight Rye is a little overpriced, I am really coming to appreciate it in cocktails, especially those with Maraschino. There's something there that really picks up the best highlights of that liqueur.

[Alchemist]

I am not usually a fan of the cloyingly sweet drinks. But I am in La Cruz (which is just north of Peurta Vallerta) and I just had a Pina Colda that shook the foundations of my soul. It went a little like this...

Uno,dos, tres,

3.0 Oz Havana Club (need I say more?)

1.0 Oz. Coco Lopez

1.0 Oz pinapple juice

1.0 oZ evaporated milk

One full lime squeezed into the blender, seeds, essence and all

5 ice cubes.

Blend, and serve in a Marie Antoinette. Hijo de me pinche primre error!!!! Pinche CHINGON!

[eje]

Pinche CHINGON!

←

It's usually pinche cabron, isn't it?

In any case, Mr. Alchemist, I am certainly envious of your globe trotting ways! If your travels ever lead you to San Francisco, be sure to let me know, and I will find some fine places to slake those thirsts.

[Alchemist]

I have had some very unchingon Pina Coladas in my day. Drinks only fit for little girls in pig tails. I will report in in I find any other potable delights.

P.S. That wicked Pina was @ the Mano grill in La Cruz, which is just north of Puerta Vallarta.

[Alchemist]

This is not just what hit the spot today. This takes place over a month in Mexico. This is a photo journelists journey into trying to find out what does, and what does NOT go with Havana Club. The HC was enjoyed on the beach, on the street, on a rooftop or two, in restaurants, in bars, in dives, and tres POSH places. HC was enjoyed with friends, family, strangers, lovers, bartenders, waitresses, and a bum or two. It was imbibed in moderation, and in excess. It was paired with food, and drank in spite of what was on the plate that evening. It was carried in extreme heat over dusty roads teeming with goats, chickens, and feral cats. It was delivered, by nubile waitresses on silver platters in air conditioned bliss. It held court at a business meeting. It sulked between an argument like a petulant child fearing the inevitable divorce. It was the reason for a dose of... buyers remorse. It was the inspiration, or at the least the reason I said "&%*$ it," lets go for a spin on a teak yacht. It was, well you get the idea.

This may look like a Where's Waldo for the inebrated, and depraved.

With fresh squeezed OJ. Breakfast of champions. Riedel strawware, as you can see.

Horchata

Freshly opened coconut. A little overripe, and I didn't have the tools (they confiscated my machete at La Guardia security) to open it, scrape out the meat, grate it and use it as a topping for a dessert.

With Negra Modelo, lime and ice. One of the great quartets.

Frozen daiquiri. The proper way to get rid of a Daiquiri Headache (also called a Dairy Queen, or ice cream headache) is to place your thumb on the roof of your mouth, it looks like you need your blankie, to rewarm said area.

STILL LIFE WITH HC and Mr. Steingarten.

There were some other combinations that didn't get recorded for prosperity. HC 7 and vanilla ice cream, mango sorbet, neat, straight from the bottle, drizzled over a wide variety of fruit, and somethings I probably forgot.

P.S. I didn't have much tequila.

edited for posting while drinking HC

Edited March 26, 2006 by Alchemist (log)

[eje]

Speaking of tequila, Mr. DeGroff's Big Spender cocktail is quite tasty.

Had the deluxe version at the Museum of the American Cocktail tequila seminar a few weeks ago. Made a cheapskate version last night with Herradura silver and a Cremant d'Alsace rose. Still very tasty!

PS. Liqueur Creole Shrubb is a rum based orange liqueur made by Rhum Clément in Martinique.

edit - explain liqueur creole.

Edited April 1, 2006 by eje (log)

[LycheeLover]

I recently went to a party in NY where they were promoting a new Liquor--Lichido--and I tried many different cocktails, each better than the last. My favorite one had to be the Lychee Mojito. It tasted just like a Mojito, but with an unbelievable taste of lychees, which I am obssessed with. And it was pink.

[eje]

The other day I was searching the cocktaildb for recipes containing the phrase "mac".

There weren't very many palatable selections.

However, the "Jock MacDonald", composed of 1/3 rye, 1/3 lemon juice, and 1/3 lillet with a splash of apricot liqueur seemed somewhat promising, especially since I had recently come into posession of a bottle of apricot liqueur.

However, upon creation, it seemed a bit, "eh?"

Soooo...

1 oz rye, 1/2 oz lemon, 3/4 oz lillet, 1/4 oz apricot liqueur, couple dashes peach bitters.

A little "girlie"; but, not bad at all.

[johnder]

Tonight had a QPS -- Queen's Park Swizzle. Sorry I took a few sips for quality control purposes before taking the picture.

[KatieLoeb]

Tonight's effort, as a reward for finishing filing my taxes online, is a riff on a Margarita with Drambuie instead of Triple Sec and a bit more aromatics added to the mix:

The Bonny Maggie

2 oz. Herradura Gold

1.25 oz. Drambuie

.75 oz. fresh lime juice

2 dashes Fee Bros. Orange Flower Syrup

1 barspoon Ginger simple syrup

Very tasty. Clean and refreshing like a Margarita but a bit more subtle with the citrus flavors. A more elegant Margarita if you will. The honey/herb flavor of the Drambuie works well and the Orange flower syrup tames the tartness of the lime a bit, while still making it recognizably a margarita-like drink. The ginger is really in the background but goes well with the other flavors.

[Ktepi]

I bought my first bottle of Luxardo maraschino last night. Oh my goodness.

Last night was an Aviation and a rum and Coke with maraschino, but tonight I hit a combination I really like as far as sweet drinks go:

About 5 oz Buffalo Rock ginger ale (it's spicy, but not quite like ginger beer)

1/2 oz maraschino

1/2 oz Auburn vanilla liqueur

squeeze of lime

Even without the vanilla it's great -- something about the maraschino cuts the heat of the ginger ale and makes it sort of cream soda-ish.

I'm not always in the mood for sweet drinks, but if I could find Buffalo Rock around here, this would be a keeper. Maybe some bitters next time.

[Blair P. Houghton]

Night before last: Black Bush, rocks

Last night: Knob Creek, rocks

Tonight: something what probably rocks

maybe i'll try my hand at a sazerac or a manhattan

we'll see

[sadistick]

Had some El Dorado 12 y/o last night...straight up.

Can someone further describe what exactly maraschino is...taste ect...

Cheers.

[Gifted Gourmet]

the perfect cocktail from the WSJ!

the Income Tax Cocktail

[johnder]

Tonight's drink the Martinez variation in Gary Regan's "Joy of Mixology"

2 oz Gin

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/4 oz Maraschino

the recipe as published called for Angostura bitters, I put in some of my house made hess bitters.

stir, up, twist.

[in the background you can see some of Trader Joe's Habanero Pistachios]

Edited April 18, 2006 by johnder (log)

[eje]

Had some El Dorado 12 y/o last night...straight up.

Can someone further describe what exactly maraschino is...taste ect...

Cheers.

←

Maraschino is a clear Italian Cherry liqueur. It is made by fermenting and distilling whole maraska cherries. The resulting distillate is then aged in wood, sweetened and bottled. Because it is, more or less, a sweetened, aged, whole fruit Eau de Vie, it has a funky, complex, and somewhat dry flavor. There's a mild almondy flavor from the cherry pits.

Luxardo's Maraschino is considered one of the better ones.

PS. There's a whole thread about it and the drinks it is used in here. Reminds me I haven't gotten around to trying the Hemingway Daiquri and I have a grapefruit in the fridge!

Edited April 18, 2006 by eje (log)

[lancastermike]

Tonight I mixed a Derby.

From Dr. Cocktail's book

1oz bourbon

1/2oz sweet vermouth

1/2oz orange curacao{I used Luxardo Triplum}

3/4oz lime juice

Bourbon and lime juice are two of my favorite things. This came together very nicely. Lots of sweet stuff that the lime made just tart enough. I could drink several of these

[eje]

I was pretty underwhelmed by a Pegu Club I made some time ago. However, after tasting my Bols orange curacao all on it's own, I became convinced the reason was not the drink itself; but, lackluster liqueur (and possibly sloppy measuring).

This evening's Pegu Club, from the usual cocktaildb recipe, was a big improvement. The only slightly unusual thing I did was to use Clement Liqueur Creole Shrubb instead of curacao. Well, that and measure more carefully.

In any case, at 1 3/4 ounce gin, 1/2 ounce Creole Shrubb, 1/4 oz lime, plus orange and angostura bitters, it's more like a slightly tropical martini, than a daiquiri. Tasty.

[kvltrede]

I was pretty underwhelmed by a Pegu Club I made some time ago.  However, after tasting my Bols orange curacao all on it's own, I became convinced the reason was not the drink itself; but, lackluster liqueur (and possibly sloppy measuring).

This evening's Pegu Club, from the usual cocktaildb recipe, was a big improvement.  The only slightly unusual thing I did was to use Clement Liqueur Creole Shrubb instead of curacao.  Well, that and measure more carefully.

In any case, at 1 3/4 ounce gin, 1/2 ounce Creole Shrubb, 1/4 oz lime, plus orange and angostura bitters, it's more like a slightly tropical martini, than a daiquiri.  Tasty.

←

Erik,

What gin are you using?

If you haven't already done so you may want to check out this Pegu Club thread from early last year. There's some interesting discussion as to ratios and the triple sec vs. curacao question. I can't say for sure what products I was using in Feb 2005 but the gin was likely Beefeater and the curacao was probably Gran Gala. The Pegu is one of my very favorite cocktails.

Also, I'm not familiar with Creole Shrubb but I would recommend matching the amount of lime juice with your liqueur of choice regardless. I think a proper Pegu Club (or Pegu variation) is strong and leans towards the tart end of the scale. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on a 4:1:1 (or 4:1.5:1.5) Pegu.

Kurt