Help for a Couple of Cocktail Novices (Part 2)

[Tri2Cook]

Looks tasty. I had a couple drinks lined up to try this weekend but I finally caught the stomach bug the others in the house had earlier in the week (that I thought I'd avoided) and I'm not wanting much of anything now. Yesterday was particularly pleasant.

[mkayahara]

Got home from a trip yesterday with a new bottle of Bittermens Amère Nouvelle, so I decided to combine it with some of the Rittenhouse and sweet vermouth I got from Kerry in a Liberal last night.

Pretty darn tasty: bright with citrus, but earthy with gentian. I didn't think it was all that bitter, so it seemed a little on the sweet side; more of an evening sipper than an aperitif. I'm looking forward to trying the Amère Nouvelle in a Brooklyn, where the French vermouth should dry things out a bit.

[FrogPrincesse]

It looks pretty. With Picon it is much darker with a red tinge. Amer Picon on its own is dark brown because of the caramel.

[mkayahara]

The weather was so nice yesterday, I decided to break out my new bottle of Clement Creole Shrubb and make some Mai Tais. For the rums, I used a combination of Appleton 12 and St. James Royal Ambré.

Edit: The mint in the backyard wasn't quite ready for prime time yet, or I would have garnished it properly!

Edited May 20, 2013 by mkayahara (log)

[mkayahara]

In an effort to maintain my cocktailian bona fides, and inspired by the Anvil 100 Cocktails list, I made a Trinidad Sour last night, using Angostura bitters and Rittenhouse rye both provided by Kerry. I was shocked the other day to see that the price of Angostura has risen to $9.99 in local grocery stores: not too long ago it was only $6.99!

A bittersweet cocktail to celebrate my last day as a free man before officially entering the ranks of the industry as a line cook today. I loved the mahogany colour (which apparently is only that deep because I was using a commercial orgeat bottling). Surprisingly, I didn't find it especially "bitter," though it was intensely astringent. I found it interesting and enjoyable without falling in love with it.

[EvergreenDan]

... a Trinidad Sour last night... commercial orgeat ... e without falling in love with it.

These things may be related. The Orgeat plays a surprisingly important role. And I agree -- this drink demonstrates how Angostura is more spice than bitter (bark than bite?). I love this drink.

[mkayahara]

... a Trinidad Sour last night... commercial orgeat ... e without falling in love with it.

These things may be related. The Orgeat plays a surprisingly important role. And I agree -- this drink demonstrates how Angostura is more spice than bitter (bark than bite?). I love this drink.

Sure, but I've never liked homemade orgeat. My efforts have been all texture and no flavour, unless I dump in a bunch of almond extract, which seems to defeat the purpose. I don't have a supplier for bitter almonds.

[Rafa]

... a Trinidad Sour last night... commercial orgeat ... e without falling in love with it.

These things may be related. The Orgeat plays a surprisingly important role. And I agree -- this drink demonstrates how Angostura is more spice than bitter (bark than bite?). I love this drink.

Sure, but I've never liked homemade orgeat. My efforts have been all texture and no flavour, unless I dump in a bunch of almond extract, which seems to defeat the purpose. I don't have a supplier for bitter almonds.

My understanding is that many commercially available almond milks contain bitter almonds, and you can augment (or even replace) sweet almonds with almond milk in many recipes. There are many recipes that produce very flavorful orgeat with minimal work; I like Kaiser Penguin's.

[EvergreenDan]

I'm no orgeat expert. I was thinking of something like the BG Reynold product, which (appearance aside), I very much like. I know that some find it too toasty. Does the MB product taste more like almond extract (e.g. Fee) or more like almond nuts (e.g. BG Reynold)? (I personally would call the former almond syrup, rather than orgeat.)

Edited May 30, 2013 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I don't have a supplier for bitter almonds.

I do.

[Tri2Cook]

Sure, but I've never liked homemade orgeat. My efforts have been all texture and no flavour, unless I dump in a bunch of almond extract, which seems to defeat the purpose. I don't have a supplier for bitter almonds.

At least your motives for using commercial orgeat are pure. My only excuse is laziness. Despite what looking at my booze cabinet would suggest, I really don't drink very often (actually, a close look would reveal just how much is not missing from most of the bottles) so shelf life of homemade orgeat is an issue. I got tired of making orgeat and then throwing most of it away a couple weeks later. So I use commercial.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Noticed my Mojito mint seems to be doing well outside (all it did all winter inside was send up scrawny shoots). Sadly the bay mixed in with it didn't do so well with the frost.

So Mojitos tonight - excuse the poor picture.

[EvergreenDan]

You were smarter than I and planted it in a container. I'm starting to mow my mint.

Edited June 3, 2013 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Took my newly steeped Vin d'orange, mixed half and half with aperol, a dash or two of Spanish Bitters and a splash of soda water. Wonderfully refreshing.

[Kerry Beal]

Was thinking G&T this evening when my father came for dinner - but discovered I had no T. But did find a single bottle of Schwepp's Bitter Lemon in my supplies, so used equal parts of gin and St Germain, topped up with bitter lemon. Very satisfactory!

[Kerry Beal]

Southside. Muddled mint, lemon and sugar with genevar.

Kinda painful with all that lemon oil.

[Rafa]

Southside. Muddled mint, lemon and sugar with genevar.

Kinda painful with all that lemon oil.

While there are plenty of examples of lemon Southsides in the literature, this is one drink that really benefits from lime. I haven't tried it with genever, but that may have been a factor as well.

[FrogPrincesse]

Was it too tart Kerry? Nothing that a litle bit of extra sugar cannot fix.

Lately I've been making my Southsides with limes but lemons can work too. The cocktail is really nice with Bols genever which tastes a little sweet on its own.

[Kerry Beal]

Nope - it was too lemon oily. I added some Fragoli wild strawberry liquer and a whole bunch more ice and choked it down!

[Kerry Beal]

Don't Give up the Ship - from the Bartender's Choice App. Haven't decided if I like it yet.

[Kerry Beal]

Wasn't in the mood to work that hard deciding if I liked a drink. Binned it - moved on to a Brother's Perryman - something I don't have to work at to like.

[Kerry Beal]

Tonight I used the Esquire formula of 1.5 base spirit, 0.5 aperol, 0.5 liqueur, 0.5 citrus - followed someone's advice about tequila, ginger and lime. Very satisfactory.

[judiu]

Nope - it was too lemon oily. I added some Fragoli wild strawberry liquer and a whole bunch more ice and choked it down!

Ah, the ol' "furniture polish" effect... Yuck!

[Anna N]

So I am addicted to Negronis but need to break out of my shell. Tonight I tried something I did not expect to like but did! A Silk Stocking. Not a bit photogenic but it went down much, much too easily. Tequila, creme de cacao, Chambord and cream. Think I'll have another.

[Kerry Beal]

This is a work in progress - my liquor collection has been taking up a large chunk of the floor in the dining room. It is now a work in progress to get it organized on some metro shelving that will live in the dining room until the basement reno gets finished (hell hasn't frozen over quite yet).

I hoping to find some bins to hold collections of bottles on the shelving - there are a couple already, but none are quite what I'm after.