Drinks! 2015 - 2016

[Hassouni]

Sabered champagne. Nothing so satisfying 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Sabered champagne. Nothing so satisfying 

 

 

 

I'd say I'd have your babies but the Surgeon General would be quite concerned.

[ChrisTaylor]

Following a discussion at work tonight -- NY Times maintains that for health reasons women should enjoy but one drink per night.

 

I say if you are having only one drink, make it a large one...a mai tai, preferably, for me.  But if one beverage is good, surely two must be more better?

 

It counts as one if you pour two normal-sized Mai Tais into a giant novelty glass. 

 

Tonight I'm on cognac. Nothing remarkable: Jean Luc Pasquet VS.

[Tri2Cook]

It'll taste great, but you'll miss out on the color.

That color is very nice but choosing between Grand Marnier or Cointreau and missing out on the color or McGuinness blue curacao and living with the taste it imparts doesn't require a whole lot of decision making. That said, now I have to ask your opinion... for this drink, Grand Marnier or Cointreau?

 

[Rafa]

I used Senior's blue Curaçao, which has a neutral spirits base and is closer to Cointreau. I also used homemade, not particularly sweet orgeat, and fresh-juiced pineapple with nice acidity—Trader Joe's' otherwise excellent cartoned pineapple juice might be a bit insipid here.

[ChrisTaylor]

This month's MXMO focuses on the Manhattan. Here's my spin on the drink:

 

The Place of Weeping

 

 

2.5 oz South African brandy, KWV 10

0.75 oz Dolin sweet

2 dashes bitters, (homemade) Boer -- big on the clove, nutmeg, black pepper

1 dash Angostura bitters

 

Stir/strain the above into an Octomore-rinsed glass. 

 

This is boozy but too smooth. I'd be inclined to revisit this with a less-refined brandy or maybe even a split-base: maybe fiddy-fiddy aged KWV and young Klipdrift.

 

[tanstaafl2]

That color is very nice but choosing between Grand Marnier or Cointreau and missing out on the color or McGuinness blue curacao and living with the taste it imparts doesn't require a whole lot of decision making. That said, now I have to ask your opinion... for this drink, Grand Marnier or Cointreau?

 

 

Would a couple of drops of blue food coloring work in a pinch? I don't think it would affect the taste very much.

 

I mean, who wouldn't want a drink that color???

[FrogPrincesse]

Ironic blue drinks are so passé already...

 

Last night I made myself a Negroni with St George dry gin, Campari, Cocchi vermouth di Torino and a little bit of Byrrh (grapefruit twist). The Byrrh contributes a touch of bitterness and red currant notes. Delish.

 

Edited May 9, 2015 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Craig E]

And here's my Manhattan experiment, for the month's Mixology Monday. 

 

My starting point was some date-infused bourbon I'd made (by soaking medjool dates in high-proof Evan Williams for a couple of weeks). What got me going in that direction was this old New York Times article about a date old-fashioned. 

 

Right when the infusion was complete, the Mixology Monday challenge was announced, so I decided to see if I could make a nice Manhattan out of my date bourbon. 

 

At first taste I realized the bourbon really sucked up the sweetness from the dates, so that would be the balancing challenge. Thus I decided first to make a "perfect" Manhattan, subbing in dry vermouth for half of the sweet vermouth. Then I thought using Punt e Mes would contribute a more bitter note to also hold up against the sweetness. 

 

A dash of homemade fig-citrus bitters (a gift from a friend) along with a dash of Angostura and an orange twist completed the drink. 

 

 

And the result? Well I was right in ascertaining that tamping down the sweetness would be the challenge--and I don't think I met that challenge. This drink has a lovely nose, nice flavors, but it's just a bit too syrupy sweet. The date's contribution is, in the end, hopelessly redundant with sweet vermouth I think. I could try a dry Manhattan with the infused bourbon I suppose, but I think the next use to which I put it will involve some kind of acid to put up more of a fight.

[Craig E]

Update: tried 2 oz. date-infused bourbon, 1 oz. Dolin dry, 3 dashes Angostura. Still too date-y and syrupy.

[Rafa]

A Lion's Tail, I guess:

2 oz Angel's Envy rye

3/4 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz honey syrup

1/4 oz St. Liz

Christmassy. I'll be tossing back a lot of these come fall.

[Hassouni]

A Lion's Tail, I guess:

2 oz Angel's Envy rye

3/4 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz honey syrup

1/4 oz St. Liz

Christmassy. I'll be tossing back a lot of these come fall.

 

One of my favorite drinks. Redeems bourbon entirely 

 

Made myself a blended daiquiri yesterday. I was going for a Number 3 (I think, I can never remember) and then discovered I'm OUT OF MARASCHINO!

 

So:

 

2 oz Doorly's White 

3/4 lime

1/4 grapefruit

1/2 2:1 white SS

1/4 or less Creole Shrubb

 

Add ice to blender, set to stun, and a lovely crushed, not smooth/slushie drink resulted. Great drunk outside on a hot evening on my patio smoking a hookah

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Nothing exceptional here, but I've been up at my son's for, among other things, a scotch tasting.

[ChrisTaylor]

Burning Ice, using Laphroaig .25 Cask instead of the prescribed 10. Nice winter drink.

[Hassouni]

Señor Rafa's Dr Fünke:

The creator approves!

Edited May 12, 2015 by Hassouni (log)

[Rafa]

That's Sixpoint's excellent Jammer gose in my world's skinniest beer glass.

[Hassouni]

The Great Bambino and the Vegas Vixen at Maison Première. Another thumbs up from Mr Drunklab (and from me, these drinks are on fuckin POINT!)

[mhdousa]

This was really nice:

 

After Coffee

 

1 ¹⁄₂ oz Campari

1 oz Bianco Vermouth, Dolin

1/2 oz Smith & Cross

1/4  oz Fernet Branca

1 spg Mint (as garnish)

 

http://www.kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/after-coffee

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/11/after-coffee-violet-hour-bitter-cocktail-campari-recipe.html

Edited May 13, 2015 by mhdousa (log)

[_john]

Thai Tea

60ml milk washed jasmine tea vodka

15ml honey simple syrup

15ml clarified lime juice

salt

 

very resfreshing.

[Craig E]

Prospect Park

Rich and sweet, chocolate and cherry flavors, just the right bitterness in the finish. A worthy drink among the Brooklyn-neighborhood crowd.

[EvergreenDan]

Variation on the Paper [Air]Plane: equal parts bourbon, Campari, Amer Boudreau (very bitter, high proof, not very sweet), lemon.

 

Very good. Maybe not quite as magical as with Ramazzotti, but worth making again.

[Hassouni]

 Amer Boudreau (very bitter, high proof, not very sweet)

 

As in Jamie?

[Naftal]

Thai Tea

60ml milk washed jasmine tea vodka

15ml honey simple syrup

15ml clarified lime juice

salt

 

very resfreshing.

I find this really interesting. Can anyone tell me what milk washed jasmine tea vodka is? I know what all those words mean individually, but I have no idea what they all mean together. Help! 

Edited May 20, 2015 by Naftal (log)

[EvergreenDan]

As in Jamie?

Yes. I used his recipe, using my suggestion to substitute vodka for the water to raise the proof to be closer to 80.

http://www.kindredcocktails.com/ingredient/amer-boudreau

 

I steeped it the length of time suggested, with half bitter and half regular orange peel. Fred Yarm suggests 1-2 months, or even 3 weeks, is way too long. I think I waited about a month.

 

The results is much more bitter, strong, intense and less sweet than other Amer Picon substitutes that I've tried. I like it a lot. It also mellowed in the bottle over the year. 

[sbumgarner]

An old-fashioned style drink for when one is in a sweeter mood.

 

1.5 oz Ration Rum (any aged rum on the drier side would work)

.5 oz Lemon Hart 151

.5 oz falernum (I used Kaiser Penguin's recipe)

2 dashes of Bittermens Mole

 

The falernum could certainly be dialed back, but this still worked for what I wanted last night.