Drinks! 2016 (Part 1)

[EvergreenDan]

It turns out that a "Manhattan" with Siggins' Fancy and Bonal 2:1 doesn't suck. No bitters. Not sure what would make it better.

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Had an interesting little off the cuff cocktail the other night made by a bartender friend of mine that doesn't yet have a name. Kind of a lighter tropical negroni-ish sort of thing.

 

1 part Bombay East gin (the lemon grass and peppery character seems to be essential)

1 part Bruto Americano

1 part Cocchi Americano

1/2 part Yellow Chartreuse

Stir with ice, strain and serve up with a lemon twist expressed and dropped in the drink.

 

Yum!

Perhaps you could call it the Nameless Bartender

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Perhaps you could call it the Nameless Bartender

 

Maybe it's just tonight's rum and brandy and arrak but as they say:  rotfl.  I am not one to lightly employ this expression.

 

[tanstaafl2]

17 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Perhaps you could call it the Nameless Bartender

 

Ah yes, syntax is indeed critical! Well, it is as good a name as any and certainly better than the "tropical negroni" I have been using to this point!

 

Not sure whether my friend would approve although he is pretty laid back so who knows, he might.

[ChrisTaylor]

I put away a couple of Martinis last night. Both based on .75 oz Dolin dry and 2.5 oz gin. I made one with Miller's Westbourne and the other with West Winds Cutlass.

[Craig E]

Order of Neptune: equal parts aquavit, mezcal, blanco tequila, and PX sherry, with 2 dashes mole bitters and an orange twist (for which I used grapefruit). 
 

This was an odd melange of flavors. Sweet and savory. At first I thought it wasn't working, but the finish on this was fascinating and kept me interested. If your tastes appreciate the unexpected this is worth trying; it has many layers.

[Craig E]

"Diablesse" at Marvel Bar (palm syrup, Amaro di Angostura, Sombra, Clement Blanc). 

Really interesting. So often you see mezcal bases split with tequila—I think using a blanc agricole is a brilliant twist. 

ETA: tried this at home with Sfumato and agave syrup and it worked pretty well. 

Edited August 30, 2016 by Craig E (log)

[Rafa]

On August 25, 2016 at 5:19 PM, EvergreenDan said:

It turns out that a "Manhattan" with Siggins' Fancy and Bonal 2:1 doesn't suck. No bitters. Not sure what would make it better.

Smith & Cross.

[EvergreenDan]

Martini last night. I sniffed a few premium gins and ended up with Beefeater/Dolin. The purity and beauty of the drink gets lost with too many non-juniper botanicals. Maybe simple elegant drinks need simple elegant ingredients? On CensorHound, there was a discussion that Carpano Antica is too "much" for a proper Manhattan.

[FrogPrincesse]

Personally I don't understand the hype about Carpano Antica. I mean, it's fine, but it tends to take over any drink, and its vanilla notes can be distracting.

[tanstaafl2]

35 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Personally I don't understand the hype about Carpano Antica. I mean, it's fine, but it tends to take over any drink, and its vanilla notes can be distracting.

 

Which is a perfect reason to drink it all by its lovely self!

[FrogPrincesse]

I have a brand new batch of homemade orgeat, so I made a pair of Army & Navy (David A. Embury) with Sipsmith London dry gin, lemon juice, homemade orgeat, Angostura bitters. Sadly it's the end of that beautiful bottle of gin, and I don't believe Trader Joe's has it in stock anymore...

 

 

[ChrisTaylor]

The Glee Club from Dead Rabbit: amontillado jacked with yellow Chartreuse, raspberry eau de vie, absinthe and bitters (I used Ango).

[Tere]

I do enjoy Sipsmith's. Might this help you find a US stockist?  http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/sipsmith+london+dry+gin+england/0/usa

[FrogPrincesse]

2 hours ago, Tere said:

I do enjoy Sipsmith's. Might this help you find a US stockist?  http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/sipsmith+london+dry+gin+england/0/usa

Well, I know I could still find it, if not in SD, at least in Orange County. But it was really convenient to put it in my shopping basket when I shopped at TJ's, and the price was right too!

[blue_dolphin]

7 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

But it was really convenient to put it in my shopping basket when I shopped at TJ's, and the price was right too!

Yes, indeed.  My local Total Wine stocks it but @ $37.49 vs $29.99 at TJ's.  BevMo is $39.99 and they don't tend to stock it at my local outlet.

I see Hi-Time is offering a Sipsmith V.J.O.P. ("Very Junipery Over Proof") @ $51.99, the regular Sipsmith at $33.99 and a Sipsmith Sloe gin @ $45.99.

[FrogPrincesse]

Yes, Hi-Time has (almost) everything. I try not to go there too often because that is a very dangerous proposition!

The VJOP is great. I've had it in a Martini while in London some time ago, at the Blind Pig.... It's been on my list of things to buy ever since.

[Tere]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

Yes, indeed.  My local Total Wine stocks it but @ $37.49 vs $29.99 at TJ's.  BevMo is $39.99 and they don't tend to stock it at my local outlet.

I see Hi-Time is offering a Sipsmith V.J.O.P. ("Very Junipery Over Proof") @ $51.99, the regular Sipsmith at $33.99 and a Sipsmith Sloe gin @ $45.99.

 

$29.99 really is an excellent deal (although I realise your tax on alcohol might be different, I got a taste for expensive whisky living in Japan for similar reasons!). 

 

£27.00 at my standard supermarket. http://sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/sipsmiths-gin-70cl?langId=44&storeId=10151&krypto=RRq%2FCp6E5TJ8CoV4YIGgejrIaDZQzUkkCJdhfO21JwrbjosMAyRWnf6dQfBFxRLsc4pCeJnrTz%2BJJ7CgY%2BCU%2FoVlGP7hGGXvKrxVk2gXj1YWT7Se34fVVwKm5DV4qBxrjjPDxs84KQqJYO6qF5lI3m1bA39tI%2BDvTJ3xMqMFMl0%3D&ddkey=http%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fsipsmiths-gin-70cl

[EvergreenDan]

Futzing with my Last Word variation:

1 oz Vida Mescal

1 oz Contralto Bitter

1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino

1/2 oz Kick Ass Amer Boudreau (very bitter, dry, strong)

1 oz lime

 

Successful.

[Craig E]

When I saw that the Mixology Monday theme for this month is "Drink Nerdy" (hosted by The Shrubbery), I thought "that's right in my wheelhouse!"

 

As I have mentioned before, one of my nerdy passions is wordplay, specifically inventing pangrams (phrases that use every letter of the alphabet). I believe I may be the world's most prolific author of original pangrams. So my first thought was coming up with a new mixed drink recipe that is itself a pangram. So I give you The Lazy Dog:

 

Muddle a few jalapeno slices in a rocks glass. Mix in 2 oz. blanco tequila, 1 oz. dry vermouth, & ice.

Is this a great cocktail? No. The muddled pepper overwhelms everything else. A different kind of vermouth might've been more suitable, but I needed that "Y"! And though I bet a wedge of lime might go a long way to salvaging this, I thought it merited starting over. And thus was born The Quick Brown Fox:

 

Equal parts rye whiskey & mezcal joven; dash each of orange & xocolatl bitters.

This felt a bit more complete, not unlike a nice interesting Scotch. You'd have to like strong boozy drinks of course, especially with the bottled-in-bond rye I used. And, like the previous drink, a sweetener of some kind would be a welcome addition. But I'm calling this a success. 

Edited September 10, 2016 by Craig E
rearranging the pics (log)

[lesliec]

Nice work, Craig.

 

The second one sounds more like my kind of drink, but 'squeeze a juicy lemon' might have helped you out with the first.

[Craig E]

@Rafa's Sultan (rye, brandy, lemon, Pedro Ximénez sherry, Cynar, mole bitters). 

The sherry is the feature flavor, lending its strong fig/date flavor, here maybe coming through most as golden raisins. On the heels of that, less expectedly, I got some cherry from this. The Cynar and bitters double-team to provide a pleasant complex finish. 

It served well to help me get over my favorite football team's heartbreaking opening-day loss.

[Moto]

I riffed on Craig E's second pangram and subbed rum for rye.   Eyes closed I would think it was Ardbeg or Laphroaig.

[Rafa]

Dolin Dry & tonic. Wine + herbs + quinine tasted almost like Cocchi Americano.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I learned something last night.  Having run out of Dave Arnold's saline solution, I added the smallest pinch of Kosher salt to my white mai tai.  It was vile.

 

This spoken as someone who eats salt by handfuls after the peanut course is done.  Though tonight the peanut course is almonds, actually, but the mai tai is much better.