Drinks! 2018

[Craig E]

22 hours ago, sbumgarner said:

is Sfumato a reasonable substitute for Zucca?

 

I was wondering the same thing, and pondering that maybe Sfumato for the less-smoky (?) Zucca and tequila for the more-smoky mezcal might be a workable double switch.

[sbumgarner]

14 hours ago, EvergreenDan said:

Yes.

 

I made the drink with Sfumato last night, it was damn good.

[sbumgarner]

14 hours ago, Craig E said:

 

I was wondering the same thing, and pondering that maybe Sfumato for the less-smoky (?) Zucca and tequila for the more-smoky mezcal might be a workable double switch.

 

I used smoke-bomb Sombra in the drink and the smokiness still wasn't over-powering, but you might be right, that sort of switch might better replicate the original intent.

[Smokeydoke]

Yet another Death & Co drink, but I'm posting it here to keep the thread active.

 

It's called the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, it's made with gin, sloe gin, lemon juice, marachino liquer and muddled blackberries. It tastes like kool-aid. I love it!

 

Honestly I'm surprised that Death & Co makes such a sweet drink, but I'm glad they do. I love sloe gin, it's horrible on its own, but in this cocktail, it's the star. And I'm repulsed by marachino liquor, but it's very tasty muddled with the blackberries. This, to me, is what cocktails is all about. Taking a mish-mash of liquors, some of them awful, then transforming them into something new and tasty.

 

This might not favor more "sophisticated" palates because it's too sweet, but it's a keeper for me. 4.5 stars.

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

9 minutes ago, Smokeydoke said:

 

This might not favor more "sophisticated" palates because it's too sweet, but it's a keeper for me. 4.5 stars.

 

I'm probably not going to go buy sloe gin just so I can make that drink but if I had it in the cabinet, I'd give it a try. I don't have an aversion to sweet as long as the drink is tasty. I'm sure many people genuinely don't care for sweeter drinks and I can understand that but sometimes I wonder if there's a point where it becomes a little bit for show as well. When someone is comparing 2 or 3 straight, unsweetened liquors and complaining about one of them being way too sweet, I tend to think "bollocks" (I actually think a different word that starts with "b", contains an "s" and has the same number of letters in it). Probably unfair of me though, I probably just lack the level of palate sophistication to judge spirits at that level. 

[Smokeydoke]

@Tri2Cook  I don't understand the aversion to sweet either. I like sweet! Grenadine, orgeat, mai tais, you name it! Except Bailey, ugh, not a big fan of Bailey's Irish Cream.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

After a particularly lovely dinner, a Balaklava Special No.1.

 

[Craig E]

Best cocktails I had during my just-finished trip to London were at Oriole Bar, the spinoff from the celebrated Nightjar. My favorite was the Kathmandu Sour: Johnny Walker gold, Kümmel cordial, cao guo syrup, lemon juice, tangerine egg white. I think every single drink on the menu had at least one ingredient that I'd never heard of (in this case cao guo). In this one the Kümmel spices and tangerine were a wonderful combo.  

[EvergreenDan]

I didn't know tangerines laid eggs. Are the yolks orange?

Sugar is simple to add to a drink, but difficult to remove.

[haresfur]

17 hours ago, EvergreenDan said:

I didn't know tangerines laid eggs. Are the yolks orange?

Sugar is simple to add to a drink, but difficult to remove.

 

They meant Tanager egg white

[damaaster]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am new here (and to the cocktail culture). I've always enjoyed having some drinks with friends & family - but  I've recently become obsessed with making cocktails at home.

 

Here are a few creations from the last couple of weeks (probably pretty amateur for most here - but have to start somewhere).

 

In order:
 

Boulvardier

 

Whiskey Sour (this was my first attempt at using egg whites in a drink at it turned out great).

 

White Lady

[Smokeydoke]

Welcome @damaaster!

[lindag]

I made a Pomegranate Cosmo tonight based on a drink Ina Garten made on a recent Food Network show.

I'm enjoying it now and it's quite good.  

Edited January 31, 2018 by lindag (log)

[Smokeydoke]

^^ Is that Ina Garten?

 

I made my Cosmos with grenadine, it was delicious. Why doesn't everyone do this?

[lindag]

14 minutes ago, Smokeydoke said:

^^ Is that Ina Garten?

 

I made my Cosmos with grenadine, it was delicious. Why doesn't everyone do this?

Sorry, yes., it was Ina.  Grenadine...instead of???

Edited January 31, 2018 by lindag (log)

[Smokeydoke]

Cranberry juice.

[lindag]

2 minutes ago, Smokeydoke said:

Cranberry juice.

Hey, I'll try that too.  Thanks.  I don't have any Grenadine but I can probably find some locally.

Edited January 31, 2018 by lindag (log)

[Smokeydoke]

Or you can make your own! It's so much better.

 

http://www.thesharedsip.com/best-homemade-grenadine/

[Smokeydoke]

 

Death & Co's Manhattan 3: Just Right

2.5 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
.75 oz Dolin Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

 

This was the perfect combination, very spirit-forward, I forgotten how strong these are. I was flying the rest of the night.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

White mai tai while waiting for my liter of methode rotuts to carbonate.

 

[Craig E]

Invented something new tonight; I'm calling it the Vit Bit.

• 1 1/4 oz aquavit (I used my local favorite Tattersall)
• 1 1/4 oz gin (Tanqueray)
• 1/3 oz ginger liqueur (Stirrings)
• 1/4 oz Cointreau
• 3 dashes Regan's orange bitters

Served up with an orange twist.

 

Balance seemed good to me on the first try, though it's maybe a bit sweet. Cointreau and clear spirits sometimes get a little "chewable aspirin" ish to me, but here the bite of ginger and complexity of caraway happily take the wheel. 

[damaaster]

^^ Looks great!

Just curious where did you find those Swizzle Sticks/cocktail picks?  I've been looking for something similar for a while now - but can only ever find the bamboo ones, or the tacky plastic colorful ones.

 

 

[Craig E]

9 hours ago, damaaster said:

Just curious where did you find those Swizzle Sticks/cocktail picks?  I've been looking for something similar for a while now - but can only ever find the bamboo ones, or the tacky plastic colorful ones.

Mine are Prodyne brand, picked up from Amazon a few years ago.

[EvergreenDan]

Greenpoint-ish / Rob-ish Roy thingie.

 

1 1/2 oz unsmokey Scotch (Tomatin 12)

1/2 oz campfire Scotch (Laphroaig 10)

3/4 oz Punt e Mes

1/2 oz Green Chartreuse

 

Stir, strain, big rock.

 

Smokey, herbal, touch bitter, touch sweet. Fantastic. New fav. Needs a name.

 

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, EvergreenDan said:

Greenpoint-ish / Rob-ish Roy thingie.

 

1 1/2 oz unsmokey Scotch (Tomatin 12)

1/2 oz campfire Scotch (Laphroaig 10)

3/4 oz Punt e Mes

1/2 oz Green Chartreuse

 

Stir, strain, big rock.

 

Smokey, herbal, touch bitter, touch sweet. Fantastic. New fav. Needs a name.

 

A Traveling Scotsman?