Bartending guide for the perplexed

[GG Mora]

Cool. We get to watch FG get wasted in real time.

[drcocktail]

Honest, it doesn't matter because you will TASTE the gin, and the other ingredients will go in to balance it based on YOUR tastebuds. It'll work! It's zen!

--Doc.

[drcocktail]

Ask Gary the story about watching ME get wasted in real time.

[Fat Guy]

I'm on it. Back in a few.

[Gary Regan]

Gary was too busy getting wasted WITH Doc to remember the story. We did have fun, though!

[Squeat Mungry]

Cool. We get to watch FG get wasted in real time.

I know, it's fun! Plus, it's a little like watching a toddler take his first steps.

Hmmm... pictures, Steven?

[beans]

Cool. We get to watch FG get wasted in real time.

I know, it's fun! Plus, it's a little like watching a toddler take his first steps.

Hmmm... pictures, Steven?

Aw, give the fella a break! I'm sure his mouth really hurts.

Better make that a double Steven.

[Fat Guy]

Taste the gin, warm, by itself.

Taste a squeeze of lime juice.

Rinse your mouth and taste some Rose's.

....

Double rock glass. Rocks, not too many. Pour in some gin, it is your base.

Based on the flavors and strengths you encountered from it, the lime juice and the Rose's, add what feels right to the gin. Swizzle! Add a jolt of soda water. Swizzle more! Add a lime wedge.

Okay, here's what I did and here are my observations:

- I tasted both types of gin plain and warm. I very much did not enjoy the regular gin; what is it I'm supposed to like about this stuff? The Sapphire was less offensive because it had less flavor but it still tasted like medicine to me. Anyway, nobody said I had to like it, just that I had to taste it, so I made my mental notes, used the Sapphire, and moved on.

- I tasted a squeeze of lime juice. Wow -- that's tart as all heck. But not bad.

- Rinsed and tasted Rose's. Yuck! I've had this stuff mixed into drinks and it seems to work, but tasted straight it tasted like a nasty sweet fake-lime syrup.

- Added 6 ice cubes to a 14-oz glass.

- Poured in some gin -- I have no idea how much; I sort of stopped when it started to climb up the edges of the glass beyond the first layer of ice cubes.

- Added about a lime's worth of lime juice and a couple of glugs or Rose's.

- Stirred and added a couple of glugs of club soda.

- Stirred. Skipped adding the lime wedge because I'm all alone here right now.

- Tasted. As I had hoped, the ingredients magically and dramatically improved one another when combined into a cocktail. The fresh lime and Rose's lime complemented each other very nicely and combined into something that tasted like real lime but sweet. The club soda added a nice fizz. But ultimately I think I just don't like gin. I had a few sips but just couldn't convince myself to enjoy the flavor of it.

I'm also concerned that my cocktail fundamentals are so lacking that the Zen approach isn't appropriate for me. I think I'm more of a positivistic, measure-it-carefully and establish-a-baseline type.

I didn't take a photo because it just looked like a glass of slightly greenish-gold water.

[Gary Regan]

No, I think the zen approach IS working. You didn't like the gin to start with. Switch to a different liquor--one that you do like. How about rum? The same drink should work well with rum.

[Fat Guy]

Okay, I'm going to rest up and try the same with rum later. I definitely like rum. Should I be using clear rum or dark rum?

[drcocktail]

ROFLMAO!

You could be right about the gin. I have learn to have these reverent tastebuds I can bring into play any time I sip something I want to understand and want to like. Like anticipating a great meal. For me, this works. I've ended up liking and appreciating most liquors. Of course with this drink, you CAN make it with the vodka too.

I remeber the first time I drank room-temperature gin. I was in a bar many years ago, and I correctly answered a bar trivia question. The prize was a shot of gin. I was proud of myself and I sipped it with reverence. In that way, I actually liked it! It was peppery and piney with a zing. I've learn to do this will all spirits - though I'll never love bubblegum schnapps.

--Doc.

[drcocktail]

Steven, same deal applies. Taste the rums, use which you prefer, taste the other stuff (yup, again) and mix, brother!

--Doc.

Edit: Oh, the other point is, I BET had I been there that -I- would've liked your gin drink. I posit that you just learned to make a drink your friends WON'T make fun of!

Edited March 26, 2004 by drcocktail (log)

[jparrott]

Would the next person traveling from NO to NYC please bring our esteemed leader the makings of a Sazerac??

[Marlene]

I am concerned. Our fearless leader has not been heard from. Perhaps he has tasted himself into a coma?

[Fat Guy]

After my second and third drinks of the day, which rapidly followed one another, I did indeed fall asleep for a couple of hours.

I made the drink with some Appleton 12-year rum. Interestingly, I liked the rum very much when I sipped it straight, but found the overall drink to be sweet and one-dimensional, not to mention an ugly color, in the end. No amount of tinkering with the ratios could save it.

I then tried it with some Polish potato vodka -- something I intuited without seeing the suggestion here! This, for me, worked the best. It was like an improved, more complex version of the vodka gimlet, which is my wife's favorite drink. I could easily imagine making a pitcher of this stuff, serving it to guests, and not getting laughed at. I'm going to make the drink again later tonight, and will use a measurer not for the purposes of creating the drink but, rather, so I can report my exact proportions to you all.

[Curlz]

I knew I liked you, FG...SO happy to see that another foodie doesn't like gin!! To me, it tastes like I'm drinking perfume. And yes, before y'all jump on me for that, I've tried different brands, and, I'm told by serious gin drinkers, good stuff. But BLEAH! Then again, I'm pretty sensitive to perfumes, flowers, smoke, etc.--perhaps it's directly related to those allergies?!?

I have an ex-bf who used to love his dirty martinis; I accommodated only b/c he enjoyed watching me make them (hint: they're made ins a SHAKER ), but I wouldn't let him breathe near me while he was drinking one! The good thing for me was that I did learn how to make (according to him) a damn good martini, and I created my own version of a Cosmo that continues to be a favorite. Vodka is indeed a much more versatile ingredient, and the Polish potato variety is usually very smooth. On the vodka and martini note, I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned your need to own a (stainless steel) cocktail shaker and/or a ss glass + a glass that fits inside of it---don't know if there's an official name for those, but ask your bartender! Personally, I prefer the official shaker w/built-in strainer, esp b/c I'd be afraid of having the two glasses come apart while I was shaking! I love using the shaker b/c when you fill it with ice + ingredients and shake, the drink comes out COLD--sometimes with little ice flakes floating on it--good for Cosmos and the like. Oh, and are there opinions on keeping gin and vodka in the freezer vs. not?

Finally, another recipe for you to try:

Last summer, during the heat wave and power outage over the 4th of July, my brother introduced me to Mount Gay (Barbados) rum and ginger ale (he and his friends just refer to it as a Mount Gay and Ginger)--in a tall glass, over lots of ice, and with a squeeze of lime. WHOO HOO! Great summer drink. When I brought a bottle of MG to a party later in the summer, everyone looked at me like I was nuts but after tasting my drink, we went through the whole bottle that night! Give it a shot when the weather heats up and let me know what you think!

Curlz

PS Hope your mouth is feeling better, but if it isn't, just add a little extra vodka and I bet you won't notice or care!!

[Fat Guy]

Okay, I'm off to make another vodka-gimlet-fizz and to watch Sopranos on HBO On Demand. Will report back later.

[Fat Guy]

I am so fucked up right now, it's hard for me to deliver coherent commentary. But here's what Ellen and I think after a couple of these gimlet-fizz things: so far, ideal proportions are eluding me -- and my theory is it may be impossible to get this right with vodka as the propellant. I think there's just too much liquid in the thing: fresh lime juice, Rose's, club soda, and some melt-off from the ice. It dilutes the vodka down to a really weak level, and if you add more vodka it just tastes too harsh. Likewise, if you reduce the amount of real lime or fake lime or club soda, you can't taste those ingredients.

[Marlene]

I hate gin too Let's start a club.

[drcocktail]

Right. Go back to vodka (which you love) add a dash of Rose's, a couple dashes of lime, and soda...or not. All the soda does is make it a lighter drink. You have the basic drink before the addition of the fizzy. You can also delete the Roses and try the thing with plain ole sugar (or simple syrup).

Then again, maybe tomorrow. Take two Advils and call me in the morning.

--Doc.

[drcocktail]

Is this like civil war or something? I love gin (and Bourbon, and rye, and calvados, and marc, and clairin, and mescal, and rye, and rum, and cognac, and armagnac, and scotch, and tequila) but I hate vodka.

Nah. We are all drinking. Drink what you will. We love. We are in bliss. OOHm shallamahn!

--Doc.

[Marlene]

Is this like civil war or something? I love gin (and Bourbon, and rye, and calvados, and marc, and clairin, and mescal, and rye, and rum, and cognac, and armagnac, and scotch, and tequila) but I hate vodka.

Nah. We are all drinking. Drink what you will. We love. We are in bliss. OOHm shallamahn!

--Doc.

You have to have been here for the gin/vodka martini wars. I've been drinking vodka martinis most of the night (which means I should go to bed now! )

Hope you feel ok in the morning FG.

[drcocktail]

Interest of full disclosure: I didn't match FG with the gin drink (I knew I liked it) or the vodka one (since then I'd ONLY taste the mixers) but was interested in his reaction to the rum version. I, using my seasoned time-tested sensibilities mixed in that zen-like fashion and... got the same reaction FG did. *DOH*. I substituted falernum for the Rose's and all was blissssssss. I'm drinking one now.

I know, no falernum at your house. Fee Bros. 1-800-961-3337 Rochester, N.Y. THEY make it. I gave 'em the recipe. Marvelous, thought I WOULD think so.

I toast you all! (Did you realise that the Duke of Earl perfectly describes the sort of delusions of grandeur that such drinking as ours is wont to bring on? Z' lovely!)

--Doc.

[Fat Guy]

My current hypothesis is that, for me, there must be a better spirit for this particular cocktail than gin, rum, or vodka. What are some other candidates? Gin had the firepower to be in the drink, but the specific aromatics were unappealing to me. Would a flavored/infused vodka perhaps be the answer? Are there any close relatives of gin, but without those particular additives?

I don't want to lose the club soda, because I feel it adds a highly desirable effervesence to the drink.

[beans]

I hate gin too Let's start a club.

Let's.