Tried 2 new drinks

[sadistick]

Ok, kind of a follow-up to my previous thread requesting '3 bottles of liquor' - - I decided it was time to plunge in and do some testing, for scientific reasons, of course!

So I tried an aviation the first night...I dont know about this one, the taste of the Gin was just too overwhelming for the drink, and there was that aftertaste throughout...I added some blood orange juice to make this one drinkable

Last night we tried the Sidecar made with Brandy, and boy oh boy was this one nice!

All the ingredients really helped eachother in creating a smooth drink, typically I do not like Brandy, but I guess the cointreau and lemon juice really helped it go down nice.

So that being said, knowing that Gin and I dont get along, I was wondering if anyone else has any suggestions to point me in the right direction of finding the perfect drink, for me!

Thanks in advance!

-Justin

[kvltrede]

Justin, what gin did you use? Some gins are more "in your face" with their botanicals. I just had this experience with Brokers. I like Brokers a lot but I think it's going to be a Martini, Gin Rickey and G&T gin for me.

How did you like the Aviation once you added the blood orange juice? That sounds pretty tasty to me. If you are interested in other possible uses for blood orange juice take a look at this recent thread.

Here are a few other gin drinks that you might consider before deciding that you and gin don't get along:

Corpse Reviver No. 2 (from Ted Haigh aka Dr. Cocktail)

1 oz gin

1 oz Cointreau

1 oz Lillet Blanc

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1 to 3 drops pastis (Pernod, Herbsaint, Ricard) or absinthe (according to the NYTimes Dr. C. uses Herbsaint)

Shake well and strain. Garnish w/cherry.

Pegu Club (David Wondrich/Esquire)

2 oz London dry gin

3/4 oz orange curaçao (or Grand Marnier)

3/4 oz lime juice

dash Angostura bitters

dash orange bitters

Shake well with cracked ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

20th Century (CocktailDB.com

Shake with ice and strain

1 1/4 oz Booth's dry gin.

1/2 oz creme de cacao

1/2 oz Lillet

1/2 oz lemon juice

20th Century Cocktail (CocktailDB.com)

Shake in iced cocktail shaker & strain

1 1/2 oz gin

3/4 oz creme de cacao, light

3/4 oz Lillet Blanc

3/4 oz fresh lemon juice

Add lemon twist

I'm a big fan of all of the above but particularly the Pegu Club. I don't recall the details of my preferred 20th Century so I printed two similar recipes from Dr. Cocktail's site. I like the one in Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology. I imagine both of the above are tasty though and are probably not too different from the J.O.M. version.

Kurt

[sadistick]

Hey Kurt,

Thanks for the reply...The Gin that I was using is Gordons...We actually had it on hand, so I didnt have to buy any, thus why I did not use Tanquery(sp) as was recommended by some other members.

Once I added the blood orange juice, it was much better, for sure, but still nothing I would make again.

I will try the pegu club as suggested, but does it really require 2 types of bitters? I have to buy some this weekend anyways....

Thanks for the different recipes, it appears as if I have some homework this weekend

-Justin

[slkinsey]

Have a look in this thread before you make a Pegu Club. Dave's recipe is good, but quite sour and not really "standard" for a PC. A classic Pegu Club would be more like 2 oz. gin, 1. oz orange curacao and 1 tsp lemon juice, with one dash each of Angostura and orange bitters.

[sadistick]

Hey slk,

Hmm Orange Bitters...that may be harder to find, hopefully pusateris has that....This drink sounds like it will have a strong gin taste...am I using the wrong brand? (Gordons)

Is that you in the pic? Getting an early start?

[kvltrede]

Hey Kurt,

Thanks for the reply...The Gin that I was using is Gordons...We actually had it on hand, so I didnt have to buy any, thus why I did not use Tanquery(sp) as was recommended by some other members.

Once I added the blood orange juice, it was much better, for sure, but still nothing I would make again. 

I will try the pegu club as suggested, but does it really require 2 types of bitters?  I have to buy some this weekend anyways....

Thanks for the different recipes, it appears as if I have some homework this weekend 

-Justin

Justin,

I don't consider Gordon's to be a gin that overwhelms a drink but others may disagree. Or, you may simply not be a gin person (yet ).

Yes, you must have bitters for the Pegu Club. Use only Angostura if you can't find the orange. I'm fairly new to them but it's become very, very clear to me that bitters can really make a drink. I suppose most drinks can survive w/out them but I'd skip 'em only if forced to by circumstance.

As you may already know, Angostura is available at most any liquor store and probably all grocery stores too. Peychaud's, Fee's Orange and Fee's Old Fashion bitters I've only seen at the two local liquor superstores so that may take some searching on your part.

I stand by Mr. Wondrich's Pegu Club recipe but I hold Mr. Kinsey and Mr. Hess in equally high esteem so by all means be sure to read the Pegu Club thread and note their preference for a less tart version.

Good luck with your "homework"!

Kurt

[slkinsey]

[The Peg Club cocktail] sounds like it will have a strong gin taste...am I using the wrong brand? (Gordons).

Gordon's definitely has an emphatic gin taste. You could always try it with one of the lighter flavored varieties (Tanqueray Ten seems to work well for the gin-shy) until you develop a taste for gin. IMO, it's one of those things, like coffee perhaps, where you just have to decide to like it and revel in the flavors.

Is that you in the pic?  Getting an early start? 

Absolutely. That's me having a drink of Haut Brion at the tender age of 1. I'll let you extrapolate the time period from my outfit as well as the fact that Haut Brion could be had for a reasonable price.

I stand by Mr. Wondrich's Pegu Club recipe but I hold Mr. Kinsey and Mr. Hess in equally high esteem so by all means be sure to read the Pegu Club thread and note their preference for a less tart version.

Oh yea, it's a good recipe. But there is some question as to whether it is really representative of what a Pegu Club is supposed to be. In recent conversations, it turns out that the earliest recipe he could find actually called for a teaspoon of Rose's instead of regular lime juice (not that I am advocating that particular substitution). Dave's version is very tasty, though. I like them both.

[spiritchild]

Hello, I've just joined. I have just finished my own version of the Pegu. Taking into consideration the sweetness brought by the Rose's to the original recipes, I used Calamansi lime juice, sweeter than regular lime juice. It worked well. At the risk of enraging any purists here, I also added an egg white. I really like the mouthfeel it created. I shook a few extra bitters (aromatic) on top of the foam and swirled them decoratively. The drink is quite pleasant; visually and flavor-wise.

[eje]

Hey Kurt,

I will try the pegu club as suggested, but does it really require 2 types of bitters?  I have to buy some this weekend anyways....

-Justin

Yes, you must have bitters for the Pegu Club. Use only Angostura if you can't find the orange. I'm fairly new to them but it's become very, very clear to me that bitters can really make a drink. I suppose most drinks can survive w/out them but I'd skip 'em only if forced to by circumstance.

←

Email the nice folks at Fee brothers, and they should be able to provide you with the names of liquor stores in your area that carry them. Odds are, if the liquor store has enough sense to carry Fee's stuff they will also have Peychaud.

http://www.feebrothers.com/

Aside from being bitter, the different bitters do have very different flavors. Peychaud's has a stong anise/root beer flavor. Orange bitters have a strong citrus element. Try 'em if you don't believe me.

With Gin, you're talking basically about flavored grain neutral spirits. While the core "aromatics" are generally similar, the exact recipes and percentages vary pretty widely from Gin to Gin. So don't write off Gin, if you don't like the flavor of one particular brand. You can also keep Gin in your freezer, which helps in chilling your cocktail, along with taming the aromatics a bit.

Lastly, the Aviation, like the Martini, is a pretty serious "Gin" drink. Like folks have suggested, try some where the Gin is a little less of a player. Along with the suggestions above, the "Monkey Gland" and "French 75" are very nice.

Erik

Edited February 27, 2005 by eje (log)

[slkinsey]

You can also keep Gin in your freezer, which helps in chilling your cocktail, along with taming the aromatics a bit.

Hmm. I generally think this is bad advice. If the gin is chilled to freezer temperatures, then the drink is not sufficiently diluted by the melting of ice. Try mixing two Martinis, both with two ounces of gin, one half-ounce of vermouth and a dash of orange bitters. Mix one drink with gin from the freezer and one with room temperature gin. I think you'll find that the Martini mixed with room temperature gin is better.

[eje]

Try mixing two Martinis...

←

All this and try to fix my pear cocktail? Oh, my goodness, do I have my work cut out for me! Well, I guess if there is any good night for this sort of "hard work", it is Oscar night. At least I'm not "cuttin' brush" in Crawford.

Erik

[sadistick]

Heh,

Thanks for the help guys, I will take all suggestions and continue my attempts in finding the perfect cocktail for me!

Cheers,

-Justin

[birder53]

A variation on the Aviation is the Cherry Crush, which I found in Dale DeGroff's book. Muddle a few of those wonderful Fabbri Amarini (sp?) cherries with the lemon juice and then shake with ice, gin and maraschino.

Also, if you are trying new gins, how about Plymouth and Millers? I find the Millers to be especially "soft" but still wonderfully flavorful. Gin drinks are so wonderful it would be a shame if you gave up now before trying a few more gins.

[sadistick]

Hey hey hey, who said anything about giving up?!

I have only begun, but thank you for the suggestion regarding the Millers Gin, I think its the flavour that gets to me, something softer would be nice...