in the 2k10 i am learning to make cocktails. this is my mixology thread

By chance I picked up some bottles on the way home tonight. As of now I have:

VODKA gvori
RUM el dorado 5 cruzan
GIN bombay sapphire
TEQUILA dos manos
OTHER cointreau, grand marnier, cherry heering, blue curacao, angostura bitters, grenadine, etc

I'm not much of a fan of bourbon, and I do 95% of the drinking around here, so I don't have it stocked as of yet.

that's the most booze it is possible to have in one place without anything i'd want to drink

john i am glad you are excited--have no way of pureeing a haberno at the moment but i will oblige at some point, i promise

i gotta get some cherry heering like hell, too

i want to go survey my liquor cabinet, but its all the way over there and i am lazy

RECIPE THREE: jack rose

another well-known classic.

2 oz. laird's bonded
.66 oz lemon juice
.66 oz grenadine

combine and shake w/ice, strain, garnish with lemon

laird's bonded already proving its worth--there is a distinct apple taste amidst the other fruits going on here. with my homemade grenadine this was really tasty tbh--fruity but not oversweet with nice strong citrus and apple notes. would make for anyone.

btw recipe for that was proportioned up slightly from the one in jimmy patrick's 101 cocktails iphone app--which in terms of providing an intelligent selection of recipes by someone who knows what they're doing is a real winner.

Good start so far w/ the ingredients, also the jack rose is probably the most overlooked classic cocktail.

I wouldn't use the applejack, even the unbonded, in recipes calling for brandy - it's a substantially different ingredient. You can get a brandy that's fine for mixing for cheap - I use Tres Cepas, a spanish brandy, which wasn't much over $10.

pro tips:

- Keep your vermouth in the fridge. It is a wine, though fortified, and will spoil after a few months, less if you keep it at room temp. A nicer bottle of vermouth like Vya, Carpano Antica, or, if you can find it, Dolin, is an absolute revelation, and so worthwhile for the number of drinks it's used in.

- Learn how to cut citrus for different garnishes. Twists, strips, thumbnails, etc. Learn how to flame a citrus zest - very impressive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsdgadp6NTU

- Pay attention to the bartender in that video and his blog - http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/

good video, i dig that guy and his blog

also yeah i have no other brandy right now but am only using laird's products in recipes specifically calling for applejack. i'm planning on picking up some vs cognac soon for other brandy mixing. not sure what tres cepas is made of/if it's available here but i will look around.

RECIPE FOUR: corpse reviver #2

everybody on the internet swears by this cocktail

1 OZ. EACH gin, lillet blanc, cointreau, lemon juice
A TINY AMOUNT of absinthe (i used my 1/8 tsp measure)

shake well w/ice, strain.

sugg. garnish is a stemless cherry but i'm not going to bother with that given that i live alone and am watching the nba and posting to ilx right now. also i don't really like cherries.

you can see why people like this. the gin, lemon, absinthe, and cointreau are all clearly detectable and the lillet just seems to kind of hold everything together. the total package is pleasant and citrusy but ends on a more complex note (via the gin flavorings and absinthe afaict)

my pro-tip for recipes calling for whiskey (the scotch variety) - don't use a nice single malt like laphroig! that's for sippin!! buy a blend like johnny walker (or famous grouse, or bell's, or jameson, or etc)

also re gin - sapphire is garbage - tanqueray is yoga flame for all time

i just made a corpse reviver! FABULOUS

:D

hey friends back from a weekend away to continue makin drinks in the 2k10.

a visit to the new hampshire state liquor store didn't yield as much as i'd hoped. their selection of liqueurs is subpar and you only get really really great prices when they put stuff on sale.

so i settled for a bottle of courvoisier vs and a bottle of benedictine. why courvoisier? well, it was on sale, and my friend and i decided that their little logo looks like a gangster pulling a gun.

benedictine had been popping up in a few recipes i wanted to try; all i can say at the moment is that it tastes sweet and kind of weird.

RECIPE 5: diamondback

this was introduced to me by awesome local bartender j0sey p4ck4rd when i asked for an "intense" rye-based drink. (btw she appeared on rachel maddow's show a couple weeks ago; you can google it). i have been fucking w/the proportions and ingredients for a little while, but i am settling on the 3:2:1 measurements described to me originally:

1.5 oz rye whiskey
1 oz laird's bonded apple brandy
.5 oz green chartreuse

stir well over ice, strain into a small glass. no garnish you pussy.

this tastes really weird and is probably not for everybody. however, there is def. something compelling about how three strong spirits can combine into something that goes down pretty smoothly.

Tonight I am enjoying one of my very favorite drinks from the excellent Grog Log by Jeff Berry, which collects a bunch of "lost" tropical drink recipes from the 1940s-60s.

NEVER SAY DIE

.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz orange juice
.5 oz grapefruit juice
.25 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
.5 oz honey
dash Angostura bitters
1 oz Barbados rum
.5 oz light Puerto Rican rum
.5 oz dark Jamaican rum

Heat honey until liquid, then blend with all other ingredients with 4 ounces crushed ice for 5 seconds. Pour into diamond plated goblet and roll a fat one - you're about to have a fine sunday niiiiiiight.

(recipe originally developed by the legendary Don the Beachcomber)

http://i50.tinypic.com/2a99r3a.jpg

fuckin' love this guy

z s that sounds excellent. did you just use a microwave to heat up the honey?

Yep, just 20 seconds or so works fine!

hey guys, i'm back from being sick and busy with some new stuff for you.

first, i remade the marconi wireless (recipe two above) with three key changes: correct proportions, lemon not orange garnish, and fresh vermouth. i straight-up did not know about vermouth freshness until my mans I DIED said something upthread. he's right. obviously. anyway, the remade drink is more balanced and a lot better--sweet and light, v. refreshing imo.

so i had been wrecking a lemon for garnish for a couple days and needed a good reason to juice it. this leads us to

RECIPE SIX: the frisco

2 oz rye
.75 oz benedictine
.74 oz lemon juice
garnish with a lemon twist

stir over ice; strain into a cocktail glass (tbh the recipe i used says to shake but this does not feel like a shaken drink to me, ymmv)

found this browsing recipes on cocktailchronicles.com; apparently there are many options for proportioning these ingrendients. hard to say what the desired effect is but this is a weird drink--the tartness of the lemon juice and the sweetness of the benedictine hit completely different areas of your mouth at the same time. the rye is just kinda there gettin you drunk. i would re-proportion, but honestly i don't totally know what i would do different.

LOL .74 ounces. that is .75 but you already knew that.

Learn to pour freehand. 1 (slightly generous) ounce is 3 seconds' pouring through most pro quality pourers (which are cheap). Practice with water in old bottles so you don't waste booze -- it's not just a show-off thing, your feel for mixing changes in good ways at the same time.

so for the frisco--i tried again with only .5 oz benedectine and it might be better that way. final experiment i think is to shake it--benedictine is really syrupy and heavy and def sank to the bottom of my glass.

so then it's time for a partial INGREDIENTS UPDATE:

FERNET BRANCA is one of those things that is quite polarizing. as a fan of bitter drinks in general i figured i'd like it. my friend zoe remarked that it tastes like toothpaste which is actually as good a starting point as anything. the fernet site recommends you take three slow sips to fully appreciate whatever the hell they put into it. good idea--the mouth-numbing bitterness goes away and you can detect more fruit and whatnot.

FEE BROS WHISKEY BARREL AGED BITTERS i see a lot of what i'd call "blog cocktails" that use these bitters. they kind of smell like cola.

ok, let's talk recipes:

RECIPE SEVEN: old-fashioned

this is essentially an economy/simple old-fashioned for the home bartender; though i've seen some v. reputable places use only these ingredients. old-fashioneds kinda fall into the orange/cherry or no orange/cherry camp--for reasons of taste, simplicity, and economy, i think you get a really satisfying drink without the fruit. the version with the fruit is good too though!

1 sugar cube
2 oz. rye
.25 oz water
A FEW DASHES angostura
lemon peel for garnish

put the sugar cube in the old-fashioned glass, dash w/angostura (just a few times till the cube turns reddish pink). add the water and stir gently. add the rye and stir gently again. add 4-5 ice cubes and stir one more time, twist the lemon over the drink and wipe it around the rim of the glass.

one cool variation i've seen basically hinges on your ability to get one large ice block or chunk to fill the entire glass. slower dissolution = a cold but not watery drink.

and RECIPE EIGHT: fernet old-fashioned

v. slight modification of a recipe by the guy who does kaiserpenguin.com--he is purportedly a huge fernet branca fan.

take recipe 7, substitute fernet branca for rye, orange bitters OR fee whiskey barrel aged bitters gor angostura, and orange garnish for lemon. if you feel fancy, grab a lighter and flame the orange oils.

i think this is an awesome drink--tried both orange and whiskey barrel bitters and i think i prefer orange on the balance, they seem to bring out the fernet's character a little more.

one cool variation i've seen basically hinges on your ability to get one large ice block or chunk to fill the entire glass. slower dissolution = a cold but not watery drink

For Christmas I got an ice tray that makes giant ice spheres:

http://i48.tinypic.com/1sobpt.jpg

The only problem is that I can never get them to come out as perfect spheres like the picture. For reasons too complicated and idiotic to discuss here, the tops of them are always cut off so they look like the Death Star. Still, worth picking up!

wow, that's awesome! definitely going to track it down.

<3 fernet branca! i'll try that version of the old fashioned

I had a couple Sidecars last Saturday will watching football. Excellent drink imo.

brownie what brandy did you use? while not having looked hard, it seems difficult to find consensus on good cheap brandies. or maybe you used a pricey one! in which case more power to you.

also, this is nice: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/fashion/17shake.html?ref=todayspaper

I don't know what kind of brandy! a friend whipped them up. I'm not too picky anyway.

I just made a drink with this:

- fresh squeezed blood orange juice
- gin
- cranberry juice

shaken over ice, lovely

xp yeah the overriding sentiment seems to be that any common vs cognac will do for mixing. one book i have gave remy martin a nice writeup so i may try that next.

tracer what were your proportions?

no idea - maybe something like:

3-oj
2-gin
1-cranberry

cranberry really just for a little hint of sweet-tartness

we should definitely not leave this one out:

Hey guys I invented a new drink in honor of tonight's results

THE COAKLEY

6 oz of your worst vodka

shake with ice cube, pour directly into mouth

― CATBEAST!! (Z S), Tuesday, January 19, 2010 7:16 PM

lolllllllllllll

i'm sorry guys! i drove way the hell out of my way to vote in this one, had dinner with my parents, came home and saw the results, and quickly made a sidecar in honor of brownie who is a cool guy UNLIKE THE VOTERS OF MASSACHUSETTS

hey i was gonna do some other posts but in honor of the 2009 saints let's do some new orleans cocktails tonight.

RECIPE NINE: the vieux carre

1 oz. rye
1 oz. cognac
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1 tsp benedictine
2 dashes angostura
2 dashes peychaud's

add all ingredients to a mixing glass, add ice, stir, strain, and serve. optionally, garnish with a lemon twist.

the ingredients (except the twist) are straight from the vieux carre page on gumbopages.com, an excellent resource for new orleans drinks (and probably other stuff too). however, he serves it as a rocks drink which makes no sense to me. it's obviously an up drink, and when i've gotten it out (admittedly not in NOLA) that's how it's been served. it is EXCEEDINGLY pleasant and smooth--nice dessert cocktail imo.

RECIPE TEN: the sazerac

the greatest cocktail? according to some, maybe.

2 oz. rye
1 sugar cube
4 dashes peychaud's
1 tsp absinthe or herbsaint
1 piece lemon peel

fill an old-fashioned glass with ice or pop it in the freezer for a bit. in a mixing glass, add the sugar cube, peychaud's, and just a little water, and mix or muddle them together. add the rye, some ice, and stir. now get your old-fashioned glass and rinse it with the absinthe/herbsaint. add the rye mixture, and wipe the lip of the glass with the lemon peel. in an orthodox sazerac you should NOT twist it over the drink and you should discard it when done.

you know those nights where you just watch college basketball, play guitar, and mix drinks by yourself? yup.

RECIPE 11: the last word

kinda like the corpse reviver in that it comes together in an interesting and unexpected way.

.75 OZ. EACH gin, fresh lime juice, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse.

shake w/ice and pour into a cocktail glass.

RECIPE TWLEVE: the scofflaw

this is from ted haigh's book and is v. enjoyable. there are so many grenadine/lemon combos out there. i'd say the dry vermouth makes this a nice entry in that category.

1.5 oz. rye
1 oz. dry vermouth
.75 oz. fresh lemon juice
.75 oz. grenadine.

shake w/ice and pour. garnish w/a lemon twist.

one more, tho i'm holding off on a couple recipes to make sure they're proportioned right.

RECIPE THIRTEEN: apricot cocktail

1.25 oz. gin
.75 oz. lemon juice
.75 oz. apricot liqueur
.5 oz. grenadine
1-2 dashes angostura

shake w/ice and pour, garnish w/lemon twist.

i fucked with the original recipe i saw for this a good deal; in the end it's called an apricot cocktail and this does absolutely emphasize the apricot so there you go. would like to sneak a little more alcohol in there tbh.

Hmm, maybe substitute cherry heering for the grenadine? Looks good though, I might try that tomorrow.

**18 hours later...**

two thumbs up! :)

awesome! did you sub cherry heering in?

RECIPE FOURTEEN: the so-so

1 oz. gin
1 oz. sweet vermouth
.5 oz. calvados or applejack
.5 oz. grenadine

stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass, no garnish.

apparently this is in the 1930 savoy cocktail book. it's a funny one--you look at the recipe and go yeah whatever but it actually mixes up into something interesting. the blog where i got it from suggests that different gins will have a strong impact on the flavor; i only have one gin but i can see what they mean since the gin contrasting with all the other sweet/fruity components and its flavor kind of rises above them.

Tximista, a Basque vermouth, is very good. A great Martini vermouth.

Dry vermouth if it wasn't clear. Never had their sweet vermouths.

Cocchi Torino is my go-to, great stuff. I started with Noilly Prat way back in 2012 (partially inspired by this thread), moved to Dolin, then Carpano Antico, but now the Torino is the stock bottle.

been a while since I had a Spanish vermouth, but I recall Casa Mariol Vermut Negre being very good

currently enjoying an Alaska but with Strega instead of chartreuse. Strega is so nice I think

Ooh, that's a good sub. Speaking of Chartreuse, I had a rare sighting of yellow in the wild last month, in Memphis.

I randomly found a bottle of green over xmas in Long Beach, snapped it up immediately.

way back in like 2011/12 i found a full-sized bottle of yellow chartreuse priced at $35 at a small liquor store near my office. i still have it lol

in serious need of a bar restock atm, i have so many nearly-empty bottles of amaro and mezcal. there’s a terrific store not far from me that has some excellent bottles in stock. last time i went they had a tasting of a really gorgeous gin distilled in arizona that was quite citrus-y, wishing i could remember the name rn

Suncliffe? Commerce?

suncliffe!

On the minimalist cocktail side, I recently made a Cognac old fashioned for the first time and it was delicious. Should have tried it before!

I've made a couple of these (Bubo Bubo) recently:

1.5 oz Rye Whiskey (50%)
.5 oz Cynar
.5 oz Amaro Montenegro
1/3 oz Honey Syrup
2 drops saline solution
Islay scotch rinse

It has a lot going on and is extremely drinkable, quite the combination.

lovely. do you have a honey syrup recipe?

also how do you prepare the saline solution?

Honey syrup: Combine 1:1 honey and water in a small saucepan, heat gently until they combine.

Saline solution: I believe the recipe I used was 20% salt and 80% water in a saucepan, heat gently and stir until the salt dissolves. I got a dropper bottle for this because you only want to add very small amounts. It's surprising how much you can taste salt in cocktails.

yep I have a fave that uses it, I believe covered upthread long ago, just rye and cynar and tons of lemon zest and a pinch of salt mmmmm

^^ actually cynar is dominant, 2 oz vs 1 oz of rye

I tried putting the saline solution in an old bitter bottle I had saved, but a dash is apparently a lot more than a drop as the first one I made was too salty.

Visine could work

Saline in a biology sense is only 0.9% salt, teaspoon in a pint kind of concentration

80-20 is a brine

Mmmm, brined alcohol.

https://www.liquor.com/using-salt-in-cocktails-5189656

I have thinned some sorghum molasses to pourable consistency, waiting a few minutes for it to cool off...going to try a "biscuits and molasses" old fashioned riff. If I put it into play at the bar, I'll use Maker's Mark since it's a relatively high-wheat bourbon. Might go out looking for butter extract tomorrow...one drop should be plenty if it works at all.

Nice! I used sorghum in a hot toddy the other week, because our honey was all crystallized. It worked just fine, I like sorghum. So did you mix it 1:1 with water, like a honey syrup?

Yes, but I think that thinned it out too much. I don't have any whiskey with a high-wheat mashbill at home, so I tried it with the first bottle at hand, G. Dickel, which turns out to be high-rye. Not great -- the sorghum was lost behind the rye spice. I'll keep tinkering.

that sounds fun. the concept reminds me of the flapjack old-fashioned:

https://www.boxesandbooze.com/cocktails/flapjack-old-fashioned-cocktail

Oh wow, I HAVE to make that. Thanks, jaymc!

yummmmm

hello thread, what is the best 3rd ingredient for a cocktail using equal portions of these?

https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/gin/condesa-gin-prickly-pear-and-orange-blossom/p/351689750

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italicus_Rosolio_di_Bergamotto

any other ideas welcome too, just going for an easy 3 or 4 equal part solution

What about sherry, like a Spanish negroni? You've got citrus in both of those, Amontillado's woody/nuttyness might sand them down a little. What else have you used that gin for? I guess a natural for G&Ts.

gin is unopened, we did try the bergamot aperitivo and yum

these were going-away gifts from friends

I am curious abt the sherry option but would love to stick to an ingredient that does not require a bottle/container purchase (i.e. juice of some kind, soda, idk??)

Maybe treat the Italicus as a sub for St Germain in a Shaddock… equal parts gin, Italicus, Aperol and lemon juice. Or drop the amount of Aperol so it doesn’t overwhelm that gin’s particular botanicals.

ooh yeah thx - St Germaine was the first thing it reminded me of

my fave recent use for Italicus has been a cocktail intended as a riff on a Wisconsin brandy old-fashioned (the Italicus mimics the splash of 7-Up):

Beverly Mae
2 oz cognac
1 oz blanc vermouth
0.5 oz dry vermouth
0.5 oz Italicus

(found in the Violet Hour book)

This Basque rojo vermouth (Tximista) with a splash of soda water is all I want to drink this summer.

That sounds really nice.

i have never been able to find that stuff and i know both the rojo and bianco have a devoted following

just tried Licor 43 for the first time, this stuff would be great in coffee

I had a bottle of the bianco that made the best martinis. I've only seen them at a couple of liquor stores in the Hudson Valley.

xp