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

Would a mint daiquiri work, maybe?

at that point u are basically in mojito territory--not a bad place to be

A bartender made me a champagne julep a few nights ago - holy wow.

niiiiice

still wondering what my next purchase will be. considering chartreuse, asked bartender to make me a Last Word. gonna be honest. wasn't totally felling it. wife got a Ninth Ward and it was pretty fantastic. making me rethink not wanting to get St Germain.

The Ninth Ward cocktail created by Brother Cleve

1-1/2 oz Bulleit Bourbon
1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3/4 oz Fee Brother's Falernum syrup
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
2 dahes of Peychaud's bitters

Shake on ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

and speaking of ward drinks. this is one i get regularly at the bar around the corner and have made a few times at home

Ward Eight
2 ounces rye whisky
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce orange juice
1 teaspoon grenadine

Has anyone tried Thatcher's elderflower liqueur? How does it compare to st germain? It's half the price at bevmo.

i've seen scattered positive comments online but never tried it.

went to the alameda flea market this weekend looking for cocktail glasses. found some that i'm pretty stoked on.

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5153/taill.jpg

made a Rattlesnake for the inaugural cocktail. love this drink.

The Rattlesnake

2 ounces Wild Turkey rye whiskey
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce Grade B maple syrup
2 dashes Peychaud's Bitters
1/2 ounce egg whites
-- Lemon twist, for garnish

shake once w/o ice to breakdown egg. shake again with ice to chill. strain

oh nice--i got a couple antique-looking glasses over the weekend from a friend who is cleaning out a house. they're actually a little big for cocktails but still v. nice looking.

that recipe reminds me of this which i love and had posted previously in this thread:

illuminations

1.5 oz. reposado tequila
1 oz. lemon juice
.75 oz. dry sherry
.5 oz. maple syrup
.5 oz. egg white

shake once w/o ice to breakdown egg.

yeah! The dry shake has helped cocktails immeasurably over the past few years.

so once i square off some of the work i have to do over the next couple of weeks i really want to start committing myself to cocktailism. first order of business is actually acquiring barware though - any recs on a good starter set? the oxo 7-piece set looks nice.

that set being: http://www.amazon.com/OXO-SteeL-7-Piece-Barware-Set/dp/B0001YH18O/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1304439276&sr=1-7

hmmm...obviously the compact storage is nice. the two main probs i see are

1) no muddler--that seems like an obvious add
2) the jigger is marked @ .75, 1, 1.5. i don't get that. .5 oz. and .25 oz. are very important measures, esp. if you're mixing one drink at a time.

this guy: http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Grips-Stainless-Angled-Measuring/dp/B000BGW3MQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top is the best but also seems to be unavailable.

also missing a boston shaker!

hahaha yes!

The only special cocktail equipment I use is a cobbler shaker and a graduated shotglass (I have a jigger, I'm just used to the shotglass). The back of my citrus reamer works well as a muddler, so even though it's a pain to clean, I keep putting off getting an actual muddler.

But things like the bottle opener, citrus knife, bar spoon, those seem like things most people already have in their kitchen. (I mean, not a citrus knife specifically, but you don't need a special knife to cut limes.)

(xpost) jiggers are great if you need accurate measurements in a fast paced environment (like an actual bar) but at home I use a small graduated glass and it works just fine, similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Harold-21GM-Mini-Measuring-Glass/dp/B0000CFO3W/

I'd also suggest:

- boston shaker (w/ regular strainer, a julep strainer is nice too but not necessary for a basic set)
- bar spoon (min 11" w/ twist)
- muddler
- tray for making big ice cubes, like: http://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-80-5521-Jumbo-Size-Silicone-Ice-Cube/dp/B00395FHRO/
- zester or microplane for garnishes (citrus and nutmeg)
- small paring knife for garshishes (probably already have this)
- a set of squeeze bottles for when you make syrups etc. http://www.amazon.com/Squeeze-Bottles-Set-3-8-oz/dp/B0026K7FZK/

probably missing a few things

this guy: http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Grips-Stainless-Angled-Measuring/dp/B000BGW3MQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top is the best but also seems to be unavailable.

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, May 3, 2011 12:56 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

i should note that the plastic version of the above guy is still around and it's not bad, just don't melt it in the dishwasher like i did.

my microplane grater is on the other side of the country right now, pretty much my favorite kitchen utensil ever

jaxon's rattlesnake in one of my new glasses (in bad light on a phone camera). this is a lovely drink!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5185/5685353507_907f833bfb.jpg

So a boston shaker is one of those lidless cocktail shakers that fits snugly with a bar glass? I never knew the name for that.

yup, it refers to the metal tin + glass combo

wanted to buy some tequila for cinco tonight (pueblo viejo reposado), ended up buying a bunch of things. super stoked. st.germain, dolin dry, a 1/5th of g.chartreuse, lillit blanc

made dale degroff's margarita. one of the best i've had

1½ oz Tequila
1 oz Cointreau
¾ oz Lime Juice
¼ Simple Syrup

and then made this from upthread and it was fantastic.

RECIPE FORTY-NINE: paris manhattan

2 oz. rye (or bourbon i guess)
1 oz. st germain
.5 oz. dry vermouth
2 dashes angostura

i guess i didn't like st.germain in the gin drink i made a while back (maybe i'll grow to like it, it's such a big bottle), but i think it goes so well w/whiskeys.

wld totally try that paris manhattan

yeah that was a cool one! maybe i will make it tonite.

so maybe i need to get some st. germain.

i want this.

holy shit i actually still have a meyer lemon which means i can make that

do you also have pear brandy on hand?

yeah i have clear creek pear brandy. it's delicious!

awesome!
catoctin is where i'm doing the bottling workshop next weekend.
hope i don't spend $300 before i leave!

have also decided i want everything on this menu.

oh interesting--catoctin is again their pear brandy, clear creek's is more an eau de vie. recipe should still work tho.

you're going to have a blast and looking at their products i could pretty easily be tempted into coming home with one of everything.

the fact that they mention non-alcoholic versions on their menu is really rad imo.

mocktails are going to be a thing over the next couple years i think.

I'm making a small liquor run tomorrow -- checked out the rum poll thread for rum recs; I might get a whiskey as well, but I know zilch about it and don't know what I'd like. Maybe some rye.

what are you planning on doing with the whiskey?

Is there something versatile enough for cocktails or straight sipping? I saw Eagle Rare mentioned in the whiskey thread.

cocktails AND straight

yeah if you're not super-versed in american whiskey eagle rare would def be a nice choice; knob creek as well.

i use rye in 90% of my whiskey cocktails but i rarely sip rye, so if you're getting one bottle i'd go w/a bourbon.

i'm realizing that last sentence is sort of illogical; what i'm saying is i'll take bourbon as a mixer over rye as a sipper

otm

Eagle Rare was on sale, $10 off. Got that, Jim Beam rye and Mount Gay rum.

which mount gay?

Eclipse (gold)

An emergency rush job and a royalty check landing in the same week mean that I have a little money to play with, so I'm looking at DrinkUpNY for the stuff I can't get in NH. I need to refill maraschino and genever, so there's that...

Does anyone have any thoughts on Barolo Chinato, esp. Cocchi's? I've had a couple glasses of a non-Cocchi BC in the past, but that was 15+ years ago and I was drinking completely different things. $45 seems steep.

Are The Bitter Truth's lemon bitters legitimately *bitter*? Cause if it's just a lemon tincture, I can make that. Shit, I can make that by accident.

Clear Creek cherry liqueur vs Combier Roi Rene Rouge cherry liqueur vs Cherry Heering vs Rothman & Winter cherry? I like Clear Creek in general.

Esprit de June liqueur?

I'm leaning towards preemptively reupping my Smith & Cross and Punt e Mes, but all of the above are alternatives I'm considering.

no experience with a lot of those items (cherry heering is the only cherry liqueur i've used, and given the rate at which i use it that's not going to change soon), but i have tasted the tbt lemon bitters on their own. they're definitely "bitter" (and tbt is not the type of operation that would make "bitters" without a bittering agent) but i do question their utility--unless you're a hopeless bitters addict there are much better things to do with 20 bucks.

Yeah, that was my impression of TBT based on what I've had. The utility, I don't know. Lemon bitters could be summery, but so is an actual lemon after all.

Cherry liqueur is one of those things that I always think could be amazing if done right, especially if it were bright and tart - but what I've had always goes more towards the cooked cherry flavor.

Man, reading about Barolo Chinato makes it sound like it would go really well with either gin or genever.

(One of these days I need to buy Benedictine again too. I'm watching 10 right now, and the bar has about eight bottles, four of which are Benedictine, Cointreau, Beam, and Cutty Sark. It's like an Iron Chef challenge: go forth and mixologize with these things.)

ok i've been doing this as a serious hobby for a while, and i have no idea how it took me until last week to encounter the southside:

2 oz. gin
.75 oz. lemon or lime juice (lime is the prevalent version but both work)
.75 oz. simple syrup
1 dash angostura
2 big mint sprigs
more mint for garnish

lightly bruise mint sprigs in mixing tin, add liquids, shake and double strain. slap spare mint of drink and garnish with a nice-looking mint leaf.

what an approachable, pleasant cocktail!

of=over