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

only one mention of the boulevardier itt. for shame

just had a few of those last night. really good! I need more campari around the house.

Made a boulevardier a couple weeks ago, and the smokiness of it gave me the thought of making a negroni with genever replacing the gin. Worked real well; I used Aperol and Cocchi Americano like I usually do for the negroni family of drinks (Aperol+Cocchi+soda is a great summer drink, I think it's called an Americano). The equal parts ratio tends to be too sweet for my taste, so I generally do 3-2-2 in favor of the spirit.

what should I do w/this anejo especial

made an equal-parts boulevardier with nice ingredients tonight (stagg jr., carpano antica, and of course campari). i am pleased.

re: anejo especial, you should prob just do everything with it. i really wish we had havana club here.

Oh man I have made so many cocktails since I last posted itt.

do tell!

jaymc doesn't cock and tail.

I made a negroni tonight. I liked it! I drink about 4 cocktails a year.

not a bad choice for one of the four.

I'd make more, but I need simple simple recipes. Got not time for fussy cocktails. This was pretty easy.

RANDOM NIP COCKTAIL CHALLENGE #2

(random nip cocktail challenge #1 already happened but i forgot to post live about it. some time ago i received a bunch of random nips, and i am using them in heretofore untested ways).

random nip #2 was smirnoff 100-proof espresso vodka. i have stirred it with some dry vermouth, a dash of peychaud's bitters (actually bitter truth creole bitters but same thing), and some ferrand dry curacao. the undercurrent of mocha (the actual flavor of the nip) is pretty hard to escape. this is not vile but not a very good cocktail.

random nip #1, for the record, was fireball cinnamon whiskey, shaken with lemon juice, some grade b maple syrup, and a dash of angostura orange. that one was pretty good.

Oh man I have made so many cocktails since I last posted itt.

― jaymc, Thursday, June 26, 2014 11:07 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

do tell!

― call all destroyer, Friday, June 27, 2014 8:35 AM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OK, I'll show:
http://instagram.com/jk_cocktails/

(Sorry for the dumb Instagram filters.)

very nice! it's an addictive hobby tbh.

I want to get this, though I'm pretty sure if I buy a liquid nitrogen dewar I'll wind up killing myself somehow.

http://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Intelligence-Science-Perfect-Cocktail-ebook/dp/B00J8R3KOE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419436813&sr=8-1&keywords=Liquid+Intelligence

I just bought this: http://thirstyinla.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/death-and-co-book.jpg

I got into this a bit in 2014 - now I have a cupboard full of bottles but have also realised that 90% of the time what I want to make is an Americano.

Coffee?

It's a proto-Negroni: I use equal parts Campari, Carpano Antica and sparkling water, plus orange bitters and a big ice cube.

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/cocktail-recipes/

I've also been getting into Negroni variations, I made this one tonight and it was tasty:

Nerina
1¼ ounces Plymouth gin
1¼ ounces Meletti amaro
1¼ ounces Punt e Mes sweet vermouth
1 orange twist, for garnish

That sounds good. I've been wanting Punt e Mes for a long time but am kind of into just having a bottle of Cocchi di Torino around, and the idea of getting a second bottle of sweet vermouth makes me feel a little bit like http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-on-internet-almost-falls-into-world-of-diy-mus,17013/

Negroni variations are great, though. Esp. if you keep it to the 1:1:1 proportions. Spirit:amaro:aromatized wine. You can do so much with that combo.

I'm starting to feel more comfortable with winging it. Started to make a Ward 8 tonight and realized I was out of lemons, so I just used half-lime/half-grapefruit instead. Also, the orange was a blood orange. Wasn't really a Ward 8, but it was a pretty good drink. Also, now I'm just randomly sipping on 2 parts Cynar, 1 part bourbon.

That sounds good. I've been wanting Punt e Mes for a long time but am kind of into just having a bottle of Cocchi di Torino around, and the idea of getting a second bottle of sweet vermouth makes me feel a little bit like http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-on-internet-almost-falls-into-world-of-diy-mus,17013/

― Tove Lo Tove You Baby (jaymc), Wednesday, January 21, 2015 12:14 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just go through sweet vermouth fast enough that you can alternate between the two.

This is my second year of making bitters - I mostly drink bitters + soda through the warmer months, and got into it after buying a ton of Regan's Orange and Fee Brothers and Scrappy's to try alongside the standard Angostura. This year I mixed up this super bright pink and sour blend of cranberry, hibiscus/sorrel/flor de Jamaica, and pink grapefruit that is so good on its own - thinking about what liquor to try it with beside vodka. Gin, tequila maybe. I also made up a floral blend of elderflower, jasmine, and lavendar with meyer lemon and green tea to bitter it that is perfect with gin.

Wow sounds awesome! I'm a fan of bitters + soda.

(makes mental note to visit Jaq soon)

Are you coming up for the pop conf, sleeve? An ILX bitters tasting might be in order.

thinking about it!

Negroni with Bonal instead of sweet vermouth = fantastic.

Easy out of the gloom cocktail I made for friends yesterday: The Rumble (devised by Paul McGee, apparently).

1 1/12 white rum
3/4 lemon
3/4 simple syrup
Shake with ice and pour over ice
float 1/2 oz creme de cassis
garnish with mint spring (recipe calls for blackberry as well, but nah)

It's really pretty, too. If I were Prince I would call it the Purple Sunset.

I had a craving for drinks with fresh ginger, googled up a few recipes, and had a Southern Baptist (rye, ginger syrup, lime) this afternoon. Started a batch of ginger liqueur (brandy base) and have a lot of ginger syrup available for more experiments now.

Sounds nice, WmC. I'd like to play around with homemade syrups more; so far, I've only bothered with simple syrup and pomegranate syrup (i.e., grenadine). But occasionally I see a cocktail recipe that calls for something like ginger syrup or pineapple syrup, and I skip over it, just because I don't want to spend the time. (Not that those would be especially laborious, but when I'm scanning recipes, it's usually because I want a drink at that moment.)

Btw, I finally did buy Punt e Mes, and it's great.

Got the Death & Co. book for my birthday -- it's excellent. Kind of a How to Cook Everything for cocktails. Even if you don't bother with the specific recipes that call for, like, Suze and cacao-nib-infused Campari, it's a great resource for the home mixologist.

i agree, really good book. even the dorky parts about running the bar are good.

Ha, yes.

cacao-nib-infused Campari

totally gonna try this

so i have a lot of bourbon that has been given to me as gifts over the years and some of it is of varying quality. typically i just like my bourbon neat but the lower quality bottles i've received are not really ideal for that. i don't know shit about cocktails apart from the fact that i enjoy good ones that are made for me. but i'd like to learn how to make a few and i figure that i could use up some of this bourbon i have. i realize that my cocktails are only going to be as good as the bourbon i'm using but i still feel like the shittier bourbon i have would be better off used in a cocktail than sipped neat. what are some good entry-level drinks to start on?

old-fashioned and manhattans

um, revive?

I have:

some OK tequila
some OK bourbon
some OK vodka
some not OK trashy-ass triple sec
some ouzo

and:

some sparkling h20 (not as bubbly as soda, but y'know)
some DC tap water
some diet coke, which I won't touch so we can ignore this
some, like, jams that I could mix with some h20?
some vinegar

also:

some thai basil
some lime leaves
a cucumber
some tomatoes
tarragon
thyme
uh
some thai peppers (hot hot)
some lemongrass
some ginger
hang on

some pomegranate molasses
wide assortment of spices--reasonable chance I have it if you can name it
um
coconut milk
cat poop
various vinegars
wait let me do one more check of fridge and pantry
rose and orange blossom water
various dried fruits

various fermented fish things

I do NOT have: citrus, wine, adult supervision

also a little tipsy

but I have no next dring

please help

OH WAIT half a pineapple

vitamix

low self esteem

Really, ilx?

s'cool. I blended up shit from my garden in the vitamix, gonna add some booze and sell it for like 10 bux per 8 oz

aw wish i cd help a tipsy ilxor out
but i'm not much of a cocktail person
(& when i go for cocktails tend to be v simple ones)
here's one i can't vouch for but found on the web & i think fits yr ingredients: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/08/drinking-in-season-basil-and-lime-cooler-vodka-highball-recipe.html

sorry, i am just seeing this!

uh, vodka, sparkling h2o, lime leaves, muddled ginger, coconut milk, lots of ice?

OK, thx drash and CAD!

Gonna do this and poorly liveblog

Gotta finish this healthy blood mary first

do I throw lime leaves into blender or should I like make a simple syrup with lime leave and ginger and tha thai basil which I gre myself thankuvery much

answered my q, thanking u, will report back

quick and dirty way wld be muddle grated ginger and leaves with simple syrup, then add vodka and coconut milk (just a bit prob), shake w/ice and fill w/soda.

i have no clue how this would actually taste but seems reasonable enough.

I am a little iffy on the vodka b/c normally I choose anythig BUT vodka--but wtf I go for it

I am so sad no lime b/c this would seem so duh but I no gonn leave my house for lime at this moment

yeah w/o any citrus i'm reaching a bit

OK ginger (thin slice and thankfully not inclurig any finger) muddled with lime leaf in simple syrup and taste nice, however I should have said that reqirement is drank served UP ( I DIED knows how I feel about ice in my drank) so I dunno how it will go shaken w/vodka and coconut milk (and maybe some lemograss bc why not I have it) anyway and then served up; worried it will be weak sauce but will report back. Aslo I am going to find a star anice in cubbord bc why not