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

TIL the Rusty Nail variation with rye instead of scotch is called a Donald Sutherland.

Attn tipsy mothra, I finally tried the split-sherry sour you recommended to me on Faceache and that is a nice complex drink, thank you! (e.g. a whiskey sour with half the whiskey replaced by a good fino sherry)

I'd been using a 30 oz. shaker tin and a beer glass for shaking at work, but I saw some video of a guy using an adorable little single-drink cobbler shaker and thought I'd get one. It's 17 oz., heavy stainless steel, much heavier than the thin ones we have at work, and it gets drinks much colder much quicker, with less dilution. And it fits my hands better. Best piece of bar gear I've bought, period.

link to heavy stainless cobbler?

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/mercer-culinary-m37038-barfly-17-oz-3-piece-stainless-steel-heavy-weight-shaker-set/470M37038.html

Love this site. I put stuff in my bar's cart and reimburse them, but I don't think you need a business acct?

cool. there's another item i've been eyeing from this site for a while so maybe that's enough to pull together an order.

I found a recipe from Phil Ward of Death & Co. that I'm going to try this evening. I've already done the tequila infusion -- hot but not too hot.

FRESA BRAVA
1 strawberry
2 oz. jalapeno-infused tequila
3/4 oz. yellow chartreuse
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup

Muddle strawberry, shake, double strain, coupe.

This is the best cocktail I've ever made up (I'm sure it's not original, because I've had variations on scotch plus sherry over the years):

Scotch Solera
1.5 oz Laphroaig 10
.75 oz Amaro Meletti
.75 oz Lustau Amontillado Dry Sherry
Angostura bitters
Lemon twist

I am going to try an orange twist next time, as I think that will play even better with these flavors. The play between peaty scotch and the aroma of dry sherry is my favorite thing in cocktails.

Never thought about this, don't know what to think about this:

https://chicago.eater.com/2021/9/10/22666750/lost-lake-chicago-bar-tik-tropical-changes-open-logan-square

I also didn't realize this is a thing that's been (er) brewing for a while:

https://punchdrink.com/articles/problem-with-tiki-bars-cultural-appropriation/

https://residentmodernist.com/2020/08/05/tiki-cultural-appropriation/

https://residentmodernist.com/2020/12/29/an-open-reply-to-doom-tiki-invitation/

I've never considered a cocktail could be problematic, let alone an entire style, but once you invoke the specter of cultural appropriation and the legacy of colonialism, ... whither the gin & tonic? Whither rum entirely? Say goodbye to the Margarita? IPAs?

stop it

https://www.britannica.com/topic/slippery-slope-argument

yeah if you were to take, say, 10 minutes to learn about the history of tiki you would understand that this is a unique case.

honestly the best thing would be for tiki culture/aesthetics to die slowly and gracefully which is probably on its way to happening anyway, like even someone like martin cate who has dedicated his professional life to preserving them is on the wrong side of the generational divide here. also, the drinks themselves need to be separated from the presentation as far as what is appropriative about tiki imo.

No, I know the problematic nature of the presentation and decor. But the drinks themselves as "'colonial roleplay' in the way it offers drinkers an escape via a drink made of tropical ingredients without acknowledging the Black Afro-Caribbean and Polynesian peoples responsible." That's not about the mugs, that's about the *ingredients*; the Eater piece makes a distinction between tiki drinks and tropical drinks, with the latter "defined largely by drinks that were developed in the tropics — mojitos and daiquiris in Cuba, and the piña colada in Puerto Rico." Like, a mai tai in a glass, with none of the other tiki trappings, is that still problematic? I love a good mai tai. Does it just need a new name?

And back to the gin and tonic, that drink is *explicitly* linked and connected to colonialism.

yeah that distinction does not track to me at all. we can just agree that all sours are colonial products.

Would think that sugar is the most “problematic” ingredient in these drinks from a colonialism perspective, but I don’t think we really want to go there.

in the form of rum, yes, absolutely

need to come up with a mint-forward drink to give the name Bengay Fever

Dab the outside of the glass with Vicks VapoRub?

fernet menta?

Yeah, I have a bottle of Branca Menta -- now to figure out something with balance. Maybe just a daiquiri riff.

so... are there ANY cocktails that use root beer? or is it fundamentally incompatible? literally asking for a friend.

Looks like there's something called a Black Cotton, a Dark & Stormy riff with root beer instead of ginger beer. And here's something called a Cuban Sarsaparilla -- https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/4882/cuban-sarsaparilla

i wonder if one factor behind the lack of root beer in cocktails is that root beer probably has the widest range of flavor profiles among sodas so it's hard to make something that tastes consistent.

There is a root beer adjacent spirit called Root I have, but for the life of me I don't know what I used it for. Which might be why I still have it.

Bono has recalled waking up in Abraham Lincoln’s former bedroom at the White House after he drank “strong cocktails” with the then-president of the United States, Barack Obama.

The U2 frontman had been visiting the Obama family with his wife, Alison Hewson, when Obama made the pair some drinks.

“He’s the most extraordinary man and they’re the most extraordinary family,” Bono said in a BBC Radio 2 interview with presenter Zoe Ball.

“The 44th president of the United States, he mixes cocktails; he doesn’t have too many, he’s very measured,”

Bono explained how he had an allergy to salicylates found in things like red wine, which causes his “head to swell up like a balloon” or prompts him to “fall asleep somewhere”.

Describing the “special moment” the couple were invited round, Bono explained how he had snuck off for a nap after drinking the cocktails and wine.

“I had them and the wine and the allergy and I ended up slipping out for a kip and the president said to Ali after about 10 minutes, ‘Where’s Bono gone?’

“She said, ‘He’s just gone for a sleep.’ (Obama) said, ‘I’m sorry?’,” the frontman recalled.

“She said, ‘He has to, he just has to go for these sleeps, he’ll be back in 10 minutes. I’ve been with him for 30 years, don’t you worry a thing about him, Mr President. I’ll go find him’.”

But Obama was insistent in coming with Hewson to find her husband, who they discovered asleep in Abraham Lincoln’s bedroom.

“He goes, ‘No, no, no.’ And he comes with her and (saying) where can he be…? I know, he was asking me about the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln’s’.

“And there I was in Lincoln’s bedroom, asleep, fallen asleep in the bosom of Abraham himself,” he continued. “He just woke me up and laughed. President laughed his head off.”

“But he does tell people that he drinks me under the table, he doesn’t believe the allergy thing,” Bono added. “He does make strong cocktails, though, just saying.”

cocktailGPT

Me: give me a cocktail recipe containing sherry and cheese
ChatGPT: Here is a recipe for a delicious cocktail that combines sherry and cheese:

The Sherry Cheese Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces dry sherry
1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce orange liqueur
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce honey syrup
1/4 ounce blue cheese-infused simple syrup
1/4 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
Ice

Instructions:

1. To make the blue cheese-infused simple syrup, combine 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of crumbled blue cheese. Allow to cool completely.
3. To make the honey syrup, combine 1/2 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the honey. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
4. To make the cocktail, combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and shake well.
5. Strain the cocktail into a chilled glass and garnish with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese and a strip of orange zest.

This Sherry Cheese Cocktail is a unique and tasty drink that combines the rich, nutty flavor of sherry with the tangy, salty notes of blue cheese and Parmesan. The orange liqueur and lemon juice add a bright, citrusy touch, while the honey syrup adds a touch of sweetness. This is a perfect cocktail for sipping on a cold winter night or for enjoying as an aperitif before a special meal.

that thing is freaking me out

somehow I missed the news about Obama as expert mixologist.

Related:

[Michelle] Obama dished on her daughters’ bartending skills while promoting her new book, The Light We Carry, and recounted how Malia, 24, and Sasha, 21, invited their parents over to their shared L.A. apartment for some predinner drinks. “They had prepared a charcuterie tray and tried to make two very weak martinis,” Obama told Robin Roberts in a 20/20 interview. Obama said they realized they didn’t have all the ingredients for martinis but didn’t go into the details. One assumes both she and Barack Obama took some polite sips if nothing else. Michelle then told the story again in an interview with the Today Show’s Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb, saying, “The martinis were a little weak. I don’t think they really knew what it was.”

well whose fault is that

I've made fish sauce caramel to rim a cocktail glass, but I ain't going near blue cheese simple syrup.

I on the other hand can't find that recipe fast enough

*reads upthread* oh no

more like cocktailGTFO

Aw, yeah, you all know what time it is

https://i.imgur.com/2Y1HIgn.jpg

I made Penicilins tonight. Such a great tasting and really well thought out cocktail.

ooh, I had one of those yesterday, it was quite goodd

As discussed here (elsewhere?), the only thing that keeps me from making Penicillins, one of my fave cocktails, is rarely having ginger-honey syrup on hand. But I guess it's easy enough to make a small amount. Also probably great for a sore throat.

xp I've never made a Penicillin bc I don't want to fuss with making the honey-ginger syrup, as required in Sam Ross's recipe, although I guess some adaptations just call for muddling the ginger. How do you male yours, PBKR?

Penicillins are delicious — especially if you do a single-malt float on top — and honey-ginger syrup isn't hard to make, you just have to do it ahead of time. We just keep a little jar of it in the fridge, it stays good long enough for us to make several rounds over the course of a few weeks.

Yeah, I have a bottle of peaty scotch just for this drink (I'm not a scotch guy).

xpost fwiw I think it's just 1:1 honey and water, steeped with fresh ginger.

Yeah, I've made other syrups like honey and cinnamon, but I knew I could use those in more than one drink. But maybe I'll give it a go.

Honey-ginger you could always add to tea and stuff. My daughter uses regular simple syrup in her coffee.

I just make a honey syrup (takes 5 minutes) and muddle the ginger, but maybe I'll try making it a honey-ginger syrup next time.

What I've learned in the past few years of making bar syrups is that the old way of cooking sugar, water and your target flavor together then straining produces a relatively faint ghost of a flavor; plus sometimes a cooked [whatever] doesn't taste as good as fresh/raw. You get a more intense syrup if you combine the target flavor (ginger, rhubarb, whatever) in a blender with the amount of water you would have used otherwise, strain through cheesecloth, then sweeten the uncooked juice+water, warming it up just enough to dissolve the sugar. Doing ginger this way is especially good; you get a very intensely gingery syrup.

Might have to try that! I love penicillins so much, I try not to drink them too often so I don’t get burnt out on them, but at this point it’s been several months and I was just thinking it’s time to make some honey-ginger syrup again.

Now I wonder what effect kinetic energy (extreme blender violence) might have in creating an oleosaccharum. Usually the process is just chemical breakdown of cell walls.

I've grated raw ginger with a microplane to a similar effect. You just end up with pulp that packs a good punch.

That sounds like a good syrup approach WmC. We do something like that with mint — mint is tricky, because you have to blanch it to preserve the color or it turns brown. So we blanch it, then blend it with the simple and then strain. Gives a lovely emerald shade and obviously lots of minty flavor. With honey-ginger tho we just make honey syrup and then let a bunch of sliced ginger steep in it while it's warm.

Yeah, I have the same system with mint syrup. Frankly I want to drop the Mojito from our menu, it's a money-loser considering how much we spend on mint and how rarely it's ordered.

Yeah I feel like mojitos' moment in the spotlight has ended. I think partly for just what you're saying, lots of bars don't even make it because of having to keep mint around.

I had some blood oranges that were starting to shrivel a bit, so I juiced them and pondered what to do with the juice. The Blood and Sand is criticized a lot because OJ is a poor cocktail ingredient so I acid-adjusted the juice (mostly citric, a little malic) and give it a go. Equal parts Scotch, acid-adjusted blood OJ, Sangue Morlacco cherry liqueur (better than Heering, plus it's got blood in the name) and sweet vermouth. Tastes good, man. For now I'm calling it Sandy, Bloody Sandy.

https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/329337067_1594041551038258_3286885234608281867_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=PRVYkXm4AP0AX9pQwSD&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfCtMl4wbJYNIWIGenupxfePbsJF7G3I_les-UiS7AOCCw&oe=63E7043E