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Boris Galerkin posted:I think the Alexander sounds perfect! The standard liquor seems to be gin and I'm not a huge gin drinker so I'll try it with both rum and vodka first to see if I can get either to work since those are always available in the house. I don't have a shaker though I make them with Brandy and really like them. Not sure how gin would go.
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Aug 15, 2013 18:01
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pgroce posted:Well technically, isn't gin just flavored vodka? Unlike flavored vodkas, gin is made by infusing and redistilling.
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Aug 15, 2013 19:04
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Boris Galerkin posted:I think the Alexander sounds perfect! The standard liquor seems to be gin and I'm not a huge gin drinker so I'll try it with both rum and vodka first to see if I can get either to work since those are always available in the house. I don't have a shaker though You really want a shaker for these types of cocktails. You can try a makeshift solution if you have a semi-flexible plastic cup and a glass of similar diameters - fit the glass inside the plastic cup as you would a boston shaker to form as tight of a seal as possible. I can see a screw-sealable cup like ones used for coffee to work in a pinch too, but the volume inside the cups really aren't enough (and shaking ice in it might damage the interior). I also highly recommend using brandy if you're not a gin person - it gives the drink a lot more character beyond what vodka brings to the table. You can pick up a cheap E&J VSOP for 10-15 bucks depending on where you live, or any other cheap brandy. You can also use a fancier cognac, but a lot of the more delicate aromatics and flavors are lost when mixing with such overpowering ingredients.
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Aug 15, 2013 19:52
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The Hebug posted:Unlike flavored vodkas, gin is made by infusing and redistilling.
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Aug 16, 2013 01:22
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Devoz posted:Do you change the ratio of vermouth since you are using Dubonnet? I remember seeing dubonnet manhattans using closer to a 1:1 ration.
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Aug 16, 2013 01:28
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What are some good prohibition era gin cocktails? I'm picking up some Bombay Sapphire or Hendricks soon, and I want to try martinis and Bees Knees. I know the classics like gin and tonics and Tom Collins, what else should I try?
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Aug 16, 2013 02:11
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Gin comes from grains, vodka from anything. Also legally vodka must reach 95% alcohol during distillation and then it gets cut down, but this is not required of gin. Regardless, many distilleries that make vodka also make gin using the same grain neutral spirit base.
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Aug 16, 2013 03:30
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You guys are taking a throwaway joke way too seriously.
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Aug 16, 2013 03:35
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I was talking with William Chase at a convention a while ago and he told me they once put a vodka label on one side, and a gin label on the other side of the same bottle. Seems most bartenders preferred the vodka label. This post makes a lot more sense if you've had Chase vodka 
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Aug 16, 2013 04:35
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I got a job as a bartender about a month back, and now that my birthday is coming around, I feel like I want to do more home bar stuff. Right now my home bar consists of a mostly full bottle of Kahlua and a depressingly empty bottle of peppermint schnapps that was liberally poured into glasses of really loving thick hot chocolate during the winter months (which will end up getting used once December rolls around because that is why peppermint schnapps exists). I tend to have a sweet tooth when it comes to... anything, really, my drink of choice when I go out is a rum and coke, and I loving love Margaritas, so the three things I know I have to get are a good tequila, a good rum, and either Cointreau or Grand Marnier, and after reading this thread, a good bottle of gin is on the list as well (Plymouth is popular at my bar, so that will probably be my bottle of choice). This is probably gonna sound silly, but if I want to drink more kind of summery, rum/tequila-y drinks, what other kinds of stuff should I be getting? I'm not opposed to drinking more traditional, Manhattan/Aviation/Martini style drinks, but it's something I'd need to get accustomed to.
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Aug 16, 2013 04:39
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rxcowboy posted:What are some good prohibition era gin cocktails? I'm picking up some Bombay Sapphire or Hendricks soon, and I want to try martinis and Bees Knees. I know the classics like gin and tonics and Tom Collins, what else should I try? Pick up Hendricks and make a Gimlet, add basil to be fancy. Aviations are fun too, but a bit more ingredient heavy, and may taste a bit strange with either of those gin's. Maraschino liqueur (if you don't have it already) is always nice to have around though, and creme de violette isn't seen as essential anymore. IMO the creme de violette really changes the drink, but its still tasty without it. If you do end up picking up maraschino liqueur, you can always take it another step: pick up some green chartreuse and make The Last Word. It'd make Murray Stenson proud. Yoshifan823 posted:This is probably gonna sound silly, but if I want to drink more kind of summery, rum/tequila-y drinks, what other kinds of stuff should I be getting? I'm not opposed to drinking more traditional, Manhattan/Aviation/Martini style drinks, but it's something I'd need to get accustomed to. I'm not a huge fan of tequila, but for rum you can never go wrong with the basics, like a classic mojito and daiquiris... especially when it's hot as hell. Grab a cheap bottle of white rum and a shitload of limes and you're 99% of the way there. Coupled with Plymouth gin and you're set for summer. Also, if someone asks you what you're best/favorite drink is, please never say it's a rum and coke. That's essentially my cue to order a beer. Edit: unless you make a drat good Cuba Libre. tynam fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Aug 16, 2013 |
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Aug 16, 2013 05:15
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rxcowboy posted:What are some good prohibition era gin cocktails? I'm picking up some Bombay Sapphire or Hendricks soon, and I want to try martinis and Bees Knees. I know the classics like gin and tonics and Tom Collins, what else should I try?
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Aug 16, 2013 05:38
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Try a dark & stormy. The better the ginger beer the better the drink.
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Aug 16, 2013 21:25
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So I watch the old school Thin Man Movie, and in it, Nick Charles describes the perfect tempo to shake a cocktails to. Dashiel Hammett really posted:The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time. Not going to lie, gonna grab my vermouths, some bourbon, some gin, and my tablet and test this bad boy out when I get home. Anyone else wanna try shaking it at a different tempo?
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Aug 16, 2013 21:29
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You really shouldn't shake any of those drinks. Nick Charles gets away with it for the same reason as James Bond, he's cool. I'm a sperg, stir.
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Aug 16, 2013 22:25
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You definitely shake a Bronx, it's got orange juice. Martini and Manhattan, never. Or at least, historically people did sometimes, but current dogma (to which I subscribe) would never have you shake a drink that doesn't contain fruit juice, cream, or egg.
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Aug 17, 2013 02:59
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By the way has the price of Powers jumped for anyone else? BevMo is currently "running a promotion" cutting the price down to $24.99 from $29.99. That's insane. A year and a half ago you could get a bottle of John Powers for $17.99. Is this probably just a distribution glitch, or have the Scotch whisky price spikes started bleeding over into Irish as well?
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Aug 17, 2013 04:28
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Fork of Unknown Origins posted:I make them with Brandy and really like them. Not sure how gin would go. I just read that the original Alexander is with gin, but I guess most people like/make Brandy Alexanders now. Anyway I did the same with the cheapest VSOP brandy I could find. The problem I always have with these drinks with cream in it though is it feels too heavy. I used the lightest cream I could find (15%) and did equal parts everything and while it tasted good (like a milkshake) I was wondering if there was any way to lighten it even more. Can I use milk instead?
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Aug 17, 2013 08:55
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Gimlet trip report: I am poor this week and didn't bootstrap hard enough, so all I have gin wise is Gordon's. gently caress it, making a gimlet anyway. Before we go any further yes I am aware that most recipes for Gimlet's call for Roses lime cordial. I don't like it, the only time I use it is a dash in my gin and tonics because otherwise I find it too sweet. I found a recipe that called for 2 oz gin, 2 oz Lime cordial and 1 teaspoon of sugar. That sounded sweet as hell, so I tried 2 oz gin, 2 oz of fresh squeezed lime juice (dear lord do I love my juicer for poo poo like this) and about 3/4 of a tablespoon of simply syrup. It went down way too smooth, as in couldn't taste the gin smooth. I could see this being popular in the bathtub gin days because I literally couldn't taste the gin. Decided to tinker with it, went with 4 oz of gin, 2 oz of lime juice, 1 tablespoon simple syrup. Ahhh, much better. I can taste the gin and the lime, and I actually feel like I'm drinking something with alcohol in it. Frankly I don't see a smooth sipping gin holding up well in a gimlet, the lime and the sugar in my opinion absolutely annihilates the gin. If anyone has a good recipe for a gimlet or thinks I'm off base, let me know. Tomorrow, making a Bees Knees with the Gordons. This ought to be good.
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Aug 17, 2013 09:15
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Boris Galerkin posted:I just read that the original Alexander is with gin, but I guess most people like/make Brandy Alexanders now. Anyway I did the same with the cheapest VSOP brandy I could find. The problem I always have with these drinks with cream in it though is it feels too heavy. I used the lightest cream I could find (15%) and did equal parts everything and while it tasted good (like a milkshake) I was wondering if there was any way to lighten it even more. Can I use milk instead? Like, honestly? You probably shouldn't make this cocktail. The thing that the Alexander is most famous for is sucking. Post-Prohibition it was roundly condemned as a lovely drink, the product of a culture of illegal drinking where the best you could do was drown the flavor of horrible hootch with cream and sugar and hangovers were worn as a badge of pride because they marked you out as a scofflaw and a rebel. If you work really hard to improve the Alexander you'll just end up making something different.
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Aug 17, 2013 09:37
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Kenning posted:Like, honestly? You probably shouldn't make this cocktail. The thing that the Alexander is most famous for is sucking. Post-Prohibition it was roundly condemned as a lovely drink, the product of a culture of illegal drinking where the best you could do was drown the flavor of horrible hootch with cream and sugar and hangovers were worn as a badge of pride because they marked you out as a scofflaw and a rebel. If you work really hard to improve the Alexander you'll just end up making something different. Also in one of the James Bond short stories he pegs the villain as a villain because he orders a Brandy Alexander, which Bond considered an effeminate drink. You don't want James Bond thinking you're an effeminate villain do you?
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Aug 17, 2013 18:00
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rxcowboy posted:Also in one of the James Bond short stories he pegs the villain as a villain because he orders a Brandy Alexander, which Bond considered an effeminate drink. You don't want James Bond thinking you're an effeminate villain do you? Considering he likes his martinis made with vodka, and shaken, I do not trust his opinions on cocktails. bunnyofdoom fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Aug 17, 2013 |
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Aug 17, 2013 18:22
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For anyone looking for a babby's first spiced rum, may I suggest Lamb's Black Sheep  ?Very smooth, with a similar taste to The Captain, but 86 proof instead of 70. And in Ontario, a couple bucks cheaper too. A good second choice for when I don't feel like Sailor Jerry.
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Aug 17, 2013 19:05
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bunnyofdoom posted:Considering he likes his martinis made with vodka, and shaken, I do not trust his opinions on cocktails. Technically in the books the vesper martini was three parts gin to one part vodka, so it's not all that bad.
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Aug 17, 2013 19:26
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Boris Galerkin posted:I just read that the original Alexander is with gin, but I guess most people like/make Brandy Alexanders now. Anyway I did the same with the cheapest VSOP brandy I could find. The problem I always have with these drinks with cream in it though is it feels too heavy. I used the lightest cream I could find (15%) and did equal parts everything and while it tasted good (like a milkshake) I was wondering if there was any way to lighten it even more. Can I use milk instead? Use less cream - I personally like Gary Regan's recipe: 2oz gin or brandy, 1oz creme de cacao and 1oz cream. Use light cream (which you are already), and if you want it even lighter, give it a few more seconds of shaking to dilute it a bit more. rxcowboy posted:If anyone has a good recipe for a gimlet or thinks I'm off base, let me know. Another one where I prefer Gary Regan's recipe: 2.5 oz gin, .75oz lime juice cordial (or just lime juice if you prefer it less sweet, or add a tiny bit of sugar), and garnish with a lime wedge. To make it a bit more interesting, you can also add basil leaves when you shake it to give it a nice herbal kick which complements the gin very well usually. Especially good with Hendrick's, but it should work for anything.
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Aug 18, 2013 02:06
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Kenning posted:Like, honestly? You probably shouldn't make this cocktail. The thing that the Alexander is most famous for is sucking. Post-Prohibition it was roundly condemned as a lovely drink, the product of a culture of illegal drinking where the best you could do was drown the flavor of horrible hootch with cream and sugar and hangovers were worn as a badge of pride because they marked you out as a scofflaw and a rebel. If you work really hard to improve the Alexander you'll just end up making something different. You're like the one guy that I never want to drink with at a bar.
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Aug 18, 2013 02:07
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If I'm at a bar that has lovely cocktails I drink beer. If I'm at a bar with lovely cocktails and lovely beer, I drink neat spirits. If the bar has lovely cocktails, boring beer, and a short spirits list I don't drink there.
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Aug 18, 2013 02:33
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Tonight's cocktail: A real daiquiri. 2 oz Cruzan 2 year old white rum, 3/4 oz fresh squeezed lime juice, 1/4 oz simple syrup. Holy loving poo poo this was delicious. I've had "daiquiris" before, but I'm slightly ashamed to admit they've been the frozen slushy poo poo or bar premixes. This tasted so unlike what I've had before that I'd be completely okay with saying this is the first daiquiri I've had in my life. No wonder Hemingway had a hard-on for this drat things. It's the perfect balance, every flavor is so razor goddamn sharp and dry. Compared to the El Dorado 12 year rum I've been guzzling for the past two weeks, the Cruzan is dry like the Gobi dessert and way less sweet, but it's fantastic in this. It's so crisp and refreshing. I need to pick up another bottle of decent white rum now that I'm out, I can't really see a sweet aged rum working as well in a daiquiri. I'm also tempted to fiddle with the citrus profile here, for some reason I could imagine fresh grapefruit juice or lemon juice mixing well with the lime.
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Aug 18, 2013 08:52
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Use white grapefruit juice (keep a dash of lime too) and add a dash of maraschino and you have a Daiquiri #3, which I think is the best of the lot.
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Aug 18, 2013 18:46
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So, I wanna make a bronx after watching the Thin Man. Have had the other two, so I would like to try to unusual one. The problem is, I have no regular gin. I have Tanqueray Rangpur, Bombay Sapphire East, and nifty Unfiltered Gin from a small distillery I know. The question is, which one should I use? Each has it's pros and cons.
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Aug 18, 2013 20:39
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East would be my move. Rangpur is too sweet, and I don't know about your friends gin (send me some)
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Aug 18, 2013 20:43
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Any of you guys heard of an Americano Martini? I had a guy in last night who seemed like he was trying to show off a bit and being a bit weird, but pretty much just seemed like he didn't know what he was talking about. He's in with his fiance and grills me about what kind of oysters we have. Then after looking at the drinks list, he asks me "where are your martinis?" I love that question. I point out our selection of vodkas and gin and after looking over them, he loudly tells me, "look, just give me an Americano. With olives." uhhh. Sir, the only Americano I'm familiar with is Campari and sweet vermouth, served tall and topped with soda. Is that the drink you're after? Are you sure you want it with olives? "Yeah. with olives. An Americano." Ok, I sure thing, I make him his drink, I ask him how it is a minute later, and it's good aparently. Then a few minutes later, he asks, "Is this a martini?" haha ok. Again I explain the drink to him, remind him that I double checked before I made it that this was the drink he was after, then he tells me he wants an Americano Martino. I ask him if he knows what's in it. No. If he can describe what it tastes like so I can try and make him something similar? No. Not really. Then he starts getting all smug, "I figured you wouldn't know what it was. Most bartenders don't know about it. It's really popular in Italy." Ok, cool. My manager overhears and tells me he'll go and look it up. Doesn't find anything. After some more discussion, it turns out "Italy" isn't actually Italy at all, but "Little Italy in Vancouver. All the restaurants down there and all the bartenders down there know what it is." So is this a thing any of you have ever heard of, or is this guy confused. I pretty much got the vibe all night that the guy didn't know what he was talking about but I'd like to check with some more people, because if this is a thing I want to drink it.
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Aug 18, 2013 22:17
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Tonights cocktail as a house full of children drive me insane: The Bee's Knees. Recipe calls for 2 oz gin, 3/4 oz honey syrup, 1/2 oz lemon juice. For starters, honey is loving *terrible* to work with. Especially when you're mildly inebriated and yelling at the honey to dissolve. It won't. Because honey hates you. Second, this tastes more like a cold remedy than a cocktail. This may be due to personal experience, but I just had a nasty loving cold a few months ago and went through honey+lemon cough drops like my life depended on it. I understand that this might have been good during the prohibition because the gin then might have literally made you go blind and you didn't want to taste it, but not now. I've got Gordon's, which is not known as being a subtle gin, and it's left sort of neutered here. Not a fan. If I had a cold and felt the urge to drink gin and not make a hot toddy like a sane human being, I could see this working. Hell I could see it working with vodka because if you're going to use a spirit you can't taste, might as well use something that you can't taste anyway. Use lemon flavored vodka while you're at it. gently caress, I just made a new cocktail. For my second cocktail, I tried this: 4oz gin, 3 oz fresh squeezed lime with a little over a tablespoon of honey dissolved right in the lime, 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Now we are talking. I far prefer lime to lemons, it doesn't taste like a cold remedy, and the bitters add a little depth.
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Aug 18, 2013 22:26
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bunnyofdoom posted:So, I wanna make a bronx after watching the Thin Man. Have had the other two, so I would like to try to unusual one. The problem is, I have no regular gin. I have Tanqueray Rangpur, Bombay Sapphire East, and nifty Unfiltered Gin from a small distillery I know. 1: I want to try that gin 2: Someone really needs to inform them that their Margarita isn't a margarita if it has loving rye whiskey, it's a new cocktail entirely. It's like making a gin and tonic with vodka and still calling it a gin and tonic. It's not, and it's sort of embarrassing to witness. 3: I want to order almost every single one of their bitters. 4: Going to offer a dissenting opinion and say omit the sweet vermouth, increase the dry and go with Rangpur.
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Aug 18, 2013 22:34
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Mix your honey with a little boiling water to make it easier to work with.
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Aug 18, 2013 22:39
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Follow up on the bronx. BSE makes it delicious.
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Aug 19, 2013 02:26
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nrr posted:Any of you guys heard of an Americano Martini? The guy is an idiot. Don't feel bad. Also just make yourself an Americano, they're pretty good.
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Aug 19, 2013 04:47
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nrr posted:Mix your honey with a little boiling water to make it easier to work with. Yup. I've never heard of an Americano "Martini". Maybe someone thought it would be fun to rename a Negroni up? rxcowboy posted:Tonight's cocktail: A real daiquiri. 2 oz Cruzan 2 year old white rum, 3/4 oz fresh squeezed lime juice, 1/4 oz simple syrup. If you can find it Flor de Cana 4 year extra dry is both cheap and makes a killer daiquiri.
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Aug 19, 2013 04:48
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Kenning posted:The guy is an idiot. Don't feel bad. Also just make yourself an Americano, they're pretty good. It's all good, this was pretty much the conclusion I came to before he left the bar, I just wanted to cover all my bases. I've had quite a few Americano's in my time, but I prefer to water down my Campari and sweet vermouth with gin. The Hebug posted:Yup. I've never heard of an Americano "Martini". Maybe someone thought it would be fun to rename a Negroni up?
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Aug 19, 2013 05:08
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bunnyofdoom posted:Follow up on the bronx. BSE makes it delicious. Mad Cow Disease?  Speaking of gin, Beefeater makes a superior Caesar than mere vodka. The juniper gives a nice contrast to the other flavours.
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Aug 19, 2013 06:18
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