Mai Tai and Piña Colada

Unfortunately I had only had blue Curaçao instead of regular, so we drank blue mai tais the other night. Blue drinks will just never seem classy, I don't care what they are called or what they contain.

In fact, the mai tai is a pretty tasty drink, and a nice choice for the nicer weather we had here on Saturday. A lot sweeter than what I am now accustomed to, but still delicious. I can only imagine how amazing these would taste in their proper environment, but those musings will have to stay in my mind until I get some cash money in my bank account.

2 ounces golden rum

1/2 ounce Curaçao

1/2 ounce orgeat (almond flavored) syrup

1/4 ounce simple syrup

juice of 1 fresh lime

-Shake in cocktail shaker and strain into old fashioned glass.

Two drinks in one post! I haven't done that in awhile, but these two happened in the same night I have very similar things to say about them. Yum, but sweeter than I usually drink. Might be making these come summertime. Yay! Recipe:

1 1/2 ounces golden rum

1 1/2 ounce coconut milk

4 ounces pineapple juice

4-5 ice cubes

-Blend it, pour it, drink it.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Highland Cooler

I didn't necessarily do it on purpose, but the Scotch & Soda ---> Stone Fence ---> Highland Cooler progression has been very nice, especially since I wasn't all that thrilled with the first. Like the Stone Fence, the Highland Cooler adds an extra flavor to give back what the soda water dilutes. In this case, add sugar to gives back some pow to your mouth. A lovely drink for sitting and (re)-watching some TV featuring my favorite Scot. I think I might prefer the Stone Fence though. Further investigation required.

Splash of simple syrup

2 ounces Scotch

Soda water

-Add Scotch and simple syrup to an iced highball glass and fill with soda water.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Stone Fence

Okay, this is the way to to do a Scotch and soda: just add bitters. You may remember that my scotch and soda experience was less flavorful than I had hoped. Problem solved with just a dash of bitters, giving back some of the pizzazz that the soda waters down.

1 1/2 ounces Scotch

Soda water

Dash of bitters

-Add Scotch to an iced highball glass and add soda water. Add bitters and stir.

I drank this while watching Inglorious Basterds, which was fantastic. Like way better than I thought it was going to be: I've always avoided Tarantino movies because of how violent they are, but I didn't even mind the violence. The movie was 2.5 hours and I didn't even notice despite my usual distaste for long movies.

Also, sidenote: I added an app on my computer that makes it sound like a typewriter when I type. It's only for macs, but you can get it here. I got it via the fug girls!

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Scotch and Soda

It's amazing, I'm so on top of my blogging that I'm writing this as I take my last few sips of the drink I'm posting about. A major miracle! Of course, I haven't really been drinking cocktails for over a week, so not really as impressive.

The scotch and soda is a classic, the kind of thing I would order at a bar, having never tried it, just to sound like I know what I'm talking about. But frankly, it tasted a little watered down to me, but I may have put too much ice in it. I wanted it to taste more like whiskey or else replace the lack of booze flavor with either sugar or lemon. The carbonation was nice, but the flavor just seemed a little less than the punch I've come to expect. Maybe a more expensive Scotch would've held its own against the soda? Things to consider for the rest of my drinking life.

1 1/2 ounces Scotch

Soda water

-Add Scotch to an iced highball glass and fill with soda water.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Affinity Cocktail

Okay, so this drink happened as part of a string of drinks that involved Scotch, most of which were my own improvisations. I seem to remember enjoying it, but I was enjoying everything at that point. Cut to my drinking buddy and I playing Mariokart and talking about politics until 5AM -- it was spring forward too, so just about the worst weekend for screwing up your sleep schedule.

1 ounce Scotch

3/4 ounce dry vermouth

3/4 ounce sweet vermouth

2-3 dashes bitters

-Stir with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Hot Spiced Cranberry Punch

I decided I needed to make this recipe before the weather got too nice and it's no longer appropriate to make warm drinks. So exciting that we're getting to that time of year! It just makes me want to be back in The City, walking down the street with the restaurants all open to the air. Perfection!

But before the warm weather loveliness, we have hot spiced cranberry punch, which tasted like mulled wine more or less. I decided to get fancy and make cranberry compote instead of canned cranberry sauce: it would have been good if I had blended it before putting it in the punch. As it was, the whole cranberries were kind of awkward in the glass, and it all turned into a sludge in the bottom of the mug at the end.

You might be wondering if I drank this whole punch myself, but I did not. I was smart enough to invite a drinking buddy. We each had a mug and played video games before moving onto other drinks. More on that later ;-)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

3/4 tsp cloves

2 cans jellied cranberry sauce

2 cups light rum

-Bring sugar, 1 cup water, salt and spices to a boil. Blend cranberry sauce with 3 cups water and add to hot ingredients and add the pineapple juice. Add rum.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Godfather

1 ounce scotch

1 ounce Amaretto

-Shake in cocktail shaker with cracked ice and strain into iced old fashioned glass.

If I were to have a godfather again, which doesn't sound like such a bad idea, I would half the amount of amaretto. The scotch was almost a moot point because the almond taste was too strong. It was almost a dessert drink, to be honest. But I guess that's okay, if you're into that kind of thing.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Rob Roy

So a Rob Roy is a version of a Manhattan that substitutes Scotch whiskey for Bourbon whiskey. I don't remember liking the Manhattan, but I definitely liked the Rob Roy. It was my first experience with scotch, and I was happy. So far, my whiskey preference is as such: scotch > bourbon > Seagram's 7. Scotch is just smoother and generally delicious, although there will be more to say on this subject soon.

1 1/2 ounce Scotch

3/4 ounce sweet vermouth

Dash of bitters

-Shake with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Pink Gin

Post #3 in blog fest evening! Sitting around re-watching episodes of 30 Rock and trying to remember what these drinks were like.

This picture makes pink gin look delicious, but really it's very similar to a martini, a fact I was aware of when I decided to have this one. Knowing my dislike of martinis, I was surprised to enjoy pink gin -- I had it with a slice of lemon, not squeezed just floating for prettiness. Really, I don't think I'm actually recommending pink gin, I was just pleasantly surprised.

2 ounces gin

Dash of bitters

-Swirl bitters in a cocktail glass until glass is coated. Add gin.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Long Island Iced Tea

I was really expecting to be completely shit faced after drinking this one -- it's known for having a much higher alcohol concentration than most highballs. I planned this one out so that I wouldn't be hungover at work, which turned out to be completely unnecessary. I wasn't even that buzzed, let alone drunk. But I wouldn't take my experience to heart: proceed with caution when ordering this one.

As to the actual taste, it was like the booze version of a graveyard. You know, when you mix all the sodas together at the soda fountain. I used to love, love that circa middle school and I'm not really sure why. Really bizarre, inexplicable taste. I don't really even know whether to recommend or not because I was left very confused.

3/4 ounce rum

3/4 ounce gin

3/4 ounce vodka

3/4 ounce tequila

3/4 ounce triple sec

1 ounce lemon juice

Cola

-Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker except cola. Strain into iced highball glass and fill with cola.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Black Russian

For some reason, the first two sips I took of the black Russian tasted like soy sauce. Luckily I like soy sauce, but it's not exactly what I look for in a drink. After the first few sips, the drink was just fine, but I would prefer a white Russian or a midnight martini. Coffee flavor good, but could use the creaminess of milk or the extra yumminess of triple sec.

1 1/2 ounce vodka

3/4 ounce Kahlúa

-Shake with cracked ice and strain into iced old fashioned glass.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Halfway Home Rankings Post

So I'm officially halfway through the drinking process, and I thought it would be a good time to do a little retrospective -- a time to summarize what I've done so far and evaluate the overall drinking experience I've had. Here are some lovely lists for those of you who like to get to the bottom line. Obviously all lists are completely subjective and refer only to the opinions of my taste buds. I also don't vouch for these lists being consistent -- I am too lazy to cross reference them.

Best Well Drinks/Cheap and Easy Bar Orders:

1. Tom Collins

2. Cape Codder (vodka cran)

3. Gin Buck

Best from the Classics Section:

1. Gimlet

2. Sidecar

3. Black Velvet

Best Drinks to make for a Party:

1. Mulled Wine (winter)

2. Champagne Punch

3. Cuba Libre

(Caveat: I haven't made that many drinks for parties)

Pleasant Surprises:

1. Black Velvet

2. Alexander

3. Dirty Martini

Best Girly Drinks:

1. Matador

2. Sex on the Beach

3. Flirtini

Best Vodka Drinks:

1. Midnight Martini

2. Vodka Gimlet

3. New Fashion/Lemon Drop (tie)

Best Rum Drinks:

1. Strawberry Daiquiri

2. Mojito

3. Cuba Libre

Best Gin Drinks:

1. Leap Year

2. Orange Blossom

3. Gin Buck

Best Whiskey Drinks:

1. Southern Style Mint Julep

2. Quickie

3. Irish Coffee

Best Drink Photos:

1. Apple Martini

2. Mint Julep

3. Crantini

Drinks most likely to make you Drunk too Quickly:

1. Quickie

2. Mint Julep

3. Tequini (plus bad hangover)

Worst Drinks:

1. Blue Hawaiian

2. Gin and It

3. Classic Martini

...and the drinks where everything came together perfectly and life was brilliant.

Overall Best Drinks:

1. Matador

2. Strawberry Daiquiri

3. Metropolitan

4. Mulled Wine

5. Mojito

6. Gimlet

7. Sidecar

8. Midnight Martini

9. Mint Julep

10. Leap Year

There you go! Enjoy and bottoms up!

Black Velvet

Oh black velvet, how cheeky of you! You sound so terrible on paper (stout beer and champagne?!) but taste so good! How'd ya do that? Also, I have to congratulate you on being my 91st drink, aka the halfway point in the project. We've come so far together!

In all honesty, I've been dreading this little baby since I first flipped through my recipe book because it just seemed like the stout would completely overpower the champagne. At that point, I was also under the impression that I wouldn't like stout, assuming it would be like a more intense version of lighter colored beer: the same flavor, but more. How can I be from the Pacific Northwest and also be so completely ignorant where beer is concerned? Stout is great: smooth, certainly no more bitter than other beers, with a far more complex flavor. Geez! I wish someone had told me sooner.

The stout I used was Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, whose label looked something like this:

Who wouldn't want to buy that? Does my Russian stalker know what the part in Russian says? I'll be disappointed if it's just the same thing translated into Russian. Anyway, the beer was good and I drank the portion not allocated to the cocktail.

The cocktail itself tasted more like champagne than beer until the very dregs. It was just a little less sweet, more rich and smooth. A lovely companion for the evening.

1 ounce stout

3 ounces champagne

-Pour stout into champagne flute without creating much foam. Very very slowly add the champagne on top so that they separate.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Mimosa & Bucks Fizz

The breakfast drinks of champions! Nothing beats a mimosa with bunch on a hungover Sunday morning -- although that was not the setting for me this time. They are bubbly, sweet, and go well with sweet breakfast foods like pancakes or french toast. Yummy yummy.

But, what's the difference between Bucks Fizz and Mimosa? Grand Marnier. Mimosas contain Grand Marnier, which is expensive. Frankly, I liked my Bucks Fizz better, so I don't think I would go to the trouble and the expense to make a proper mimosa.

Mimosa:

Champagne

Orange juice

Dash of Grand Marnier

-Use more champagne than orange juice to taste.

Bucks Fizz:

Champagne

Orange juice

-Use 3 parts champagne to 1 part orange juice.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

7&7

1 1/2 ounces Seagram's 7 blended whiskey

7 up soda

-Add whiskey to iced highball glass and fill with 7 up.

My father drinks a variation on the 7&7 (the CC&7 or Canadian Club and 7 up), so it makes me think of him. I think he drinks it with a lot less 7 up though because mine was very very sweet. A little to easy to get down the gullet in my opinion. Similar to a horse's neck, but less of a whiskey flavor, and I think prefer it that way to be honest.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Mint Julep x 2

Ingredients:

4 ounces bourbon

splash of simple syrup

fresh mint sprigs

Regular mint julep:

Muddle the mint with the simple syrup at the bottom of an iced highball glass. Add bourbon and stir until glass is frost, then garnish with more mint.

Southern Style mint julep:

Add bourbon to an iced highball glass and stir until glass is frosted. Add simple syrup and fill with soda water. Add mint sprigs so that the tops extend out of the glass.

I drank these both in one night, and they sent me to bed early. You hear mint julep and you think of Southern gentility and the Kentucky derby, but it's a stiff drink. Basically pour some bourbon in a glass and stick some mint in it. For me, that means bedtime.

On another note, why didn't the regular mint julep taste at all like mint? I muddled the shit out of those sprigs, but all I tasted was bourbon in my glass. Unexpectedly, in the Southern style drink, where you are not actually consuming mint at all, you get a much better minty sensation. Because the leaves extend over the glass, you end up burying your nose in them as you take a sip. The fragrance of the mint is stronger than the taste, so the Southern style gets you a better mint experience. I loved that.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Petit Zinc

1 ounce vodka

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce sweet vermouth

1/2 ounce orange juice

-Stir with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass.

I looked at these ingredients and had such high expectations. I thought it would be like a leap year or new fashion, but it tasted more like Sunny D and vodka. The orange juice I bought (not Sunny D but also not freshly squeezed) was probably to blame, but I shouldn't have to juice my own oranges to make a decent drink. This one also wasn't very much liquid in my glass. Good because I was going out after, but bad if I were staying in and that was my one drink for the night. You can always double I suppose ;-)

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Sweet Martini

Here's an issue with my note taking process: I usually write a few thoughts down only after my first few sips of a drink, leaving the tail end of my experience completely undocumented. I do so largely because I want to have a somewhat authentic experience and not create a Hawthorne Effect by observing myself to death. All of which is just a preamble to this: I remember actually enjoying my sweet martini, but all my notes are contrary to that notion. Hmm. I think I disliked the first few sips, but got into it by the end. I distinctly remember finishing this martini completely, which is something I don't usually do.

I want to stress that this is the sweet version of the classic martini and not some pseudo martini in the modern vernacular. I did make it dirty, but with less olive brine than before. I also had a sip of a friend's martini last week in New York, and I liked it. Maybe martinis just taste better there? They also seem to lead to being sick on the subway platform, so maybe I don't need to learn to like New York martinis (Note: I was not the sick one, just to be clear).

2 ounces vodka (or gin)

3/4 ounce sweet vermouth

-Stir over ice and strain into cocktail glass.

Well, as it goes my tastes seem to be developing if only I could remember drinks when it came time to order at the bar. Doing this blog has made me a target for drink questions, and I always draw a blank. 89 unique recipes since September and you'd think I could come up with something. Not so much.

Well, enjoy and bottoms up!