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!

John Collins

Two posts in one day! How amazing am I? Please, in lieu of flowers and gifts, just make a donation to the charity of your choice ;-)

I have to draw your attention to the John Collins photo. Let me tell you, if there were John Collinses sitting elegantly in mountain streams, I would spend a lot more time hiking. I feel like someone took a Coors commercial and photoshop a cocktail in -- taste of the Rockies and all. Ridiculous.

As to the quality of the actual drink, my ability to judge is diminished because I did some sketchy substitution. My soda water was flat, so I borrowed some of my roommate's (sorry B). Would've been fine except that hers was Pomegranate flavored, which didn't mix with the bourbon at all. For other types of Collins, I think the pom would have been fine, but the stronger flavor of whiskey was just really odd and off-putting. If not for my blunder, I'm sure this would've been a good drink just like other Collins.

2 ounces bourbon

splash of simple syrup

juice of 1/2 fresh lemon

soda water

-Add to an iced highball glass, soda water last. Stir and serve.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Beachcomber

My version did look surprisingly similar to this picture, so hooray for me! Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the blending thing down very well yet, and nothing I make comes out with the right consistency of a blended drink. Is it me or is it my blender? The soul searching continues...

Beyond the texture, the beachcomber simply joins the ranks of drinks I don't remember very well and that I took no notes on. Too sweet? Too strong? Boring? Pretty good? No idea. I imagine it wasn't as delicious as the recipe makes it sound or I would've had clearer memories.

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce lime juice

2 dases grenadine

-Blend with ice and pour into wine goblet.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Martinez

I'm sorry to be such a cocktail failure, but all I remember about the martinez is that it tasted slightly better than I expected. I'm not even going to make anything up. I'll just pack it in and do better next time.

3/4 ounces gin

3/4 ounces dry vermouth

1/2 ounce Cointreau

Dash of bitters

-Stir with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass.

Enjoy and bottoms up!