Your favorite cocktails - a reference thread for the newish bartender

I will propose the Aviation tomorrow. I'm not sure how many folks will like it, however, as gin does not seem terribly popular with these Californians.

The maraschino kills some of the ginniness of the gin -- and you're on the west coast, you might be able to get Tanqueray Rangpur? which is even less piney. The trick is still getting people to try it, though, and people who think they don't like gin can be obstinate about it.

The Bijou is very good! 3 parts gin, 1 part green Chartreuse, 1 part vermouth, orange bitters.

Campari goes very well with Goya ginger beer, but I don't have a real cocktail there, I just fiddle depending on what I'm in the mood for -- lemon juice sometimes, grapefruit, orange, sometimes gin to cut the bitterness and sweetness.

I rarely drink cocktails, but I like a Cosmopolitan, which according to Wikipedia is made up of:

3 parts Absolut Citron or other vodka
2 parts Cointreau or triple sec
2 parts cranberry juice
1 part lime juice

The ingredients are to be shaken well with ice and strained into a cocktail glass. A wedge of lime, or a twist of orange or lemon peel, is used to garnish.

1 oz Gin
- 1 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 1 oz Campari
- Garnish: Lemon Twist

Manhattan:
1 3/4 oz rye
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 cherry

Jack Rose:
1 1/2 oz applejack (Laird's)
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz grenadine

Brandy Flip:
2 oz brandy
1 whole egg
1 tsp superfine sugar
1/2 oz light cream
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

Do you make your own sour mix at M&S? Pretty much every cocktail made with fresh sour mix is worthwhile.

Even without brandy though = delicious.

i've been depressed that it hasn't gotten cold enough to bother making the annual batch of hot toddys (whiskey, lemon, sugar, clove), but i suppose that's moot in LA.

Terry Lennox is dead, Haikunym.

We do make our own sour mix. In each glass, even. Fresh squeezed citrus is one of the trade marks of our bar.

3 oz. chilled vodka
12 oz. ginger beer (soda)
1/2 lime

Juice the lime (to taste), add vodka & soda over ice. My goal is to try making these with Vernor's ginger ale, I'm sure your favorite specialty ginger soda would do as well.

Considering I love sours and manhattans, I got surprisingly fruity at the weekend.

Oh and I raise your Moscow Mule for an Appleton(Barbardos) Mule: swop the vodka for golden or dark rum (preferable Appletons).

not exotic, but the best gin & tonic:

Tanqueray (regular, because "10" is too smooth)
Schweppes tonic (a good bar always has bottled tonic on-hand for whiners)
lime
fresh mint

if you muddle the lime with the gin you'll get an even zestier product that some people won't even recognize as a gin & tonic

We only serve bottled sodas (tonic, soda, ginger, 7-Up, coke, sprite) at the bar. Makes for MUCH better cocktails.

but obv don't muddle the mint in the g&t or it'll be veering too close to a mojito. xp

2 oz Junipero gin
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
.5 oz pomegranate molasses
2 sprigs mint

I've made it with other brands of gin (in fact, only with other brands of gin) and it's been great -- haven't seen Junipero either here or in Indiana, but I'll check it out sometime. It ought to be called something else when made with another brand, but whatever.

Two fingers of Absolut Limon
Tonic water
One candy cane

hawaiian punch
vodka
garnish with half of a hostess chocolate-covered donut (they hang nicely over the rim, like a gargantuan brown fruit slice)

Very simple, very delicious, and very uncommon in the US.

Add several dashes Angostura bitters to a glass. Swirl to coat. Fill glass with chilled gin. Drink.

Angostura is good to add to club soda and Rose's lime for someone who's teetotalling. it has a trace of booze, but not enough to be a real drink but it tastes like a proper "drink". what the hell, throw some mint in there, too

But flavor-wise, yeah, it's a good combination -- Audrey's something of a genius when it comes to things like that, she's opened up the Pegu Club in New York now.

The gimlet -- not the vodka gimlet! all these perfectly good gin drinks being vodkized -- is the only reason I have Rose's in the house, though I've found that I actually dig it in a fast and dirty daiquiri, too.

Oh, and re: fruit and gin (sorry for seeming scatterbrained, I am on the telephone): grapefruit juice! The Greyhound and the Salty Dog may be vodka drinks in most places, but they're fantastic with gin -- as is, if you live somewhere that has it, Polar Half and Half, a grapefruit soda mixer that I drink with gin and/or Campari and often a lemon quarter to tart it up.

* 1 1/2 oz Frangelico
* 2 oz Lemon Juice
* 1/2 oz Lime Juice
* 1/3 oz Egg White

Shake over ice, strain into glass. No garnish.

i think gin is def great with any citrus...it's just the sweeter fruits that sometimes taste weird. but the juniperitivo looks tasty.

Add 1 sugar cube to the bottom of a flute, soak with Angostura bitters. Add a bit of brandy and fill with champagne. Garnish w/ an unwieldy orange slice.

French 75:

1 oz fresh lemon juice
2 tsp sugar (I prefer simple syrup, though)
2 oz gin
fill with champagne

Add a bunch of cherries (fresh or frozen), a couple whole star anise, some cloves, some nutmeg, and some cardamom to 2 cups simple syrup and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Drain half the liquid and save for other use (spiced cherry syrup!), add a cup or so of brandy so liquid covers cherries. Keep in an airtight container and these cherries will be a secret bartending weapon of awesomeness.

I used to put up sour cherries in bourbon and sugar, which were the best addition ever to an Old-Fashioned, but moving here meant giving up fresh sour cherries. I have Bings sitting in Laird's applejack, we'll see how they do.

Btw drinking a strong Tom Collins everyday is ideal

lol jewish bartender

I am so f-ing glad I don't work there anymore. Damn, I made no money there.

A sign of a bad bar is that they don't have ginger ale. A sign of a worse bar is that they don't know the seven-up/splash of cola/bitters sub trick.

what is that trick?

btw american bars always sound totally kickass

If you don't have ginger ale, seven-up with a splash of cola and some bitters makes a decent imitation for the Dark & Stormy fan who's willing to settle.

It's always nice when a bar offers a blueberry tea, and nicer still when they rim the glass w/lemon juice.

Gimlet is way better IMO w/just plain lime juice rater than Rose's sugary concentrate. Plus, limes are way cheaper! At least here on the Mexican border they are.

Def way way better w/o sugar! Or with just a quick dash of homemade or herb & spice-infused simple syrup. But you also kind of have to use better booze if you're 86ing the sugar.

Freshly squeezed lime juice and spearmint-infused simple syrup enabled me to drink an alarming amount of vodka last Saturday without even really noticing it.

wait, what is better?

Gimlets.

Okay I saw a 12-oz bottle of simple syrup for $5 at the store here!!! wtf???

WHAT/?/ that's completely off the rails insane. Throw equal parts sugar & water into a pot and heat while stirring until dissolved. Viola -- simple syrup.

Dude I know! "with pure cane sugar," it said.

its the pure cane syrup they'll get you for

btw american bars always sound totally kickass

For every really good bar, there are approx. 25 middling bars and one hundred crappy bars.

For this reason, I am glad I am a person of simple drinking tastes - a Jack Daniels on the rocks is able to acquired in most every bar in the world.

yeah, but at least your shots are bigger there then

Are you in the UK?

And yes, the free pour is one of God's gifts to bar patrons. The measured pour just doesn't do it.

I'm in ireland, I used to work in a hotel bar that had pretty much all american guests who pretty much all hassled me about the measured pour (rigorously implemented policy)

someone should pull a Ferran Adria-type bar move...you could sit at the bar, be draped with a damp gortex jacket over your shoulders and they burn a "campfire trout" incense stick under your nose while you sip Yukon Jack and coffee out of a tin cup.

lol i would go there.

I'm in ireland, I used to work in a hotel bar that had pretty much all american guests who pretty much all hassled me about the measured pour (rigorously implemented policy)

I've met more than one Irish person who has brought this up.

See Also - Americans Traveling Poorly
- Americans Thinking Everything Should Be As the Want it On Vacation
- Americans Not Being Ashamed of Giving Someone a Hard Time Because They Feel Slighted
- America, Land of the We Want it for Free, We'll Drink to the Grave

If you don't have ginger ale, seven-up with a splash of cola and some bitters makes a decent imitation for the Dark & Stormy fan who's willing to settle.

― baleen, the krill queen (Abbott), Wednesday, June 24, 2009 6:13 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

woah woah wait a minute, the dark & stormy should be made with this, no substitutions:

http://www.beveragesdirect.com/images/products/barritts/Barritts.jpg

Oh hell no, I was sorely disappointed in Barrits. I founds some in a DC liquor store and got very excited, maybe I had finally found a decent ginger beer, but no, stil can't compare to:

http://www.thedrinkshop.com/images/products/main/3411/3411.jpg

Old Jamaica = better ginger beer
Barritts = better dark & stormy

Can you find old jamiaica in the states, I have never seen it, but thn I am largely restricted to southwest PA.

I think you need the stronger Ginger beer to cut the rum, although I would up the lime content as well to balance. Perhaps I am departing too far from the orthodox and making a different drink.

I would like to try a straight up dark rum, ginger liqueur, lime juice stirred over ice, I think that would work out quite well.

Could be stones ginger wine as well I guess. Domaine de Canton does seem to be an excellent addition to the bar back, I love a local bar's hell kitchen martini which is Rye, Ginger liqueur and elderflower liqueur, so very very good.

A traditional dark & stormy is one of the few brand-specific cocktails, the true version is made with Gosling's Black Seal rum and any ginger beer from Bermuda. And no lime!

That said, I've enjoyed them with many different kinds of rum, different kinds of ginger beer, and plenty of lime.

Guys, a caipirolo is a real treat I found at a random bar in Peru: a shitload of limon (closest thing ive found to this here is key limes but they are not as good), sugar, ice, pisco. Amazing. Now I have to find good pisco :(

Also hooray this thread has inspired me to get mad herbs @ the farmer's market this afternoon and make a flight of summer simple syrups :)

Dude, I made 2 cups of simple syrup with spearmint two weeks ago and I'm still tipping a quick slurp of it into my lime-and-water at night. It's the best thing ever.

I love citrus juices but at full strength they give me a really bad sore, swollen throat the next day if I have more than one or two drinks. The juice of one lime and the rest of the glass cold water and about a teaspoon of simple syrup is a great way around that.

I just discovered that sangria with citrus is not good 2 days later because all the bitterness from the rinds emerges. Durr. i thought it would just taste fruitier :( at least it looks prettier.

Oh rats, that's too bad. Yeah, some things continue to give off their flavors over a long time. Leaving hot peppers in your tomato juice, btw, is another one -- it'll get a lot hotter after a few days, if you were planning on re-using that bloody mary mix from the weekend.

That I would like, actually. So the lesson is to make smaller batches, or find some friends (wah wah).

I made 3 syrups tonight: mint, rosemary, and lemon balm/lemon verbena. Need to find some lavender.

also tonight made tamarind syrup
i think it is best of all

how would u drink it?

REVIVE!

I feel like talking about cocktails. Anyone had anything particularly good lately?

Dudes, seriously - cocktails. whats up?

Bottoms!

Here we go.

i like a rusty nail

btw here is my nu drink 4 u: http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink5931.html

xp. I also like a rusty nail, nice aperitif.

Pisco sour is my favourite cocktail but you can't get limón de pica here so i have to make do with just using Barman pisco sour mix :(

lol wtf didn't check your link first, Hi dere. Coincidence!

hahaha terrifying, I thought you were commenting ON my link!

Also like: mojito variants that replace the club soda/sparkling water with:

- Sprite/7-Up
- PROSECCO <-------------- srsly the fucking BOMB in every sense of the word, two of these will fuck you up

Prosecco sounds intriguing.

try key limes - they're the closest i've found to peruvian limes.

an awesome variation on the pisco sour is to add prickly pear and make it a colca sour. also i don't know about that recipe - i thought they were traditionally blended and contained egg white for top froth.

traditionally yes, I just linked the first recipe for pisco sour that I came across

standard cocktail order for me = Manhattan

here's the Wikipedia recipe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco_sour

btw I need a suggestion for a gin drink that isn't a martini or a G&T

pimm's cup!

gin, lime, cucumber, rosemary, soda

oh man got very hammered at college roommates' wedding this summer drinking Pimm's cup #1

Bloody Caesar for me thanks!

One of these days I'm gonna try me one of those Salty Dogs. (Artie from "The Larry Sanders Show" was fond of 'em.)

oh those are great, very simple. not very wintery tho.

oh also, hi dere, if you are not a grapefruit hater, try a greyhound!

haha lol at my rogue apostrophe, I think my roommates would be very annoyed with me for inadvertently starting rumors about them (also they live in different countries, which would put a large strain on a relationship already suffering from neither of them being gay)

xp: wait gin and grapefruit juice is a real drink? tell me more, this sounds like heaven

woah hold the fone i thought greyhounds/salty dogs were vodka drinks.

a vodka greyhound is a vodka drink.
traditional greyhound is made with gin.

this is like how people ruined martinis with vodka.

ok actually the internet is not helpful on which came first at all. i always thought it was gin.
omg ew i found something for a 'racing greyhound' that includes red bull ew ew ew ew ew

i always thought a martini was on the rocks in a lowball to begin with, and putting it up in a 'cocktail' glass was arriviste, but i can't find any corroboration on the inter-net.

xp red bull is not to be consumed.

oh I might start drinking Tom Collinses

History

In 1874, people in New York, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere in the United States would start a conversation with "Have you seen Tom Collins?"[1][2] After the listener predictably reacts by explaining that they did not know a Tom Collins, the speaker would assert that Tom Collins was talking about the listener to others and that Tom Collins was "just around the corner", "in a [local] bar," or somewhere else near.[1] The conversation about the nonexistent Tom Collins was a proven hoax of exposure.[1] In The Great Tom Collins hoax of 1874 as it became known, the speaker would encourage the listener to act foolishly by reacting to patent nonsense that the hoaxer deliberately presents as reality.[1] In particular, the speaker desired the listener to become agitated at the idea of someone talking about them to others such that the listener would rush off to find the purportedly nearby Tom Collins.[1] Similar to The New York Zoo hoax of 1874, several newspapers propagated the very successful practical joke by printing stories containing false sightings of Tom Collins.[1] The 1874 hoax quickly gained such notoriety that several 1874 music hall songs memorialized the event (copies of which now are in the U.S. Library of Congress).[1][3]

goddam i'm glad we have all this shitty media to waste our time on now

we were saying the other day that we want to invent a Phil Collins. But couldnt decide what would be in it.

I am in full-on Old Fashioned mode right now. Light on the seltzer, if at all, angostura, and Maker's. Tried a rye one last week, but it didn't have that bourbon caramel flavor which I find necessary. I cannot bring myself to make one with Booker's - just too good by itself. Perhaps one day when I'm feeling particularly flush and not really giving a fuck about standards.

we were saying the other day that we want to invent a Phil Collins.

Tom Collins + Rogaine?

dan you should drink negronis

oh I should, should I

well I think you should drink caucasitinis

lookin for gin drinks--i offer a gin drink. i'm here to help!

^_^

hahahahahhahahahahah

oh yeah negronis are amazing

they are definitely! but you have to like bitter flavours, none of my friends like them

I am totally down for unconventional-tasting drinks, for a while my go-to beverage was Absolut Peppar and tonic.

There are two popular versions as to who invented the Negroni cocktail. One of them is that it was invented by General Pascal Olivier Count de Negroni, a Corsican French citizen, as a digestive aid.[1][2][3] The other is that the Negroni was invented in Florence, Italy in 1919, at Caffè Casoni, later called "Caffè Giacosa", by Count Camillo Negroni, who invented it by asking a bartender (Fosco Scarselli) to add gin to the Americano, his favorite drink. [4] The word Negroni does not appear in English cocktail guides before 1947.

After the success of the cocktail, the Negroni Family founded Negroni Distillerie in Treviso, Italy, and produced a ready-made version of the drink, sold as "Antico Negroni 1919"

oh for the days when rolling in somewhere and saying "put gin in that" was enough to get shit named after you

xp then i think you would like them! still lollin' here btw

great part abt the negroni is that they're hard to fuck up, i dont think i've ever got a bad one at a bar

i would love to see someone put the nipsy russell on actual bar menu, especially since the only bartender i ever got to make them left his job u_u

love a negroni sbagliato:

2 oz Spumante (or champagne)
1 oz red vermouth
1 oz Campari
1 slice orange for garnish
Stir over ice

When I was a bartender there was a guy, a european diplomat of some kind, who would order them with cognac instead of red vermouth. Had to be precisely identical measures of the gin, cognac and campari, stirred and then strained over ice. It sounds weird but it's quite good.

gin, lime, cucumber, rosemary, soda

― tehresa, Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:55 PM (3 hours ago)

I had something very similar to this on Sunday at Parkside in Austin. It was called a Rosemary Cucumber and the ingredients were Hendrick's Gin, rosemary, and cucumber puree. It was like a very mild and cucumbery martini. Good times!

there are some good gin/lemon cocktails u can make too.

A gin delicious is an amazing cocktail - basically a lemon drop but with gin!

A friend of mine invented a drink - gin in Bud light lime - proportioned like a G&T but with the Bud instead of tonic and lime. No great shakes, but drinkable. Can't remember what he called it, something pornographic.

fuck are you kidding

it was called "the unholy abomination" or "waste of gin" or something similar

i'm not crazy about the cucumber purée. i prefer a few muddledy slices, but to each his own!

xposts

i was out with a friend once and her drink had cucumber purée, and her description was that it tasted too much like a face mask.

I'm glad this thread popped up actually cos we'll be at a swanky bar tonite for my best mate's annual wedding anniversary drinking get together. Think I might have myself a few classicks.

here was the inspiration for the cucumber thing http://www.overthehillandonaroll.com/2008/06/bringing-gin-back.html

but you can leave out tonic if not into it, or put it in. either works!

In that blog they say "I never understood how gin got a bad rap". Did/does it? Everyone I know drinks G&T as a go-to.

i would love to see someone put the nipsy russell on actual bar menu, especially since the only bartender i ever got to make them left his job u_u

― strongohulkingtonsghost, Thursday, November 12, 2009 8:47 PM (2 hours ago)

you have my full pledged support, we still drink those regularly, so thx dude!

Google search for "nipsy russell cocktail", and this thread was number FOUR!!! Awesome.

A friend of mine invented a drink - gin in Bud light lime - proportioned like a G&T but with the Bud instead of tonic and lime. No great shakes, but drinkable. Can't remember what he called it, something pornographic.

― nickn, Thursday, November 12, 2009 2:55 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
fuck are you kidding

― goole, Thursday, November 12, 2009 2:55 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
it was called "the unholy abomination" or "waste of gin" or something similar

― a Barbie-like nub where he provates should be (HI DERE)

Obviously we didn't use good gin, but it was more drinkable than I would have thought.

I've been seeing quite a few beer cocktails in the past year - had one last night with white ale, bourbon, lemon and a couple other things I can't remember. Delicious!

Fuck, I paid WAY too much attention to this and the whiskey thread yesterday. Three Old Fashioneds = LOOOONG Friday.

man i wanna nipsy russell tonight, i think

they are great!

Can you please tell me whats in a Nipsy Russell? I was unable to find the recipe yesterday.

John Justen and Fluffy Bear Will Drink It

i think i have only had them that one time

and i've never had it with that exact recipe, either. i though the juice ingredient was "whatever weird shit you can find"

The gin & Bud lime drink was called a Limey Fuck, btw.

nipsys are like being touched by the hand of god

wow, I guess I never made it to making them that weekend.

that thread will go down as one of the all-time greats. John Justin's threads are typically A+ grade. Currently LOVING the Henry the Puppy thread.

We had an 80s movie night and I made Blue Lagoons: curacao and vodka on ice, with lime.

I think The Sazerac should be in the repertoire of anyone who waxes romantic about 19th century New Orleans. I've only had one professionally prepared once, at Le Chat Noir on St. Charles, and didn't catch if there was some cognac in the mix. According to the Sazerac spirits company, its:

* Pack an Old-Fashioned glass with ice
* In a second Old-Fashioned glass:
* 1 sugar cube
* 3 dashes Peychaud's bitters, crushing the sugar cube
* 1½ ounces rye whiskey
* Empty the first glass, and swirl
* enough Herbsaint (or absinth, or Pernod) to coat glass, discarding remainder
* add the contents of the first glass
* garnish with a lemon peel

Of course, a modern drink will be a bit bigger, but the elements rye + anise + bitters + sugar should be in any rendition

who are you

C'est moi!

it is a mystery

I'm not sockpuppet of any current or older habitue on ILX or ILM (though some of you knew me by RL name on AMA), nor am I a public figure in any respect.

it was not an accusation! you just know so much...too much

That's about right for a sazerac. There are legitimate variations that use cognac instead of rye (the original version), both Peychaud's and Angostura bitters, different amounts of bitters, etc. I also don't mind substituting simple syrup for the sugar - just gets the drink a bit smoother since the sugar's so hard to dissolve.

oh have we discussed the WORLDWIDE ANGOSTURA BITTERS SHORTAGE?

http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/06/angostura-bitters-shortage-shakes-up-cocktail-world/

been drinking lots of tequila old fashioneds and whiskey sours lately

I'm going to my old bar for dinner. I predict drinks. And more. Drinks.

so glad derelict brought up the sazerac recently! i impulsively bought herbsaint and peychaud to go with a really nice bottle of rye (present to myself with my year-end bonus) and am having a lot of fun making this drink. it's like a next-level old fashioned which is pretty damn tremendous imo

embarrassing admission -- whenever i am making simple syrup i picture myself in a gucci mane or clipse video. all the pyrex, y'know.

I have a question: What is sour mix doing in a margarita and do you need it? There's already lime juice, and surely sour mix is a disgusting chemical burn concoction?

I think sour mix should be avoided always -- there's no point in it. A margarita is tequila + lime juice + a sweeter element (which may or may not be alcohol-bearing), either triple sec or a splash of the jugo of your choice for a different-variety fruity margarita. That's how I do it at least.

I made a margarita recently that was tequila (1) + lime + ginger (0.5) liqueur and it was really tasty.

Good! That is solid advice and I will take it.

Revive!

I'm finding that my Old Fashioned preparation lately is perfect. Perhaps it is the Fee Bros. bitters. They are excellent.

What is everyone drinking lately?

I'm still a beer and wine guy, but I do follow the more active cocktail thread (it's not just for cad):

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

3 oz lillet, 1 oz gin, shaken, up, dash bitters

kind of a dessert cocktail

does anybody know of a more detailed breakdown for liqueur shelf life (after opening) than this general guide?

http://cocktails.about.com/od/stockyourbar/f/liquor_storage.htm

pretty sure my cassis has turned, it's maybe a year or two old?

I've been drinking equal parts cynar, rye, and vermouth, like a brown negroni

I had an aperol/rye/soda a couple weeks back and it was more interesting than expected!

the general guide is basically it? i'm not ashamed/a little ashamed to admit that the liquors in my house aren't around very long so it's not a problem lol :C

does anybody know of a more detailed breakdown for liqueur shelf life (after opening) than this general guide?

i've never seen anything more specific, most liqueurs hold up fine but your cassis certainly could have gone south.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWeVRxR1qek

I was waiting for the moment where my jaw would drop

good video, caek!

"3 ounces of bourbon"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZbzB7pbVT0

this one has only two ounces of bourbon

I kind of wonder if their viral shtick was making heinous videos but I have been to bars that actually made drinks like that

why yes we can make uh classic cocktails *pulls out wrong glass*

Well, I was inspired...to make a double old-fashioned per my personal recipe. Cheers!

i can't believe i've been making old fashions so incorrectly for all these years

It's not crazy to wonder how many patrons have died on JaNee's watch