I drank every cocktail • Hacker News Board

Re: I drank every cocktail

#51

Post by addaon » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 1:53 AM UTC

azhenley wrote: post #35

owenversteeg wrote: post #19

For those that are getting into cocktails, by far the best piece of advice I can give is: know when the quality of ingredients matter and when they don’t. If it’s a very sugary/salty drink, or people are smoking, or already drunk, most people won’t care, but for a lot of cocktails the ingredients make a massive difference. The best bang for your buck is Carpano Antica, a sweet vermouth with real complexity to it; the…

Do you have a ranked list of items that pay off to spend a bit more versus doesn’t matter?

#1) Good Maraschino cherries or similar.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#52

Post by terribleperson » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 1:55 AM UTC

addaon wrote: post #51

azhenley wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a ranked list of items that pay off to spend a bit more versus doesn’t matter?

#1) Good Maraschino cherries or similar.

Good maraschino cherries are expensive and yet so incredibly good they're absolutely worth it.

The syrup they're in is also incredible.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#53

Post by addaon » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 1:56 AM UTC

terribleperson wrote: post #52

addaon wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#1) Good Maraschino cherries or similar.

Good maraschino cherries are expensive and yet so incredibly good they're absolutely worth it. The syrup they're in is also incredible.

I have never poured them into a cereal bowl with whole milk and used a spoon.

Or so I claim.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#54

Post by crystal_revenge » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 1:56 AM UTC

owenversteeg wrote: post #19

For those that are getting into cocktails, by far the best piece of advice I can give is: know when the quality of ingredients matter and when they don’t. If it’s a very sugary/salty drink, or people are smoking, or already drunk, most people won’t care, but for a lot of cocktails the ingredients make a massive difference. The best bang for your buck is Carpano Antica, a sweet vermouth with real complexity to it; the…

My advice would be: Every cocktail has an unlisted ingredient that makes or breaks the drink - ice water.

Shaking or stirring a cocktail doesn’t just make it colder, it dilutes it as well. Getting this right is very often the difference between a good and bad drink.

I demonstrated this once when a friend complained that it was so hard to get a good cocktail, especially getting good ingredients. All they had in their kitchen was some gin and some other slightly floral novelty liqueur. I just took a spoon and a glass and stirred them something based on the ratios for a martini and they said it was one of the best cocktails they have had!

Balancing chill and dilution, even in more complex drinks, is essential.

A good way to experiment is to make batch chilled cocktails in which case you need to explicitly measure out the water you’re adding.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#55

Post by refactor_master » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 1:57 AM UTC

azhenley wrote: post #35

owenversteeg wrote: post #19

For those that are getting into cocktails, by far the best piece of advice I can give is: know when the quality of ingredients matter and when they don’t. If it’s a very sugary/salty drink, or people are smoking, or already drunk, most people won’t care, but for a lot of cocktails the ingredients make a massive difference. The best bang for your buck is Carpano Antica, a sweet vermouth with real complexity to it; the…

Do you have a ranked list of items that pay off to spend a bit more versus doesn’t matter?

It's just simple food science really. Cooling things down reduces harshness and complexity. Sweetening things reduces harshness and complexity. So if you're going for something cool and sweet, don't mix it with high end liquors, because you probably won't really notice a big difference.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#56

Post by avalys » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 2:01 AM UTC

maest wrote: post #30

> First semester that year, I took a Beverage Management class, which was ostensibly about managing bars, but it was no secret that everyone took it because of its tasting component. Is this breadth of topics common for the American higher educational system or did the author go to a special university?

It depends on the specific institution, but the US higher educational system does have a lot of very specialized degrees. This is part of a "Food Science & Nutrition" program (https://staging.fshn.illinois.edu/about/what-we-do-why-it-ma...).

While the value of some of these courses is somewhat questionable on their own (hence the old joke about majoring in "Underwater Basket Weaving"), they make a bit more sense as part of a broader program and/or a double-major.

For instance, you might double major in Chemistry, plus Food Science and Nutrition, if you intend to do some work in that industry - or perhaps Business plus Food Science and Nutrition.

Someone with less ambitious college plans might major in Food Science and Nutrition alone and aim for a job as a nutritionist, or a restaurant manager, etc.?

It's also common for people to register for courses like this as a fun or lightweight diversion from "more serious" majors. For instance, MIT offers a course on glassblowing, which counts toward the humanities & arts part of the general curriculum requirements.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#57

Post by djoldman » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 2:02 AM UTC

owenversteeg wrote: post #19

For those that are getting into cocktails, by far the best piece of advice I can give is: know when the quality of ingredients matter and when they don’t. If it’s a very sugary/salty drink, or people are smoking, or already drunk, most people won’t care, but for a lot of cocktails the ingredients make a massive difference. The best bang for your buck is Carpano Antica, a sweet vermouth with real complexity to it; the…

I do enjoy Antica.

That being said, IMHO sweet vermouths vary a lot. Enough that I'd pick one over another depending on the cocktail.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#58

Post by ramses0 » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 2:06 AM UTC

BSOhealth wrote: post #7

Very cool motivation around personal “lists” generally! Gin took me the longest to “get” and subtle cocktails that play to its strengths seem to have had the most lasting appeal. Whiskey drinks are great but I’d usually just rather have a nice whiskey straight, versus diluted with sugar. Whiskey+wine has some good combos. Likewise with tequila. Rum/rhum I still don’t get the sipping side, so cocktails is still the go…

Check TheGinIsIn.com to learn why you like your favorite. So much dramatic variety in gin styles!

Re: I drank every cocktail

#59

Post by technothrasher » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 2:09 AM UTC

addaon wrote: post #51

azhenley wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a ranked list of items that pay off to spend a bit more versus doesn’t matter?

#1) Good Maraschino cherries or similar.

Amarena Fabbri cherries are my go to for a Manhattan. So much better than even the good Maraschinos.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#60

Post by xboxnolifes » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 2:10 AM UTC

maest wrote: post #30

> First semester that year, I took a Beverage Management class, which was ostensibly about managing bars, but it was no secret that everyone took it because of its tasting component. Is this breadth of topics common for the American higher educational system or did the author go to a special university?

My university had courses such as wine tasting, beer tasting, and food tasting. Not necessarily a ton of them, but enough that a lot of 4th year students would fill their "free" credit slots with those courses as fun easy As.