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I drank every cocktail

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Re: I drank every cocktail

#161

Post by pc86 »

beAbU wrote: post #145
matsemann wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hehe. But where I'm from (Norway) it's only allowed to serve drinks with 40 cl (edit, I meant 4 cl heh) of liquor (with exceptions for international recognized cocktails). So if you were to get less ice you wouldn't get anything more for your money anyways. Except more soda water and a diluted taste.

40ml is a decent double tot. I would not want more than that in a single drink anyway. Especially if its a strong liquor!

40ml is 1.3 oz so not even a double. I didn't realize the Norwegians were all drinking weak cocktails!

Re: I drank every cocktail

#162

Post by pc86 »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #150
Barbing wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>40 cl of liquor RIP all Norwegian drinkers [typo correction and conversion likely: 4 cl = 40 ml ≈ 1.35 fl oz]

Alcohol is insanely expensive in Norway. Not the place to be if you are a big drinker

It's because of the insane taxes and government-owned monopoly on sales. But you'll still find apologists in this thread saying with a straight face that "it's actually reasonably priced" which is objectively false.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#163

Post by yojo »

jen729w wrote: post #103
yojo wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Antica is very particular, IMO. It’s good, but lots of vanilla flavor, which doesn’t work everywhere. Honestly Martini and Rossi is totally adequate, and I wouldn’t bother stepping up until your palette is dialed in.

I think anyone could immediately appreciate the difference between a negroni made with Antica vs. Rossi. It's night and day. The Antica lends a far deeper flavour vs. the brash sweetness of the Rossi. The gin, on the other hand: just get the cheapest stuff you can find. Our go-to was Aldi's store brand. Campari, of course, has the middle ingredient all stitched up.

I still disagree. The vanilla is just too much in a negroni. I’d rather use Dolin, or the Death & Co 50/50 Dolin/Punt e Mes mix if I think I can get through both bottles before they oxidize.

But Martini & Rossi is fine. It does the job well enough to understand the drinks, and you can start trying the pricier stuff once you decide if you even like them.

Also, hard disagree on “buy the cheapest gin.” Gordon’s is better than everything else on the bottom shelf at a regular liquor store, but often costs a buck or two more. Way better than Seagrams, or something like New Amsterdam that isn’t even a London Dry. I don’t have an Aldi to compare to. Kirkland Signature is fine if we’re doing store brands.

No argument on Campari. That’s just truth.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#164

Post by thinkingtoilet »

a3w wrote: post #151

"I tried every drug in the category of X and survived to tell it (for now)" is a hackernews topic? Who did all kinds of cocaine and cannabis and wants to share that? Those seem to be safer than alcohol.

I think it's the nerdiness involved in the pursuit that's the attraction here. People here appreciate others sharing their obsessions. This wasn't some random drunk ranting about what he's drank over the last few years.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#165

Post by mgaunard »

johnisgood wrote: post #146
mgaunard wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whisky will typically give you a worse experience the day after. High-grade vodka is about producing a product free of impurities for the cleanest possible flavour. High-grade whisky is about capturing as many impurities as possible (particularly wood and peat) for a more complex flavour.

I never had hangover from whiskey though, but that is only my personal experience.

There is a huge variety of whiskies (even if restricting things to "whiskey", i.e. American or Irish) so that might depend on the product.

Also people experience the morning after differently I guess. As I get older whisky and red wine tend to hit harder.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#166

Post by yojo »

scosman wrote: post #144
yojo wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of Canadian Rye uses a lot of grain alcohol. If you pick a bottle at random off the shelf (assuming US market), it’s unlikely to be good. There are many great Canadian Ryes. But if you’re new to cocktails, odds are against you finding them at your local liquor store, and you probably don’t need them for the drink you’re trying to make. I didn’t mean to disparage the category. Lot 40 and Alberta Dark Horse/Dark…

If you're picking random bottles of the shelf you're not going to have a good time with any category. Tequila, rum, American whiskey, etc -- the most popular stuff is pretty bad. You did disparage the category, but it still seems based off not understanding what it is. The listed Canadian whiskeys are great and meet the US definition of Rye, but Canadian Rye is a bigger category with lots of great stuff to explore. J…

I agree rum is hard. I said as much in my post.

Tequila is fine as long as you grab a bottle that says 100% Puro De Agave. Compliance requires it be all blue agave with no sugars or additives. It might have lost a lot of character to an autoclave, but it won’t be gross.

It is hard to go wrong grabbing a bottle of straight bourbon. By law to be bourbon there are assurances about the contents - no sugar/flavor/color added, aged in new charred barrels, minimum 51% corn, etc. Straight rye (or better yet BiB) has similar guarantees.

Canadian Rye does not have these requirements. It could be 5% rye and 95% wheat in fourth-fill barrels. It could have sugar added. It could have weird flavors added. You should know what you’re doing if you’re shopping Canadian Rye. I can’t give you a one liner on how to avoid the traps.

But most importantly, this is a thread about cocktails, and you have to get pretty deep into craft cocktails before you find any that call for Canadian rye. I am trying to give rules of thumbs for newbies to avoid common pitfalls, one of which is seeing a drink that calls for “rye” and grabbing a bottle of Canadian rye.

On that note, if you have some great recipes calling for Canadian rye, I’d love to hear them. I’ve got a bottle each of Forty Creek Copper Pot and Crown Northern harvest that are languishing on my shelf.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#167

Post by Balgair »

dguest wrote: post #110

For about 6 months I tried to order a Jack Rose [1]. Only one bartender knew what it was (lime, applejack, and grenadine). And no it's not on this list. How can I excuse such a pretentious mission? Well someone told me that "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks" [2] was The Cocktail Bible and a Jack Rose was the thing I'd never heard of. Turns out no one else has either, at least since Hemingway was drinking them in Paris i…

Jack Rose is one of my favorites!

99 Red Balloons is also a great one

Re: I drank every cocktail

#168

Post by Balgair »

Aside:

The internet is terrible for cocktail recipes. Discovery is terrible, recipes are badly listed most of the time, and the blogs don't curate well.

Youtube is not that bad if you can find a good channel with someone that has actually worked in a bar, but even then, they tend to go downhill after a while. It's a time limited gig.

The best way to grow your repertoire is to go to Goodwill and browse the book section there. The dollar bin section at any bookseller is good too. Used bookstores too. I have no idea why this is, but these crummy non-seller books have the best recipes and the best curation; it's bonkers. Sure, grab Smugglers Cove and the other hits, actually read them. But I have found that the best cocktail recipes are in the books no one wants anymore.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#169

Post by wrsh07 »

Avalaxy wrote: post #109
matsemann wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My second advice would be ice ice ice. A bartender uses copious amounts of ice. It's for a reason. If you make a mojito at home and just chuck two ice cubes in, you will either get waaayyy too much soda in when filling the glass, a too hot drink, too watered down etc.

> A bartender uses copious amounts of ice. It's for a reason. $$$$$$$$$

In _regarding cocktails_, the note from the author is that it's better to have a cold drink with too much ice than one that isn't staying cold

The tacit advice is to drink faster than the ice melts (and if there is no ice, enjoy quickly)

Anecdotally at home and out, I've found I agree. But it could be a mental trick

Re: I drank every cocktail

#170

Post by tallanvor »

pc86 wrote: post #162
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol is insanely expensive in Norway. Not the place to be if you are a big drinker

It's because of the insane taxes and government-owned monopoly on sales. But you'll still find apologists in this thread saying with a straight face that "it's actually reasonably priced" which is objectively false.

It's really only because of the taxes. Vinmonopolet prices are marked up by 10.4 NOK per liter plus 21% of the purchase price excluding taxes and duties up to a maximum of 250kr per item. Of course, this means they can't have loss-leaders, but at the same time, you can end up with very good deals on expensive drinks relative to many other countries.

Of course I would love to see Norway lower some of it's sin taxes - these mostly only hurt poor people.

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