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I drank every cocktail

aaronson.org

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171–180 of 229 posts

Re: I drank every cocktail

#171

Post by wrsh07 »

djoldman wrote: post #57
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.

And they taste good/interesting on their own. If you're making drinks at home, try out the ingredients! I rather like a sweet vermouth, and you can feature it strongly in eg a gin and it https://newsletter.anthonygladman.com/p/all-hail-the-gin-and...

Some recipes call for 1:2 ratio, but the 1:1 works well! Give it a try

Re: I drank every cocktail

#172

Post by tallanvor »

elygre wrote: post #129
matsemann wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, strict rules. But the Wine Monopoly is great and quite beloved. For more expensive wines/liquors where the alcohol tax is a small amount of the total price, it's actually reasonably priced. The monopoly get good prices due to the volume they purchase of stuff. And the selection is great. In Denmark for instance, every store has a selection of alcohol, but it's quite limited and always the same everywhere. You h…

The two revelations of the wine monopoly. The first is «you have a monopoly???», and then later «and you actually like that?????»

It's definitely not loved by everyone here! Really the main concern a lot of people have is what will happen to prices if they got rid of it. The limits on how much they can mark up the prices does, like the previous commenter noted, mean that the more expensive stuff is actually more "reasonable".

Re: I drank every cocktail

#173

Post by quantum_magpie »

cinntaile wrote: post #143
d3ckard wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On vodka: Sobieski is not a good brand and "Luksusowa" is fine, but it's made of potatoes. Personally, I strongly prefer vodkas made of wheat, they tend to be smoother and sit better (and the hangover is anegdotically less of a problem). Also, people who think vodka quality doesn't matter clearly never drank a lot of vodka.

Recommend some good brands, you have your opportunity here.

Finlandia and Absolut

Re: I drank every cocktail

#174

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

Balgair wrote: post #168

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 sectio…

drinkboy.com used to be my go-to for cocktail preparation. I liked that some of the articles had a bit of history behind them. Plus, in an era before YouTube destroyed all other video hosting sites, it was nice to see a video of the drink's preparation.

Plus I figured the HN crowd would enjoy that it's managed by Robert Hess, longtime Microsoft employee.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#175

Post by dbl000 »

antognini wrote: post #77

If anyone is interested in getting into cocktails I really can't recommend Cocktails with Suderman enough. The early posts are free and go into the theory of how cocktails are structured and why they work. Once you start to understand the structure of the major cocktails it makes it a lot easier to understand how you can play with the ingredients and make something new. For instance, tons of cocktails fall into the "…

I also want to shout out The Sprits which serves as a book club for cocktails. Very good if you're just exploring. Each week you get a cocktail and a themed playlist to go with it, plus some other random musings.

https://thespirits.substack.com

Re: I drank every cocktail

#176

Post by scott_w »

kenanfyi wrote: post #121
ReptileMan wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My rule of thumb for cocktails is - they were created to mask the flavors of shitty base liquors so this is what should be used. The best old fashioned comes from jim beam white label. Unless you use some really strong medicinal smoked whiskeys you probably won't be able to pick up much of the delicate flavors from the good stuff with so much syrup and bitters in it. and if you want to add complexity - just make a mo…

Wasn‘t it Woodford Reserve? I think I never used Jim Beam for an old-fashioned.

Yes and I don't know how they manage it but Woodford Reserve somehow makes the worst old fashioned money can buy. I find Wild Turkey makes a decent tasting old fashioned that you can make at home with not much knowledge.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#177

Post by davelee »

I've only been to Italy once, and Riva del Garda is one of the places I visited. Funny to see it called middle of nowhere. Grappa is delicious, yet it is surprising to see that it's used in an "official" cocktail.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#178

Post by kingnothing »

ReptileMan wrote: post #100
antognini wrote: post #77

If anyone is interested in getting into cocktails I really can't recommend Cocktails with Suderman enough. The early posts are free and go into the theory of how cocktails are structured and why they work. Once you start to understand the structure of the major cocktails it makes it a lot easier to understand how you can play with the ingredients and make something new. For instance, tons of cocktails fall into the "…

My rule of thumb for cocktails is - they were created to mask the flavors of shitty base liquors so this is what should be used. The best old fashioned comes from jim beam white label. Unless you use some really strong medicinal smoked whiskeys you probably won't be able to pick up much of the delicate flavors from the good stuff with so much syrup and bitters in it. and if you want to add complexity - just make a mo…

I'm not advocating to use limited release bourbons, but when 90% of your drink is the base spirit, you'll get a lot of value out of using a traditional top shelf bourbon vs well like Jim. Try a $40 bottle like Eagle Rare or Angel's Envy. There's not much syrup in a good old fashioned -- go with 2oz bourbon, a teaspoon of simple or good maple syrup, and a couple dashes of Angostura. Maybe a dash of black walnut bitters, too. The higher quality whiskey should be apparent.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#179

Post by kingnothing »

mgaunard wrote: post #116
bryanlarsen wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> worst value is high end vodka. For mixing, definitely. If you're drinking it straight, the subtle complexity of a good vodka is nice.

People who never had Belvedere or Chopin simply don't know that a vodka shot doesn't have to be a painful experience.

The nice thing is Chopin is only $20 these days, too. There was a massive price drop a few years back that has fortunately stuck.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#180

Post by mikhailfranco »

bravesoul2 wrote: post #4

Damn I thought it was going to be https://scottaaronson.blog/ and wondered what cocktail was an analogy for, or if he just had a fine night out.

There is a podcast from Sean Carroll about cocktails, if you like your mixology from a physics & philosophy guy:

Mindscape 307 | Kevin Peterson on the Theory of Cocktails

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

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