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I drank every cocktail

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Re: I drank every cocktail

#191

Post by FuriouslyAdrift »

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 recommend a high proof (bottled in bond or cask strength) rye in most whiskey drinks

Re: I drank every cocktail

#192

Post by FuriouslyAdrift »

avanai wrote: post #76
crystal_revenge wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The other magic ingredient is salt. A tiny pinch of salt can balance out sour and bitter flavors in surprising ways, and be otherwise undetectable. I’ve “fixed” a lot of cocktails that way.

weirdly, a few drops of maraschino liqueur (I go for Lazzaroni) can "stretch" out the flavors of a lot of "brown" liquors. I have no idea why. It kind of adds a strange almond-ish flavor on the finish, though.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#193

Post by FuriouslyAdrift »

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.

Punt et Mes is also really good but very different flavor profile. More like the historic flavor of "sweet" vermouth which was actually more bitter.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#194

Post by FuriouslyAdrift »

miketery wrote: post #46
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.

You don’t need to spend anything more than kettle one. It’s a super simple lab process it’s not like whiskey which has a lot of complexity.

Biggest differences I see are between grain and potato based. I love rye base vodka. It has a sutle sweetness and almost oily mouth feel. I go for Sobieski most of the time.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#195

Post by FuriouslyAdrift »

yojo wrote: post #62
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?

General rules for cocktails: - Avoid the big brands for Tequila and Rum (Cuervo and Bacardi). There are exceptions, but it’s easier to skip. - Cheap gin can be good or bad. Gordon’s is a reasonable entry. The step up is Beefeater or Tanqueray. There are a bajillion craft gins and you can skip them until you’re ready to go deep. - Tequila should always say 100% puro de agave on the bottle. If it does not say this, do…

For gin (dry style) gor Beefeater or Brokers.

For the floral styles then there's all kinds out there. Leopold Brothers is very intersting if you can find it. Also Monkey 47... pricey though.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#196

Post by FuriouslyAdrift »

d3ckard wrote: post #127
yojo wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

General rules for cocktails: - Avoid the big brands for Tequila and Rum (Cuervo and Bacardi). There are exceptions, but it’s easier to skip. - Cheap gin can be good or bad. Gordon’s is a reasonable entry. The step up is Beefeater or Tanqueray. There are a bajillion craft gins and you can skip them until you’re ready to go deep. - Tequila should always say 100% puro de agave on the bottle. If it does not say this, do…

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.

Sobieski is my fav as I prefer rye grain vodka. Russian Standard Platinum was my go to for "clean" tasting vodka.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#197

Post by tristor »

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…

I love a Jack Rose. Unfortunately it's hard to find any good Applejack. I bought some Laird's Apple Brandy that was supposed to be of a special release, thinking it'd be good, but it was very harsh and ended up (before a move) getting dumped. It's really difficult to find any decent Applejack, even though this used to be a quintessentially American drink.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#198

Post by tristor »

rbranson wrote: post #5

If you wanna run thru this list and get a tally, I quickly created this lovable app: https://cocktail-checkered-log.lovable.app/ . I'm at 68/102!

Nice, I'm at 75/102 apparently. Some of these I haven't heard of.

Re: I drank every cocktail

#199

Post by dguest »

tristor wrote: post #197
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…

I love a Jack Rose. Unfortunately it's hard to find any good Applejack. I bought some Laird's Apple Brandy that was supposed to be of a special release, thinking it'd be good, but it was very harsh and ended up (before a move) getting dumped. It's really difficult to find any decent Applejack, even though this used to be a quintessentially American drink.

The French version of the Wikipedia article [1] actually lists calvados [2] instead of applejack. So who knows what the Lost Generation was drinking, maybe the french version is just as good.

[1]: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Rose_(cocktail)

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvados

Re: I drank every cocktail

#200

Post by tristor »

dguest wrote: post #199
tristor wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love a Jack Rose. Unfortunately it's hard to find any good Applejack. I bought some Laird's Apple Brandy that was supposed to be of a special release, thinking it'd be good, but it was very harsh and ended up (before a move) getting dumped. It's really difficult to find any decent Applejack, even though this used to be a quintessentially American drink.

The French version of the Wikipedia article [1] actually lists calvados [2] instead of applejack. So who knows what the Lost Generation was drinking, maybe the french version is just as good. [1]: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Rose_(cocktail) [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvados

Yes, I've made it with Calvados and also with French pear brandy, which was pretty good, but Calvados and Applejack aren't exactly the same. Calvados is done with "cider apples" and Applejack was done with "eating apples" (from my understanding when I was reading into this), which meant Applejack was supposed to be sweeter and was often drunk straight, but it's pretty much disappeared after we learned to make Bourbon in this country.
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