Cocktails

I probably should have mentioned that I'm in San Diego and anything Mexican is pretty ubiquitous here. Didn't realize it was even hard to find elsewhere.

Yeah, mezcal is pretty unknown in the midwest except for the higher end places and cocktail snob bars.

thanks for the recipe Tea, will try it out.

Tea, I am going to go out and buy a nice cross section of bourbons and wanted your input. Let me know if anything is not worth picking up, things are redundant or if I'm missing something obvious.


Four Roses Single Barrel
Rittenhouse Rye 100
Noah's Mill
Eagle Rare 10
Willett 6 year
Blanton's Single Barrel
Ridgemont Reserve 1792
Rowan's Creek

Also, living in Texas my access to anything in the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection is fairly non-existent.

That is an excellent selection. When you are pulling down mostly top shelf stuff then it's all going to be good it's just a matter of personal taste. You don't have any unfiltered cask strength bourbon on the list and you may want to switch out the Noah's Mill for Bookers. Noah's Mill is fine and a bit interesting, but I think Bookers is a much better bourbon. Most the bourbon I drink now is unfiltered, and Bookers is a fine example. I normally opt for four roses or buffalo trace uncut and unfiltered, but I assume availability of that outside Kentucky is basically nonexistent. Sucks that you don't get to experience the majesty of the antique collection though.

The Martini (Haast's preferred method):

2 parts dry gin
1 part dry vermouth
splash of olive juice

Instructions: add all 3 ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for 5-10 sec. Strain into martini glass. Dress with 1-3 olives.

You can get very spendy on gin and vermouth if you want. However, I've found Greenall's or Bombay Dry (or Bombay Sapphire if you like spending more) work well without costing an arm and a leg. Martini & Rossi vermouth is fine, though Dolin vermouth is nicer if you want to pay more. You can use jalapeno stuffed olives to add a kick. If it comes out green, you overdid the olive juice. It should have a slight hint of green, barely noticeable.

I haven't found a vodka martini I like yet, but I would like to try Potocki rye vodka in a martini sometime. I've had it before on it's own and it has a unique flavor I think would go well in a martini.

Any other gin martini drinkers wanna share their version?

2 oz Plymouth Gin
3/4 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
1-2 dashes Regan's Orange Bitters
Twist lemon

I prefer well stirred over shaken. As a rule of thumb I think gin martinis should be stirred and vodka "martinis" should be shaken. This is a very classic and very standard martini, which I think has more than stood the test of time. I prefer the traditional lemon twist over olives as the lemon works exceptionally well with the orange bitters and Noilly Prat (and lemon and gin go together without say). What needs to be emphasized is that vermouth must be refrigerated and even then its shelf life is only about 3 months. For many years the trend was towards decreasing amounts of vermouth and rightfully so when it isn't being taken care of. Vermouth is a fortified wine; it needs to be treated like such. The good news is that more vermouth has swung back into popularity, but unfortunately a lot of bars still don't refrigerate it so the martinis are awful.

Plymouth is far and away my favorite gin for martinis, and it's good to have it on hand for the indelible pink gin, which only really works with Plymouth. I do think it's important to tailor the ratio's to your liking and they can range pretty far.

I've heard great things about Plymouth, but haven't been able to talk myself into the ~$40 for a 750mL. I guess I'll have to break down and try it.

Thanks for the tips! I'll have to try out your method, though I typically like the salty olive flavor rather than citrus.

$40? Jesus, it's $28 here.

Yeah Plymouth is not even that expensive around here.

One thing to remember about vermouth is that it can and does go bad, so if you aren't using it in cocktails that often, consider buying a 375ml bottle instead of a full bottle.

I'll double check, but I remember it being in the high $30s last time I was at the store. Consider me jealous if I am correct and you guys can get it much cheaper.

Plymouth is $25 in Dallas, you're getting fucked at high $30s

Periscope

Also the website this is on rocks for finding recipes, had it as my homepage on my phone when I worked in a cocktail bar.

Oh man, that periscope is a very fine drink that I'm definitely going to make. St. Germain is one of the greatest accent liqueurs of all time. It goes with with absolutely anything, and adds this nicely complex floral taste to cocktails. I think it lends itself spectacularly well to both cognac and gin who are bringing their own floral party.

Barnaby Jones

1 oz Cognac
3/4 oz Rye
1/2 oz St Germain
1/2 oz Fresh lemon Juice
1/4 oz Lavender Syrup

The Vesper is just a good drink. The first drink James Bond orders is an Americano, so despite his watered-down-vodka-martini loving ways he wasn't entirely without taste.

Though thinking about, I'm going to try this new variation that I have just drunkenly created:

The Musical Accompaniment

2 1/2 oz Tanqueray
1/2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc

Rinse a cocktail glass with green chartreuse. A heavy shake over ice. Strain. Garnish with a long twist of lemon. Obviously I haven't done anything but make the drink a little more interesting by changing the ratios and adding some finishing notes.

Ishad_sl said:

Plymouth is $25 in Dallas, you're getting fucked at high $30s

Click to expand...

I am indeed getting fucked, but not as bad as I thought. It is $33+tax at the local discount liquor store. I bought it anyway, and it didn't disappoint. Thanks for the tips, fellas.

Nice summer drink

Castello and diet coke... Drink of choice.

I'm new here, but figured I might as well add one of my new favorites.

Corpse Reviver #2 (Lonely Raven version)

1 oz. gin (I prefer North Shore Gin made here in Chicago)
1 oz. Cointreau (NOT TRIPLE SEC!)
1 oz. Lillet Blanc (also used in the original James Bond drink from Casino Royal)
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 absinthe (Again, North Shore makes a great Absinthe)
Ice cubes
Tools: shaker, strainer
Glass: cocktail
Garnish: orange peel

Shake all ingredients in a shaker, strain into a chilled glass and garnish.

My version differs from the original in that I cut the lemon juice down to 1/2 oz, and increase the Absinthe from a dash, to 1/2 oz. It needs to be a good Absinthe though, otherwise it overpowers the drink.