Cheap drinks...

Wow...

I went to a wedding Saturday; after the ceremony, some of us retired to the American Legion across the street for drinks (the groom's idea... he's a member). I got a Woodford Reserve Manhattan for $2.80. Can you believe it?!? She may've rung it up wrong, but all the drinks there are super cheap.

I just wanted to brag about that. :P

Good bourbon, btw.

Mixology Monday (Barely)

It's about a quarter till Tuesday right now, actually, but hey...

Gin... I actually bought a bottle specifically for this. I mean, I've always wanted to try it, but (as I am the world's best procrastinator, when I get around to it), I had to wait until I had a "deadline" to actually get some. Sick, isn't it?

I wanted to try a Pegu, but I spent so much money on booze this last week (8 six-packs of Bridgeport IPA, two bottles of vermouth, a bottle of Bombay gin and a bottle of Maker's), I couldn't bring myself to buy Cointreau too (sorry, Doug). Maybe next week. :)

What I did try, I was happy with... which brings us to the drinking part. My favorite.

London Dry Gin (Neat):
A little bit of Bombay (Original)
Glass

Interesting. Not bourbon... but what is, really? I grew up in Juniper country, so the aromas were... nostalgic, I guess. Very interesting.

Dry Martini:
1.5 oz. Gin
.5 oz. Dry Vermouth (M&R, until I go to the city, or get off my lazy you-know-what and buy something nicer online)
Lemon peel garnish

Not exactly my new favorite drink. I love (LOVE) sweet Vermouth, and I don't mind Gin, so it must be the dry vermouth that throws me off this one. I made it pretty wet; maybe I'll try some different ratios, but I can't see this as a regular. Just like in my Manhattans, though, I love the aroma from the lemon peel. No orange bitters yet... see the note about laziness; I could see how they could round out the drink, though.

Sweet Martini:
1.5 oz. Gin
.5 oz. Sweet Vermouth (M&R... see above)
Dash Angostura bitters (no orange bitters yet... see above)
Lemon peel garnish

Much better. I still prefer the Manhattan, but this is going into the rotation. There's something about red vermouth... Maybe it's complexity, maybe I've just got a sweet tooth, I dunno. But it's good stuff. The Angostura, as in any drink, adds a nice je ne sais quois... It may've helped the dry martini, but I didn't want to fsck up my nice clear drink.

Gin and Tonic:
Highball full of ice
1.5 oz. Gin
Top with Tonic water (Schweppes here)
Lime (or Lemon) wedge

Now we're talkin'! See last week's post for more of my feelings for the Gin and Tonic. Love it, love it, love it. Here in the summer (roughly 4/5ths of the year) it'll be a BIG regular. I think God made bourbon and beer on the first day... on the second, He made Gin and Tonic (they really, naturally, go together... every other Gin drink is simply a bastardized G&T). Good stuff.

I leave you tonight (this morning, now) with, again, a quote from The Man:

It is a curious fact, and one to which no one knows quite how much importance to attach, that something like 85% of all known worlds in the Galaxy, be they primitive or highly advanced, have invented a drink called jynnan tonnyx, or gee-N'N-T'N-ix, or jinond-o-nicks, or any one of a thousand or more variations on the same phonetic theme. The drinks themselves are not the same, and vary between the Sivolvian 'chinanto/mnigs' which is ordinary water served at slightly above room temperature, and the Gagrakackan 'tzjin-anthony-ks' which kill cows at a hundred paces; and in fact the one common factor between all of them, beyond the fact that the names sound the same, is that they were all invented and named before the worlds concerned made contact with any other worlds.
--Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

G'night.

Edit: I can't believe I was too tired last night (this morning) to remember to give a *ahem* "shout out" to the host of today's (yesterday's) MxMo... so, thank you, Jay at Oh, Gosh! (best url EVAR!).

To answer your question, Sunni...

Yes, it's good... in that way only bourbon can be. As you said, nectar o' the gods.

As good as Maker's? Hmm... Is moonlight as good as sunshine? Is air as good as water? Is a meadow as good as a sandy beach? :P

It's as good as Maker's, at least. It's hard to say exactly (I bought the Knob Creek 'cause I was out of Maker's, so I couldn't do a side by side tasting... I should've), but the KC seemed spicier than the MM (I think they use a regular rye based grain bill, rather than being wheated like Maker's). Still very smooth, though... absolutely drinkable neat. But I love the spiciness... especially in this week's drink (Which is was actually cool enough last night to have one of.).

Speaking of, btw, this week's drink is... The Manhattan! (And if any cocktail geeks are reading this, I just know they're screaming at their monitors: "But the Manhattan's made with RYE, you blaspheming idiot, not bourbon!") (I'm working on getting some rye to expand my booze horizons, but it's hard to stock up a bar when you live in the sticks... I'm a small town guy through and through, but I need better liquor and beer selections. Ah, well... At least I don't have to deal with liquor board nazis like some.)

Anywho...

The Manhattan
2 oz. whiskey
1 oz. sweet vermouth (vermouth is our friend)
1-3 (dozen :-) dashes bitters

Stir well with ice. Strain into cocktail glass and garnish with a Maraschino cherry (No, no, not that kind... put the fluorescent fruit away.) or lemon peel (Jac's personal favorite).

Enjoy spiced nirvana...

Editor's note: Never order a Manhattan at Applebee's. I know, I know... I should've known better, but the waiter came up when I was on the phone and I just said the first thing that came to mind; I nearly slapped myself the moment the words "Manhattan with a twist" left my lips, though. And when he brought my dad's drink and said "They're working on that Manhattan... she's never made one before" I almost reached for my butter knife (I don't know if I'd've used it on him or me, though.). Lessons learned:

A. Vermouth is NOT the modern bartender's friend... I saw the big green M&R bottle come out from under the bar, but I think she was teasing me. There was a whisp, MAYBE.

2. Bitters? What're those? Not a hint of 'em. I don't expect bartenders to psychically discern my preference for a heavy dose of bitters, but is it unreasonable to expect at least a token amount as, y'know, maybe a tribute to the drink's RECIPE?

And finally, the "cherry". The less said about finding Rudolph's nose in your drink, the better. I don't know why they never hear me (second time, by the way... at least the guy at the hotel that one time used vermouth) when I say "with a twist"... maybe I need to speak up. But he heard "Manhattan", right? It can't be all my fault..?

Bite me, PK...

:P

I was busy yesterday. Really busy. Incredibly busy. Super busy.

Actually, I stayed home from work and played handyman yesterday. I could've blogged, but I was too occupied with building and fixing and painting. Which, I suppose I could've blogged about. But it would have been boring.

Anyway. This week's drink is... the Whiskey Smash!

I live in the desert; my first two featured drinks have been minty and refreshing... notice a trend? What was it you once said about sunburns in February, E.? :)

Anyway, departing from my previous affair with Maker's Mark, I bought a bottle of Knob Creek when I was last at the store (It has a cork! Yes, I'm easily amused and somewhat sentimental. Sue me.). Ah, bourbon. What can I say about bourbon? Need anything be said about bourbon? I didn't think so.

So, the Whiskey Smash (from Jerry "the Professor" Thomas' Bartender's Guide or How to Mix Drinks, 1862... he called it "a julep on a small plan"). (I originally saw this at The Cocktail Chronicles... Thanks Paul.)

Whiskey Smash
(Use small bar-glass. [Old fashioned glass])
Take 1 tea-spoonful of fine white sugar.
2 tea-spoonfuls of water.
1 wine-glass (2 oz.) of whiskey.
3 or 4 sprigs of tender mint.

Put the mint in the glass, then the sugar and water [Jac's note: Simple syrup FTW!]. Mash the mint to extract the flavor, add the bourbon, and fill up the glass with shaved ice. Stir up well, and ornament with two or three fresh sprigs of mint.

Sip slowly. Laugh at people who only experience 3 month summers.

Drink of the week, and MxMo...

Well, week two of the blogging thing commences. So far, I've been blogrolled (it tickles) thrice... hopefully, the peer pressure will keep the bloggin' on track.

I've been doing the cocktail thing lately (it's like chemistry sets... with booze!), so I was thinking of starting this week off with a drink (see previous references to food and drink). In my recent delvings into the world of cocktail geekery, I've stumbled upon many great cocktail blogs (Yes, blogs devoted to cocktails... it's a sick world we live in.), a few of which are listed to the right.

Sidenote: Y'know, I think I'm wired somehow to identify with subcultures... I mean, there's the whole libertarian thing, and the anarchy thing (which is a subculture within the libertarian subculture, sort of), and the CPC. And now I'm a cocktail geek. There must be something in my brain that really hates being normal.

Anyway, today happens to be a Mixology Monday, so I asked myself why, since I am now blogging, I shouldn't participate in it. And I couldn't really give myself a decent answer to dissuade me, so...

Today's MxMo, hosted by Gabriel at cocktailnerd.com, is themed Fizz!! (Two exclamation points because... fizz is exciting, I guess? I had fun, anyway.)

So, the drink of the week, and my MxMo entry is (gimme a drumroll, Kirsten)... the Mojito! Rather boring, compared to some of the other entries, but I'm no mixologist, and it's a new drink for me, so I don't care if it's boring. It's definitely a top summer drink for me now, and since I'm a desert rat, that means I'll be drinking Mojitos about 9 months out of the year. :)

It is a simple drink really, but it's a charming simplicity, rather than the vulgar simplicity of a Vodka Redbull, or whatever the kids are drinking these days. When you need to pound a nail, you grab a hammer; when it's a hundred degrees in the shade you grab a Mojito. Y'know, that kind of simplicity.

Anyway, before I start waxing too poetic about booze, I'll just post the recipe and send it up. I really do ramble, don't I?

The Mojito:
10-12 fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp sugar (I use a 1:1 simple syrup made with raw demerara sugar, plus a pinch of crystals for abrasion)
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
1 1/2 oz. white rum (Cuban is best, but try finding that in the States... free market; what's that?)
Ice
Club soda
Sprig of mint and slice of lime for garnishment

Muddle mint leaves and sugar in a heavy-bottomed pint glass. Fill to half with ice, then add lime juice and rum; stir well. Top with ice and soda, then give it another stir or two. Rub the peel of the lime slice around the rim of the glass, then drop the lime in. Lightly pop a sprig of mint between your hands (to bring out the aroma), then place it in the drink.

Blissfully ignore the current popularity or non-popularity of the Mojito, and drink up.