Drinking like a King. Don't hate.
 

I'm starting a cocktails thread.

Not beer.
Not food.

Just mixed drinks or outstanding adult beverages.

Braineack, keep your Bartles & Jaymes girlie drinks out of this thread.

Also worthless are "I chugged a fifth of shitty SoCo" posts, but I suspect those will come anyway.

Let's see what you got [sauced on]!

This will require me posting when I am out and about. Probably not going to happen :(

So as my first contribution:

I like Martinis. But I hate bad martinis. And most martinis are bad. They are bad because most vermouth is shitty, 2 years old, rancid, and cheap.

Martinis also should only be made with Gin. Vodkatinis are a different drink for someone elses entry.

glasses of gin are also not Martinis. I don't care what famous alcoholics once said about the lack of vermouth in a martini. I've known alcoholics. they can't be trusted.

Now then!

I had come across a few articles on high-end vermouths that have been coming up out of the woodwork (Dolin, Carpano Antica, Vya) and I was intrigued. Mostly because Gin by itself is pretty harsh.

So I searched for ages for some local sources for Vya and found bupkis. Then I was in California on vacation and saw it at a BevMo. I didn't buy it because of luggage space and figured I'd find it later.

I went back to California for xmas this year and could NOT find it, though I had luggage space. What a pain!

I ended up ordering some from NY this week and got it yesterday.

It looks like this:

http://www.vya.com/images/VyaBottles.jpg

So I popped it in the fridge and later, whipped out the Hendricks Gin and the Dry Vya. I dropped two oz of gin into the glass and a half oz of Vya on top of it (that's 4 to 1 my friends! dangerous territory for the doubters!), STIRRED it up with a swizzle and took a sip. I did not include an olive. I didn't have any (they go bad before I get to them all).

It was not what I expected.

I expected oily old-wine and juniper explosion harshness in my throat. It wasn't.

It WAS however very smooth, very herbal, and quite delightful. The high quality fortified wine and herbs in the vermouth totally transformed the drink into something sublime instead of something offensive in an inverted cone.

I plopped a single ice cube in to make it cold (maybe unnecessary... it was delicious with just a slight chill) and sipped it with my butternut squash soup.

Maybe the best martini I've ever had.



I should also note that I got a bottle of their sweet/red vermouth for trying in a Manhattan/Rob Roy.

y8s=Don Draper?

The thread title should be "Drinking like a Queen, Don't hate."

Not exactly a cocktail, but I love me some jalapeno-stuffed olives. To make them even better, I dump out some of the olive juice and replace it with... gin. Try it some time and thank me later.

I prefer Beefeater to all other gins. And all gins are wildly different.

If you ever are in a bar where it is very slow and you have a friendly bartender do an experiment. Set up a shot glass for every different gin they have and just put a tiny amount in each glass. Then take one of the little stirrer straws and put your finger over the end of it and use it to pick up just a little from the shot glass and drop it on your tongue. Try each one that way individually and really learn about them. It doesn't take much and is more likely to give you an accurate flavor/aroma reading with a smaller amount and at room temperature like that.

I like where this could be going. When I get home, I will include some photos that may or may not cause some people to want to occupy my bar(s). This will include my custom-made, floor-to-ceiling dry bar and my upstairs home office globe bar. You want Don Draper, we can talk about my 50s-era vintage travel bar (leather bound, of course). ;)

For drinks, at home, I tend to be lazy and like no more than 2 liquid ingredients. My evening drink of choice tends to be bourbon: value stuff (Ezra Brooks, Evan Williams) mixed with Sprite or Coke and better stuff sipped with a couple of ice cubes. Woodford Reserve is always great and I recently got to sample some Blanton's. My current kick is Buck which is not outrageous in price (~$24 for a 750mL bottle).

When I am out and have someone else making me drinks, I enjoy a good Old Fashion. I'll write up the "Bold Fashion" I had at the Woodward in Boston last month.

That is awesome. I see you live in Central Florida....sounds like a party right around the corner.

Can I play?

I heart me some Woodford Reserve...

Martinis are for weenies. :td:

Its either got to be budweiser 30 packs, a bottle of jack, or a nice red wine. Otherwise, I'm just going to bed early.

I've gone old-man, and don't go much for real mixed cocktails. My usual favorites are Black Bush on rocks or Tito's straight from the freezer. Pyrat XO or Anniversario rum are in there, too.

Bad head cold this week has pushed me to the snifter of cognac. Remy Martin VSOP is great, but in a taste(and sniff)-off last night Hine Rare and Delicate was the winner.

so my case of sparkling pinot gris doesnt count?

It does if you mix it with vodka.

No!

I used to always have the high dollar liquors when I was younger. I swear when we were younger, we would see if we could out do each other on our knowledge on fine spirits.

Now when I go to the bar and ask for a cocktail, I always go for the cheap stuff. Damn it! I have turned into my Father. :facepalm:

I still really enjoy a nice quality whiskey however.

So y8s, does that mean Hendricks is your gin of choice? I nearly murdered the person who suggested Bombay sapphire to me, i like Hendricks and...shoot. Some other high dollar gin, forget the name. I usually find a fifth of tanqueray in my freezer though.

This is for gin and tonics btw, only cocktail I drink probably. With a healthy squirt of lime juice.

In other news, I'm going to destroy this thread with brewery pictures tomorrow. Aka nazi propaganda.

Ron Zacapa is the only rum I've ever had that was smooth enough and flavourful enough to drink straight just like a good whiskey. Sometimes with an ice cube.


http://www.shanghai9.net/media/catal...a_23_rum_3.jpg


And Evan Williams Single Barrel is dead smooth and very reasonable.
http://www.drinkhacker.com/wp-conten...urbon-2000.jpg

Have you tried Beefeater Gin?

Tanqueray is pretty lousy. It's about like "old knotty head" (what the brothers used to call Seagram's Gin in south Georgia because the outside of the bottle was "knotty") Hendricks is better and has a more uppity bottle but is not as good as Beefeater.

This is me:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k...-465441152.jpg

Justify your existence.

come on vash, budweiser? was it a good vintage?

I've tried the standard gins (bombay, tanqeray, beefeater). They're ok I guess. I tried Bluecoat. It was ok I guess. I think the problem is that they were all in shitty vermouth so I can't judge. The hendricks was good in this martini. That's all I can surely say.