Re: Great Cocktails
 

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A Negroni.

I love Campari so I am biased

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This is one classic I have not tried. I've been unsure whether I'd like Campari, so I've never bothered to buy a bottle. One of these days I will, though.

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It's a taste I've never been able to acquire. I remember an older gentleman that used to order Campari and Grapefruit...

[img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Great Cocktails
 

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OK I may have accidentally made an observational blunder when it came to the mango and pomegranite cocktail. I'm thinking now that it's probably something to do with the glass that it looks like there are different colours in it. I don't have any other glasses though.

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/490/pict0262hu9.jpg

Myth debunked I think.

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lol. Well thanks for at least trying. I appreciate the effort!

([img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] that's the only glass you own? My god man should we get a collection together?)

Re: Great Cocktails
 

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/9...collinsti9.jpg


Tom Collins. Yum.

Re: Great Cocktails
 

I am a White and Black Russian fan

White- Vodka, Kahlua, Cream, and Ice
Black- Vodka, Kahlua, and Ice

Re: Great Cocktails
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A Negroni.

I love Campari so I am biased

[/ QUOTE ]

This is one classic I have not tried. I've been unsure whether I'd like Campari, so I've never bothered to buy a bottle. One of these days I will, though.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a taste I've never been able to acquire. I remember an older gentleman that used to order Campari and Grapefruit...

[img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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Campari is definitely one of those acquired taste drinks...Campari and soda on a hot day is great. Then again so is a nicely chilled vodka tonic.

Re: Great Cocktails
 

So, KotOD, did you use to or currently work at a bar? If so, I want to come to your (old) bar. I feel like in 95% of the bars I go in, if I ordered a Ward 8, a Stinger, a Black Velvet, a Gibson, an Alexander or a Singapore Sling, the bartenders would just look at me funny. Then I'd give them the recipe, they'd check to see if they had the ingredients, and then grudgingly make it. Generally, if I'm out on the town, I don't order anything more obscure or difficult to make than a Manhattan or a Gimlet (gin, naturally [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ). All the rest of the stuff I make myself.

Re: Great Cocktails
 

Oh, and for OP, I thought of another solid cocktail that, even if the bartender doesn't know what it is, he or she should be able to make it just fine at any bar. It's called a Maiden's Prayer, IIRC, and it is made from equal parts (0.75-1 oz) of rum, gin, Cointreau (or triple sec), and lemon juice. Stir w/ ice and sever straight up. I think the proper garnish for the drink is something like a flower, but a twist of lemon would be a fine garnish, too. This is a solid drink for someone who wants to give gin a second chance (or a first chance). It's not as harsh as many cocktails, so it's a decent one to try for a novice cocktail person, much like the Cosmopolitan is, but this drink is neither pink nor mentioned on Sex and the City to the best of my minimal knowledge.

Re: Great Cocktails
 

Order Charles Schumann's "American Bar" on Amazon or wherever if you want a great cocktail book that focuses on the classics.

Lots of good drinks already mentioned. One that you don't see very often but is very easy to do and very tasty: the "South of the Border". Generous shot of gold tequila, generous shot of kahlua, poured over ice cubes into a whisky tumbler, squeeze in the juice from half a lime, drop the squeezed lime into the glass. Stir a bit, let the ice chill the spirits before drinking. Fantastic.

And I agree with a previous poster that it's important to be secure enough in your sexuality that you can order Cosmopolitans, because otherwise you miss out on a great drink.

Finally, Mr. Wookie, if you do try Campari, please don't try it straight or you will just run screaming from the intensity of the herb flavours. It's good with lemonade or soda on the rocks, fairly dilute.

Re: Great Cocktails
 

Well, I'm not too scared of herbs. I drink Benedictine straight, and I've been known to pour more Chartreuse into a drink than any sane person should.

Re: Great Cocktails
 

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So, KotOD, did you use to or currently work at a bar? If so, I want to come to your (old) bar. I feel like in 95% of the bars I go in, if I ordered a Ward 8, a Stinger, a Black Velvet, a Gibson, an Alexander or a Singapore Sling, the bartenders would just look at me funny. Then I'd give them the recipe, they'd check to see if they had the ingredients, and then grudgingly make it. Generally, if I'm out on the town, I don't order anything more obscure or difficult to make than a Manhattan or a Gimlet (gin, naturally [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ). All the rest of the stuff I make myself.

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I did tend bar for a few years, but I haven't in a long while. I started in a sports bar and moved up to a couple of Marinas where the crowd was a bit older. I learned how to make the classics pretty quickly. I also learned to appreciate Gin from that older crowd. In a sports bar, I probably made one gin cocktail per night (not counting gin and juice). With the older crowd, I was constantly mixing gin. There were some senior citizens that were drinking things that I had never heard of, even after picking up guides to classic drinks!

As for not being able to get classic drinks in today's bars and restaurants -- most bartenders today are blonde girls with cavernous cleavage that are willing to let guys look down their top in exchange a dollar tip. Quality in a mix or knowledge of liquor and the ability to pair a drink with a customer doesn't matter as long as drooling guys keep coming back.

One comment on your list: I think a black velvet is one of the most simply luxurious things that a person can treat themselves to on a day to day basis. I'm not a fan of champagne myself, but when there is an occasion to have a glass, I make sure mine is half full of Guinness. It's a life-affirming drink [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

One aside: anyone interested in the topic would do themselves a favor by picking up The Spirits Of America: A Social History Of Alcohol by Eric Burns. It's a very entertaining book and it's a really great background on the American drinking culture and the liquors behind them.

Ahhhh, it's nice to talk about a great cocktail and not feel like a snob.