Ask Wookie about Cocktails

[MrWookie]

Alright. Now we're talking. So, typical ingredients, and I'll assume I'm hosting a cocktail party for seasoned drinkers such as yourself rather than a target audience whose sophistication stops at the rum and coke. I think I'll kick things off the with the carbonated drink, and your namesake, actually.

The Diablo:

1.5 oz tequila
0.75 oz creme de cassis
0.5 oz lime juice
Pour over ice in a Collins glass. Fill w/ ginger ale.

Somewhat of a light start, but the cassis gives the drink an unusual kick not commonly found in most drinks.

For our second drink, I think I'll go with one that I think I've recommended to you once before, the Pegu:

1.5 oz gin
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz Cointreau
2 good dashes of Angostura bitters
Stir everything with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass w/ a twist of lime.

I love this drink when I'm not in the mood for any sort of whiskey. It's also proof that bitters make just about anything better.

For the third drink, we'll get a little stronger. The original recipe for this drink, the Godfather, calls for Scotch. However, I found that I prefer it with bourbon. I gave it the somewhat tongue-in-cheek name the Godfather Pt. 2:

2 oz bourbon
1 oz Amaretto, served on the rocks in a highball glass.

The first night I tried this, I put away almost an entire fifth of bourbon (and half as much of Amaretto). It's a great drink for a whiskey drinker who's in the mood for a slightly sweeter alternative.

By the fourth drink, I would hope that my guests have enjoyed my libations enough as to not bat an eye when served a drink that's bright pink in color. I also might crack open my fridge for a somewhat unusual, but frequently available ingredient: egg white.

The Clover Club:
2 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
0.25 oz grenadine
2 tsp egg white
Shaken vigorously w/ ice, strained into a wine glass, and garnished w/ a lemon wheel.

Yeah, it's bright pink because of the grenadine. However, this is one of the most broadly appealing drinks I've found. The egg white kinda adds a unique texture, but it's a great drink.

OK, one more drink to round out the night. Hmmm. I might go with a drink I just tried out tonight, actually, if I'm allowed to push the bounds of common ingredients a bit and break out my bottle of Benedictine. It's not commonly stocked, but it's pretty easily found in liquor stores.

Benedictine Cocktail

1.5 oz brandy
0.5 oz Benedictine
0.5 oz lemon juice.
Shake, strain, Cocktail glass. Garnish w/ lemon twist.

Benedictine is one of my favorite herbal liqueurs. It has a flavor complexity not found elsewhere, and I love putting it in cocktails. I've tried it w/ bourbon and Scotch, but tonight was my first experiment putting it in brandy, and I was very pleased. I supposed I shouldn't be surprised, since they sell a pre-bottled mixture of brandy and Benedictine (B&B), but w/ a little lemon in there, I love it.

[MrWookie]

[ QUOTE ]
Got a good pina colada recipe?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think I'd try a 2 cups of light rum, a cup of coconut milk, and a cup of canned pineapple (drained). Put it in a blender w/ ice and hit frappe. If that's not what you're looking for, try substituting equal parts Malibu rum and cream for the coconut milk.

[MrWookie]

[ QUOTE ]
If there were a drink called a "MrWookie," what would be in it? Furthermore, how many would you need to have in order to get [censored] up?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm. Interesting question. I know I'd start with bourbon. Maybe I'd go with 2 oz bourbon and two dashes of bitters shaken w/ ice and strained into a highball glass w/ a twist of lemon. I'm not sure I'd crown this yet, though. I haven't tried it. I'll get back to you.

If this was the drink, though, it'd take about 3 to get me buzzed, and 6 to get me reasonably drunk.

[witeknite]

Have you ever had guava berry liquer? It's common in St. Maarten and makes a mean colada.

WiteKnite

[MrWookie]

No, I have not. I definitely could see it being good in the right drink, or just on its own, though.

[witeknite]

It's very rare, but fantastic. I ran out of what I brought back with me, and am thing about ordering a case of it.

Another question. Other than Jack, are there any good non-bourbon american whiskeys? I love bourbon so I haven't really scoped out the rest whiskey section.

WiteKnite

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
Alright. Now we're talking. So, typical ingredients, and I'll assume I'm hosting a cocktail party for seasoned drinkers such as yourself rather than a target audience whose sophistication stops at the rum and coke. I think I'll kick things off the with the carbonated drink, and your namesake, actually.

The Diablo:

1.5 oz tequila
0.75 oz creme de cassis
0.5 oz lime juice
Pour over ice in a Collins glass. Fill w/ ginger ale.

Somewhat of a light start, but the cassis gives the drink an unusual kick not commonly found in most drinks.

For our second drink, I think I'll go with one that I think I've recommended to you once before, the Pegu:

1.5 oz gin
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz Cointreau
2 good dashes of Angostura bitters
Stir everything with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass w/ a twist of lime.

I love this drink when I'm not in the mood for any sort of whiskey. It's also proof that bitters make just about anything better.

For the third drink, we'll get a little stronger. The original recipe for this drink, the Godfather, calls for Scotch. However, I found that I prefer it with bourbon. I gave it the somewhat tongue-in-cheek name the Godfather Pt. 2:

2 oz bourbon
1 oz Amaretto, served on the rocks in a highball glass.

The first night I tried this, I put away almost an entire fifth of bourbon (and half as much of Amaretto). It's a great drink for a whiskey drinker who's in the mood for a slightly sweeter alternative.

By the fourth drink, I would hope that my guests have enjoyed my libations enough as to not bat an eye when served a drink that's bright pink in color. I also might crack open my fridge for a somewhat unusual, but frequently available ingredient: egg white.

The Clover Club:
2 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
0.25 oz grenadine
2 tsp egg white
Shaken vigorously w/ ice, strained into a wine glass, and garnished w/ a lemon wheel.

Yeah, it's bright pink because of the grenadine. However, this is one of the most broadly appealing drinks I've found. The egg white kinda adds a unique texture, but it's a great drink.

OK, one more drink to round out the night. Hmmm. I might go with a drink I just tried out tonight, actually, if I'm allowed to push the bounds of common ingredients a bit and break out my bottle of Benedictine. It's not commonly stocked, but it's pretty easily found in liquor stores.

Benedictine Cocktail

1.5 oz brandy
0.5 oz Benedictine
0.5 oz lemon juice.
Shake, strain, Cocktail glass. Garnish w/ lemon twist.

Benedictine is one of my favorite herbal liqueurs. It has a flavor complexity not found elsewhere, and I love putting it in cocktails. I've tried it w/ bourbon and Scotch, but tonight was my first experiment putting it in brandy, and I was very pleased. I supposed I shouldn't be surprised, since they sell a pre-bottled mixture of brandy and Benedictine (B&B), but w/ a little lemon in there, I love it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Diablo asks: "Alright, let's get this back on track" and we are back on track. Good stuff.

~ Rick

[Fryguy]

Recommend me a drink to try.

Background. I'm not much of a hard liquor guy. I shoot jager when the time comes up, but I'm mostly a beer guy, and a moderate quality beer guy at that. Not cheap, but I don't go hunting microbrews. Think spaten, sam adams, etc.

I HATE rum. I hate tequila. I like vodka, although in my limited experience with it I prefer absolut to anything else I've had (including goose).

Don't have much experience with much else for liquor. No single-malts or anything like that. I'm pretty much a pussy when it comes to liquor unless I'm shooting, however I want to try something more than just "vodka and <insert juice here>" or shots.

Suggestions on something that is a lighter drink that isn't overly strong, but still "manly?" [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[El Diablo]

Wookie,

You failed miserably. Some good suggestions, though. Try again. The question was to come up with five cocktails w/ the pretty standard ingredients I listed in my post.

"0.75 oz creme de cassis"

Nope.

"1.5 oz gin
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz Cointreau
2 good dashes of Angostura bitters
Stir everything with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass w/ a twist of lime."

Solid, though you can't count on bitters.

"2 oz bourbon
1 oz Amaretto, served on the rocks in a highball glass."

Borderline, but you can't count on Amaretto.

"2 tsp egg white"

Too much of a pain in the ass.

"0.5 oz Benedictine"

Nope.


Try again with only the ingredients listed in my post. For the carbonated beverage, you can use coke or sprite.

[MrWookie]

Can't count on bitters or amaretto? I figured that these were staples of any decent bar (I knew I was pushing the envelope w/ the Benedictine), but your rules, your game.

We'll start with an old classic instead, a Gimlet

2 oz gin
0.75 oz Rose's Lime. Stir, strain, garnish w/ lime wedge.

For the second drink, I'll go with one that has a somewhat odd name, a drink called Between the Sheets. It's quite broadly appealing, and it's very easy to remember how to make it:

0.75 oz each of light rum, gin, Cointreau (don't use triple sec), and lemon juice. Stir, strain. Garnish w/ lemon twist.

Third, I'll go with a Bronx, a good drink for someone in the screwdriver crowd who wants to branch out into something a little more adventurous:

1 oz gin
1 oz OJ
0.5 oz each of sweet and dry vermouth
Shake, strain, garnish w/ either cherry or orange wheel, whichever we have on hand.

Fourth up, I'll mix a drink I just busted out in honor of St. Patrick's Day, the Blarney. It's a variant on the Manhattan that uses Irish Whisky and also doesn't call for bitters.

2 oz Irish whisky
1 oz sweet vermouth

In spite of its obvious similarities to the Manhattan, this drink can definitely stand on its own because of how different American whiskey is compared to Irish.

For the carbonated beverage, limiting me to coke or sprite makes things tough. Without soda water (for a Collins) or ginger ale (Horse's Neck, Buck, etc.), it's pretty easy to end up with something pretty insipid. Ideally, I'd smuggle my bottle of bitters back in after having it rejected and make an improved rum and coke:

1 oz dark rum
0.5 oz gin
0.25 oz lime juice
3 oz Coke
2 good dashes of bitters
Pour over ice. Garnish w/ lime wedge

It's incredible how much the bitters, and to a lesser extent, the gin, add to this old favorite. Without the bitters, eh, I think this still might be what I pick to serve over some sprite variant like sprite+vodka+triple sec, but I wouldn't be quite as proud to serve it.