Cocktails

[payn]

Reason I found this thread was I need a suggestion for a Vodka drink. Need a change from beer for the night and I'll probably get a bottle of Svedka or Sobieski, not rot gut like Mr. Boston, but not gonna break the bank like Grey Goose will. I cant drink anything too citrusy (OJ, Lemonade) or with too much soda, and not looking to spend too much on supplemental bottles for a few tsps for finish, but not opposed either. Any suggestions on a 2-3 maybe 4 ingredient drink, perhaps like a tonic or gimlet?

I actually like using simple sparkling water with whatever flavor you enjoy. I mean, if you want to keep the acidity and sweetness down. Otherwise, you cant go wrong with ginger beer.

 

[R_J_K75]

Otherwise, you cant go wrong with ginger beer

There was a recipe I was looking at last night for a Moscow Mule that called for ginger beer. Suppose I could use a rocks glass but I'd feel like a heathen not drinking it out of a brass cup. No clue where I'd find one without trekking across the city for 5 hours, which I don't feel like doing today. Amazon here I come, maybe next week.

 

[Mannahnin]

Absinthe is great. Its legal here now in NYS but I think it's not the real deal as it doesn't contain thujone or wormwood which are the psychotropic ingredients in it iirc. l never bothered trying it here. I'd consider myself CG, I generally don't go out of my way to break the law, but not opposed to it in certain circumstances, one being I used to buy real Absinthe online out of some place in eastern Europe and have it shipped in even though it was illegal at the time in NYS. Its a really fun time if you get the good stuff, but it was $200-$300 a bottle back in 2005. We drank it a few times and a few summers later I started finding ants in my kitchen and couldn't figure out where they were coming from. After about a week I narrowed it down and found that they were devouring sugar cubes out of an open box in a cupboard left over from when we were drinking Absinthe. Wish I could remember the website I used to get it from.

As far as I recall it was never illegal in the US (except during prohibition, with everything else) as in you couldn't buy or own it. Distillers were just forbidden from making it, so you couldn't produce it in a commercial distillery or sell it.

I knew people who tried making "homemade absinthe" in the 90s by infusing vodka with wormwood, and it was pretty nasty. When I had actual European absinthe (from Switzerland and the Czech Republic) in the early 2000s I remember being impressed by how much better it was. My ex used to bring it back with her from trips home to Eastern Europe, because she could pick it up at duty free shops in her connecting airports. I first bought a bottle myself in Charles de Gaulle around 2005, but by 2007 the laws against it were being relaxed and the first distilleries started making it here. Technically US absinthe is supposed to be thujone-free, but that just means below a certain amount, so they can and do still use a little wormwood. European ones don't use much more, normally. The amounts used are so low I don't think there is ever any actual psychotropic effect. The moral panic which got it banned started over a sensational murder in Switzerland, as I recall (a guy blind drunk, more likely than hallucinating), and taken advantage of by wine manufacturers feeding the controversy to help shut down the sales of a then-popular competing beverage.

Reason I found this thread was I need a suggestion for a Vodka drink. Need a change from beer for the night and I'll probably get a bottle of Svedka or Sobieski, not rot gut like Mr. Boston, but not gonna break the bank like Grey Goose will. I cant drink anything too citrusy (OJ, Lemonade) or with too much soda, and not looking to spend too much on supplemental bottles for a few tsps for finish, but not opposed either. Any suggestions on a 2-3 maybe 4 ingredient drink, perhaps like a tonic or gimlet?

I'm partial to Tito's for a vodka. New Amsterdam or Three Olives are also good budget choices for mixing.

I've mostly phased vodka out of my habits since I took up gin. The main one I still use vodka in is a Bloody Mary.

A Moscow Mule with a good ginger beer and fresh lime juice is also quite nice and only has three ingredients.

A proper vodka sour using an egg white for the foam is also pretty great, though definitely more work to make.

On the totally non-citrus end, a White Russian is pretty nice in the right time and place and also super easy to make.

 

[Zaukrie]

I think I'm making brown butter washed bourbon for next weekend. You get both flavored bourbon and butter.....

 

[R_J_K75]

As far as I recall it was never illegal in the US (except during prohibition, with everything else) as in you couldn't buy or own it. Distillers were just forbidden from making it, so you couldn't produce it in a commercial distillery or sell it.

I honestly don't know the particulars, but it may have been illegal in NYS or we may have just been misinformed.

I knew people who tried making "homemade absinthe" in the 90s by infusing vodka with wormwood, and it was pretty nasty.

Sounds like this would make for a very terrifying night, but hey I'll try most things once.

When I had actual European absinthe (from Switzerland and the Czech Republic) in the early 2000s I remember being impressed by how much better it was

Yeah, I'm pretty sure we ordered it from the Czech Republic too. It was good, kind of tasted like Ny-Quil.

The amounts used are so low I don't think there is ever any actual psychotropic effect.

It definitely didn't have the psychotropic effect of a dose of LSD or Psylocibin but more akin to a good alcohol buzz with a micro-dose, but there was some. 3 or 4 of us split a bottle, we were fine.

I'm partial to Tito's for a vodka.

Just got back from the liquor store and was surprised how cheap a gallon of Tito's was, I almost bought it but just got a 1.75 liter of Svedka.

I've mostly phased vodka out of my habits since I took up gin.

Me and my girlfriend were going to make cucumber gimlets which are usually made with gin, but gin can get me drunk pretty quickly, so we opted for vodka.

A Moscow Mule with a good ginger beer and fresh lime juice is also quite nice and only has three ingredients.

Thats what I decided on, minus the brass cup. I found some at Walmart nearby, but I couldn't bring myself endure Mos Eisley today...the most wretched hive of scum and villainy, so a rocks glass will have to do. I've never had one so figured I better try it first before making that investment.

On the totally non-citrus end, a White Russian is pretty nice in the right time and place and also super easy to make.

Always meant to try a proper White Russian but never did. The closest I ever came was when we ran out of beer at 5AM and started drinking rum and milk. Definitely one of worser hang overs I've ever woke up with.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have reached the end of Ruhlman's Ratio book of cocktail recipes. Only the hot toddy left, and I think I'm saving it for a colder evening.

For anyone looking for a good book to teach them how cocktails work -- not just a list of recipes -- I strongly recommend this one. It's going to make the rest of my cocktail books more useful to me, since I won't just be blindly following recipes, not knowing why they work (or sometimes, why they don't).

I've already been a big experimenter with swapping out ingredients, but now know better what I'm doing in that regard.

 

[Dioltach]

Just came back from dinner with the wife. We had a cocktail the restaurant called "Spanish Winter": Liquor 43, ginger ale, cinnamon and star anise. A perfect drink for a miserable autumn evening.

 

[Mannahnin]

Just came back from dinner with the wife. We had a cocktail the restaurant called "Spanish Winter": Liquor 43, ginger ale, cinnamon and star anise. A perfect drink for a miserable autumn evening.

Sounds nice! I've been meaning to experiment with Licor 43. Do you have any other recommendations using it?

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Absinthe is great. Its legal here now in NYS but I think it's not the real deal as it doesn't contain thujone or wormwood which are the psychotropic ingredients in it iirc.

If I recall correctly, studies have shown that the amount of thujone in absinthe was not enough to have psychotropic effects. Now, the toxic additives that unscrupulous distillers added to quickly meet the demand for absinthe could cause all sorts of nasty side effects.

Always meant to try a proper White Russian but never did. The closest I ever came was when we ran out of beer at 5AM and started drinking rum and milk. Definitely one of worser hang overs I've ever woke up with.

These days I'm more partial to the Black Russian (1oz coffee liqueur, 3oz vodka). White Russians are so smooth they tend to go down too fast.

Just came back from dinner with the wife. We had a cocktail the restaurant called "Spanish Winter": Liquor 43, ginger ale, cinnamon and star anise. A perfect drink for a miserable autumn evening.

That does sound perfect. I might add some brandy or rum to it.

 

[R_J_K75]

If I recall correctly, studies have shown that the amount of thujone in absinthe was not enough to have psychotropic effects.

we drank it iirc 3 times in the span of a few months, maybe a year. The first two times there was definitely more of an effect than just a beer buzz, so who knows how of what was in it. The third time it was garbage, I dont even think it got me drunk but that bottle my friend bought from somewhere else.

These days I'm more partial to the Black Russian (1oz coffee liqueur, 3oz vodka).

My friend used to bartend at a local dive on weekend afternoons and a few weekday evenings. I walked in on a Saturday afternoon after I stopped at McDonalds to grab a coffee. This liquor called Grind had just come out, he grabbed my coffee and poured a bunch of Grind in it and topped it off with a healthy portion of Baileys Irish Cream. It was really good. After a few of those, between the coffee, the Grind and the Baileys I was pretty amped up and ready to roll.

Grind Rum Espresso

www.sazerac.com