Not long ago I went to a decent-ish neighborhood wine/liquor store to get a bottle of red on the way to a dinner party. While there I took a quick look at the liquor selection and a lady came up to me and told me that she was the buyer and could answer any questions I might have. I passed and she started to walk away, but then stopped, turned around and told me of all the stuff they had in the store I really should try the Dolin vermouths, particularly the red one. Then she went on for like 2 minutes talking about how great it was, how it was made etc (mind you, I was not looking at them, nor was I buying any booze). I had never had someone try to sell me something in a wine store so passionately, and she was extremely convincing, I mean I was actually half tempted to buy a bottle lol. I made a mental note to come back and get some, but still haven't.

Tried out a sidecar variant using my homemade pear liqueur instead of the Cointreau. Really good.

Guess I'm going to have to buy some Dolin the next time I go out booze shopping. It looks like Bevmo carries it, so I should be set.

CQ,

What kind of shoes/insoles do you wear behind the bar?

Hi Clare,

Talk about your favorite cocktails using beer.

shaft,

I don't know if rollerblades count as shoes. just kidding.

idk, just your average rubber soled tennis shoe/sneaker, usually.

hi rdh,


I'm woefully lacking on beer use in cocktails. I wrote earlier itt about liking beer in bloody maries, but that's about it. I would imagine Belgian ales in particular could be used really well. maybe someone else could chime in here

Bump for Monday Nite Saratoga. Goddamn these are delicious. Thanks again, Diablo!

Just bought a handle of Bulleit this afternoon! Yes we can has Old Fashioned!

I am sure that I will stop drinking Old Fashioneds at some point, but for right now my home bar consists entirely of this:

1) Handle Bulleit Bourbon
2) Fifth Bulleit Rye
3) bitters
4) sugar cubes
5) a single half-dezested orange

MJ,

You find a winner, ride it until it drops. For about three months, I got on a bloody mary kick so severe that half of all my foodstuffs were related.

Bump for fizz success.

Before:


After:


The difference: Instead of shaking violently for 10-20 seconds, shake 30-40 seconds at a gentle speed, keeping it as constant as possible. You can feel the merengue forming inside the shaker as you get closer to the desired texture.

Oh, and also:

CQ,

Would you ever tell a customer that their drink order was "wrong", or could be improved somehow? I was at a bar with a friend last night, he ordered a double of pretty good whiskey and asked for "lots of ice". The bartender went into a long thing about how he shouldn't drink it that way as he'll be unable to taste it. I agreed with him, but seems to me the bartender should at most just snicker inwardly and serve the drink without further comments. Guess a lot depends on how he says it as well though. Thoughts?

Ragip,

If I had someone order, say, a Pappy Van Winkle with lots of ice, I would almost feel a moral obligation to suggest(in the nicest way possible) they have it with one cube, or neat, b/c it is a lolwaste and it's 20+ bucks a pour. Otoh, if it was a good but not great bourbon--like a Woodford or Bakers or something--I would just make the drink, b/c some people prefer it getting diluted, which is fine.

I've definitely told people before when they're misordering something, like when they think Manhattans have lots of fruit muddled in the bottom, but that's a different thing.

I tried a Saratoga for the first time last night, only I used bourbon instead of rye whiskey as that's what I had on hand. Pretty good, although I still prefer the Sidecar.

Tonight I order a drink, the first of the evening from this bartender "Bacardi - diet."

He replies, "You take it with a lemon, right?"

Mind blown.

The first time I was there was in June. Granted we were wearing tiaras that night and did discuss the lemon bit because we first asked for Limon which they don't carry. The second time was in August. I'm not even sure he was working that night. This is the third time ever I've been at this club. He remembered from a conversation in June? Wow.

EM,

That's pretty impressive. I used to be really really good at remembering people's names and drinks. You'd be surprised, when you're waiting tables or bartending, you have to be so "on" a lot of the time, that you wind up retaining things you'd never retain in your normal existence.

If he thought you were cute, that probably would explain it too

Saying something like "have you tried that neat? I think it's much better. If you don't like it, I can always add more ice." makes it much easier for them to get what they want without having to argue or feel like they're stupid but still gives them the opportunity to not ruin their glass of pappy. Sounds like the problem with ragip's bartender wasn't the advice but the superior, lecturey tone.

With choices of old or cute, I'm going to run with cute. I did call him on remembering from tiara night and we had a chuckle.

Couple questions from someone who rarely gets his drink on, then an anecdote

1. I just used the phrase "gets his drink on"...how douchey is that?

2. I usually order Captain Morgan and diet Coke...is that respectable for a guy to order?

3. A copule years ago in Vegas it seemed that "flair" bartending was the trend. Has that died?

So years ago my mom and brother went to a super fancy French restaurant and for after-dinner drink she ordered some Grand Marnier. They came to the table, poured into a big brandy sniffer, heated/twirled it until it flamed. She really liked this.
A week later they were hanging with friends and discussed the presentation, so decided to try it themselves. Mom's friend twirled the sniffer while my brother heated it...it flamed...she panicked...dropped the sniffer...it shattered...and the flaming GM singed most of the hair off his left leg

what a waste of grand marnier!

1. Depends on if you were pretending to be a douchebag or actually being one

2. No, not really, sorry.

3. I don't know much about flair bartending outside of Cocktail the movie. I like Bryan Brown fwiw

CQ, did you ever work at a bar frequented by soldiers coming back from tours?

No why?

great thread.

my drink contribution:

2-2.5 oz. bourbon
.5-1 oz. lemon juice (i go for the .5 oz., 1 oz. makes it too sour for my taste)
splash simple syrup

shake (or stir, if thats your game)
strain into a chilled glass

enjoy.

All,

Was recently introduced to the Bobby Burns. Very tasty.

http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/20...9/bobby-burns/