CDL,

The rums are light and dark, in order. Jimador is a cheap solid tequila (imo), and Don Julio is the pricier (though still not outrageous) higher shelf that should supplant Patron. Anejo is the one I would go for with that.

I don't have too much of an opinion on flavored spirits/liqueurs. You might want to add Pernod/absinthe in order to make sazeracs, etc. Pernod's also nice by itself as a digestif. What else? Cointreau, definitely (for sidecars, maragaritas, and a lot of other drinks). Oh, you should also buy sweet vermouth, forgot about that, plus Angostura and Peychaud's bitters.

As far as mixers, go with what you like, although I would suggest learning to make, and keeping on hand, some homemade sour mix. Not the sugary premade stuff, but the fresh-squeezed kind. Makes any kind of margarita/sour highball about 10000x better.

Awesome, thanks.

CDL,

I put together the following cocktail supplies list for a friend who wanted to start playing around with cocktails at home:

bitters - angostura, peychauds, orange
amaro - gran classico is a really good one, and very versatile
vermouths - white/red
liqueurs - maraschino, cointreau
mixers - tonic, club soda, ginger beer
optional - absinthe / benedictine (don't get these to start)
tools - shaker tins, mixing glass, hawthorne strainer, julep strainer, bar spoon, jigger

All of the tools can be ordered really cheap online/Amazon. For shakers, I prefer small tin/big tin as opposed to pint glass/tin.

All,

Fortaleza is another excellent tequila at a reasonable price (45/55/70 here for blanco/repo/anejo). Highly recommended.

Long time, no thread!

So I had my 30th yesterday; had the party the day before, about 20 of us got thru 13 bottles of champagne, plus additional cocktails. Made pitchers of caipirinha and watermelon daiquiri too. Was a good evening, finished with tequila slammers (the champagne/tequila version) and Cards Against Humanity.

I was bumping the thread as my parents told me my village is having a cocktail night in the hall, and they are having a competition for a cocktail to be named the "Shipham Sling" (Shipham's my village, obv, it's 'Sheep Hamlet' as it used to be sheep farmers before dairy moved in).

Now I know slings are a set formula (2 spirit, 1 sour, 1/2 sweet; top up with soda/ginger ale, right?), so I was thinking: as it's apple country, maybe 2 apple brandy, 1 cloudy apple juice (or lemon??), sugar syrup and topped with ginger ale - garnish with a sprig of mint [for the lambs]? How does that sound, does anyone have any tweaks? I thought apple and mint would work well, but wondered about the sour element, if cloudy apple won't make it look good, or taste sour enough...

Advice welcome!

Regards,
Pete

Peter,

Apple brandy + apple juice + syrup + ginger ale = way too sweet imo. I think your lemon idea is solid.

Pete,

I just tried this (built over ice in Collins glass) :
2oz apple brandy
0.5 oz lime juice
Dash of simple syrup (like. 25oz)
Topped with ginger beer
Dash of peach bitters
Stirred and garnished with lime wheel

Not bad, but the taste of the apple gets subdued by the other ingredients, which may not be a bad thing.

I'm going to experiment some more after dinner.

ETA: I added 0.25oz of benedictine a third of the way through the drink and that didn't work quite well.

Experiment #2: apples and oranges (and ginger)

Built in Collins glass
1.5oz apple brandy
0.5oz grand marnier
0.5oz Aperol
0.5oz domain de canton ginger liqueur
0.5oz lime juice
Top with ginger beer
Dash of orange bitters
Lime wheel garnish

Tasty, but a bit too fruity and probably I went overboard with the number of ingredients.

Hi both,

Thanks for this! Keen to drive the apple forwards as that makes it location-specific, but thought apple + sugar would be too much. Will try it out as calvados / lemon juice / sugar / ginger ale; mint sprig and apple juice 'float' at most.

Having had cocktails aplenty on Saturday I will wait a few days to mix up this but will report back - more ideas welcome!

Thanks,
Pete

A cocktail should have a maximum of six ingredients excluding ice imo.

If we're being nitty with the definitions, a sling only has spirit, still water, sugar, and is garnished with nutmeg. However, I doubt such a sling would win any kind of competition.

And slings predated the term cocktails - so let's go for >6! Balance can still be achieved through complexity imo

PH,

I actually have both calvados and ginger beer at the house right now, so will take a couple spins at this tonight!

Would be much obliged, El D. Also whether ginger ale or ginger beer (and fiery degrees thereof the latter) strike as better or worse.

Best,
Pete

Pete, could you share your recipe for making a pitcher of caipirinha?

Hi T,

As I was in a rush to make other drinks, instead of doing the proper lime wedge muddle / grained sugar caipirinha, I looked up Difford's versions as they are quick/easy/mass making models.

His says 2 shots cachaca, 1 shot lime, 1/2 shot sugar syrup (serve w/ lime wedge). I upscaled that by 6x for the pitcher, blended up a ton of ice and churned the ice into the pitcher of the liquids above. Not as good as a well made caipirinha, but good enough for a cocktail party full of people already full of champers...

Best,
Pete

Thanks, Pete. I always struggle with making drinks in batches when I have a few people over for a party. I'll try your recipe next time.

So, to give my two cents on the situation, I enjoy having that distinctive taste from the muddled lime from the oils released from the skin. I would just muddle a large batch of limes and send it through a sieve(what we actually do at my work place), add in ground sugar (don't use powdered, it has added products to prevent coagulation. I grind up unrefined sugar with a mortar and pestle). I typically let this sit overnight so that the sugar has a chance to dissolve into the lime mixture. Then I add Cachaca. Add ice and adjust for the flavor (melting ice obviously changes the sugar ratio in the drink, but it is definitely a reason why I don't use a simple syrup).

I agree 100% where time allows you should go the whole fruit. It's a bit like the difference between macerating the bourbon and mint for the julep versus just bruising the leaves and going for it. I'm usually making drinks on the fly for friends rather than pitching them a menu, and in a pinch the difford's one was quickest.

As adsman would say, if you say you're quick and you're clean and tidy, the bar job is yours.

Anyone know anything about armagnac?

http://lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/produc...R=&language=EN

I guess that's what's available to me, anything in that list any good? Looking to find a good starter.

When creating new cocktails, how do you decide whether the drink should be served up or on the rocks? Is this mainly a personal preference thing, or are there standards that take into account the type and number of ingredients in the drink?

Demiurge,

Re: rocks or no rocks, there's probably a more correct answer than what I'm going to say, but typically cocktails made with good ingredients and higher end liquor are better served without rocks, or up (in a martini glass). This is simply because most people don't want to dilute the flavor of a well-made sidecar or martini that uses good-tasting and expensive liquor.

Re: number of ingredients, there's not really a standard, although as discussed earlier itt, with classic cocktails there is kind of a typical recipe that involves lots of a main liquor, less of an auxiliary liquor, and a third non-alcoholic component that might be fruit juice or something else.

Also Goose, missed your question from last month. Unfortunately I know nothing about armagnac though I bet Pete, ET, or Diablo could field this one.

CQ, I thought you mentioned drinking armagnac earlier ITT. I have never tried one so zero advice to offer on my part.

Pete, did you end up creating a drink for your parents' town competition?

I had armagnac once, as a digestif at a faculty dinner a while back, so what I know about it is that if I've had ten drinks first, and it's free, I like it.