Unappreciated Cocktails

With all the reviews I do it's impossible to drink it all, so my closet has become a cafe, teahouse, wine cellar and a bar! With all the resources to make cocktails here it's rather fun to make a drink of my own and with these experiences and explorations I'd like to share with you what I've found with the bar in my closet. So tonight's about the cocktails you probably haven't and probably should try!

The Princeton - Just put all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a martini glass. Surprisingly easy to drink so be careful.
-1½ oz gin
-½ oz dry vermouth
-½ oz lime juice
-½ oz simple syrup (sugar water)

Perfect Manhattan - Normally when you order this at a bar they only use sweet vermouth but this version makes a huge difference. Serve just like the princeton, shake and strain.
-2½ oz

-½ oz dry vermouth
-½ oz sweet vermouth
-2 dashes angostura bitters

Paddy Wagon - Just shake a strain in a martini glass again. Irish whiskey is rarely thought of as a cocktail ingredient, but it's a good one.
-2½ oz Irish whiskey
-¾ oz sweet vermouth
-2 dashes angostura bitters

Madras - Here's the first you don't use a shaker or stemware. Put the grenadine, cranberry juice and vodka into the bottom of a highball glass, then try to layer with the orange juice on top. It'll look like a sunset.
-2 oz vodka
-3 oz orange juice
-2 oz cranberry juice
-¾ oz grenadine

Godchild - This one isn't a favorite of mine but I've yet to make this for a girl who doesn't like it. Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a champagne flute.
-1 oz vodka
-1 oz amaretto
-1 oz cream (not any sort of milk)
-a touch of grenadine to make it pink and compliment the sweetness of amaretto.

Please remember, "enjoy the drink, not the effect."

A Drink Connoisseur's Equipment

I feel obliged to say sorry for a lack of posts recently but due to vacation and enjoying summer while it's here, my attention was away from my laptop. But I'll begin my momentum with a post about how I drink my drinks. I think my particular approach to each variety of drink and that variety's type of drink being exclusive to all other types is only fair to everyone reading and the label selling the beverage. Experiencing drinks these ways brings out all of the notes. There are reasons for so many different shaped glasses. Lets start with one that's easiest to understand in my mind: Tea.

Almost all of the tea I review (and drink on my own time) is loose, so you have to find an alternative to a tea bag of course. After trying out many different ways like tea bags you fill yourself, tea balls, and other infusers I settled on this one. I found Bodum's Yo-Yo to be best because it lets the tea float more freely and you can pour the hot watter over the leaves so it does a better job at letting the tea do its work. As for each different type of tea I typically follow what the label says. Usually it's black and herbal teas are with boiling water, green and oolong is at 180°, and white is closer to 170°. Typically the suguested time is about 3-5 minutes and not left in afterwards (but I personally prefer to leave rooibos and hibiscus in longer), white is 5 or more minutes though. One thing that seems to go against common sense is to boil water freshly filtered and from the tap, not any bottled watter. This is because tap water has more oxygen in it and will pick up the taste better.

Liquors are very versatile on your palate ranging anywhere from black licorice (absinthe) to plain smoke (bourbon), so almost each one is approached differently. Clear liquors are compared on the rocks or straight and in a typical cocktail (ex: gin in a martini) because that's how they're frequently enjoyed as a drink. (If you're just taking shots, you're not enjoying the taste). Single malt whiskeys are analyzed in the Glencairn glass (pictured above) with a touch of purified water that brings out a lot of taste. Otherwise it's usually on the rocks or straight.

Beer and wine have too many different types of glasses to picture and explain in one post, but I'll go over some of the more unique ones. Pilsner glasses are ideal for lagers because it helps to bring out the head and keep it around longer through being slender. Champagne flutes help keep sparkling wine carbonated through less surface area so it stays fizzy longer. The other end of the stemware and beer glass spectrum with it's tulip shapes are saved for the robust drinks like cabernet wine and Belgian ales because with the middle of the bowl being wider than the mouth makes the smell more concentrated. This way it's easier to single out and identify what makes it up. As for temperature, beer is just from the fridge and most white wines are slightly chilled (not as cold as beer).

Now last, but certainly not least, is how to prepare coffee. I think buying a fine bean, griding it when you get home and making it in a coffee maker two days latter is an insult to it. A freshly ground bean in a French press makes a nice strong cup with that foam you don't get through any other method. Somehow this makes my coffee experiences three-dimensional and I can pick up more notes from my cup. The only thing I'll say about sugar and cream is that some people should be looking up reviews on different brands of sugar and creamers because they're just adding a touch of coffee with their sugar and cream! (P.S. I only put a tiny drop of half & half in my coffee)

Starting My Blog...

Just beginning my blog; it'll be about good drinks as the title would suggest but not just alcoholic ones. I will be reviewing teas, sodas (of unique and smaller production), coffee, beer, wine, and "colored" liquors (rum, whiskey, and such). I also like gins and vodkas every once in awhile, but I will NOT be reviewing tequilas due to an experience with one that I cannot remember ;-)

I would like to also note my approach to drinking and my rating system that I've been using:
First my system. I must give some credit to DrinkHacker.com and BeerAdvocate for blending and stealing theirs.

Drink Ratings:
A+ (World Class), A (Outstanding), A- (Excellent), B+ (Very Good), B (Good), B- (Worthy), C+ (Decent), C (Mediocre), C- (Not Worthy), F (Avoid)

Note: I've actually been tasting, rating and taking notes for awhile now and B seems to be the average, but anything C+ or lower usually has an aspect about it I don’t like. F means I couldn't even finish the drink due to being disgusting.

Now my belief system on drinks this doesn't apply to just alcohol. I believe that drinks should be enjoyed for what they are and liking them not their effect. Every type of drink has cheap "well brands" for those who just want their effect, like Pabst Blue Ribbon, Maxwell House, Mountain Dew, most box wines and plastic bottles of liquor.

I'll probably be writing my first review on a favorite tea latter today or whiskey tomorrow, (I shouldn't drink anything before taking a bicycle ride to work). Don't be afraid to send me suggestions or requests on what to try.

I hope a customer's idea on putting my opinions
on products on the web was a good one,
IcySmooth52