Don't wanna take over another thread. Lost the first one in the great pr0n crash, it seems?
So... tried some new stuff last night. Some worked out ok, some didn't.
Tried a Manhattan, based on some guys here saying how much they liked them. Personally wasn't to my taste, so much, although it wasn't "bad". I didn't have any Maker's on-hand, so I used 2 oz of Weller's 107, 2 quick shakes of bitters and about 3/4 oz of sweet vermouth, stirred with ice and strained over a maraschino cherry. I guess the vermouth might have smoothed the bourbon a little bit, but it really din't seem like much to me. It was just kind of... blah.
Then I decided to make some Long Island Iced Tea. I got on a kick with this sometime last year, but haven't made it since. Now there are a million ways to make this, but the generally consistent theme was equal parts gin, white rum, silver tequila and vodka. Only white rum I had on hand was Bacardi Limon. I used gold Camarena Reposado tequila instead of the Cuervo silver I have had in there forever, because this is what we've started making margaritas with and we like it a ton better. Tito's vodka, my new fav - better than Goose, Chopin, whatever. The wife convinced me that we didn't like it with the gin last time, that we substituted whiskey. I couldn't remember, so I took her advice. Then most recipes call for either a bit of sweet & sour or some Triple Sec or something, along with a splash of cola. I make my own sweet & sour, so I had to do that, as we were out. Thank God the winter is ending, we haven't been able to get decent limes for months, but now they're starting to get much larger and sweeter. Makes for much better sweet & sour mix.
So anyways, we didn't have any Coke, we mainly keep diet soda around. I tried mine with a splash of Diet Dr. Pepper. Hers she wanted with Diet Mug Root Beer. Let's just say the root beer did not mix well with that setup. Not well. Mine was better, but overall, it wasn't as good as I remember it being last time I made it - the Long Island, that is. I did find a recipe later that substituted 1/2 of the gin with whiskey. Maybe the fact I used a stronger whiskey (107 proof) with a stronger flavor might have influenced it too much, maybe the gold tequila, maybe the citrus rum along with too much sweet & sour mix, I dunno. It just wasn't "right"... I think too much citrus, which is why I suspect the rum and the mixer were too much. The wife made another after she tossed the first one with a higher-end orange liqueur we picked up, not Grand Marnier which is what I like, but something new we decided to try, better than plain ol' Triple Sec. That was a much better combo, but I was pretty hashed by then, so who knows. She did say it was a lot better and she wasn't in my shape, so she was a more reliable witness.
So that was last night's adventure for me... a little disappointing mix, but as I told her, after the first one, it mattered a lot less. lol
So let's post up some preferences, some recipes, some suggestions. I'm up for some new drinks, but it's so hard to just dig through the millions online and figure out what you think you'd like. I've tried martinis multiple times - dry, sweet, dirty, plain, etc. I just can't get into them with gin OR vodka. I guess the dirty ones I can stand the best, with a couple of olives. Dry is definitely NOT my taste. Although maybe now that I've discovered Tito's, I should try one again. Gimlets didn't impress me, either.
I'm usually into single malt Scotch, neat. Highlands, not Islays. And it seems I usually like those whiskey-based drinks, not super-sweet, etc. I don't do daiquiris, coladas, and all that junk. Margaritas, yes. Especially my own. I might post my margarita recipe later, as well as the sweet & sour mix. There is NO replacement for homemade mixer, I tell ya. None. Store-bought stuff is SH|T.
Anyways, there we go.
So... tried some new stuff last night. Some worked out ok, some didn't.
Tried a Manhattan, based on some guys here saying how much they liked them. Personally wasn't to my taste, so much, although it wasn't "bad". I didn't have any Maker's on-hand, so I used 2 oz of Weller's 107, 2 quick shakes of bitters and about 3/4 oz of sweet vermouth, stirred with ice and strained over a maraschino cherry. I guess the vermouth might have smoothed the bourbon a little bit, but it really din't seem like much to me. It was just kind of... blah.
Then I decided to make some Long Island Iced Tea. I got on a kick with this sometime last year, but haven't made it since. Now there are a million ways to make this, but the generally consistent theme was equal parts gin, white rum, silver tequila and vodka. Only white rum I had on hand was Bacardi Limon. I used gold Camarena Reposado tequila instead of the Cuervo silver I have had in there forever, because this is what we've started making margaritas with and we like it a ton better. Tito's vodka, my new fav - better than Goose, Chopin, whatever. The wife convinced me that we didn't like it with the gin last time, that we substituted whiskey. I couldn't remember, so I took her advice. Then most recipes call for either a bit of sweet & sour or some Triple Sec or something, along with a splash of cola. I make my own sweet & sour, so I had to do that, as we were out. Thank God the winter is ending, we haven't been able to get decent limes for months, but now they're starting to get much larger and sweeter. Makes for much better sweet & sour mix.
So anyways, we didn't have any Coke, we mainly keep diet soda around. I tried mine with a splash of Diet Dr. Pepper. Hers she wanted with Diet Mug Root Beer. Let's just say the root beer did not mix well with that setup. Not well. Mine was better, but overall, it wasn't as good as I remember it being last time I made it - the Long Island, that is. I did find a recipe later that substituted 1/2 of the gin with whiskey. Maybe the fact I used a stronger whiskey (107 proof) with a stronger flavor might have influenced it too much, maybe the gold tequila, maybe the citrus rum along with too much sweet & sour mix, I dunno. It just wasn't "right"... I think too much citrus, which is why I suspect the rum and the mixer were too much. The wife made another after she tossed the first one with a higher-end orange liqueur we picked up, not Grand Marnier which is what I like, but something new we decided to try, better than plain ol' Triple Sec. That was a much better combo, but I was pretty hashed by then, so who knows. She did say it was a lot better and she wasn't in my shape, so she was a more reliable witness.
So that was last night's adventure for me... a little disappointing mix, but as I told her, after the first one, it mattered a lot less. lol
So let's post up some preferences, some recipes, some suggestions. I'm up for some new drinks, but it's so hard to just dig through the millions online and figure out what you think you'd like. I've tried martinis multiple times - dry, sweet, dirty, plain, etc. I just can't get into them with gin OR vodka. I guess the dirty ones I can stand the best, with a couple of olives. Dry is definitely NOT my taste. Although maybe now that I've discovered Tito's, I should try one again. Gimlets didn't impress me, either.
I'm usually into single malt Scotch, neat. Highlands, not Islays. And it seems I usually like those whiskey-based drinks, not super-sweet, etc. I don't do daiquiris, coladas, and all that junk. Margaritas, yes. Especially my own. I might post my margarita recipe later, as well as the sweet & sour mix. There is NO replacement for homemade mixer, I tell ya. None. Store-bought stuff is SH|T.
Anyways, there we go.
