Lost me right there.
White Russians (Caucasians), because that’s what the Dude likes.
Great. (Ask for the Peruvian one).
If you want to drink it straight, get the “Mosto Verde” type. Also, a night in the freezer makes go down smoothly (maybe too smoothly).
Peruvian Pisco is always colourless.
Chilean Pisco is yellowish because it’s aged. It’s also a different type of drink, not only because of the ageing.
Sorry, mild whoosh there. Any time someone starts describing a drink as “colorless to yellow to amber” it sounds too much like… the end product of drinking.
If you like a G&T try it with a 3 or 4 splashes of bitters. It adds the perfect refreshing aromatic spice. I started liking it so much that I now omit the lime and drink gin, tonic and bitters.
I have absolutely no clue as to what bitters are, how they taste, or their general application.
Care to elaborate?
Absolutely. I’ve been buying a bunch of good sippin tequila lately. I keep sipping on the best stuff but anything that doesn’t rate top shelf I use in my margs regardless of the price. Also, my guys turned me on to a honey-like substance made from Agave that I use in lieu of frozen limeade. Don’t remember the name but it sure is tasty.
Sorry,
Angostura aromatic bitterswere a type of snake oil medicine back in the day, basically a mixture of alcohol, herbs and spices. They are common ingredient in a lot of old cocktail recipes. You can buy them at the grocery store near the drink mixers.
Bitters are an essential ingredient in lots of classic cocktails. (In fact, ISTR reading once that a cocktail was defined, early in its history, as requiring bitters, plus a base spirit and a sweetening agent.) Angostura is the most common one, and for a long time was pretty much all you could get. These days, with the cocktail revival, there are lots of other sorts of bitters out there. I have a bottle of orange bitters that I use to make Emeralds, which are basically Manhattans with Irish whiskey instead of rye.
As long as you are able to lift a bottle/pitcher/can of juice and tilt it such that the liquid pours into a glass, making a Zombie is not too difficult. Admittedly, after one or so even that simple operation can become challenging. My solution: Mix up a pitcher in advance and aliquot it into individual glasses to have at the ready. Then I can knock them back until I can no longer reliably lift the glass to my lips, which is usually after about 2.
As for asking a bartender to make one – I haven’t, but maybe I will. If I do I will be sure to bring along my portable neurosurgeon in case the brain aneurysm actually occurs. I know what you mean about “your average tender”. While (as others have noted) the G&T has gotten much deserved love in this thread, it distinctly dulls the imbibing ambiance when you are stuck with the impression that the person-behind-the-bar’s cocktail repertoire seems to be comprised from start to finish with the G&T, Rum&Coke, VodkaRedBull, and SkinnyBitch.
I used to have a simple test for assessing the breadth of knowledge and skills of a new “person behind the bar”. The first drink I’d order would be a Rusty Nail – a classic, simple cocktail, easy to remember with only three ingredients, two if you do not count ice. If they knew that one, they’d pass the test and I felt it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. If my request was met with a quizzical look, I’d say never mind and order a beer. In a bottle.
Once, at a bar in Woodstock, Vermont on Christmas Eve Day, the day after my red eye flight home for Christmas was canceled because of snow in Chicago (in a rare moment of foresight I had actually called ahead and confirmed the cancelation before I left home), I walked into a very quaint bar I’d often walked past but never been in and ordered my tester Rusty Nail. Without hesitation the bartender made a drink and set it down in front of me. I took a sip. Rusty Nail it wasn’t. It was a very well made Sidecar. I gave her a pass.
Bourbon side care
Finally something on which Rachel Maddow and I agree:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ccqDlu0kuI
An old fashioned cocktail.
Well, yes. It’s not so much a matter of complexity of technique that would keep me from making a Zombie (or any of the other classic tiki drinks) at home, it’s the number of ingredients you need to keep on hand.
Your story regarding the bar in Woodstock, Vermont, reminds me of another of my favorite cocktails: the sidecar. It has been for a while my go-to cocktail when I’m in a cocktail situation. (It’s also one that I could make at home, but for some reason have never bothered to. I’m not quite sure why.) It is, however, a bit of an adventure to order one in a bar; results have varied wildly. I remember one night that I stopped into what looked to be a reputable little piano bar in the 50s near work and ordered up a sidecar. I had one, noted that it didn’t seem quite right, but decided to order another. This time, I kept a close eye on the bartender. Into the shaker went several clear spirits; not a single thing was brown. Whatever he was making me, it was definitely not a sidecar.
Oops side car:D
A dirty martini, preferable gin but vodka is good too, with bleu cheese stuffed olives is normally what I go for when I’m at a restaurant or bar and I want a mixed drink. At home I like margaritas, on the rocks with light salt. I feel a run to the liquor store coming on!
Wisconsin-style old fashioneds are kind of their own spin on the drink, with variations including brandy or whiskey, 7-up/Sprite (old fashioned “sweet”), 50/50 or Squirt soda (old fashioned “sour”), seltzer & 7-up/Sprites (old fashioned “press”), or seltzer (old-fashioned “soda.”)
There’s a little article on it here.
So the Southern Comfort old fashioned is just another variation of a Wisconsin old fashioned. It’s it’s own subset of Old Fashioned, not the traditional bitters-sugar cube-rye with maybe a splash of water concoction that you’re thinking of.
There’s another interesting article about Wisconsin old fashioneds here. Reading the comments, I was reminded that sometimes people order them with an olive garnish, which sounds really odd to most people who are familiar with the classic old fashioned, I’d think.
From what I can tell from my many visits to our lovely neighbor to the north, old fashioneds in this style are pretty much the Wisconsin state cocktail. In fact, the first I learned of an old fashioned was from a Milwaukee bartender friend of mine in college, and it was only later that I realized that “old fashioned” means something a good bit different to the rest of the US.
Bloody Mary made with Horseradish. BTW, there are actually some very good, gourmet Bloody Mary mixes out there. Not a substitute for the real thing, but still pretty damn good.
Now you have my attention…
For an afternoon or near noon drink, I like a bit of Lemoncello with a little bit of sparkling water or lemonade, I add a few blueberries. You can keep frozen berries on hand and that adds a little to the icy taste. Over the rocks, of course.
I recall we used to drink Prairie Fires at university in Texas. That’s a shot of tequila with several shakes of Tabasco sauce in it.