I’m a rum guy so I can’t help. However, the American craft rum scene is exploding now so if you decide to try it again I can recommend some that blows those big distilleries out of the water.
A Rusty Nail is the classic whiskey-based Drambuie cocktail.
I agree with the advice to hit up a place with a bartender interested in his/her craft - have you ever had a really well made martini, manhattan, margarita, etc? I know it isn’t cheap, but maybe go in once a week and try one well made drink, build a rapport with the bartender and you’ll learn a lot (and will probably be served a lot of samples to try…)
Horseshit. EVERYONE who hangs out in Cafe Society is a drunk. What’s the point to being in a cafe?
If you’re going to do the Russian appetizer route — pickled mushrooms, et al — serve your (good) vodka chilled to the point of sludginess. Think Moscow resident keeping her bottles buried in snow on the fire escape, in subzero temperatures. I’m not really a vodka man (love Bloody Marys, though), but I would happily do a Russkie snackfest.
Rye whiskey is very hip right now, and works well in old-timey sophisticado cocktails like Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. I still prefer bourbon, which is not necessarily a sweet whiskey…try the fancy new distillers and stay away from stuff like Jim Beam.
Have you tried gin? A good dry Martini is the king of cocktails. Just don’t order more than two. The Bronx is another excellent classic cocktail; the Tom Collins a perfect tall drink for a hot day. And if you’re in Florida, a tall gin and fresh grapefruit juice over ice with a salt frost on the rim is the BEST THING EVER.
None of the above suggestions (well OK very few of them) are bad answers to the OP, but ultimately you should go into the liquor store and work your way through the categories (brandies, tequilas, vodkas, ryes, canadian whiskeys, irish whiskeys, scotch, bourbon, rums, gins, etc) and in each category ask the proprietor what is the brand that is considered top shelf.
Try it solo, straight up, in a shot glass. Try it diluted half and half in water or seltzer water. Try it mixed with orange juice, tomato or V8 juice, 7up or sprite, and/or whatever else you tend to keep on hand. Google bartender recipes and make yourself some mixed drinks. When instructed to rim the glass with something (salt, celery salt, vanilla sugar, etc) take them seriously, try it that way. Keep a notebook. Make notes on what you like and try to make some qualitative notes on what it tastes like.
I agree with the recommendations for bar snacks (cheeses, chips, etc). Don’t drink 'em solo. Bad for the tummy.
In my book, vodka’s for amateurs. It’s the spirit people choose when they don’t want to actually taste what they’re drinking. Hence the proliferation of the myriad flavored variants. **DPRK **has it right- by law it’s supposed to be just ethanol and water, but some distillers are more painstaking than others, which is what distinguishes Taaka from Grey Goose.
I’d also wager that if you say you don’t like rum, you haven’t had the right drinks yet. If all you’ve had is Bacardi light in coke, you’re missing out. Rum is about THE most varied spirit out there- each country, island, etc… has their own variant, and they can vary quite a bit in production method, base ingredient, aging techniques, etc… Rum runs the gamut of styles in a way that nothing else, save maybe whiskey does. I mean, you have stuff like Bacardi Light, Gosling’s Black Seal, Wray and Nephew Overproof, Ron Zacapa Centenario, and Captain Morgan all under the umbrella, and other than being “rum”, they’re not very similar to each other.
Go get a La Floridita/Hemingway daiquiri- it’s made of light rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice, simple syrup and maraschino liqueur. They’re GOOD. Or have a Mary Pickford, or a well made Mojito, or better yet, a tiki drink of some kind (I like the Demerara Dry Float myself). Or if you like Moscow Mules, just replace the vodka with gold rum; it’s essentially a variant of a Dark and Stormy at that point.
huh, shows what I know, er, thought I knew anyway.
Oh my gosh! You guys are awesome!!! I don’t even know where to start. I’m at work right now, so I can’t respond to all but I’m getting thirsty just catching up!
Thanks also for moving my thread to the right place. I knew there had to be some serious drinkers up in here.
I love a nice Irish whiskey like Jamison’s. Sipped neat.
Woops, thanks!
If you’re buying drinks (as opposed to mixing your own) stick to places with bartenders who know what they’re doing. I ordered a Manhattan once and was given a drink with sour mix in it. I knew it was wrong, but you might not. A lot of places don’t do much more than two-ingredient drinks. And often that’s all anyone wants. But there are many more tastes out there to experience.
If you have a friend who has a similar interest in exploring booze who you don’t mind swapping germs with, that can help you try more drinks. I rarely drink more than two in a sitting, but with a friend I can taste four.
If any places near you have menus that you want to post, folks here can probably make recommendations.
Great idea. I just put my bottle of Russian Standard in the freezer. Also, researching Russian appetizers. Seems like the perfect time of year for them.
Just had a friend recommend the Old Fashioned. Same friend recommended that I go from vodka to gin and stick with explorer one type of spirit at a time. I’ve never had a martini and I can try both vodka and gin martinis to get an idea of the difference. I found a very informative website that has basic introductions to the spirits and differences in each type. Although I dislike Florida, I love grapefruit juice, so I’ll be trying that cocktail first. I think my next trip to the liquor mart is going to be for a bottle each of Hendricks and Aviation. Thanks for the recs.
Whoa - you’ve never had a martini, and you want to go out and buy not one, but two bottles of gin?
You might hate it (many do!)
This is why some of us are suggesting you go try some drinks at a bar first…
Head thee to a good bar. Not Moe’s or Applebee’s or any place like that. Someplace “fancy.” Have a Designated Driver and go wild. Order whatever you think you might like. It helps if there are a few other people to drink what you don’t like. Repeat as necessary.
I’d really recommend a Girl’s Nights Out in Vegas for something like this, but it would likely just get you frou-frou drinks and hit on by douchebags.
Yanno BEGirl a good bartender can be just as hard to find and as rare as anything else precious and important. Do you have a friend with more experience who can go with you, mentor you so to speak. Just because a bar looks good, doesn’t always mean anything.
Yes. I’ve talked to some friends, one of whom has bartended and they’ve given me some tips on how to experiment, what to try, and which bartenders to seek out at our local cocktails bars.
As to buying bottles of never-before-tried spirits, many now come in tiny single serve airplane bottles and my local liquor store has a pretty good selection of them. Also, I’ve found a friend that will go halfsies on larger bottles with me because she’d like to try them too. But point taken, zombywoof.
You’ve tried a brand of potato-based vodka? There’s a ton of myth and marketing surrounding alcohol drinking, and a good curriculum for a Doper starts with a lot of reading rather than heading out to Moe’s. Your average bartender is doing it wrong.
The good news is that there’s good stuff on the same shelf at the same prices as the not-so-good. If you’re familar with craft beers, you probably already know a lot of famous brands that simply aren’t that good. The words and info on the label are important, the look of the bottle and label couldn’t be less important.
A bartending course approach would start with much reading, learning about history, geographical evolution, technique, glassware and serving temperatures and letting that informed reading form your shopping list. If you come to associate a wine or spirit with a country, start in that country. As mentioned, mini-bar bottles and wine splits are readily available, and are perfectly safe to sample undiluted. Multi-ingredient drinks are fairly new to drinking, and not a good starting point at all.
My comment made this sound like a chore. Of course you can go out, but favor a quiet time in a good hotel. Hotel bartenders are more likely to have classic ingredients and have been vetted for some knowledge and technique, and if you tell them you’re trying to learn, you might get them to talk YOUR ear off. 
Tis the season for trying new drinks. With the first of several holiday parties on the calendar, some home experimentation, and drinks out with friends, I’ve had the opportunity to try a few new ones. I’ve tried moscow mules at several places since I know what tastes good to me and have identified the place that makes it the best. Went to the hipster bar in town on the advice of serious drinkers and tried an Old Fashioned. Not bad, but I think bourbon is going to be an acquired taste. So, I went back to gin and I’ve had a cocktail called an Orange + Red, which is a vodka based drink, but the bartender suggested it was better with gin. Honestly, I couldn’t taste the gin. I’ve tried a dirty martini at our holiday party, but it wasn’t made well. Will try again somewhere else. I’d like to try a Vesper martini next. Last night I had a gin and tonic that was very good. I could drink that a lot, I think. I bought some fruits, sodas, ginger beer, and tonic water for drinks at home. My husband surprised me with a bottle of Absolut Citron and Kraken. He made Dark N Stormys, which were tasty, although I’ve never been fond of rum. I haven’t decided what to do with the Citron yet. Tonight, I just made a lemon vodka with blackberry soda. It could use a little more flavor though, maybe Chambord? I’ve been reading about aperitifs and wondering if maybe I should be trying boozier drinks instead of fruity drinks. I think I’ll start a journal. I don’t even know how to describe the flavors of what I’m drinking.