Came up with this one when I ran out of vodka…
Jamaican Screwdriver
1 glass of orange juice
1 shot of spiced rum
I actually prefer this one to the original now.
Chrisbar
Mixicology for the lazy.
This will sound pathetic, but it’s great when you get home from work and just don’t have the energy to make a real quality Bloody Mary:
Some “Spicy” V8
Vodka.
I also keep a variety of things to stick in milk or coffee-- kahlua, almond liqueur, frangelico (sort of hazelnutty-- nutella for alcoholics), etc. I’ve learned to enjoy this stuff with soy milk, even-- the creaminess isn’t bad.
Keep vodka in the house-- it’s the most versatile. You can drink it with most any other liquid in the fridge. A lovely investment also is a blender, which will expand your foo-foo tropical drinks repertoire. Otherwise, pick up one of those paperback mixing guides for a couple of bucks. The only problem is that for many drink you practically do need to be a bartender to have access to the ingredients. Personally, I do not typically have kirchwasser, angustora bitters, chartreuse, green creme de menthe, unicum, and coconut liqueur sitting sround at the same time.
Actually, you NEED to add water to single-malt scotch. But don’t just take my word on it.
From the Glenfiddich site:
“Only pour a little Single Malt into the glass, so that there is quarter to half an inch in the base. Then, depending on its strength, this should be cut (diluted) with water, which helps release the esters and aldehydes held within the spirit, thus making the aroma more pronounced. If the whisky is 40% abv, about a third again of water is added. If it is 60%, then two thirds. The reason for this is simple. Too high an alcohol content affects the olfactory senses, making it impossible to identify or even enjoy the Scotch whisky in question.
To prevent contamination it is vital to use fresh, still bottled water to cut the Single Malt. This avoids introducing extraneous flavours.”
From the Scotch Malt Whisky Society:
“The procedure for inspecting malt whiskies is simple. Look at the stuff in the glass, sniff it, add some water, sniff it again and taste it. The water is essential in tasting full-strength malts. Not only does it soften the influence of the alcohol, it draws out the nose of the whisky to an astonishing extent.”
Mmmm gin and tonics. The other day my friends ran out of tonic so I had a gin and Squirt. It wasn’t too terrible, actually.
I also made this weird thing out of:
Chocolate milk
Baileys
Godiva
Kahlua
Absolut Mandarin
It was quite weird. But I happen to really like chocolate and orange together… so choco-milk and absolut mandarin was yummy.
Standard Rusty Nail–mix blended Scotch (single malt gets wasted) and Drambuie in equal proportions. Chill in ice, strain into a glass. You might toss in a couple of filberts.
The Buck’s Nail (my variation)–as above, but add a cherry and a couple of dashes of Angostora bitters. If you wish, toss in an ounce or so of good ginger ale. Serve in a cocktail glass (not a lowball glass).
WARNING! The Buck’s Nail is very much stronger than people think! They will want more than one, and they will get loopy. I also think that this seems to stay in the system for a fair amount of time. But, it is a very nice “refined” drink for those who don’t like gin.
Bucky
Mmmm…mixed drinks.
My favorites:
White Russian, although I have NO idea what goes in it. It’s one of those things I order at a bar, but don’t make at home. 
Vodka and cranberry juice.
Captain Morgan’s and Sprite. Tastes amazingly like a cream soda. (Thanks to Omni for introducing me to this one in Spiffled!)
Scotch. Straight. Preferably Glenlivet.
One NOT to try. A “Gentle Ben.” It’s made up of, IIRC, tequila, vodka, gin, and OJ. My friend Dan had one once…it was NOT a happy sight afterward. And this was a real drink we got from one of those bartending books. shudder
The Peppermint Patty
Equal parts Kahlua and Peppermint Schnapps on ice. If you like the candy, you’ll love the drink.
The Turkey Squirt
Equal parts Wild Turkey, and Squirt soda.
I made this one up. It tastes like shit, but I just like the name. Where I’m from, that’s slang for diarrhea.
Mix Stoli Vanilla Vodka and Kahlua equally. A tasty straight up shot.
We used to make these things called Mind Erasers, back in the day. It’s one of those drinks where you slowly pour the ingredients over a spoon so that they form seperate “levels” in the glass. Ice tends to screw that all up, so stick the ingredients in the freezer for a bit first (also thickens up the booze just a bit, making the levels easier to achieve).
First level is Kahlua, then some Vodka, followed by ginger ale, or sprite (about 1 or 2 shots each, depending on how enthusiastic you are). If you’re careful, you will have a glass with three distinct levels, as the thin liquids sit atop the thicker ones.
And then, carefully insert a small straw to the bottom of the glass (don’t stir, for god’s sake) and suck it down. First the creamy Kahlua coats the throat, then the vodka goes down nice and smooth, and then the ginger ale washes the whole thing down. Tasty!!
Yeh, cheers, right – thanks to Pug for letting me hijack her name. Patsy, Patsty Stone here. Darling, sweetie, you’ve got it all bollocks-d up. Even when in hospital, just everyone knows the only mixed drink is gin and tonic. And when you’re having a liquid lunch, a fine Moselle or a Cote-du-Rhone is what all the flotsam and jet-set are drinking. You Americans and your elaborate mixed drinks! You need a good stint above an Oddbin’s.
And I forgot another drink. This one made up for the equivalent of a sorority party girl who once showed up at my house in tow with some friends:
The Skinni Vanilli:
1 shot Stoli Vanilla Vodka in lowball glass, over ice. Add Diet Cream Soda until glass is full.
My favorite party drink has got to be
“Pink Ladies Pull Your Panties Down”
This drink requires some team work:
Wash out a 1 gallon milk jug (save the cap!)
Add 750 ml of vodka (ketel one is best but schwag vodka is fine)
Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar
About 6-8 sliced lemons
And a quarter cup of grenadine
Fill the remaining space in the jug with ice and shake, shake, shake. This will take a while (about an hour or until you can no longer taste the alcohol) and the jug gets frostbite cold so wrap it in a towel and pass it around the room. Continue adding ice into the container as it melts.
When the mixture begins to taste like lemonade, you know you are but minutes away from blacking out.
Falcon: The vodka and cranberry juice is called a Cape Cod. One of my absolute favorites.
In general, I’m a vodka kind of guy. I dig Greyhounds (vodka and grapefruit juice), Salty Dogs (same, but with salt on the rim), Collins (vodka and soda with lime), and the aforementioned Cape Cod. Add grapefruit to the latter, and you get a Sea Breeze, also pretty darn good, though I prefer the unsullied Cape Cod original.
I also make a kick-ass Bloody Mary. There are a few varieties, some with plain tomato juice, some with V-8, and some with (shudder) Clamato. But to give it the real kick, use plain tomato or plain V-8 and add a healthy splash of Pickapeppa sauce. It’s sort of like a Jamaican Worcestershire, which might sound odd, but trust me: Mmmmm…
And a friend of ours came up with a neat way to make killer strawberry margaritas. Piece of cake, too: Fill up a blender with frozen strawberries, pour in tequila and curacao to taste, and blend. If the strawberries stay chunky and don’t circulate in the blender, add more alcohol. You’ve got the mix right when the unchopped strawberries circulate slowly and get blended. Takes just a couple of minutes, and you end up with a blended strawberry margarita, really thick, really tasty.
Thank you for defending my practice. This was always my mode of thinking on the subject of fine scotch.
Wow. Lots of interesting ideas here.
Time to go shopping… <rubs hands together>.
How about the good old Top Shelf Margarita?
One shot of your favorite tequila (usually 1800)
half shot of Grand Marnier
sweet and sour mix
a splash of Rose’s lime juice
Also, people love this one in the winter. It’s called a Hot Halston in the Midwest, but may have other names elsewhere.
If you have any, coat the rim of a coffee glass with cinnamon (put a little water on the rim of the glass to make it stick)
half shot of Khalua
half shot of Bailey’s
fill the glass with coffee
top with whip cream
pour a very small amount of Irish Mist over the whip cream
Guaranteed to please the most finnicky lover of hot drinks.
My all time favorite mixed foo foo drink is the Alien Secretion.
Alien Secretion:
1 part Midori melon liqueur
1 part Captain Morgans spiced rum
2 parts sweet and sour mix
This makes a bright green drink that is fairly sweet and is suitable for shooters or sipping. Be careful, this can taste very sweet and not alcoholic at all.
May I present the sidecar?
3/4 oz brandy
3/4 oz orange liqueur
3/4 oz lemon juice
Shake over ice and strain into a glass. Delish! But no bars around here stock orange liqueurs, so unless I feel like blowing money on actually buying bottles I never get to have one. So sad. So I go to my second choice, which is an Amaretto sour.
Forgot about this one. It was an extremely popular shooter in the early 90s, and probably still is.
The Lemon Drop
Pour Absolut Citron in a mixing cup (one shot per shooter)
Add sugar. Use roughly the equivalent of one pack of sugar for every two-three shots (experiment until you find what you like best).
Squeeze about two lemon wedges per shot in the cup. Real lemons work better than bottled lemon juice.
Add some ice, shake well, and strain.
It tastes just like lemonade, but will get you snockered in no time.
If the first attempt is too strong for your taste, add a splash of sweet and sour.
Ooo, I forgot to mention a cocoa drink that is the nonpareil for cold-weather refreshment. After skiing, or a snowball fight, this will toast you back up immediately.
It’s pretty simple:
Hot cocoa (your preferred type)
One splash vodka
Half a splash peppermint schnapps
Two or three splashes kahlua
Top with whipped cream
Mmmmmmm…