# My favorite mixed drink is a Rusty Nail. And yours? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655 "2011-06-16T02:37:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/61 "2011-07-18T18:13:17Z")
Sidecar’s been my drink of choice lately. Baffles the hell out of most bartenders, which tends to result in wild swings in quality, but when it’s good it’s damned good. I watched one bartender making it at the end of the bar, and he used not a single dark liquor–thus, whatever was in it, there wasn’t any sort of brandy, and whatever it was, it wasn’t a sidecar. Didn’t stay at that place long after that. Caipirinhas are another fave, but the acidity means I’m flirting with some truly wicked heartburn if I have more than a couple. Never made a sidecar at home–can’t be arsed to buy cognac, mostly. Made plenty of caipirinhas, though, and more than a few manhattans, which were my drink of choice before I got on the sidecar. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/62 "2011-07-18T18:51:01Z")
This summer is the Summer of the Manhattan. (Last summer it was the Summer of the Old Fashioned, before that the Summer of the Margarita, then the Summer of the Mojito, then the Summer of the Tom Collins (I think), then the Summer of the G&T. So has it been written, so shall it be.) Other than that, I order Old Fashioneds, Rum & Cokes, and Margaritas in pretty even distributions. Occasionally a Martini (properly with gin, please) or Lemon Drops. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/63 "2011-07-18T19:03:08Z")
Last week I got myself into trouble with a spin on the Rusty Nail - 45mL rye, 20-25mL Wild Turkey American Honey, on ice. They were so good I had three and woke up next morning with a headache. I know if we’re \*really \*cool we don’t care what people think about our drink orders, but I did get a warm glow when the bartender came to our table to compliment me on my order of a White Lady a couple months ago. Nigella got me hooked on them, and I got a free little cocktail shaker with my Cointreau that has the recipe measures right on it, so I find myself having these a lot! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/64 "2011-07-18T23:14:01Z")
Another vote for Amaretto Sour, with Mojito and Margarita close behind. I had a friend buy me a shot of something called a Red-Headed Slut. I’m a red-head, she thought that was hilarious. :rolleyes: Don’t know what’s in it, don’t wanna know. Nasty stuff, tasted like cough syup. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/65 "2011-07-19T00:57:49Z")
I don’t drink many cocktails (my preference tends to be whisk(e)y and water, whisk(e)y to be determined by mood), but in the summertime, a Tanqueray and diet tonic with lime hits the spot. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/66 "2011-07-19T01:23:23Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Sidecar’s been my drink of choice lately. Baffles the hell out of most bartenders, which tends to result in wild swings in quality, but when it’s good it’s damned good. I watched one bartender making it at the end of the bar, and he used not a single dark liquor–thus, whatever was in it, there wasn’t any sort of brandy, and whatever it was, it wasn’t a sidecar. Didn’t stay at that place long after that. > > Caipirinhas are another fave, but the acidity means I’m flirting with some truly wicked heartburn if I have more than a couple. > > Never made a sidecar at home–can’t be arsed to buy cognac, mostly. Made plenty of caipirinhas, though, and more than a few manhattans, which were my drink of choice before I got on the sidecar. My wife and I tend to use the Sidecar and the Daiquiri as our standard benchmarks for whether or not a bartender knows what he’s doing or not, with the assumption being that a bartender who can’t make a decent daiquiri or sidecar isn’t worth bothering with. (Sidecar: Brandy, lemon juice and triple sec, usually in a 2:1:1 or 3:1:2 ratio. Daiquiri: Light rum, lime juice, sugar, in a 2:1:1/3 ratio, more or less) I’m also partial to the La Floridita Daiquiri, as popularized by Ernest Hemingway. I don’t remember the proportions, but it is comprised of light rum, lime juice, sugar, grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur. It’s really, really good. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/67 "2011-07-19T10:15:16Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Caipirinhas - Brazilian drink made of limes, cachaca and sugar. I have a liter of cachaça standing in a corner that I must put to good use. Otherwise a G&T is never bad, not to mention bloody Mary. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/68 "2011-07-19T16:28:45Z")
I’m in the midst of a Quixotic crusade to reeducate America’s bartenders about the wonders of the Sidecar. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655/69 "2011-07-19T21:41:51Z")
> [@SuperNelson](#): > > I’m in the midst of a Quixotic crusade to reeducate America’s bartenders about the wonders of the Sidecar. You keep fighting the good fight there in the heartland, I’ll keep fighting it here on the coast. [QUOTE=Floater] I have a liter of cachaça standing in a corner that I must put to good use. Otherwise a G&T is never bad, not to mention bloody Mary. [/QUOTE] My recipe, not that you’ve asked about it, was half a lime, cut into quarters, muddled with two heaping teaspoons of superfine sugar. Add… two oz? of cachaca, shake with ice, and there you go. Beware the heartburn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-favorite-mixed-drink-is-a-rusty-nail-and-yours/585655.md?page=3)