Another thought…how much do you drink? For example, I can pound beers or mojitos for quite a while, but give me martinis or crown on the rocks and I’m likely to act stupid within a couple of hours because I drink them too fast.
Martinis or various whiskeys on the rocks taste really good, but if you don’t drink much, you could defeat your purpose by overindulging and speaking in tongues, thereby destroying your grown up image.
Also, what kind of booze do you like? It might help people suggest drinks if they know you don’t like bourbon or you really love vodka.
I would just like to point out that a gin and tonic is the world’s best hot weather drink. If it is hot out, order a G&T. if it is December and snow is on the ground, pick something else.
Scotch, scotch rocks are both manly drinks. They are like the American Express card, they get respect wherever they go.
<my 20th HS reunion>
Me: Scotch rocks please
Cheerleader from my class: Ooh is that scotch? I just love a man that drinks scotch
the rest of the evening will be left as an exercise for the reader.
[ol]
[li]Scotch.[/li][li]Scotch with an ice cube.[/li][li]Whatever Opal’s having.[/li][li]Scotch with two ice cubes.[/li][li]Scotch with three ice cubes.[/li][/ol]
Does that sound about right?
I’m late to the party here, but when I saw this thread a few days ago I wanted to mention the caipirinha, national drink of Brazil and as fine a warm weather cocktail as you can ask for, IMO.
2 oz. white cachaça
2 tsp. ultrafine sugar
1/2 lime
Cut the half-lime into quarters. Some folks insist that you remove the white pith, claiming that it will impart a bitterness to the drink; either my palate isn’t that sensitive, or I like things a touch bitter. Either way, drop the quarters into your shaker, add the sugar, and muddle thoroughly. Add your cachaça and ice, shake to dissolve the sugar, pour and enjoy.
Ultrafine sugar isn’t absolutely required, but it dissolves much more easily than regular white granulated. Some folks like to use brown sugar, or Sugar in the Raw; I’ve tried the latter and didn’t find that it made enough of a difference in taste to overcome the inconvenience of the larger granules. As to the cachaça itself, I use the cheap stuff, “Cachaça 51.” It suits me just fine, but if you want to experiment with the fancier brands, knock yourself out. Just stay away from the aged stuff, which will have a golden color similar to whiskey or a light dark rum. It’s not really meant for mixing, and the flavor won’t work well. Finally, if you can’t find cachaça, you can’t really have a caipirinha. I was introduced to the drink at a friend of a friend’s big party 'round here, where the bartender made 'em with white rum. It was tasty, sure–but that’s a daiquiri, not a caipirinha!
I’d say that if you’re a woman, and you’re looking for “grown-up” mixed drinks, I’d go for the following: (note: I don’t pay much attention to garnishes)
Sidecar (brandy, not gin). Specifically a 2:1:1 sidecar. (2 parts brandy/cognac, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part triple sec/cointreau) Shake WELL and strain into highball glass.
Daiquiri. Not those abominable frozen things they serve in college towns, but the traditional one developed in Cuba. It’s essentially light rum, lime juice and sugar. I seem to remember 1.5 oz rum, 3/4 oz lime juice and 1-2 tsp sugar, but you might want to look that up.
Both of these are friendly to female palates, and neither is too foo-foo either.
One thing to remember is that classic cocktails are very frequently stronger than what people today are used to- they’re essentially a 3-4 oz drink made of 1.5 - 2 oz of liquor.
Another couple of drinks that might be good are the Tom Collins and the Cuba Libre.
Tom Collins - 1.5 oz gin, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 1 oz simple syrup/sugar. Shake well, strain into Collins glass, add ice and 5 oz or so of soda water. Kind of like a fizzy lemonade with gin.
Cuba libre- essentially a rum & coke, only not 12 oz of coke with 2 oz rum- more like a 3:2:1 ratio of coke, rum and lime juice.
Don’t forget – the lime also wards of scurvy. Can’t ignore the important health benefits of a good gin and tonic. (Why, I think I feel an attack of malarial scurvy coming on now. Or maybe scurvicious malaria. At any rate, can’t be too safe you know, better get some antidote …)
They won’t be in the garnish tray. Yet surely a bartender should be expected to be able to make one when asked? A different garnish makes a different drink; a twist of oily peel is not the same as a juicy wedge, and lime is not the same as lemon.
Granted, there may be people who don’t know what they are ordering.
Funny enough, so do I. And whaddya know, it’s after noon!
Another vote for a whiskey sour, too.
I made some homemade raspberry liqueur last year, and last weekend we made (up?) Peach Melbas - peach schnapps, raspberry liqueur (chambord would probably work), and club soda. Nice, light, refreshing summer drink. You can also mix the liqueurs with cream, but it’s very very heavy that way.
I have a funny story about a whiskey sour, which is apparently the world’s most complicated drink. I ordered one on my honeymoon in Sorrento, Italy and what they brought me was:
a shot of whiskey in a shot glass
a glass of fresh squeezed lemon juice
a bowl of ice
ice tongs
a bowl of sugar
and
a spoon
I mean it was a whole tray full of stuff just for what we thought was my one simple drink. We laughed.
I suppose it’s a good point: as far as going out drinking in a place with coworkers, I – as a grown-ass woman – would probably get a mojito or a vodka Collins or maybe a seabreeze. I like daiquiris, too.
But it depends on the company, for me. If I had the money to burn and I was around a bunch of men and wanting to be taken seriously, and if I was comfortable with the idea of getting a little tipsy, port or scotch. I love them both, and I know just enough to be more educated than your average chick about the stuff. I have been extraordinarily lucky to have been taught in the appreciation of both by people with very, very deep pockets. Knowing a person who has money to burn, appreciates good alcohol, and above all likes to share with his friends – this is a good thing.
Oh, there’s an old classic I got hooked on a couple years ago. Haven’t had it in awhile. Beefeaters or Bombay (not Sapphire), Gimlet, up. That’s one classy drink.
But here I disagree. That’s not a martini. That’s just gin. As much as I hate the corruption of the term martini to mean pretty much anything served in a traditional cocktail glass, I’m equally against the corruption of the martini as straight-up gin. It is not, no more than serving vodka in a cocktail glass makes it a “vodka martini.” It’s a mixed drink so it needs to be mixed with something.
As for other recommendations, as many others have said, you can’t go wrong with gin & tonic in the summer. I also enjoy a gin greyhound during the summer. It’s odd–I generally don’t like gin too much, but, during the warm weather months it seems to always hit the spot. Looks like every drink I’ve named so far is gin-based.
Not much to add to this zombie thread, but I’d like to update my earlier post. Anvil remains popular–here’s a non-dead link to the menu. In which you can find The 100 List & other interesting choices. Also some light food–always advisable.
Also good in Houston are The Moving Sidewalk on the "old’ end of Main Street. Also downtown, The Pastry War–for all things agave. (And, yes, they offer a frozen margarita.) In a more obscure neighborhood, there’s the Lei-Low, a “Rum & Tiki Lounge.”
Since the original post, craft beers have become more widespread. There’s nothing wrong with liking beer.
Agreed. I love a Negroni. My personal variation is to replace the twist of orange with sliced and fanned kumquat, but that’s when I’m making them at home. I don’t expect a bar to have such things.
Cocktail culture has exploded since this thread began, and many good restaurants have many excellent cocktails. However, waitresses in some places remain ignorant. In a hotel restaurant, one nice enough that it should have known better, the waitress didn’t know that martinis were made with gin. When i ordered one, she asked what kind of vodka I wanted. When I said a classic martini, made with gin, she flat out told me that there’s never gin in a martini. She was very young.
