Through a situation more convoluted than I want to type out, a good friend of mine was given a lot of liquor. A lot as in 53 bottles. It’s mostly tequilas, vodkas and rums, but there’s a bunch of other stuff as well (root beer schnaps, midori, cognac, vermouth all come to mind). Nobody has any idea what to do with all of it, so I’m open to suggestions. Preferably suggestions along the lines of “X is a pretty good tequila” or “Y is horid” or “X and Y with a splash of Z is good,” not “Give it to me,” but I’ll take what I can. If you guys want, and I get around to it, I could put a list of brands and whatnot.
[Wayne’s World]
Party Time! Excellent!
[/WW]
Sounds like an excuse for a party to me.
I think you should have a “invent a drink” party.
And don’t forget to take notes in case you stumble on something cool.
We invented the “space heater” one day. It’s hot chocolate and 151. If you float the 151 and flame it, it becomes a space heater with a pilot light.
Have an “Iron Chef” kind of party. Assign random ingredients, make enough to go around, and vote on the best new drink invention.
Oh, and have it in Seattle.
Hey, since you have the liquor, instead of asking people to bring their own bottle, have everyone bring an ingredient that can be used in a drink. Explain to people that they’ll have to drink whatever they bring, to prevent smartasses from bringing Listerine or liver paste.
Oh, I know, have contestants choose their ingredients randomly!
Well, one cocktail I stumbled on, which is darned good is this:
2 parts vodka
2 parts gin
1 part rum
1 part midori
lemonade to taste
And then wait for the buzz to kick in.
Just don’t ask how I stumbled on it.
Some of them may be of the higher quality, and if you’ve never sipped excellent distilled spirits this could be your opportunity.
Try them, sipping tiny bits at a time from a shotglass and rolling it around on your tongue and in your mouth before swallowing. You can put aside the ones that don’t appeal to you for use in mixed drinks instead, but I bet some of those are way too good to dilute with a bunch of other stuff!
The most likely candidates for drinking straight (IMHO) would be the darker tequilas (if you’re lucky you’ll find Sauza Tres Generaciones or Patron in there) and rums (Bacardi makes a black label and an añejo; Old Monk is nice) (look especially any that say “añejo” or “aged” on them); single-malt scotches (e.g., The Balvenie); bourbons can vary but some are excellent and mellow straight up, such as Maker’s Mark or Wild Turkey 101.
If you’ve got any bottles that say “rye” on them, most rye whiskeys are pretty good (especially one called Old Overholt, yumm!)
Vodkas will range from “bleah, rubbing alcohol!” to a glorious almost ice-water clean crispness (e.g., Stolichnaya).
I’m totally not a gin person myself but most folks who really like gin only pretend to mix it with stuff (I don’t understand the presense of calling it a martini instead of admitting they like their gin straight up, but whatever) and from what I’ve heard gin ranges from awful to spectacular as well.
There may be apertifs and cordials and liqueurs in there, too, many of which would make a nice after-dinner sip without being mixed.
I like Seven’s idea best, though it’s probably a good idea to do what AHunter3 suggests first and sort out the good liquors. My personal favorite drink is Long Island Iced Tea.
You could have the Cocktail Olympics.
Choose a panel of judges. Rate each drink. The winners get to take home a bottle of some of the nicer liquers in the collection.
The Iron Chef/ Invent-A-Drink idea is pretty good, I’ll suggest that one.
AHunter3, good suggestion, but we’ve already started doing that. And as you guessed, some of the stuff is worlds better than the other bottles.
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Note my location.
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I have a great deal of experience in alcohol.
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I’m not doing anything this weekend!
Sort out the good stuff and use the cheaper stuff to make a Hairy Buffalo. Whoo, you can have a crazy party with a Hairy Buffalo.
I notice that your location says “SoCal”.
That wouldn’t happen to be anywhere near the San Fernando Valley, would it? 'Cuz, uh, I can help you… uh… drink… it all. And then I’ll tell you if it’s good.
hic
Maybe you should list some of the names, and we’ll see if something stands out. For instance, if you DO have some Patron… oooooooooh… that stuff is GOOD.
First thing you do is take the root beer schnaps and throw it in the trash. Root beer schnaps is one of the worst tasting alcohols I’ve ever had, and that includes $10/magnum bottles of Crystal Palace vodka. And I love root beer! It’s jsut so…nasty! They tried to make it root beer flavored, but failed.
Of course, it’s possible your brand is better than the brand I have…but everyone else I’ve ever talked to about it agrees root beer schnaps is disgusting.
Hairy Buffalo recipe:
This type of thing was always a major event when I was in high school in the 80s. You just buy a brand-new plastic trash can, wash it out, and start glugging in all different kinds of booze, punch, fruit juice, cut-up fruit, whatever. Mix to the taste of whomever is stirring. Dip from the trash can with a plastic cup to fill your plastic cup, repeat as needed.
Traditionally, partygoers bring bottles of booze and mixers and just throw in whatever they brought. In your case, people could just bring mixers. The trouble with hairy buffaloes (and the reason they were so popular among rural Ohio teenagers when I was growing up!) is that the drinks basically taste like Kool-Aid if the concoction is mixed properly, so you wind up chugging a whole lot of the stuff and getting blind drunk. Many young’uns with not a whole lot of self-control have gotten into big trouble with hairy buffaloes. This type of drink is best suited for an outdoor party - remember to bring the lid so leaves, small animals, etc. don’t blow in.
Good luck! If you try the hairy buffalo strategy, post pics! 
What we used to do in college. Get clean garbage can. Pour in a bunch of fruit juices. Pour in a bunch of liquor. Get water pump and put inlet hose in bottom of can, outlet hose above can. Turn pump on. Hold glasses under stream of mix and drink. Add more juice and liquor as desired. Drink more. Pass out.
Set aside some of the rums, brandies, and other liquors for soaking cakes and making booze-filled candies for the fall & winter holidays. The classics are rum-soaked fruitcakes and chocolate cakes; as for booze-filled chocolates, a lot of combinations taste great: amaretto, Grand Marnier, whiskey,…
We definately need to see a list of what you have. It would be a crime to waste something top shelf in a big ol’ tub of mystery mix.
jello shots?
:eek: