Ooh, ooh, and I have to tell you about another favorite cocktail of mine, the Absinthe Martini. Absinthe is now legal in the US, you know.
Yeah, it’s an acquired taste. You just add a couple of drops of Absinthe to an ordinary gin martini. Absinthe is so strong-tasting, that really is all you need. It immediately overpowers it with its taste (the Absinthe, i.e.). Plus Absinthe is so prohibitively expensive, that’s certainly all I can afford.
And I have to tell you, I am a purist when it comes to Martinis. They have to be made with gin. There simply is no substitute. The famous James Bond Martini is made with vodka, which if you ask me is cheating, plain and simple. What else can I say?
I had one once, and it was good. More refreshing than a Martini.
I had some of them with some friends, though I didn’t know there was an official name for them. As well, I’ve tried someone’s version that used T@T Bloody Mary mix, and that was pretty good too.
Oh yeah, I loves me some Clamato, either plain or in a Michelada.
We went to a semi-fancy office part a few weeks ago where I had Pendelton whiskey and sweetened lime juice over ice. I think the bartender put a shot of sparkling water in there too.
It was terrific. I don’t know if it officially has a name though.
That reminds me… I’ve had a couple of alternative “Manhattans” that subbed in other stuff for the sweet vermouth, and that were surprisingly good.
One subs in Amaro Averna for the vermouth- they call it a “black Manhattan”. It’s very good.
The other subbed in Nocello walnut liqueur for the vermouth. (your brandy/frangelico drink reminded me of it) and was also quite tasty, if a bit sweet.
And in the “a bit weird” category, I like my actual Manhattans full-on Golden Age style, with rye whiskey, and a bit of maraschino and absinthe.
I like an Old Fashioned with rye whiskey and maple syrup, quite nice. I do make mint juleps and enjoy them. We’re constantly drinking dark -n-stormies with good strong ginger beer. Mudslides in the summer. allthegood drinks things that I don’t — gin and tonic, gin and bitter lemon, campari and sweet vermouth (= an “Americano”), and we’ve recently been enjoying coconut rum (malibu, then cruzan) mixed with orange juice and a dribble of grenadine. It’s hard to know what qualifies as “unusual”
Oh, mind erasers! Heh! lowball glass with ice, 1/2 oz kahlua, 1 oz vodka floated on it so it stays layered, 1 oz selter water floated on top of that, sipped through twin straws cut to fit the height of a lowball glass
At the cigar & martini club I used to belong to in my cocktail days (not to be confused with my salad days), a 12-oz dirty martini with 3 olives (pimento, almond and blue cheese filled) and a Davidoff Winston Churchill cigar was my usual.
Y’all are making me thirsty. Once the sun starts to set, I’m off to stump a bartender with some of these!
I often buy a small size bottle (50 ml, “Shooters” or “Airplane bottles”) of something I’ve never tasted. Fell in love with Campari this way, and I just got a tiny Saint Germain…might just try it with champagne like my daughter ordered in a hoity-toity French bistro.
Oh, and you have to say it like they did there: Sahn’Jher-Mahhhn!
.
So, cocktails come before the salad, so… barely drinking age?
In a total tangent, a friend got a hand-tailored suit, and the (Japanese? Not sure what accent the storyteller was doing) tailor asked him what name he’d like embroidered on the inside pocket.
Poor old tailor had a to wait while his customer thought through fake names, pithy sayings, movie quotes… Finally the friend gave up and said "Fuck it. Whisky Neat. Let’s go with that, it’s what I usually drink."
The tailor was glad to be able to get to work on the suit, and when it was done, I think anyone here already knows what was tastefully stitched inside his suit.