What is a Cocktail?

[Gillman]

Steve, it's difficult to say. I know of nothing else quite like it, so I would say yes.

Gary

[squire]

That's the one Gary, should be a Sampler hit.

[Gillman]

Done deal, I'm bringing it anyway, cocktail or no.

Gary

[squire]

Steve, can you get Smith & Cross in Florida?

[sailor22]

I saw one on in a shop a couple of hours from here - so I guess the answer is yes, maybe. That's the only place I have ever seen it and they only had one. It isn't here in Tallahassee.
I should check the proof on the one I saw to make sure it is the same bottling Gary is talking about.

[T Comp]

I saw one on in a shop a couple of hours from here - so I guess the answer is yes, maybe. That's the only place I have ever seen it and they only had one. It isn't here in Tallahassee.
I should check the proof on the one I saw to make sure it is the same bottling Gary is talking about.

Sounds intriguing from the write up...might be worth the road trip Steve. Looking forward to trying this one Gary and whatever you determime how it best be imbibed .

[squire]

Does the Berns outlet in Tampa sell it? They are listed as a dealer.

[tanstaafl2]

As (I will hazard) one of the few on the forum to possess a bottle of Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum 57% ABV, I offer my nearly full bottle to the Gazebo table in April if others will bring the other ingredients.

We can re-dub the second cocktail tanstaafl2 mentioned, the NAFTA Giant.

Gary

As this is a pretty regular cocktail for me I have all the necessary ingredients on hand including the delightful S&C rum (there is only one proof so if you have a bottle you have the right one!) so I would be happy to bring the necessary fixin's for this cocktail (and the others I mentioned as well if desired) on my "maiden" voyage to the gazebo. Presuming someone reminds me to do so closer to April!

S&C rum, along with many of the other very interesting and unusual cocktail mixers made available by Haus Alpenz, are more readily available at larger stores in Atlanta these days than was the case even a year or two ago.

[Gillman]

Excellent, that is very good of you. My almost full bottle will be there and I look forward to this interesting drink. Many on the board enjoy rum and we by no means drink only bourbon at these events even though it is the focal point.

Gary

[ratcheer]

I also prefer the more traditional definition(s) of cocktails. I will only give examples, not trying to get to a precise definition.

A Manhattan or a Sazerac is certainly a cocktail. So is a traditional martini. I would include drinks such as traditional whiskey sours, margaritas, and daquiris. But, to me, a frozen margarita or daquiri would not be a cocktail. I am not sure what the hell they should be called.

A very diluted drink such as a whiskey and soda or a JD and Coke would be a highball, not a cocktail. Even if bitters were added.

I recall another old definition of a cocktail as being "3 parts strong, 2 parts sour, 1 part sweet". I may have the proportions wrong, but it was something like that, and bitters were not mentioned. It was still a stiff drink. I think my general definition would be that, once you have diluted the spirit to less than about 50:50, you have gone outside the realm of cocktails. But, just spirits and ice don't qualify either, as there must be some additional flavoring components.

Tim