What Cocktail Are You Enjoying Fall/Winter 2013

[DaveOfAtl]

Made a new cocktail last night with the following:

3 oz OGD 114

2-3 oz fresh apple cider

.5 oz maple syrup.

Few dashes of angostura

Shaken with ice and poured over a cube with a lemon peel and small sprinkle of cinnamon. Very tasty

Sounds great. I bet it might also be good as a hot drink.

[smokinjoe]

I'll probably go to H.E. Double HockeySticks for this, but I did enjoy an Angry Orchard Crisp Apple mixed with Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, yesterday at Thanksgiving Festivities... :blush: I hope my admission here, acts as some sort of Confession, and my sin will be forgiven....

[HighInTheMtns]

As sinful as it is to drink Fireball, I think it's a sin that you're immediately absolved from. That stuff is too irresistible to hold it against the drinker.

[WAINWRIGHT]

I'll probably go to H.E. Double HockeySticks for this, but I did enjoy an Angry Orchard Crisp Apple mixed with Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, yesterday at Thanksgiving Festivities... :blush: I hope my admission here, acts as some sort of Confession, and my sin will be forgiven....

As sinful as it is to drink Fireball, I think it's a sin that you're immediately absolved from. That stuff is too irresistible to hold it against the drinker.

I guess we're all going to burn then,because my niece insisted I try one of these last night and I hate to admit that it was pretty damned tasty!

[compliance]

Manhattan with ETL, Carpano Antica, Angostura and chocolate chili bitters. The chocolate chili bitters give it a great holiday flavor.

[DaveOfAtl]

Couldn't decide on whether to have a bourbon or rye Manhattan, so I used my last oz. of GBS Private barrel of ETL, 1.5 oz. of THH, Dolin, Angosutura and Bokers bitters. Not the most balanced manhattan but still very good.

[Gillman]

A Sazerac. This has become my go-to cocktail. Only rarely now will I drink a Manhattan or Martini.

I have a kind of solera going in a half-gallon jug I keep adding to. However, I think the result is fairly consistent because I can see that I incline to a certain taste. And so even though the bourbons, ryes, Canadians and brandies, not to mention bitters and the mix of 4 or 5 absinthes I use, vary over time, the taste tends to be within a certain spectrum. I like a good straight whiskey base with a brandy overlay, a rye presence (which can be imparted by small batch Canadians and/or straight U.S. ryes) and an aromatic blend of different bitters with cherry and orange notes perhaps predominating in the latter.

The taste is (if I may say) very rich and complex, kind of a Turkish Delight of a cocktail so to speak. I seek also a soft glycerine like palate, for neat drinking, ice, bah.

I like the anise more forward now than in the past. It is a key part of this drink and I refuse to let it peek from around the corner.

I give you, the Sazerac, or rather, your humble scribe's version since no one's effort however manful can be considered definitive.

Gary

[buoy37]

I stirred up an Old Charter 101 Old Fashioned tonight (no muddled fruit) to enjoy while I browse through the SB forum

[devillighter]

Off work today due to the weather, despite the snowfall amount not living up to predictions. Always enjoy going the tiki route during winter weather so I put together one of my favorites, a chartreuse swizzle http://www.kaiserpenguin.com/improved-chartreuse-swizzle/, according to kaiser penguin's specifications. Using up a bottle of Velvet Falernum at the moment, but this is especially good if using homemade falernum (I also use kaiser penguin's falernum recipe). Since I was off work, I also started infusing bourbon for some root beer bitters, with wintergreen, sarsaparilla, spearmint, licorice root, and a few other herbs using a recipe from the Bitters book.

[Alphanumeric]

Off work today due to the weather, despite the snowfall amount not living up to predictions. Always enjoy going the tiki route during winter weather so I put together one of my favorites, a chartreuse swizzle http://www.kaiserpenguin.com/improved-chartreuse-swizzle/, according to kaiser penguin's specifications. Using up a bottle of Velvet Falernum at the moment, but this is especially good if using homemade falernum (I also use kaiser penguin's falernum recipe). Since I was off work, I also started infusing bourbon for some root beer bitters, with wintergreen, sarsaparilla, spearmint, licorice root, and a few other herbs using a recipe from the Bitters book.

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One of my favorites. It's hard to beat an icy concoction of Wray & Nephew, Chartreuse, and falernum.

[White Dog]

2 oz. dusty WT101Rye, 1oz Cocchi Vermouth, .5oz of Cocchi Barolo Chinato, and a dropper of Bittercube Bolivar bitters. On my third.

[devillighter]

Made a Hot Hopper the other night, recipe courtesy of LeNell Camacho Santa Ana who is writing a lot for epicurious now (many of you may remember her for her Brooklyn Liquor Store and Red Hook Rye). Very nice with Tempus Fugit cordials, but if I'd have to make it again I'd do half drinks as it is too cloying to sip in one sitting.

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2013/11/hot-hopper-.html

[tanstaafl2]

Made a Hot Hopper the other night, recipe courtesy of LeNell Camacho Santa Ana who is writing a lot for epicurious now (many of you may remember her for her Brooklyn Liquor Store and Red Hook Rye). Very nice with Tempus Fugit cordials, but if I'd have to make it again I'd do half drinks as it is too cloying to sip in one sitting.

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2013/11/hot-hopper-.html

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Just saw in Imbibe that she is opening a new place called Lenell's Beverage Boutique (with an adjoining bar in Birmingham, AL of all places. Apparently it is her home town. Could more unique bottlings be forthcoming? Seems like it will be tough in the current environment.

But apparently she will be the Queen of American Whiskey once again by her own report.

I guess I missed the first time around...

[smokinjoe]

Just finished wrapping the last present, and am now relaxing back and listening to Christmas music with an Old Crotchety Fashioned.

[Pudsky]

Sazerac coctail. Just got into these a few months ago. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Used up a bottle of Willett 4 yr rye first, now into a bottle of Sazerac Rye. I think I liked the Willett better. Much hotter and spicer, better in a mixed drink. Have a Thomas H Handy ready to open as soon as I can acquire a Saz 18 and William Larue Weller so I can complete the BTAC this year. Hopefully that happens soon.

[nd2005]

Blood orange old-fashioned. One for me, one for my mom.

i usually minimize/skip the fruit but thought she would like it more that way.

1 sugar cube, 4 dashes angostura bitters, 4 dashes orange bitters, one thin slice of orange, 1 oz water, 2 oz sazerac rye

[smokinjoe]

I couldn't resist picking it up a couple of months ago, and finally popped the bottle of Fluid Dynamics aged cocktail, The St. Nick", on Christmas Eve. Not great, not bad, not particularly interesting, but it made for an event. .

Obviously, the St. Nick name was the bait and hook for me (savvy bit of branding on their part, and perfect for Suckers like moi:D). But,Fluid Dynamics??? Seems better suited for a hydraulic hose assembly company...

[Guest]

Warm day today here hit almost 40 (over 100 to most of you) so my afternoon included a couple dubonet and gins, which apparently was queen elizabeths favourite cocktail, now continuing the dubonet vibe with a WTR101 and dubonet manhattans

[Alphanumeric]

Got a few bottles for my New Year's party. Benedictine, Laird's bonded, and Art in the Age's Snap all made their way onto my bar.

Benedictine's a champ. It's taken me so long to pick up a bottle because I've recently been distracted by all these fleeting whiskeys and have frittered away my alcohol budget on them. The first drink I made with it was a Cocktail a la Louisiane. I was not disappointed. Fantastic drink. Everything else it touched fared well, albeit not as much so.

Laird's bonded is quite good for what it is. I've been meaning to fill in the non-grape, non-citrus fruit gap in my bar for a while and Laird's does it well.

Snap was a disappointment. I truly appreciate Art in the Age's philosophy on spirit-making and wanted to like their product. I got it expecting ginger liqueur and instead got ginger snap liqueur. I suppose it pays to read the description. Snap is just too odd to fit into most drinks.

This evening, I summoned Laird's for my potent potable.

Jack Rose

2 oz. applejack (Laird's BiB, which isn't quite applejack)

1 oz. lime

1/2 oz. grenadine (homemade)

It was worth trying, but sours aren't my thing. I prefer more balance and harmony of flavors. Makes me itch for a Cocktail a la Louisiane.

[tanstaafl2]

Consider this for the Laird's BIB if you have the other ingredients.

A Moment of Silence

1 1⁄2 oz Rye

1 oz Apry (Marie Brizard Apricot liqueur)

1⁄2 oz Averna Amaro

1⁄2 oz Angostura Bitters

1⁄4 oz Lairds BIB

Campari rinse

Orange peel (as garnish)

Rinse a rocks glass with Campari. Stir and strain over a single large cube into rinsed glass and garnish with an orange twist.

Also makes a nice Old Fashioned variation particularly if you use a cinnamon spiced simple syrup. I also like using chocolate mole bitters in this.

Got a few bottles for my New Year's party. Benedictine, Laird's bonded, and Art in the Age's Snap all made their way onto my bar.

Benedictine's a champ. It's taken me so long to pick up a bottle because I've recently been distracted by all these fleeting whiskeys and have frittered away my alcohol budget on them. The first drink I made with it was a Cocktail a la Louisiane. I was not disappointed. Fantastic drink. Everything else it touched fared well, albeit not as much so.

Laird's bonded is quite good for what it is. I've been meaning to fill in the non-grape, non-citrus fruit gap in my bar for a while and Laird's does it well.

Snap was a disappointment. I truly appreciate Art in the Age's philosophy on spirit-making and wanted to like their product. I got it expecting ginger liqueur and instead got ginger snap liqueur. I suppose it pays to read the description. Snap is just too odd to fit into most drinks.

This evening, I summoned Laird's for my potent potable.

Jack Rose

2 oz. applejack (Laird's BiB, which isn't quite applejack)

1 oz. lime

1/2 oz. grenadine (homemade)

It was worth trying, but sours aren't my thing. I prefer more balance and harmony of flavors. Makes me itch for a Cocktail a la Louisiane.

[Trey Manthey]

Too much open gin and sweet vermouth, so I've been on a Negroni tear the last couple days. Polished a Martin Miller's Westborne and a Punt E Mes this evening. Negronked.

[Alphanumeric]

Consider this for the Laird's BIB if you have the other ingredients.

A Moment of Silence

1 1⁄2 oz Rye

1 oz Apry (Marie Brizard Apricot liqueur)

1⁄2 oz Averna Amaro

1⁄2 oz Angostura Bitters

1⁄4 oz Lairds BIB

Campari rinse

Orange peel (as garnish)

Rinse a rocks glass with Campari. Stir and strain over a single large cube into rinsed glass and garnish with an orange twist.

Also makes a nice Old Fashioned variation particularly if you use a cinnamon spiced simple syrup. I also like using chocolate mole bitters in this.

I like the sound of that, but apricot liqueur is currently absent from the bar. The non-grape, non-citrus fruit liquor debate was between applejack and apricot liqueur, and applejack ultimately won out as the seasonally appropriate choice. Apricot liqueur will get there one of these days, but it might take a while.

Tonight is TV's Mai Tai:

1 oz. lime

1/2 oz. curaçao (Hiram Walker's)

1/2 oz. orgeat (homemade)

1 oz. aged Jamaican rum (Coruba)

1 oz. agricole (Clement VSOP)

Just picked up this weathered bottle of Coruba and felt compelled to utilize it. This was a good home for it. It's a bit hot straight, but then it's not meant as a sipper.

[tanstaafl2]

Got a few bottles for my New Year's party. Benedictine, Laird's bonded, and Art in the Age's Snap all made their way onto my bar.

Benedictine's a champ. It's taken me so long to pick up a bottle because I've recently been distracted by all these fleeting whiskeys and have frittered away my alcohol budget on them. The first drink I made with it was a Cocktail a la Louisiane. I was not disappointed. Fantastic drink. Everything else it touched fared well, albeit not as much so.

Laird's bonded is quite good for what it is. I've been meaning to fill in the non-grape, non-citrus fruit gap in my bar for a while and Laird's does it well.

Snap was a disappointment. I truly appreciate Art in the Age's philosophy on spirit-making and wanted to like their product. I got it expecting ginger liqueur and instead got ginger snap liqueur. I suppose it pays to read the description. Snap is just too odd to fit into most drinks.

This evening, I summoned Laird's for my potent potable.

Jack Rose

2 oz. applejack (Laird's BiB, which isn't quite applejack)

1 oz. lime

1/2 oz. grenadine (homemade)

It was worth trying, but sours aren't my thing. I prefer more balance and harmony of flavors. Makes me itch for a Cocktail a la Louisiane.

Still looking for a cocktail to fit you new ingredients! But you may not have the yellow chartreuse and green is a bit different.

Widow's Kiss

1 1⁄2 oz Apple brandy

3⁄4 oz Yellow Chartreuse

3⁄4 oz Bénédictine

3 dash Angostura

Shake with ice, strain and serve up in a chilled cocktail glass without garnish.

[smokinjoe]

Crack in the weather with low 60's and Sunny skies, so plopping my arse out in the Sun on the patio with a Moscow Mule. Khorosho!

[Alphanumeric]

Yes, Yellow is impatiently tapping its foot out at the end of the line, waiting to step up to the bar. Have you tried it with Green? Is a 3:1 Green:simple a decent approximation?

Still looking for a cocktail to fit you new ingredients! But you may not have the yellow chartreuse and green is a bit different.

Widow's Kiss

1 1⁄2 oz Apple brandy

3⁄4 oz Yellow Chartreuse

3⁄4 oz Bénédictine

3 dash Angostura

Shake with ice, strain and serve up in a chilled cocktail glass without garnish.

Killed off a bottle of Lillet tonight on a Corpse Reviver No. 2. Hadn't had one in a while.

3/4 oz. gin (BIG Gin)

3/4 oz. Cointreau (HW Triple Sec)

3/4 oz. Lillet

3/4 oz. lemon juice

Dash absinthe (Pacifique)

Glad I used BIG Gin instead of Tanqueray Malacca. This is a good cocktail for something a bit more punchy. Very good balance. It would be nice to try this with some Cocchi to introduce bitterness and provide more depth.