Cocktails... whats all the fuss about?

[Scottieoutdoors]

Anyone here like their cocktails?
Am I alone in wondering what all the fuss is about? I personally can't really stand them.... I've had a few that I've enjoyed, but realistically they were very fruity, or very coke-y I.e. sugar sugar sugar...

Someone was telling me about whisky sours the other day, so I decided to look up a recipe and make one... lemon, butters, sugar, egg white, bourbon... what an awful drink... I couldn't bring myself to use anything other than a cheap bourbon, but it just tasted miserable.. like someone had ruined a horrid cheap bourbon with a bunch of ingredients... "ahh, that's where you went wrong, use a more expensive bourbon/whisky"... why???!!! I like my more expensive whiskies neat, I don't want to mix them up with a bunch of sugar and lemon juice?!?!

....moan, groan, gripe, whinge...

 

[Deleted member 56522]

Anyone here like their cocktails?
Am I alone in wondering what all the fuss is about?

....moan, groan, gripe, whinge...

I made some cocktails for valentines day ... I think the key is to make it sound good, to make it look good and to present it in a memorable way ... get that right and no one notices the taste (at least after the third one). So buy some fancy glasses, get some lemon, cherries, etc. to jazz it up get an umbrella, make a lot of noise with a cocktail shaker, pick a great sounding name, dress to impress ... and you could have mixed a carton of cheapest fruit juice with vodka ...

 

[TeeDee]

Anyone here like their cocktails?
Am I alone in wondering what all the fuss is about? I personally can't really stand them.... I've had a few that I've enjoyed, but realistically they were very fruity, or very coke-y I.e. sugar sugar sugar...

Someone was telling me about whisky sours the other day, so I decided to look up a recipe and make one... lemon, butters, sugar, egg white, bourbon... what an awful drink... I couldn't bring myself to use anything other than a cheap bourbon, but it just tasted miserable.. like someone had ruined a horrid cheap bourbon with a bunch of ingredients... "ahh, that's where you went wrong, use a more expensive bourbon/whisky"... why???!!! I like my more expensive whiskies neat, I don't want to mix them up with a bunch of sugar and lemon juice?!?!

....moan, groan, gripe, whinge...

Did you use real bitters?

 

[Herman30]

My favorite is Tom Collins or gin tonic. And Bloody Mary.
I like sour and bitter taste.

 

[Madriverrob]

Whisky Sour , Old fashioned , Negroni , Boulevardier

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

@TeeDee, yup, used proper bitters, proper sugar syrup and proper lemon...oh and a proper egg too!

@Herman30 a g&t is fine, even a bloody Mary, I guess a tom Collins probably tastes ok too, maybe those are better options..

@Madriverrob maybe it's just the whisky ones that disappoint me... I find I end up tasting something that's sort of a masked whisky and not masked well enough to make it acceptable to use something cheap, but seems a shame to use something moderately pricey when throwing a bunch of sugar and the like in there. Maybe I need to make a few different ones (Negroni)... never heard of a boulevardier, I'll get googling.

 

[Wander]

I used to work with someone whose favourite 'cocktail' was vodka and coke.
She also used to have chips with pasta.
There's no buying class, eh?

 

[crosslandkelly]

I like an old fashioned G&T, but I love a Manhattan.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

I mean I like a long island iced tea, but purely because it contains a lot of booze, is very coke-y and is pretty much a sugary drink to get you blazed.... I'm not sure I enjoy it as much as find it a useful thing to order in a cocktail bar to help me speed things along...

 

[Mesquite]

Got to say I do like a Bloody Mary or a Margarita over the rocks

 

[plastic-ninja]

I actually own a speakeasy style cocktail bar! There is a good cocktail for everyone but the key is finding it.
You said you didn’t like sugary drinks but the sour is very sweet. ( misdescription or what? )
If you do like whisky try a Rob Roy, which is a Manhattan using Scotch Whisky instead of American Rye Whiskey.
Pop a small wineglass or a cocktail glass in the freezer while you mix the drink.
Ingredients are simple.
50 ml good whisky ( I tend to use Dalwhinnie single malt )
35 ml good sweet vermouth ( Lustau is good or Carpano Antica Formula if you like it less sweet. )
3 dashes of bitters. ( I use Fee Brothers Cherry Bitters or Regan’s Orange Bitters )
Stir all the ingredients with plenty of ice cubes together in a mixing glass.( a pint glass will do, or a jug.) Ideally fill the mixing glass 2/3 full of ice to chill & dilute properly.
Stir for about a minute, then strain into your frozen glass.
Traditionally garnish with a ( proper ) maraschino cherry on a cocktail stick or a twist of orange peel as you prefer.
The proportions are important so don’t free pour it or it will be too strong.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

@plastic-ninja Brilliant!!!
I must admit, the best cocktail I ever had was at a speakeasy style place which was designed as a place for an "adult drink" rather than a boozer for people to get tanked...
I can't remember what it was but it was hickory smoked!

Are we allowed to ask where your place is?

 

[Paul_B]

I used to occasionally drink cocktails at university. Snake bite is technically a cocktail right?

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

I used to occasionally drink cocktails at university. Snake bite is technically a cocktail right?

Not sure things we used to drink were acceptable as cocktails... dirty pints etc...

 

[Robson Valley]

I've got a skinny bartender's guide to mixing cocktails. Made a fair few of them. The ones with creme and liqueur bases: chocolate, mint, orange and others really do taste good.
I can slug them down far too fast.

American 'bourbon' is nothing at all like 100% rye Canadian whiskey. Same as the fundamental difference with Scotch whiskies. Ryes are different as are Scotches as are dark rums.

Alberta Premium Rye whiskey is a consistent prize winner and 100% rye grain. It's got the typical rye smell and biting taste. Best over ice = logger's lunch.

I'm interested in the different tastes so mostly have drink over ice. Usually add a diced slice of some sort of citrus for novelty. Lime is very popular in this day and time.

In recent weeks, I was reading an article about gins in a booze magazine. The typical (?) G&T uses a gin with a juniper flavoring base. That was to make the bitter quinine easier to swallow. Not always true, apparently. Gin is distilled spirits flavored with botanicals. It follows here that the Canadian "gin" fits that definition. "Ungava" is Canadian gin. Flavored with a mix of herbs collected in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Faint fruity nose and on the tongue over ice. Overwhelmed by anything like Schweppes Tonic. Insipid with Club Soda.
$37.00/750 ml for something I'd buy again for $15.00.

 

[billycoen]

Snake bite is technically a cocktail right?

Snake bite was barred over in my neck of the woods,apparently it makes the locals restless....

 

[grizzlyj]

50/50 vodka from the freezer and Kahlua, in a thermos, taken to any outdoor party with a pack of metal stacking shot glasses

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

50/50 vodka from the freezer and Kahlua, in a thermos, taken to any outdoor party with a pack of metal stacking shot glasses

Kalkar is a nice alternative to Kahlua.. its a cornish coffee rum too!

 

[Duggie Bravo]

I have fond memories of Pina Colada from when I was in Belize, made in a Blender, so more like a slush puppy.

I remember many many years ago going to a pub in Richmond and seeing a dusty cocktail book on a shelf. We had an impromptu Cocktail night, most drink would probably have tasted better if we hadn’t substituted any missing spirits with Galliano.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EdS]

Whisky Sour , Old fashioned , Negroni , Boulevardier

Add in Martini and Manhattan to that list.

May ge a Sidecar to