Christopher J. McGarvey wrote:Try to hunt down Eagle Rare. It should be about the same price as Bulleit.

At lunch yesterday, I had country-fried steak with pepper gravy, mashed taters, cole slaw, 2 Smithwicks, and an Eagle Rare on the rocks for dessert.

I do lunch the way Clint Eastwood does Sandra Locke.

Christopher J. McGarvey wrote:

electrons wrote:The Manhattan is the cocktail of choice for me. Maker's does fine, Wild Turkey, or Woodford are okay, but anything that's a higher quality than that, the bourbon should be sipped neat. Bulleit is my new favorite Bourbon by far, and its starting to appear in more bars/liquor stores.

A Woodford Manhattan?
Look who's a fancy pants.
Try to hunt down Eagle Rare. It should be about the same price as Bulleit.

Yeah, I had a feeling someone would make this comment. I had a feeling that someone would be you Chris. My pants often are described as fancy.

Woodford Reserve is a lot less of a quality bourbon than one would think, and its entirely accessible. For some reason it blends really well in a manhattan. Canadian Club also blends well with a manhattan, if you want me to come back down to "blue collar" cocktails.

Did you know that Eagle Rare (Buffalo Trace) is owned by Seagrams!?

Ty Webb wrote:I do lunch the way Clint Eastwood does Sandra Locke.

You never cease to by one of my all time favorite posters, sir. Amazing.

electrons wrote:Did you know that Eagle Rare (Buffalo Trace) was owned by Seagrams!?

Sazerac Company owns Buffalo Trace and have since 1989.

Ty Webb wrote:They've got one called the Moscow Mule that's top-shelf vodka, homemade ginger syrup, lime juice, and seltzer.

That sounds like my kind of drink.

By absolute coincidence, my girlfriend and I were making up our own drinks last weekend. Here are a few.

"The Swimming Pool"

- 2 parts Chambord
- 2 parts chlorine

"Back to School"

- 1 part vodka
- 2 parts apple juice
- 1 part pencil shavings

"Salsa Night"

- 2 parts tequila
- 2 parts ketchup

"The Swirly Twirly"

- 1 part vodka
- a pinch of black pepper
- 2 parts pickle juice
- 1 cup maple syrup

"The Home Run"

- 1 pint of beer
- 2 parts gin
- 1 part yellow mustard
- 3 parts hot dog water

"The Office Party"

- 1 bottle of Zima
- 10 staples

"Good Morning Sunshine"

- 4 parts vodka
- 2 parts orange juice
- 1 part bacon grease
- 1 raw egg

"The Fourth of July"

- 2 parts Chambord
- 2 parts milk
- 1 part cranberry juice
- 1 bottle rocket

"The Quarterback Sneak"

- 1 small bottle Gatorade, any flavor
- 1 part grenadine
- 2 parts gin
- 2 pork rinds
- 1 pinch of grass clippings

Do not make these!

*cracks knuckles*

Aight. You're in my territory now, goddammit.

A Manhattan is one of my favorites - classy, tasty, easy to remember - but you have to make sure you have good shit in it. It's vital. A Manhattan with lousy components is a waste of time. Bourbon is the nectar of the gods, but a really seriously awesome Manhattan uses rye whiskey (Rittenhouse bonded is awesome, Sazerac is great for mixing but somehow underwhelming on its own, Wild Turkey 101 rye is pretty damn good too). Vermouth has to be pretty fresh - I keep mine in the fridge, which means it'll last a couple months after I open it - but don't even fucking think about Martini & Rossi vermouth, that shit is disgusting and completely lacking in complexity. Cinzano is my go-to... or Carpano Antica if you can find it and feel like splurging.

So I'd say:
-2 parts Sazerac rye
-1 part Cinzano sweet vermouth
-1 or 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir it with ice, strain into a glass. Garnish with whatever, but don't bother with a cherry unless you have real brandied cherries.

Okay, that's one. Moving from there...

I really like Campari, which is this Italian apertif that is both really bitter and really sweet at the same time. A Boulevardier is what I'm most likely to make for myself at any given moment.

1 1/2 parts whiskey (or 2, depending on what you're using)
1 part Campari
1 part sweet vermouth
Stir with ice, strain.

And that's just a modified Negroni, which is hardcore.
1 part gin
1 part Campari
1 part sweet vermouth
Stir and strain. Some people throw a dash of orange bitters in there too, I don't see the point.

Um, that's three. I guess I could spit more, but I actually feel like making one so...

---
When you shake or stir, do it until the shaker/mixing glass gets uncomfortably cold.

Anyone got an amazing bloody mary recipe? Tomorrow is grocery day.

The MayorofRockNRoll wrote:I saw one bartender making a drink called a Dark and Stormy, which sounded kinda gay, but it was dark rum, lime, ginger beer and something else.

Anyone ever tried one of these?

my best friend had these at his wedding and it was amazing - but the key was the insane ginger beer that he had special ordered in for the wedding. i had one in new orleans last week and it was terrible.

i had dinner at sultan's market the other night and had a ginger beer there. it is my aim to try and make one with that ginger beer. like most things, it's all about the ingredients.

there's also been a lot of talk about that new wicker park place - the violet hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vAHM9js19A

i want to give them a shot. my friends was a little more spartan, just high quality ingredients which ruled.

nick92675 wrote:

The MayorofRockNRoll wrote:I saw one bartender making a drink called a Dark and Stormy, which sounded kinda gay, but it was dark rum, lime, ginger beer and something else.

Anyone ever tried one of these?

my best friend had these at his wedding and it was amazing - but the key was the insane ginger beer that he had special ordered in for the wedding. i had one in new orleans last week and it was terrible.

i had dinner at sultan's market the other night and had a ginger beer there. it is my aim to try and make one with that ginger beer. like most things, it's all about the ingredients.

there's also been a lot of talk about that new wicker park place - the violet hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vAHM9js19A

i want to give them a shot. my friends was a little more spartan, just high quality ingredients which ruled.

Ok, sold. They look like they know what the fuck they are doing with a drink over there. Anyone wanna do some fancy drinking one night like civilized people lemmie know.
What are the prices like? I bet that dark and stormy is over 9 bucks.

Bernardo wrote:

the Classical wrote:The only other cocktail I drink is sort of a caipirinha.

In Brazil we have countless variations of that one. It´s basically any of a big list of fruits with ice, sugar and cahaça, vodka or sake.

i recently had my first one of these and am now addicted. they have them and they are great at azucar in logan sq next to el cid.

like my dark and stormy incident - i tried ordering one somewhere else and it was fucking terrible. i will definitely vouch for the caiprihna at azucar though.

i also used to drink gin & tonics like crazy, but not in a long time. occasionally they're pretty good still. a new modifier on that that is good is tequila and tonic. it's good with sorta mid-grade tequilas, i guess if i were going to spend the dough on a good anejo, i'd just sip straight. maybe best with a reposado.

other than that, for cheap bar drinks - i'll rock the 7&7, cuz that's what my grandpa drank, and you can get that at any old rock bar and not look like a puss ordering any of the other drinks i've mentioned - but i try not to do that too much anymore either cuz whasky makes me dark and mean to people.