Question Of The Day #15

What is your favorite cocktail and what do you like about it? Do you make it yourself? If so, care to share your recipe?

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Johan_Edstrom_5586

A classic dry Martini, Gin and Vermouth, run past it with a cork of vermouth, shake until almost syrupy, an olive or even better pickled onions.

anthony_34093

So hard to pick a favorite. I'm a bit of a cocktail nut though. If I had to pick only one then I would probably lean toward an Old Fashioned. I love it because the classic version is wonderful but it's also a great canvas for reinterpretation.

My standard go to version is simply 1 demerara sugar cube with 3 dashes of aromatic bitters and 1-2 dashes or orange bitters. Muddle with a splash of bourbon until the sugar is dissolved. Add 2 ounces of bourbon and a large ice cube then stir till properly chilled. Twist an orange peel. Rim the glass with the peel then drop it in. One of the few cocktails that I build in my serving glass.

michaelnatkin

Out at a good bar, I'll usually go omakase - if I specify anything, I might request a bourbon or rye drink, or something amaro-forward. At a questionable bar, I'll go Manhattan or Negroni probably. At home, I like to make a nightcap and just kind of freeform it, often starting with bourbon or rye again. Last night it was a muddled clementine, agave nectar, grapefruit bitters, Rittenhouse rye. It didn't suck. Another recent favorite was maple syrup, a ton of angostura, Clear Creek pear brandy and Bulleit bourbon. I just got Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence and am looking forward to upping my game beyond my self-discovered methods.

robert.c.brown15

Take a good bourbon. Put it in a glass. You're welcome!

tshewman

different ends of the spectrum for me depending on the occasion. I don't drink allot of cocktails (anymore), but when I do, I like them ice cold.....usually one of two, Lemon drop vodka, triple sec, dash of sugar and lemon juice or a Vesper (yes that one-I like it what can I say), Gin, vodka, lillet. The latter I do not make at home but do enjoy.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

I really like having a negroni when we're out and about - for some reason, it feels like a special occasion cocktail to me. But I find that too many barkeeps overdo it on the Angostura.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Pretty basic. Favorite cocktail is a caipirinha, and I always have 2-3 different labels of cachaça in the bar. But they're a bit of a pain to make (I like to remove the pith between the lime segments), so if I'm just looking to kick back after dinner I usually go super basic with rum & Coke.

anthony_34093

Any angostura at all would be overdoing it in a Negroni.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

I've (perhaps obviously at this point) never made one myself, but I thought the bitter backnote was from, well, bitters.

lfmichaud

Did you get an advance copy of Liquid Intelligence because it's supposed to be coming out next week! I'm waiting impatiently for it... My favorite cocktail depend on the time of the day, temperature and my mood because I like then all. If I had to choose one it would probably be a classic Mojito. I'm always the one making the coktails and the one I do the most is a classic Margarita on the rocks.

borgech

For me, it is a well made Negroni. I love all bitters, but a Negroni on a hot day with potato chips is something that IMO cannot be topped. The one that sticks out most in my mind is one I made with 1:1:1 Bainbridge Organic Distilleries Heritage Gin (this stuff is amazing if you can get it (i.e. Seattle Area only, I brought bottles back from my trip out there last year)): Camparno Antica Formula: Campari. ~2-3 minute stir with 1 minute rest.

com-chefsteps

Fox and Hounds: 1.5oz bourbon; 1/2oz lemon juice, 1/2oz simple syrup, 1/2oz pernod*, and an egg white. Shake the bejeezus out of it in whatever way works for egg white cocktails**. Garnish with an amarena cherry.

Most bartenders I've met say they've never heard of it, and when I offer them a taste from cocktail straw, either decline outright or look a bit repulsed on tasting it - so I'm not sure this is a drink for people with taste. I like it, though.

*or absinthe, or pastis, or whatever tastes like licorice.

**I know nothing about this.

Brendan_Lee_56950

I'll take a simple bourbon (or even better a good rye but that's harder to come by) with a single large ice cube. In the summer, I really enjoy mint juleps. I have a certain guilty affinity for a cheap white russian a la big lebowski because of how important that movie was to my formidable years.

Hans_67539

For me, my favorites are a well made Toronto, A Ransom gin old fashioned, a Mezcal Mule,a Pisco sour, a Yellow Tail, a Macallan 12 Blood and Sand with Carpano and countless other cocktails made from my bartender buddies in Seattle that I can never remember the name to!

My go to resource for cocktail ideas is this site, (that also has a killer app) http://www.diffordsguide.com/index.html

anthony_34093

Sounds very much like a Rattlesnake.

michaelnatkin

Nope, it shipped a little early -- you can get it from Amazon now.

robert.c.brown15

Spend much time on the r/bourbon subreddit? I've been visiting more and more. And buying more and more.

james.denissen

A simple daiquiri for me... 2 oz rum, 3/4 oz fresh lime juice and 3/4 oz simple syrup. I really enjoy the "Speakeasy Cocktails" app on the iPad, and use that recipe straight up and unaltered.

Ellie_Paget_63010

I wish there were a kombucha cocktail personally or something better like peanut butter something that wasn't sugary or crap but for me a bookers on the rocks works just fine

com-chefsteps

Whoa. Now that I've looked that up, it sounds exactly like a rattlesnake.

coryhansen78

+1 for Pisco sours! Have you ever tried Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Angostura-Scorched Pisco Sour ? I really like it around this time of year as a party drink-- the aroma just screams "Holidays!" to me and people love fire (I use Dale DeGroff's recipe for the base drink)...

Negronis or manhattans are also good when I'm out and about, and margaritas, Oaxaca Old Fashioned or Daiquiris when I'm at home and feeling like a mixed drink. I just love Daiquiris, such a simple, bracing, delicious drink.

coryhansen78

Negronis are awesome (although my wife can't stand them).

One minute rest, huh? Just curious, is that in the stirring glass w/ ice or serving glass and why?

Hans_67539

No I haven't yet! That looks amazing, I'lm going to get right on it.

Brendan_Lee_56950

I don't really like going by recommendation, I like to just buy things and test them out for myself. As much as I like bourbon, I don't really like talking shop about it.

robert.c.brown15

I'm with you. I try to "save" money by only buying stuff worth spending money on. I no longer really go by reviews, but early on they were really useful to me. I find it interesting too so there's that.

Chris_Kolbu_16712

We mostly go through these three, depending on what the weather's like. Liquor choices are limited by what's easily available here in Australia.

Negroni (heavy on the gin, lighter on vermouth 40-35-25ish)

Old Fashioned (slightly heavy on the bitters, one big ice cube)

Margarita (equal amounts reposado and lime juice, 0.9 that amount of a good triple sec, shaken with half an orange wedge, then filtered into a glass)

Jason_116458

Manhattan made with Irish Whiskey, 2 parts whiskey, 1 part Dry Vermouth, 1 Part Sweet Vermouth, and a splash of marachino cherry juice.

Heather_Lynn_109980

My favorite drinks are bloody Mary's, long island ice teas and extra dirty grey goose martinis

reck.harm

at home it's usually scotch, no ice, no juice, no bullshit. But i do like the occasional Negroni.

DiggingDogFarm_65362

The classic Manhattan is my favorite...my grandmother (YUP!) got me started drinking them so it's partly a sentimental thing. : )

anthony_34093

I'm on there. Post quite a bit /u/gwcad.

robert.c.brown15

/u/robenco15 here

Ps. Where are you located. Maybe you can help me get some bottles haha.

Jack_Mayer_85396

I'll apologize in advance in case this is off-topic, but Dave Arnold's new book Liquid Intelligence is really good! Sort of MC for cocktails.

michaelnatkin

I agree, I'm learning a ton from it.

Nick_14981

We make a cosmo with tequila instead of vodka, otherwise we love side cars, but rarely make them at home for whatever reason, probably the lack of sweet and sour mix. We're not big drinkers, but we like quality alcohol and our drinks strong, also a fresh squeeze of lemon or lime is mandatory for these to be a quality drinks, also the key to why our friends love our margaritas and their fall flat, nothing beats or can replace that fresh citrus.

Nick_14981

I learned from my mother in law that this is so understated, she loved Bookers with a cube or two of ice, I understand why now.