Satanic Cocktails - Demon of Destiny

A vortex of taste greets your pallet - the scent is undefined, but crisp and fiesty. You get a feeling like there is someone waiting behind you, or is that just the hair on the back of your neck standing up as your tongue goes numb with the next sip?

The effervescent cocktail before you beckons you with riches, it's golden shade mocking your impoverished soul, daring you to dream of the riches your hellish desires contain.

You may have just been shown your demonic destiny.

Demon of Destiny
1.5 oz. Gin
.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
.5 oz Absinthe
.25 oz Tequila
.25 oz Agave Syrup

Add all ingredients into a shaker half full with ice. Shake like you want the minions of hell to break out of their fiery (icy) tombs. Double strain to remove all of the small ice chunks - you want this cocktail to glisten. Let the demonic struggle begin as the tequila, absinthe, agave, and gin all fight tooth and horn to be the last taste left in your mouth.

Progenitor: Destiny Cocktail

Midori Challenge

I bought a bottle of Midori in a weak moment a few months back - I'd heard quite a few recipes that used them, and though none of the recipes seemed like they were my type, I figured it had to have some redeeming qualities.
 When I got to the end of the Behind the Bar episodes I was interested in, I listened to some of the ones that didn't interest me at all - and since I can usually trust a Mr. Martini recommendation, I was unwisely swayed to buying Midori (Episode 27).  After several recipe tries, I can't yet find any that work - and this is in part because of its color.  It has that sickening sweetness of other products like sloe gin and Ecto-Cooler.  Ugh.  But worst of all, it's alien green.

One bad decision led to another - I took my first try directly from the little booklet that comes with a bottle of Midori. I figured, hey, that ain't a bad place to start...

And that leads me to the CHALLENGE:
Design and test a Midori drink that works.
Name it, post it here in comments, or send me an email with the details. I'll test it out if the ingredients aren't too hard to come by, and if I agree, I'll put it up.

White Dog

According to my research, the bottle of White Dog Whiskey I just picked up is a sign of the new small distilleries coming to the whiskey scene.  I have to make a stunning confession - I've never had moonshine.  I know, shocking, right.  Well, this is a 62.5% bomb that will burn your taste buds like a flask of 151º at Hallomass

Recipe attempts:

2 oz white dog
3/4 oz lemon juice
spoonful sweet vermouth
1/2 oz agave syrup (or simple syrup)
1 dash orange bitters

Taste not complete, strong white dog finish


2 oz white dog
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/2 oz agave (or simple syrup)
2 dash angustura bitters

Taste still not complete


1 1/2 oz white dog
1 1/2 oz london dry gin
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1 oz lime juice
1 egg white
1/2 oz agave (or simple syrup)
2 dash angustura bitters


1 1/2 oz white dog
1 1/2 oz london dry gin
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz agave
2 dash angustura
1 egg

I wrote down these recipes months and months ago when I first bought White Dog. I got drunk making this post and never finished it. I decided to post it despite not having a complete recipe to present. At some point I plan on finishing it and presenting a Redface Original.  TBA.

Inaptly Judging a Drink - Color

In my opinion, too many drinks are judged by one of these three things, when they should be judged by their taste, liquor content, and history.

Color

Glassware

Name

I'll tackle color first - once you've made a few different types of cocktails, you start to recognize the colors and textures of different types - the telltale creaminess of a drink with egg whites, the (surprising) rosé of a whiskey cocktail, the silky-clear top to a gin drink. If you drink Manhattans often, you might have already had this conversation before:

You walk into the room or across the bar with a nice Manhattan in a cocktail glass
"Whatcha got there, girlie-man?"
"A Manhattan."
"What's in it? Unicorn tears and heartstrings, why not drink a real drink?"
"Whiskey. Vermouth. Bitters. A few of your teeth soon."

The problem is, even with the recent renaissance in the cocktail world, few people even know the history of the word cocktail, let alone the storied past of drinks ranging from the Pink Lady to the Papa Dobles. Here in America, the birthplace of the cocktail, a drink that isn't clear or silty brown comes with the presumption of feeble drinking abilities.

Now, sometimes it is appropriate to judge - or at least assess - a cocktail based on its color. However, you should first verify your suspicions by a hearty taste, and perhaps a request for a trial cocktail on the house. Once you know for sure that the yellow-green-neon concoction with a parasol and a fruit bouquet is indeed dreck, then go ahead and assume all the matching drinks on the premises are of similar quality.

All of this goes to the point that while a Duchess might look girly, it's 1/3 absinthe, and the other 2/3 vermouth, so back off you dolt.

Guest Column - Fair Well Through the Stormy Seas

I have never been one to drink the same thing time in and time out, so it's nice to have new suggestions to try. However, I recently rekindled a fond relationship that has been dormant as of late. She goes by the name of Dark and Stormy, not sure if you are familiar with her but I thought I'd share.

http://www.goslingsrum.com/home.asp

Start with one of my favorite rums, Gosling's Dark Rum (or any dark rum for that matter). Gosling's isn't too strong, but it's inexpensive and I love the sweet finish. Then all you need is some ginger beer. The Gosling's brand will do in a pinch but I recommend Reed's if you can find it. Reed's is less sweet and more bitter/gingery, which I feel compliments the rum more, which is already sweet enough.

Dark and Stormy   
6oz Ginger Beer
4-6oz Dark Rum

I like to keep the rum in the freezer as apposed to shaking it with some ice to avoid watering it down but either will suffice. Ginger beer goes in first, then the rum, don't stir, and enjoy. The rum will settle at the top at first, making the glass seem like a dark horizon, but will eventually mix as you drink. Hope you like it.

-Lager