Other Drink Blogs - The Drunken Moogle

Just a quick shoutout to a super-geek drinking blog I just discovered, the Drunken Moogle.

Just the two most recent (currently) posts get me all tingly, I will definitely be making the Vera. I've watched Firefly through, and love Castle, so a manly-ass drink named after a sweet Space Cowboy Gun sounds great.

Anyway, check out the Drunken Moogle, it's fun, and while you're at it, check out some of the other drinking blogs on the right side of Redfacery

Cheers,
Redface

Revisiting Ouzo

It was a while ago that I first tried Ouzo - see the Satanic Cocktails post about it here - and I have been slowly working my way through bottle after bottle ever since. Most often I drink a tall glass of it as I cook dinner.

Take a quick read of Kerasma.gr for good info

Following Zane's experience in the Episode on Lesbos (Yes, I know I've mentioned that episode already), I pour a half a glass of ouzo on a few ice cubes and then add a few dashes of cold filtered water until it starts to emulsify. If 'emulsify' means nothing to you, watch the darn episode already! If three or four shots of 80º liquor is more than enough to put you over the edge before dinner, stick to a smaller glass.

To try out my ouzo in a few different and faster ways, I went for a few of these ouzo-based shooters. Overall, I still prefer a straight glass of ouzo, but since I have been taking more shots than mixing cocktails the last few months, these certainly did the trick.

World Famous TKO

One shot into the list I knew I was in trouble. The TKO seems odd by ingredient, but is smooth and warm. The combination of strong and herbal tastes in the tequila and ouzo was offset well by the coffee liqueur. After four or five of these, I started to have a little trouble getting the proportions right, and the taste suffered.

TKO
1/3 Tequila
1/3 Kahlua
1/3 Ouzo

When I'm taking a shot of a liquor I like, I tend to give it ever the slightest swish in my mouth. Contrary to a stiff shot of shitty whiskey or warm vodka, I like to treat a shot of something I enjoy sipping just like a larger than average swallow from a rocks glass. Whenever I try this with shooters I am a little wary - if someone has gone through the effort of publishing a recipe that doesn't always mean they have the slightest clue about whether something tastes good. I can't be the only one who's ordered or received some dishwater shooters in the past.

The Vulcan Mind Probe Shot was next - well technically I didn't make it past the TKO the first night so "next" really means a few days later in this case. Due to my trouble mixing smooth TKOs later into the night, I hoped that a recipe that's 1/2 and 1/2 ouzo and rum would be easy enough for my thick fingers to pour.

Vulcan Mind Probe
1 Part Ouzo
1 Part Rum

This works well as a double shot, though I would say the taste is anything but easy to take down. The combination of the black rum and ouzo I used made for a powerful taste that stayed in my throat. It was not especially pleasant, so I went back for more TKOs afterwards. In the end, I didn't really mind the powerful taste of bitter chocolate licorice I got from this, since by the time I'd had two or three of these, I was deep enough into my drinking night that it was fine.

Good luck trying some Ouzo. It's well worth it.

A Tribute Cocktail to the 1927 Mississippi Flood

As will typically happen given the reality of 24-hour news coverage, I got bored with stories about the Mississippi river flooding several days ago. Having lived through one serious flood in my life, I certainly empathize with those effected, but don't have any need to hear the same story thirty-five times in a row.
That said, Wednesday afternoon I heard a story with a different take on NPR - the music of the 1927 flood. What really caught me was when they played a section from Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy's "When the Levee Breaks". The legendary Led Zeppelin song - yeah - it was a cover of this song.

 

Inspired by the music of the 1927 flood, and in honor of the current flooding, I present to you my very own Muddy Delta Cocktail. 

Muddy Delta
1 oz American Honey (Wild Turkey Whiskey)

3 Tbsp Demerara Sugar

1/2 oz Dark Rum

Guinness

I know this recipe is in a funny format - I put them in the order you prepare and not the way I usually put things down. 

First pour the whiskey into a pony shot glass (1 oz glass). Set aside. Spoon the Demerara sugar into a wet ~10 oz rocks glass. Swirl the glass to make sure the sides are coated about 3/4 of the way up. Add the dark rum and then pop open your Guinness and pour it in. Before the Guinness has cleared, turn to whomever you are drinking with and say: "If it keeps on rainin'"- Eliciting the response: "Levee's goin' to break" - Drop the whiskey in and take a long slow drought.

A few notes about this cocktail: You may use brown sugar or raw sugar if you don't have Demerara laying around. Though a few bucks at a natural food market will get you enough Demerara to last you a year or two. There is (obviously) too much sugar in this cocktail. The intention is for you to have some sediment on the bottom and froth all down the glass when you finish.

Finally, here is the original recipe I started with, which got the response "Uck, it tastes like muddy water" from my taster.

Muddy Delta 1.0

2 Tbsp Demerara Sugar

3-4 Dashes Fee Brothers Bitters

Guinness

1.5 Oz Scotch

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 

A Shark's Tooth

Some days I find that every drink I mix comes out exactly as I imagined.  Whether it's an ingredient I've never used before, or one I'm deeply familiar with, there are days where I could plow through half a dozen new recipes without a bad one popping up.  Last week I had one of those days with margaritas and Sloe Gin. 

Those of you who know me are well aware that I love browsing in a liquor store.  I always feel I can get a sense both of the expected clientele, and the personality of the manager/owner of a store based on the layout and wares.  The "Wine Bazaar" a block from my house is a little confusing that way.  The guy who runs it is exceptional at pairing wines with housewives - most of their clientele is mothers coming in straight after buying groceries at the Stop & Shop next door.  I've been disappointed multiple times before at their liquor options, as the liquor seems to cater to the young and trendy crowd rather than the crotchety old man crowd that likes my kind of amber nectar. 

One thing they do always have is Eagle Rare at sale prices.  If you get a chance, it's buffalo trace's bigger, more mature older brother.

Back to the Sloe Gin - After asking several nicer liquor stores if they had some sloe gin in the last six months, I happened upon it in the "Wine Bazaar" purely by accident.  I'd listened to a podcast on midori and was willing to buy a bottle to try it, and right next to the midori was some sloe gin. 

After that successful night making a few sloe cocktails - expect a Satanic Cocktail coming soon with sloe gin - including improvising several delicious margaritas with sloe gin, tonight I decided to try the Shark's Tooth. 

Shark's Tooth
1.5 oz Dark Rum
.25 oz Lemon Juice
.25 oz Rose's Sweetened Lime
.25 oz Sweet Vermouth
.25 oz Sloe Gin
1 Dash Angostura Bitters

Shake and pour into snifter or cocktail glass

I found the original version to be way too sweet (admittedly, I don't have passion fruit syrup, so I substituted Rose's, and I didn't have gold rum, so I went with some Bacardi Select).  It had a nice taste, but way too much sugar.  Looking at the alternate version, I can see that someone else must have had that same opinion, as it switches out the sweet vermouth for dry vermouth.  I refuse to drop the bitters though...

Shark's Tooth Variation

1.5 oz Dark Rum

.25 oz Lemon Juice
.25 oz Rose's Sweetened Lime
.25 oz Dry Vermouth
.25 oz Sloe Gin
1 Dash Angostura Bitters

Talk about a transformation.  From a 'nice taste' but too sweet, to just plain colored dishwater.  I'm done with the Shark's Tooth.

Sloe Gin, however, I will keep sampling.

A Night of Vermouths

Last night was a night of exploring different recipes - I decided to drink only drinks that had both sweet and dry vermouths.  I expected it to be an interesting limitation in ingredients, and it did not disappoint.

My first drink under this rule was an Alfonso Special.  I'm not knocking it, and I'd totally drink it again, but it was far too bland to get a 'special' attached to its name.  I had planed on starting with a Beachcomber's Gold, but seemed to have misplaced my bottle of rum in my stomach - I'll have to get a new one before I can try that recipe.

Next came the Duchess.  As a 8:1 or more gin martini guy, I have been shocked recently to enjoy cocktails with strong dry vermouth components.  Though I will still not be increasing my vermouth ration in the martini, I do begrudgingly accept that dry vermouth can add significantly to a cocktail.

The Duchess

1/3 Dry Vermouth

1/3 Sweet Vermouth

1/3 Absinthe

(Use Redface's "Shake and Twirl" method for reddest results)

Next up came the Honorable Cocktail.  Finishing up the before-dinner cocktails, this was a solid pick.  I think I put a touch too much dry vermouth in it, but that could just be my sensitivity to the dry vermouth.  After a bland cocktail (Alfonso) and a complex if muddy cocktail (Duchess), the familiar warmth of bourbon was welcome.

The Honorable Cocktail

1 1/2 oz Bourbon

1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/2 oz Dry Vermouth

(Shake and Twirl, then strain)

The Honorable Cocktail was surprisingly smooth, I'm beginning to buy into the whole mixing the sweet and dry vermouths.  Though they both have very powerful tastes, they seem to consistently allow their liquor companions to shine through. 

To finish it off, I came across a recipe that filled the gap I've been having for quite some time.  I haven't had a whiskey sour in a while, and the Manhasset more than fixes that.  

Manhasset

1 1/4 oz Bourbon

1/2 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz dry vermouth

1/4 oz sweet vermouth

Without any of the throat-sticky-sweetness of most bar's whiskey sours, and without the sugar component, the Manhasset does away with most of what makes me get tired of whiskey sours after one or two.  Instead, this one packs the bourbon taste down to make room for the vermouths, and finishes with the way sour lemon aftertaste.  It's not until after the lemon that you get the whiskey heat, and even then, it's fully tempered by the sour, sweet, and dry ingredients.

Dalliance with Sweet Tea Vodka

I know what you're thinking - has Redface lost it?  Would you dilly or dally with sweet tea vodka or any other in the family for that matter?  Hell no!  But, you do what you need when you need a cool drink- and you innovate for what whets the throat.

Without further ado:

Triple-Half-and-Half
2 oz Spiced Rum
2 oz Sweet Tea vodka
1 oz Vodka
3 Dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
Fresh Lemonade


Fill shaker halfway with fresh ice, add Rum, Vodkas, Bitters, and Lemonade.  Shake, pour into Collins glass with a few more fresh cubes.  Use cask strength spiced rum here, and go lighter on the sweet tea rather than the typical heavy-handed 2 oz pour.  The vodka is there to dilute the sweetness of the sweet tea vodka.  Be generous as hell with the bitters.












This drink, when made right, manages to balance the sweetness and pack quite a punch.  Warning also, no powdered lemonade mix, and be aware that you'll get a gross back-of-the-throat stickiness if you don't use enough bitters or you use too much sweet tea.