Cocktail Databases Cocktail DB

I have always relied on simple google searches for cocktail recipes.  Often I will find myself scrolling through several sites, usually one of them a cooking site, another a non-drink-dedicated site, eventually hitting a recipe that looks good.  That all looks like it is changing.  Off of a random mention on a Cocktail Virgin post, I went to CocktailDB to check it out.

It rocks.  You can use its engine to search for flavors, ingredients, recipe names, or pretty much anything else, and choose a list of recipes.  The search results are then given in a list with primary liquors (be careful here though, I got excited several times about having all the necessary ingredients only to discover when I clicked that I needed ginger beer or something), and the recipe itself will have hotlinks for all the ingredients.

The recipes always seem to use the most pricey ingredient for the spot (like grand marnier every time instead of triple sec ever), so you have to be wary, but a little bit a behind-the-bar-creativity and you can get a good recipe.

One recent substitution I did that I won't try again: Homemade raspberry simple syrup for maraschino liqueur.  Since I've never had the cocktail in question with maraschino, I don't know what it should taste like, but I know it was good, but naked, with the syrup instead.

Left: Grand Marnier for like 35$

Right: Triple Sec for like 8$

Taste? Well, different, you can taste the quality, but it's just like any other ingredient choice, and to coin a new Redfaceism: Your Smilage Will Vary.


Anyway, check out the database, but check your liquor stockpile first.

Words Matter

I've always loved Shakespeare.  In english classes in high school, at a show, or just once in a while perusing a sonnet or two, his mastery of the English language gives me immense satisfaction.  Those who know me well, know I love words.  At first, my diction can sometimes appear arrogant and unnecessary to people I first meet.  I've been told over the years by quite a few people that I have appeared to be putting people down by using big words when small ones will do.

I don't by this logic- use the word that  best fits the sentence, whether it's well known or not.  Yes, yes of course, there are times when brevity requires more terse statements, but for the most part, taking a moment to say what you mean to say precisely is very important.  In the politics of your daily relationships, how you say and what words you use matters almost as much as tone.  Creating a particular insinuation or suggestion while not saying something is important.

Getting to the point here, Obama has changed the Executive Branch's diction in a bunch of ways.  This matters, a lot.  One of the main reasons I like him so much as our president is simply his appreciation and use of words.  Read any speech he wrote (I like the speech on race in Philly the most), and you will feel the words as much as you will read them.  That man can write, and he can write meaning and clarity into topics that are often obscured and ignored.

Everyone should know at this point who pulled strings in the Bush administration - it was Rove and Cheney and their ilk that were creating imagery and nuanced language to inspire specific reactions.  Obama does the same thing, only his team seems to be closer to Google than Microsoft in purpose if you get my drift...

"Beer is a Popular Product"

Awaiting further developments on this one.  I really hope the end result is that the one guy who 'might face disciplinary measures' ends up getting fined some paltry amount - a far cry from the 25 cases he ended up getting I hope. 

Either way, it never ever occurred to me that someone would throw away beer that was expired, let alone that they would destroy it.  I will not sleep easy knowing that tonight some innocent beer will be ruthlessly destroyed just because the FDA has declared it unfit for consumption.

(By the way, click the post title for the link ;-)  )

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.  

Sweet Vermouth

It has recently come to my attention that I should have been paying more attention all this time to what brand of vermouth I use.  I have always been an 8:1 Gin martini guy.  Call me extreme, or just say the truth: I love the taste of icy gin.  However, after reading about Noilly Prat Vermouth today over at DrinkBoy.com, I decided to try a bottle of the Noilly Prat Rouge.

Well, I'm convinced.  The Demon Of Destiny I've been drinking since I got that bottle of Absinthe this weekend,  has never tasted this way.   I had three or four with the cheap sweet vermouth, and it isn't the same cocktail.  Repeat: it is not the same cocktail with cheap sweet vermouth.


I was a little skeptical in the liquor store, and ended up not getting any grand marnier, or curaçao, since I wasn't willing to pay that much for a bottle I would us up rather quickly for a liqueur.  I might have to start stockpiling these expensive or hard to find liqueurs.  If switching to a good sweet vermouth makes that much difference, I dare say I might... ...just... ...try... ...a... ...different... Martini... Recipe...

Crazy, but this sweet vermouth has so much more apetizing of a nose and body that it might be worth trying a different martini recipe.  We'll have to wait and see.