Not An Alcoholic

Tullamore Dew Old Fashioned     I was looking for an excuse to use my lovely Tullamore Dew which I reviewed  here  and it occurred to me that I've yet to make a whiskey Old Fashioned. I've made one with rum, but haven't done a proper whiskey variant. Admittedly, this is still breaking from tradition slightly, in using an Irish whiskey instead of a Bourbon or Rye, or anything American really. But this is not too far off base.     Unfortunately, I didn't have any oranges to get a swath from, but this is a brighter whiskey, so I think we should be okay. The angostura bitters are very forward on the nose, there's some appley notes as well from the whiskey, but it's a lot of nutmeg and cinnamon and maybe a little allspice, it all leads to a very pleasant baking apple smell. Sort of a moderate mouth feel, not thick or thin, not sharp or anything, but I've had smoother, and then as you're dissecting the feel of the drink, the flavor creeps up on you, like war...

  Attempting to make my own drink.     This might stray a little from a normal review of mine, as I'm not working with a set recipe. I'm going to attempt to explain my thought process as I attempted to make my own variation of a drink. I'll start off by saying I knew I was going for a variation of a French 75. I knew it was going to have sparkling wine, and I also wanted to try something with pisco. Pisco is a grape brandy, just like cognac, which is used in some specs for a French 75. But Pisco is a lot more earthy and bright, where cognac is quite raisin-y and deep. I thought that with the use of the Pisco, a lime juice made more sense than lemon juice, I wasn't trying to cut through the darker tones of the cognac, I wanted to play with that Pisco. So I started with an oz of Pisco, a half an oz of simple syrup, and a half oz of lime juice. Then I went to add sparkling wine, I was shooting for around 2oz, but I probably added closer to 4. But, it was in the glass now, ...

Plantation Original Dark Old Fashioned Review     The nose is slightly sweet, orangey, maybe a bit of vanilla, something a little nutty as well. Mouth feel is a little on the thin side, not as smooth as I would've hoped. It's immediately sweet, gives to orange, gives to vanilla, I get some banana, a woody note that I want to place as oak. Finishes with a bitter maple syrup note.  8/10 Yummy My Spec My spec is: 2oz Plantation Dark rum 1/2oz Simple syrup 2 dashes Regans Orange Bitters What is an Old Fashioned?     "Sam, I thought an old fashioned was a whiskey drink" some of you might be saying. Well, you're correct. If you go to any bar, and ask for an old fashioned, they might ask you if you want it with bourbon or rye, but they will assume you want whiskey. American Whiskey has become the default for a "modern" old fashioned. "So isn't making it with rum wrong?" Well no. The origin of the old fashioned is muddy, but according to David Wond...

  Regans' orange bitters No. 6, Angostura Orange Bitters, and Fee brothers west Indian orange bitters respectively. Regans' Orange Bitters     Subtle nose, smells bittersweet, softly of oranges, something mildly herbal I can't quite place, maybe light floral notes. Thin mouth, very bitter forward, lots of orange peel, something slightly salty, again a mildly herbal note that doesn't immediately register as anything I know of. Soft floral note, I'd imagine it's probably orange blossom water. Really solid bottle of bitters. 8.5/10 Angostura Orange Bitters      Soft nose, almost smells a little artificial, definitely a bit sweet smelling. Thicker mouth feel, pretty sweet orange note, with some bitter spices, definitely cinnamon, clove, maybe a hint of ginger? Rather good. Doesn't taste like the artificial note I was getting from the nose, I'd imagine it's just some sort of association I'm making in my mind. 8/10 Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitte...

  Fee Brothers Grapefruit Bitters Review      Smells strongly of grapefruit unsurprisingly, maybe a note of cardamom, and cinnamon. There's also some sort of perfume quality in the nose, I'm not sure what it is, but it's less of a "note" and more of a characteristic, something about how it reaches your nose. A bit hard to explain. Smooth mouth, thick, almost creamy. Really coating. Very fast, but complicated evolution. I immediately got a bright citrus note, definitely some grapefruit, but also lemon zest. Then I get a deep floral component, multilayered, maybe lilac, honeysuckle, violet, and then the bitterness is very late in the evolution, that's when I get a bit of cardamom, maybe even a hint of celery seed. 7/10 will get used behind my bar. So what are bitters? Why do you use them in drinks?     Bitters are a traditionally alcoholic spirit, often in small bottles (usually 4-6oz, but sometimes you might see a 16oz) infused with botanicals, spices, flowe...

 Behind a bar, one of the most recognizable and widely used bottles will be Angostura Aromatic Bitters. The small bottle, with the oversized label and that yellow cap are iconic imagery in the world of bartending and mixology. While there's plenty of drinks that call for peychaud's or maybe an orange bitters, no bottle of bitters is called for as much as Angostura Aromatic Bitters. However, people are quick to forget that while Angostura's main product is their standard Aromatic Bitters, they also make an orange bitters, and the subject of today's review, Cocoa Bitters (and also an amari, a few rums, brandy, a vodka, and some soft drinks. But those are for another time). The nose is extremely rich and complex. There's some deep chocolate notes, but also a bit of cinnamon, clove, maybe some anise? perhaps even cardamom? The smell evokes a glass of hot chocolate, while something is baking in the kitchen, but it's concentrated and heavy. When the small sip I took i...

A pisco sour! Smells like the angostura bitters that garnish it, but the egg white froth blocks almost everything else. It's tart, earthy, creamy, smooth, maybe not for everyone, but certainly a fine cocktail. 8/10 2oz Pisco 1/2oz Lemon Juice 1/2oz Lime Juice 3/4oz Simple Syrup 3/4oz egg white Dry shake to froth egg, then shake with ice Double strain, be gentle with the foam drop a couple drops of angostura onto the foam gently for garnish Mom said this was better than the paper plane I made last night. But she still was not a big fan. It is a lot closer to her preferred drink, the margarita, but hopefully I'll find something soon that she enjoys.

This is a Queen's Park Swizzle! It smells strongly of the deep brown sugary rum, I wish my mint was stronger, but my grocery store's mint was very sad. It's very boozy, but I also get lime, lots of funk, and cinnamon. Very good! 9.5/10 It's a riff on a Mojito using a much heavier rum and also bitters. My spec is: 1/2 oz Lime juice 1/2 oz Demerara simple 1 1/2 oz Lemonhart and sons 151 1/2 oz Smith and Cross 8 Dashes of angostura bitters A ton of mint, like probably 15 leaves of mint . This is going to be a lot higher proof than your standard mojito (like, 1.5x) and also the rum I chose has a lot more character and deeper flavors than a traditional spanish style that you'd see in a normal mojito

Really too much going on to express in 240 characters. An absolute cocktail essential, the nose is wonderful, it smells like Christmas with all the baking spice notes. The flavor is bitter, with lots of allspice and clove notes. It is potent on it's own. 9/10