Not An Alcoholic

  El Presidente Cocktail Review     Absolutely beautiful color. I don't know how well it really shows up in the photo, but in real life it is a spectacular and rich orange color. Looks a bit more amber in the photo, but it really is quite red in real life. I'm not really a great photo editor, nor did I want to spend too much time on it, but in real life, it looks a bit more like this. It really is vibrant.      It smells of the sweet demerara rum (I'm using Appleton Estate 12 Year Rare Cask) with a bit of the oak coming through as well, but there's also some florally grape notes from the lillet blanc. I've started freezing my citrus lately in order to preserve it for longer, and thawed citrus doesn't like to peel very well. But traditionally, this would have a swath of orange peel as well. The mouth feel is considerably more full than I was expecting. It looks rather thin imo, but it is actually pretty full. The first flavor I get is oranges, but those...

Paloma Cocktail Comparison     Lets start off by identifying the differences between these 2 Paloma's. The one on the left was made with 2oz of grapefruit juice, 2oz of sparkling water, and about an oz of simple syrup. The one on the right was made with about 4oz of pink grapefruit soda. They both have 1.5oz of Tequila, a slice of lime (and a little bit of lime juice squeezed in) and a Tajin rim. I'm aware that the ratios are a bit off, so this is not a perfect test, I should've added a bit less tequila to the one on the right to make the ratios a bit more correct, but I just forgot.     So lets start with the one with actual grapefruit juice, it feels great in the mouth, it's incredibly easy to gulp down. It doesn't really taste like too much while you're sipping or gulping, you can tell it's sparkling, but the taste is maybe a tiny bit citrus-y, but not much else. Once you're done gulping however, you get a big wave of that bitter grapefruit flavor, wh...

  Moscow Mule     Normally a Moscow mule would call for a bouquet of mint to garnish the drink, enough to almost entirely take over the smell. I am going to purchase a mint plant soon, but at this moment, I do not have a mint plant, and therefore, there is no mint garnish in mine. Devoid of mint, it's mostly an effervescent ginger smell, maybe slightly more muted than just the ginger beer I'm using, but it's roughly the same smell, I can't distinguish any lime or vodka. It's very cold, light, tart lime forward, followed by a bit of vodka, and finishing with the slow creeping ginger burn. I suspect that a different ginger beer would yield a very different result. I'm using fever tree, and fever tree is an incredibly slow burn. Definitely easy to drink, refreshing, but ultimately simple. I also used my "good vodka" (the brand is literally "good") which is made from spent coffee grounds. It has a bit of a weird note that I just can't quite g...

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, ...

  Negroni Sbagliato!     Ok what is a Negroni Sbagliato and why have you heard so much about it lately (or 3 months ago because I'm out of touch and this trend already past)? A Negroni Sbagliato is Campari, sweet vermouth (like a normal Negroni) but the gin is substituted for sparkling wine. I expressed lemon oil over the top of mine, the bright lemony smell and flavor help to combat the bracing bitterness of Campari. Mine smells like that lovely lemon oil, followed by some red grape smell, and then a whiff of some deeper herbal complexities. You'll want to get this drink very cold, as cold as you can get it. The mouth feel is cold, at first thin, and a tiny bit bubbly, then this sweeping herbal note comes in from the vermouth, matched with the bitterness from the campari. As the bitterness mellows, I get oranges, maybe a bit of the lemon oil helping to draw that forward, then the sparkling wines flavor comes through, maybe aided with a bit of sweetness from the verm...

  French 75 Review!      The French 75 is another common celebratory cocktail that is reasonably low ABV, and often drank at parties around the turn of the new year. Mine in particular smells very heavily of lemon oil, I was trying to get quite a bit into my drink. But I also get raisins from the cognac, and it's effervescent from the sparkling wine. Super light and fun, sweet, easily my favorite cognac drink I've had. A little tart, but not sour. Lovely. 9.7/10 Brief note: This drink is often made with cognac or dry gin, both are totally acceptable. I thought cognac made a bit more sense as a celebratory thing, so I went with cognac. My Spec My spec is: 1oz Cognac 1/2oz Lemon Juice 1/2oz simple syrup also put a small amount of lemon peel in the mixing glass Mix with ice until very cold, pour into drinking glass, top with cold dry sparkling wine. If you want to make the garnish I have, you'll need a "channel peeler" and you want to get a continuous peel of lemon w...

Aperol Spritz               Smells sweet and light, almost like a candy. Lightly orangey, bubbly, not too sweet, not to dry (using a brut sparkling wine for all of these). Absolutely drinkable and refreshing, unfortunately I wasn't able to chill my glassware today, but that would make it even more refreshing I'd imagine! 8/10 Chambord Spritz     Smells like sweet berries, reminding me of baking some sort of pie. A bit sweeter and more tart than the aperol spritz, I find this one personally more enjoyable. Both are light and easy to drink, and fine celebratory drinks. 9/10 Elderflower Spritz     Harder to get a nose from. Still smells a bit sweet. Tastes exactly like a elderflower gelato that I've had before. Sweet, tasty, floral, a tiny bit tart. Excellent. 9.5/10  My Spec Brief Note: To avoid binge drinking, I will only be making half servings of each of the following drinks. The specs I have listed are for a full si...

  A Riff on a Dark N' Stormy     First off: Why a riff? Well, Gosling's rum has a trademark on the name "Dark N' Stormy" so if you want to call your drink that, you legally have to use Goslings Rum. This is a real thing people have gone to court over. To avoid this, a lot of places will call their drink a "Dark And Stormy" or a "Dark 'N' Stormy" with 2 apostrophes, in order to get around the trademark. In my case, I'm not selling this to anyone, so I should be legally clear, but I'll call it my riff anyways, just to avoid any issues.  In addition to the name change. A "Dark N' Stormy" calls for a slice of lime, which I have omitted, it's served in a highball glass, not a double old fashioned. A "Dark N' Stormy" is also usually served with lots of ice chunks, or chips, or shavings or something, where as mine is with one large ice "sphere" (first time using the spherical ice molds, eventua...

  Egg Nog Review     Sweet, very lightly alcoholic, the nose is full of cinnamon and nutmeg, probably because I grated cinnamon and nutmeg on top of it. I do get some cinnamon in the taste, but the nutmeg is mostly lost. It doesn't taste like raw eggs, but the egg is adding some creaminess and thickness to it. I also get some vanilla and peanut notes from the bourbon. The cognac is a bit more subtle, but I think it's giving a tiny bit of interplay with the cinnamon. Very nice 9/10 My Spec My spec is: 4oz Milk (whole is better, but 2% works, try to avoid skim) 1 Whole raw egg 3/4oz Cognac 3/4oz Bourbon 1/2oz Demerara simple syrup 1 dash of angostura aromatic bitters 1 dash of angostura cocoa bitters Grate the top with cinnamon and nutmeg DRY SHAKE FIRST, that egg is going to expand as you shake it, and doing a good dry shake first makes sure that it expands properly, and that you're keeping your shaker sealed well. After the dry shake, shake it again with ice to ...

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...

The Division Bell Cocktail Review     Smells lightly smoky, maybe a bit of citrus from the Aperol and lime juice. Mostly just the smoke though. Mouth feel is pretty nice, I unfortunately had to let it sit for a moment, so it's not as cold as I would've liked. It's a little tart, a bit of sweet, with a mildly smoky mezcal finish. Perfectly drinkable, particularly if I had gotten to it when it was colder I'm sure. I did serve mine with ice because I knew I would be unable to drink it right away, usually you would serve this drink "up" (without ice) and with no garnish, though I think a bit of citrus oil expressed over the top wouldn't do any harm. If you serve this with ice, keep in mind that the ice likes to melt and create a separation layer of water above the drink itself. Perfectly sippable, lightly tart and sweet. Not too smoky, might be a good introduction to mezcal if you're curious. 8/10 My Spec My spec is: 1oz Mezcal 3/4oz Aperol 3/4oz Lime Juic...

Aviation Cocktail Review     Lemon and a hint of violet on the nose. Not much from the gin at all. In person, especially when it's a bit dimmer, the purple from the Creme de Violette comes through a bit more. I would describe the mouth feel as light, it almost took me a minute to realize it was there. The flavors involved are also really delicate as well. I'll say that this isn't a drink for everyone. A lot of people don't like gin already, and some people are really adverse to the Creme de Violette, calling it "soapy". I can understand how people detect soap in this. To me, while I could interpret that as soapy, it's not really chemically, and the texture and natural rejection of getting soap in your mouth is not present, so I get some flavors that some people associate with soaps, but I do not mind it. It is a very airy, almost wispy flavor. You're not working with any "heavy" flavors here. Everything is light. It really is hard to detect m...

Finally made my mother a Margarita. And... she didn't like it. She usually gets hers at a Local Mexican restaurant, and it's not a blender drink, but it is a lot sweeter and more dilute than mine. TLDR I guess I have a higher tolerance for the taste of alcohol than my mother I mostly smell the triple sec, it's a warm, bright, sweet orange smell. The mouth feel is thin and sharp, I get a very bright orange note that gives to sweet, but still sharp tequila, the lime is really more of an after thought than anything. 7/10 My spec is 2oz Tequila 1oz Triple Sec 1/2oz Lime Juice shaken with ice and strained.

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.

The Paper Plane! The camera doesn't capture it well, in person its a lovely pink color. Smells softly of lemon and a little bit of bourbon. It's super balanced, a tiny bit tart, then I get warm bourbon flavors, a bit of orange, a bit of soft apricot flavor and then it does it all over again, it's got a super long and smooth evolution. In all honesty, probably the best cocktail I've had to date. I'd say 9.8/10 Equal parts (3/4 oz recommended) Lemon Juice Bourbon Aperol Amaro Nonino (which I found incredibly hard to open, idk if I got a defect bottle or something) Shaken with ice, strained and served up, with a typically 1/2 size paper airplane garnish Just for transparencies sake, I took this out to my mother because I was so impressed, and she was incredibly displeased with it. For reference, her usual go-to is a Margarita, on the rocks, with a half-rimmed glass. Or she likes a little baileys from time to time.

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

Made a Caipirinha, being almost entirely Cachaça it smells unsurprisingly like said Cachaça, maybe a touch brighter. It's cold, it's tart, it's a bit grassy, a little earthy, but less so than the Cachaça. Not really my preferred drink, but pleasant. 7/10

Made a non-traditional Manhattan tonight. It honestly doesn't smell like much, but it's smooth, silky, the alcohol flavor arrives late, but the front is a lot of warm vermouth flavors, little bits of cereal from the whiskey, the bitters soften the edges. 😙👌 9/10

No bottle rating tonight, but I made a mixed rum pain killer. I'll put the exact recipe in the replies. It's cold, it's sweet, its got a little bit of funk, a little bit of barrel taste, and lots of sugary rum taste. Very very good. 9.8/10 3oz Pineapple juice 1oz Creme of coconut 1oz Orange Juice 1oz DonQ Gold 1/2oz Appleton estate 12 1/2oz Smith and Cross shaken with lots of crushed ice and open poured.