Not An Alcoholic

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...

  Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey     Previously I did a review of another Irish Whiskey, Jameson  available here . That review is incredibly short, because it's literally just copy pasted from when I was still doing reviews on twitter. However, even though it's brief, I stand by the notes I gave in that review. I bring this up because I will probably reference it a lot when reviewing this whiskey.     The nose is sweet, but more cereal-y than the Jameson, still has a crisp note, like an apple or something. I would describe the nose of the Jameson as a bit more full bodied, but the smell of the Tullamore Dew is still very pleasant. Mouth feel is thin, and it has some bite that the Jameson doesn't. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I actually find the bite of this whiskey to be very enjoyable. But very cereal forward, with a bit of bite, almost like an American rye whiskey. The finish on this is a bit more unified than the Jameson. The Jameson almost goes...

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...

  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...

Why have multiple bottles of rum from the same brand anyways?      While this might be a trivial question to some of the members of my reader audience, if you'll indulge me for a moment, I'd like to explain my reasoning for this, and go into what rum is a little bit as well. If you'd just like to see my reviews of the bottles today, there will be another section further down where the text is once again emboldened.     So, why have multiple bottles of rum? Well, lets start with a bit about rum production in general and compare it to some other spirits. Rum is at it's core, a distillate product made from sugarcane or sugarcane byproducts. But, that leaves a lot of room for interpretation, for example, you might have a Rhum Agricole made from sugarcane juice from a single harvest of sugarcane in a single country, that's distilled in column stills, not aged, and bottled at 40% ABV. Or you might have a jamaican rum, made from molasses from multiple harvest...