Not An Alcoholic

  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...

  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...

  Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters Review     Smells of rich dark chocolate, some caramel, maybe a little bit of something akin to a peppery note, but it doesn't smell "spicy". A little thin, but likes to stick to your teeth and walls of your mouth, and linger. Initial taste is almost a weird stinging bitter note, that sounds bad, but it was really interesting and unique, not a negative. Probably similar to a quinine bitterness flavor wise. That gets swept away by rich chocolatey notes with a little bit of acid, maybe a fruit zest or something. As the chocolate fades, a brief slightly spicy note comes out to play with the acid, nothing anyone should be scared of, it's an incredibly mild spice, but it does come forward for a second to mess with the fruity acid notes. Then those notes fade and leave a deep bitter chocolate note behind that I revel in. I am a fan of dark chocolates, so maybe if you prefer milk chocolate, the after taste might be a bit more bitter tha...

  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...

  A bottle that is no longer sold?     Perhaps a slight exaggeration, this bottle is no longer available to purchase from Appleton. In March of 2020 it was announced that Appleton would be changing their product stack, and the formerly Appleton special rum would now be sold by another brand under the same corporate umbrella as "Kingston 62 Gold rum". As you can tell from the photo, this is an older bottle that my parents had from a Jamaican friend of ours. Review     Sweet nose, bits of oak, banana, but also a little bit of paint thinner in there. Not incredibly aggressive, but definitely present. A little thin, a little abrasive in the mouth at first, particularly if your lips are as dry as mine, but it smooths out pretty quickly. I get notes of banana, maybe some sweet apple, brown sugar, a little something earthy, and a bit of wood on the finish. It's a shame that this bottle is no longer sold by Appleton. I have no reason to doubt that the Kingston...