Spiderdude..

I made my usual Manhatten last night but tried a couple variations..

The usual:
1 oz Knob Creek 9 year
1 oz Old Forester Rye 100 proof
1.5 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso sweet vermouth
2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
Light squeeze of an orange slice

Variation 1:
1 oz Knob Creek 9 year
1 oz Old Forester Rye 100 proof
1.25 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso sweet vermouth
0.5 oz Mathilde raspberry liquer
2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
Light squeeze of an orange slice

Variation 2:
1 oz Knob Creek 9 year
1 oz Old Forester Rye 100 proof
1 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso sweet vermouth
0.75 oz Benedictine
2-3 dashes orange bitters
Light squeeze of a lemon slice

Variation 3:
1 oz Knob Creek 9 year
1 oz Old Forester Rye 100 proof
1 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso sweet vermouth
0.75 oz St Germaine Elderflower liquer
2-3 dashes peach bitters
Light squeeze of a lemon slice

My favorite was the 2nd variation, wife liked the 3rd.

What I'm wondering is if there are better vermouths or aperitivos to pair with some of these combinations. I've never had Fiero, but feel like it would go well with the Benedictine based on its flavor description. I keep Campari and Aperol on my shelf, but I'm not looking for bitter here.

Sorry man, I've ignored this thread for a bit! Those look good! I would just try some different vermouths to see what you prefer. I've always thought Cynar had some great vermouth like qualities.

Which tequila? My guess is the chocolate bitters would need a strong tequila to compete with the bittersweet, but I can't imagine this working with a blanco.

Milagro Select Barrel Reserve Anejo.

While we're talking tequila...I just made this Paloma and it's pretty freaking good!:

2oz blanco tequila
4oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
.5oz fresh squeezed lime juice (it was half a lime)
Squeeze of agave syrup
4 cucumber "wheel" slices
Shaken and served unstrained in a heavily rimmed (Tajin) highball and topped off with club soda (you could use Topo of you prefer)

It's not really Paloma weather but apparently my palate gives zero ****s about that!

Found this in the Wall Street Journal of all places and will be trying tonight. Will sub grapefruit bitters for the grapefruit as too lazy to go out and buy a grapefruit (Drizly doesn't deliver fruit to my knowledge)

"Summer in Mexico City"

Ingredients

• 1 ounce blanco tequila
• 1 ounce Cynar
• ounce lime juice
• ounce yellow Chartreuse
• ounce Demerara syrup (2 parts Demerara sugar, 1 part hot water)
• 7 drops Fee Brothers Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters
• Grapefruit peel

Directions
1. Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice
2. Strain into a double Old-Fashioned glass filled with ice
3. Twist grapefruit peel over glass to express essential oils, then use peel to garnish drink.

Sounds awesome...I need to go buy more Cynar. This might be the excuse I needed!

Btw... what does the Fee Brothers Aromatic Bitters compare to? Ango? I already have a ton of Bitters... not really wanting to add another if not needed.

They are very similar to Ango
I don't personally care for many of the Fee bros

Thanks Saz. I'll pass on buying then.

The Fee Brothers Black Walnut bitters is excellent. Don't pass that one up.

Sazerac said:

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They are very similar to Ango
I don't personally care for many of the Fee bros

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I think aromatic is Fee's answer to angostura.

Just picked this up yesterday. 800+ pages of spirits and cocktails info.

And a thoughtful and insightful review of the Companion from @aarongoldfarb :https://t.co/FzlSgJcqqK

— David Wondrich (@DavidWondrich) November 5, 2021

Pretty amazing work.

Been tinkering with ideas from this book lately. Pretty awesome in that they essentially give you 5 "platforms" in which drinks are made from, and give you ideas how to start tinkering. Lots of ready to go recipes in here, plus recipes on making all kinds of syrups, infusions, etc...

https://www.amazon.com/Cocktail-Codex-Fundamentals-Formulas-Evolutions/dp/160774970X

Has anyone used Ancho Reyes chile liquor in much of anything? I'm kind of intrigued by it…

https://anchoreyes.com/

chet98 said:

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Has anyone used Ancho Reyes chile liquor in much of anything? I'm kind of intrigued by it…

https://anchoreyes.com/

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I've not used it myself, but I love margaritas with a splash of Ancho Reyes. For example, this margarita variation at La Cava del Tequila in the Mexico pavilion at EPCOT is delicious. The Ancho Reyes complements the smokiness of the mezcal nicely.

Piña Loca
Ginger pineapple juice, ilegal mezcal, Ancho Reyes chile liquor, black ant salt rim

Want to make a couple batch cocktails for a friendsgiving this weekend. Anyone got a recommendation for great cocktails that are appropriate for such an event? Would like to do one thats sweeter and one thats boozier (probably bourbon or rye based)

Manhattan
Aviation



Are my go to and easy to batch serve

Made a batch of Bourbon Ball Martinis for 42 night this week. Easy to batch, sweet, long sipper.

Proportions are 2:1:1
Bourbon : dark Creme de Cacao : Frangelico

Obviously you don't use fancy bourbon for this. Anything with vanilla or caramel notes works great. Makers or Buffalo Trace would be my suggestion.

GarlandAg2012 said:

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Want to make a couple batch cocktails for a friendsgiving this weekend. Anyone got a recommendation for great cocktails that are appropriate for such an event? Would like to do one thats sweeter and one thats boozier (probably bourbon or rye based)

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A gold rush would sound good for this.

Ratio is 1: 3/4 : 3/4
Bourbon : honey syrup: lemon juice
Honey syrup is 3:1 boiling water honey. Mix the ingredients in a pitcher then you can pour into a cocktail shaker with ice and serve that way or pour straight into a glad and stir well.

I personally like to use a high proof bourbon to stand up the ice Wild Turkey 101, Old Forester in Bond 100 proof, Old Grandad 114

chet98 said:

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Has anyone used Ancho Reyes chile liquor in much of anything? I'm kind of intrigued by it…

https://anchoreyes.com/

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Yes, it's awesome...highly underappreciated as a liqueur IMO. As stated...it's a great way to bring some sweet heat to a Rita. You can add a dash to an Old Fashioned for some spice as well. Here's a Whiskey Sour spin-off from Steve The Bartender called "Whiskey Business" (credit to Meaghan Dorman from Dear Irving, New York):

1 oz Rye
1 oz Ancho Reyes
.5 oz Lemon Juice
.5 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 dash Angostura

That sounds good. I may try it minus the cinnamon syrup though.

I cracked it this weekend and made ancho Reyes Rita's and they were tasty. Recipe on the bottle but from memory I believe it was :

1 part Ancho Reyes
1 part Tequila
3/4 part lime juice
1/2 part agave nectar

Had family over tonight and decided to try and make a festive drink. I first made spiced simple syrup (brown sugar, two cinnamon sticks, clove, allspice, ginger slices, and star anise).

1 oz rye
1 oz crown apple (or any apple liqueur)
.5 oz spiced syrup
.5 oz cranberry juice
4 dashes black walnut bitters

I garnished with a sprig of rosemary and some sugared cranberries to get the full Christmas effect

Made this one last night...

https://www.cocktailcontessa.com/cardamom-cocktail/



I did NOT infuse the amaretto. I thought 10 dashes Cardamom bitters was more than enough to impart the Cardamom.

Sparkling Mai Tais here tonight for NYE. Recipe from the Smuggler's Cove book

1/2 oz Appleton 12
1/4 oz OFTD
1/4 oz lime
1/4 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz dry curaao
4 oz sparkling wine

All the Mai Tai ingredients minus lime are mixed and chilling in a mason jar right now. Should be able to pour 1.5 oz of that batched mix, the lime juice and wine into a flute real quickly tonight during our get together

Penicillin weather baby!!!

I assume you use scotch? Is bourbon a decent substitute?

If you use bourbon it's a Gold Rush (what the penicillin is derived from).

https://www.liquor.com/recipes/penicillin/?utm_medium=post&utm_source=pinterest

Looks great! What scotches did you use?

Monkey Shoulder and Laphroaig 10.

Made this one tonight. For the rye I went with an oz of peated Double Rye from High West (yes peated) and an oz of a Rye blend I've got going of my own creation. Ginger syrup is the tits!

Made that Ancho Reyes version of the margarita tonight. Awesome.

Flying Crowbar said:

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Made that Ancho Reyes version of the margarita tonight. Awesome.

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Pretty much make all my Ritas with Ancho Reyes now. What's not to love?!

Tired of the bourbon game and getting bored with my go to Old Fashioned. Starting to delve off into Tiki land and other cocktails after reading through this thread and getting motivated.

Made a Mai Tai last night following the Trader Vic recipe with Rhum Clement VSOP and Appleton 12 that turned out great. Need to get some better curacao - just used the triple sec I had sitting around. Going to pick up a bottle Pierre Ferrand.

Tonight we Jungle Bird.