(Humble brag of all my Rubik's cubes)
Hey all, so I'm an ex-mormon who made it through college without a sip of alcohol. I've been trying to play catch-up but my wife and I are scared of bars and all my friends' recommendations have been <some_juice> with vodka.
I've been trying to learn how to drink for a couple years now. I've built up a medium collection of bottles (some of which I have no idea what to do with...). I feel like I've gone through most of the classic cocktails, but recently went back through my starting drinks because I think my pallet has opened up as I've gone along. Among the first cocktails I made myself were an old fashioned and a Manhattan and I know I didn't like either, but I'm having a Manhattan right now and really enjoying it (planning on trying an old fashioned again sometime soon).
Anyway, I've frequently wished for an expert to chat with who could give me recommendations. So drop yours below!
Some of the drinks I love:
- Negroni - so far, if there were only one drink I could have the rest of my life, this would be it.
- Sazerac - A close second. I think I'd love some whiskey cocktail recommendations if you have them!
- Jungle Bird - couldn't tell you why I love it
- French 75 - one of my favorites to show new drinkers, but a bit high-proof
- Hot Toddy - not my go-to, but winters are cold where I live and this drink is super fun
Honorable mentions:
- Whiskey sour - I usually make one alongside a prairie oyster, even though I hate those, so that I can use the whole egg
- Mai Tai - a bit sweet to be on my list of favorites
- I really like tequila but I haven't tried many cocktails with it
I think anything less sweet, maybe bitter is gonna jive really well with me
Edit:
Very excited about the recommendations! It'll update the list below over the weeks with what I like
Recommendation High-Scores:
- Tommy's Margarita - yeah, wow this drink was made for me. Did it with half Mezcal, which I'd never tried until today, and it's awesome. And my wife loves smokey drinks so it's way up high on her list as well.
- Paper Plane - Super great, wife loves bourbon so she was a fan. I think I added too much lemon juice because it was a bit sour. Excited to try again.
- Gimlet - a bit basic but it's a starting point I'm excited to riff off of. I used lime juice but How-to-drink has a video where he makes his own lime-cordial and I kinda want to try it. I guess it's bitter and fruity and that sounds like something I'd love. I've seen a bunch of modified recipes too so I'll be looking around for ones that speak to me.
- Black Manhattan - It's just nice. A slow sipper. Intense and boozy, bitter, long evolution - and I'm sure fun to switch out the whiskey in. I used a rye and I immediately want to try my bourbon, but I have a lot of suggestions to try so it'll have to wait...
- Teresa - super similar to the Negroni - so I really like it. Maybe it's so similar though that I don't know that I need it... Definitely will be drinking them 'til I run out of Creme de Casis though.
- Old Fashioned - liked it more than the first time I had one, I think I'd prefer it more diluted. Towards the end once more ice had melted I was really enjoying it. I think next time I'll stir it in ice and then add it to my bitters-saturated sugar (might use simple next time, or maple/agave as some have recommended).
- Monkey Gland - Really cool. Like dressed up orange juice in a way. The Absinthe doesn't over-power and instead shines (or lengthens?). Unfortunately, I hate the name and hate the history of the drink (it is interesting though, so look it up!) so I doubt I'll be making again. I know the name shouldn't matter, but since it already isn't a favorite I don't think I'll be adding it to my home-bar menu.
I definitely recommend a second try at an Old Fashioned, our tastes seem to have quite a bit of overlap and it's by far the drink I make the most - just start with the the IBA recipe since most you find around the web add way too much sugar. Also, you may want to test different types of whisky, I prefer mine with Scotch instead of Bourbon, and I also suggest adding a couple drops of Orange Bitters if you have them.
Since you mentioned Sazerac I imagine you already have some Absinthe, so maybe try a Monkey Gland? It's by far my favorite Gin drink, the balance between sweet (from the Grenadine) and sour/herbal (from the Absinthe) is fantastic.
A friend of mine who is a huge fan of Negroni also loves the Teresa. It's an interesting one to taste since it feels very sweet at first due to the Cassis... but then the Campari hits and overpowers that with its sour flavor.
To add to other things that you try for the Old Fashioned: try maple syrup for the sweetener. Try a chocolate bitters if you can get it.
Sounds like really cool modifications! Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a lightweight so I could experiment faster...
I really liked my Old Fashioned last night, I mentioned in the high-scores edit to my original post that next time I'll try diluting more and I probably won't use sugar cubes moving forward (simple syrup instead).
The Monkey Gland was good too! But see above for why I probably won't make it again 😜 The history just makes my nethers tingle in a bad way.
The Teresa was a great suggestion for me! Crazy how close it is to a Negroni even though it kinda comes from a different direction
The recipe mentions "a few dashes" of water but I usually go higher using ~10ml for mine, maybe try something like this?
Yeah, making the angostura-saturated sugar is a fun thing to do a couple times, but syrup is way faster and more practical. I use ~5ml when making mine.
This is a problem I feel with Campari drinks - its flavor is very overpowering so at least for my tastes most drinks using it end up a bit similar.
Speaking of which, I remembered another one of these - the Americano is a "lighter" Negroni with less booze. I recommend adding way more than "a few dashes" of Soda Water though, I tend to go with 30ml or each ingredient in mine, pretty much like a traditional Negroni.