I feel out of the loop, did not know that Jim Beam and Makers were owned by Suntory, now Suntory Global.

2oz tequila

Juice of one lime

Grapefruit Jarritos

Stirred and poured.

I've been an ice geek for 10 years, ever since we got 2 freezers. First with a lunch cooler, used to fill it, then melt off the cloudy part with hot water, then whack the clear ice with a rolling pin to break it into wee icebergs. The cooler cracked and I got a more intentional setup, now it's big cubes of clear ice, and big globes. I don't think it tastes better, it looks better and the size does matter. I shake drinks with regular ice, but almost always serve them on big clear ice. Love it.

Here’s a nice, simple, boozy one from Death & Co:

• 2oz Rittenhouse bonded rye
• 1/2oz Laird’s bonded apple brandy
• 1/2oz Yellow Chartreuse

The rye ends up being the least present ingredient even though it’s by far the highest volume one; I get much more apple and herbal chartreuse from it.

A simple Sunday drink. If you have followed this community you probably know I am a big fan of bourbon and fruit mixtures. This is:

2oz bourbon (Evan Williams bottled-in-bond)

1 oz St Germain

1 oz Aperol

1.5 oz fresh lemon juice

1.5 oz bottled mango passion fruit juice

Shaken then a splash of Topo Chico, dirty pour into pint glass.

This one is, oddly, a little too muted in flavor. Not sure what it needs, but some adjustment. Maybe just a more assertive tequila, the Ocho Plato is so smooth, I love it but it doesn't stand up to strong flavors, or maybe it just needs a little more bitterness, shake the lime peels in with the rest of it.

2 oz tequila blanco

1/2 oz each of orange liqueur, Ancho Reyes Verde, green chartreuse, mezcal (the good one. The Chipicapa is so delicious you can just mix it with tequila or whiskey and sip it)

Juice of one lime.

So, we've been doing the world's slowest bar crawl, having one drink a week, at different bars at this posh outdoor mall where the grocery is. So far:

Sports bar - not even shaken, sour mix and bourbon poured over ice. Actually bad.

Casual fresh organic restaurant - bartender asked if I wanted egg white and cracked an egg to get it! So good. Amaretto cherry, very classic.

Rooftop bar - good but not as good as it was expensive. Shaken, tasty.

Asian restaurant - again, not shaken, and this time with a splash of soda? And some bourbon floated on top too. It was good (good bourbon, real lemon, not sweet) but not what I expected.

I have been really surprised to get this much difference in less than a square block.

I am having another split base version of one of my standards:

1 oz cognac

1 oz bourbon

1 oz Heirloom Pineapple Amaro

1 oz Giffard Abricot

1.5 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake shake shake and strain over ice.

This is a Frankenstein's monster of a smashup, and it's great. I have some tequila I don't love (have yet to meet a cristalino I actually like) and Naked and Famous is a little too sweet/strong/syrupy for me. So:

2 parts tequila.

2 parts lime.

1 part yellow Chartreuse.

1 part mezcal (maybe a little more)

1 part Aperol

1/4 part simple syrup

Combine and shake with ice, not too much, it wants some dilution. Serve up or on one big ice cube. (Or you could shake with lots of ice and serve on crushed ice. I make the giant clear ice mostly for my husband, who is a bourbon -with-one-ice-cube guy, but I love them so use them sometimes when maybe something else would be ideal taste wise.)

It's really, really good. First tastes sweet, then the complexity lands, so satisfying . Would be even better with good tequila. Obviously the tequila and mezcal have an affinity, I think I'd reduce the lime and omit the sugar syrup next time but that was just "one lime", I didn't think it would be too much with the Aperol and Chartreuse but it was. Also it's a gorgeous ballet pink color that doesn't come though well in the picture.

Using up the aging citrus in the fridge.

2oz Tito's 1oz St Germain 3oz fresh squeezed OJ 1oz fresh lemon.

Strained the juice into the shaker with everything else, shake & dirty pour. Good, fresh and fruity, but I think not as good as a Harvey Wallbanger!

The perfect sipping drink on a spring day, this variation on the Rat King shot will impress your friends.

3/4oz of each campari, cynar, Jaegermeister, malort, Fernet branca is stirred over ice. A bar spoon of Benedictine as a topper, plus an expressed orange peel as Garnish.

Wonderful notes of bitterness, vegetal, mint, cigarette smoke, and licorice compete for your attention. The orange oils meld with the mild spice of Benedictine to mellow it all out. The perfectly balanced drink. I'll be making it as a freezer door cocktail ahead of my next party.

2 oz cognac, one of Cointreau, one of lemon.

Can't go wrong with what is essentially a margarita build.

No entries to the March contest so no winner. For April our ingredient challenge comes from @neptune@dmv.social,winner of the February challenge who suggested Cynar, Artichoke April.

The rules are few. At least 3 ingredients, must be (as far as you can tell) a novel drink or novel variation on a known cocktail. Winner is most upvoted, any downvotes are discarded.

Post requirements: A ~~picture~~, a recipe including measurements and directions, and a reaction - how was it? What does it taste like, mouth feel, anything you notice when drinking it.

(Removing the requirement for a picture as nobody is including one and Lemmy sometimes fights them).

An aperitif before tostadas of black beans and leftover steak, onions, cheese and homegrown lettuce. I really like Paper Plane in theory but in practice it's way too sweet and slightly too muted for my palate. This is my favorite variation - twice the bourbon, splash of Campari, little more lemon than the original. So, not so sweet and just a little more tart, bitter, and boozy.

2oz Evan Williams bottled-in-bond

1oz Aperol

1oz Amaro Nonino

1.25oz lemon

Splash of Campari (about 2 teaspoons, maybe less, I think of it as adjusting the Aperol)

Shake shake shake. Half into this coupe, half into the freezer for after dinner.

I like this tequila, and am glad to see the new bottles will fit in my drink cabinet. The old ones are sleek and beautiful in proportion like sort of narrow wine bottles but too tall for the shelves.

2oz bourbon

1oz amaretto

1oz lemon

1 egg white

1 tsp syrup from amaretto cherries

Dry shake then shake with ice. Lovely, boozier than my usual Sunday drinks but it's been that sort of week and this drink is cozy and delicious. I don't like a straight amaretto sour and the Morganthaler one is still too sweet for me but inverting the proportions makes it balanced and perfect, still amaretto but not cough syrup.

Haven't decided yet. Have been trying to get into wine lately, have come around to liking it with food sometimes, especially dry white with fish or cheese, but never will it taste good like a mixed drink can. Having a birthday party (one of the adult kids) with Indian food and trying to decide between something mango and something fennel/licorice/herbal for that.

Nothing groundbreaking here but what a nice collection, these look great. Except maybe the death flip, not sure how I feel about a whole egg.

Another berry bourbon combination.

Muddle 5 raspberries with 1/4 tsp sugar (more if you like a sweeter drink). Add 1/2 oz berry liqueur (I used Montbisu Framboise) and 1/2 oz of a fruit forward Amaro (I used Heirloom Pineapple Amaro), 1 oz lemon, 2 oz bourbon, shake hard, strain into coupe!

Very boozy, pleasantly bitter and berry.

Lemmy doesn't like my picture today, will try later. Got it!

Grilling shrimp for tacos so I wanted something with mezcal.

Riffing on the Manhattan recipe I did the following:

1.5oz mezcal

. 75oz sweet vermouth

. 5oz pasubio amaro

Stirred over ice, served with lime garnish.

Very good. I feared it'd be too smoky and pulled the mezcal back to one and a half ounces but I think next time I'll stick closer to the 2:1 ratio of liquor to vermouth. A little smokey but also sweet and the agave shines through. Would make again.

Delicious. Yes my camera refused to focus on the drink, it wanted to focus on the flowers.

2 oz bourbon

1 oz Giffard Abricot

1 oz Heirloom Pineapple Amaro (any not too dark Amaro would work fine)

1oz fresh lemon juice

Shake all together, pour into coupe, drink whatever doesn't fit straight out of the shaker.

If you want to highball it, omit the amaro and add 4 oz dry ginger beer.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/9622949

I thought it was an interesting variation of a great drink.

1 large handful fresh blueberries

Muddle in the bottom of the shaker

Add ice to the shaker

1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice

1/4 oz 2:1 simple (demarara or turbinado preferred)

1/4 oz Orgeat

Just under 1/2 oz Cointreau

2 oz blended aged rum (tonight's rum was Plantation 5 year)

Double strain into a glass over ice

A couple of months ago @RBWells made a post for a bourbon, pineapple amaro, apricot liquor cocktail that sounded good, but was "missing something." It sounded like a great candidate for my new cocktail smoker but it took me a while to get suitable ingredients. I had to change things up a bit because I couldn't find the same apricot or amaro, but this came out quite well (the wife took one taste and decided I was making her one too).

My version: 2oz Knob Creek Smoked Maple (didn't realize I only had a maple bourbon at home, but it worked. Maybe made it a bit sweeter than intended) 1oz Amaro Montenegro 1oz Drillaud Apricot 1oz lemon juice

Mix in a shaker with ice, pour into low-ball glass and smoke (I used Cherry wood for mine and Pecan wood for my wife's - very subtle change in flavor but I think the pecan might have been just slightly better).

The cocktail is very smooth, a great blend in flavors - the Amaro Montenegro comes through really well but not overpowering. I think I would choose a more traditional bourbon next time as the maple bourbon is a bit sweeter than I was looking for, but the smoke did balance it out. It is apparently my wife's new favorite drink though, so I'll have to keep the maple bourbon as an option in case she prefers it over other bourbons.

Definitely a drink I'm going to hold onto, and I think I'm going to have to explore Amaro Montenegro as an ingredient further.

Jonah Flicker of Robb Report on the best Irish Whiskeys of Spring 2024. Some of these have eye watering prices but not all of them. Nice short read and a couple of affordable choices on here.

Welcome to March. Put on your greenest shirt and dust off that bottle of Jameson!

Rules: Drink must contain at least 3 ingredients, must contain the challenge ingredients and be novel or a twist on a known recipe. Post must contain a picture, a recipe, and your tasting notes and reaction or review. Winner is the most upvoted post, downvotes are discarded.

Congratulations to our entrant and winner of the February challenge, @neptune@dmv.social