Last night I was tasked with making punch for the party tonight (along with picking up a metric shit-ton of fireworks). Figured I'd share the recipe; I'm quite impressed with how this turned out. I'm calling it "Ultimate Cooler Punch" until someone gives me a better name. The Setup: I made this sober, which helped because I was able to taste it in small increments. I tried maybe 1/3 oz after each ingredient was added. It was a bitch, but the final product was better for it. I put the punch in a large round cooler that has a pour tab at the very bottom. Unfortunately, cherries keep getting stuck in it and obstructing the flow, otherwise it works perfectly. The juice 1 GALLON minute-maid fruit punch 1/4 GALLON minute-maid cherry limeade The fruit 4(20 oz cans) sliced pineapple rings 1 lbs maraschino cherries 4 key limes (in quarters) 1 lemon (in sixths) The booze 1 liter silver Castillo rum (because I'm cheap, but it works as the base) 3/4 liter Bacardi 151 2/5 bottle Watermelon pucker (couldn't find the volume on bottle) Malibu rum to taste By the end of tonight, the fruit at the bottom will be mostly consumed. It absorbs a lot of the alcohol and a cup of those cherries will do you in. The pineapple is already turning purple, which is a good sign. Will be bringing a 2 liter bottle of sprite and the rest of the limeade to the party in case anyone complains it is too strong. I was thinking of dumping a bottle of chilled champagne on top right before but I figured with that much 151 I'd rather err on the side of caution/not death.
Salt Lake City has such...awesome (sarcasm) liquor laws. All sales of liquor end at 7pm every night. No sales on sunday. Grocery stores only sell less than 3% alcohol beer. What were these Mormon's thinking when they founded this city? Anyone else been somewhere that is completely ridiculous like this?
The entire fucking Sweden is like this, I feel your pain. All the stores that sell alcohol are state-owned as well. Only positive thing is that they have large selections of almost everything at the stores. The age-limit is 20 at the stores as well, while the general drinking age is 18. Though I'm not complaining, 21 years old is ridiculous. Anyway, anyone tried some good bitters lately? I've been drinking some nice Swedish ones back home lately, but I'm looking to try some new things. Suggestions?
I know this is a little late for the holidays, but here is my old recipe for spiked Apple Cider. It's a modified version Apple Pie recipe I found in Maxim during my last deployment (2004) and kept in my bag as an alcoholic goody till I got home. I also take it snowboarding to drink cold on the mountain and on the way down I would warm it up on the dash (assuming I wasn't behind the wheel). Justadude's Apple Cider 1 gallon Apple Cider 1/2 gallon Apple Juice 1.5-2 cups sugar 2 boxes cinnamon sticks* 2-3 cups Everclear Optional 99 Apple or other high proof sweet liquor Break the cinnamon sticks into pieces, but not small enough be drunkingly swallowed. Then mix with everything else but the booze in a big ass spaghetti pot and bring to a boil while stirring occasionally. Let it cool enough that the alcohol won't evaporate and add the booze according to taste. I usually add about 1/2 the booze and work my way up till I can just barely taste it over the cinnamon usually I'll keep adding the '99 Apples after the Everclear because it is harder to taste. To store, just pore it back into the Juice and Cider bottles with the cinnamon and store in the back of my fridge. *these are pretty expensive, at least have one box
I just set up a bar last night with the GF. I forget what bitters we picked up but they were good. For anyone in New York City there's a store on 28th street and Lexington that carries a large supply. It's an Indian store. For the bar I followed several tips from websites: Deathandcompany.com We stocked Gin (Aviation), Rye (Elijah Craig), Sweet and Dry Vermouth (?), Made: Fresh Ginger Beer, Simple Syrup and Fresh Grenadine. Bought: Fresh Mint, Lemons, Limes and Oranges (Cara Cara and Blood Orange). For the Simple Syrup: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Simple-Syrup" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Simple-Syrup</a> WORK calls... I'll add more later.
Does anyone care for me to get into recipes? They're pretty simple. I like to muddle the slivers of lemon, lime and orange peel in the drinks. It adds flavor and they look better garnished. Cheers!
In his post on gin a couple months back Philalawyer mentioned Bluecoat Gin. I love gin and I am a (self-loathing) Philadelphia homer, so when I came back to visit my parents over the holidays I picked up a bottle. My go to gin is Sapphire, which to me has a perfumed taste, and I figured I could go for a change. Bluecoat is simple and crisp, and definitely makes a great martini. I'm packing a couple bottles into my suitcase before I return to the fly-over states. I could see getting tired of it, but for the moment I am hooked. If you are a gin drinker and you see it on the shelves do yourself a favor and try it.
I'll check that out On a similar note I'm also a gin drinker and have yet to try Tanqueray Ten; is it worth the price premium?
I'd say Ten is not worth the premium. For the same money I would go for No 209 or Bluecoat and if you haven't had it, Hendricks
Hendrick's is the best gin I've ever had. A very full-bodied texture plus hints of rose petals and cucumber...drink it with a cucumber wedge instead of a lime if you're into garnishing.
Great point. I've taken to the habit of putting a shaved slice of cucumber in the bottom of the glass, underneath the ice before I pour a gin and tonic. Really brings out the flavors and improves the 'crispness' of lesser gins.
If you can, use Q-Tonic, it's cane sugar based not high fructose and tastes so much better. No lime, Just 2 parts gin and 1 part tonic. Cucumber garnish if you're up for it.
Glad it worked out for you mate, I'm tempted to crank a few up again, and agree everyone should give it a go. Try this: Rhubarb Champagne 1 kg (2 and 1/4 pounds) rhubarb 3 cups sugar 6 teaspoons white vinegar 4 litres (7 pints) water 2 lemons Cut rhubarb into small pieces. Squeeze lemon and cut rind into small strips. Add lemon juice, rind and rest of ingredients to the rhubarb. Leave 48 hours in a big pot stirring occasionally. Strain 3 times then bottle. Leave 1.5 to 2 weeks to brew. More sugar = more booze, try 4 cups... <a class="postlink" href="http://www.oztops.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.oztops.com.au/</a> [/quote]I tried this after a recommendation, possibly by LTMS, on the RMMB. I screwed it up the first time (I got impatient) and took off the top too early, but the next few months were pure bliss. I had eight 2-liter bottles going on at a time, each with different "brew" times (so different strengths). Best results came from apple juice, white grape juice, cranberry juice, and limeade. I also had successful results with those frozen, from-concentrate juices, specifically with the strawberry one. They give you two kinds of yeast, and I had absolutely zero luck with the fruity, weird one. The normal one was great though. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, needs to try this. It's like $25 total and the fun of creating your own shit alone is worth it. Also, it tastes awesome, and if you have patience (and are willing to wait two weeks) you can produce some really fucking strong stuff.[/quote]
Limoncello recipe. Yep, I know what you are thinking. But seriously, this is like a moonshine version direct from some grandmotherly type lady in Tuscany (probably because of the 95 proof alcohol). I think I may have to try it with a milder liquor in the future, that shit will sneak up on you. 10 lemons - take the zest (no white) Place zest in 1 liter of 95 proof alcohol Leave for two weeks 1 liter of water and 700g of sugar (3/4 lbs.) boil til sugar dissolved Cool syrup, mix everything and strain Bottle, keep in the freezer, and wait a least a month to drink
The Best Summer Punch Ever The Rock generally mixed in a gallon jug. 1. pour can of concentrated lemonade mix into jug 2. Add 4 tall boy cans worth of pbr 3. top with ever clear. generally 1/2ltr if you are feeling frisky, mix in a bigger bottle an up the content with some lime tequila as well, or drink a bit than re top with said tequila. i love the good stuff, but sometimes you wanna get a bunch of people hammered really quick.
simple Italian Margarita: 2 oz. sweet and sour mix 1 oz. amaretto 0.5 oz tequila 0.5 oz triple sec It tastes a bit on the sweet side, which means the fiance loves it, and I'm about to tinker with the proportions. I'm thinking I may try it 1/1/1/.5 next time. Anyone know any interesting margarita mixes?
Ladies and gentlemen, do yourselves a favour and buy this beer if you find it. Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale.
The fruits of our labor. Pardon the bad lighting and the stupid glasses. These were taken quickly. From left to right: Coffee-chocolate porter, nut-brown ale, rose-hinted IPA, orange hefeweizen. A friend gave a few bottles to his boss who runs a cafe in New York. He liked them, and apparently we're now in talks to set up a tasting night there sometime at the end of March. If things work out, it might turn into a monthly thing. Sweet.