3 Drinks I Should Learn To Make?

I realized the other day I should have some arrows in my quiver when it comes to drinks and cooking.

So, I'm going to learn how to make 3 drinks, 3 appetizers and 3 main dishes (with a side). Just to have when friends come over, etc.

So, what 3 drinks should I learn how to make? I'm trying to find ones that will appeal to both guys/girls, don't require something extremely exotic (something I could pick up easily at the liquor store if I don't have it on hand), and are decent to drink.

The only drink I can make, other than rum and cokes, is Chocolate Martini's.

 

Take glass.
Pour scotch
repeat 3X

 

Long Island Iced Tea: Strong enough for guys (too strong for some), dangerous enough for most women.

DiSoronno: No need to know how to make a drink with this (although learning is easy and just adds to your abilities). Straight, on the rocks, is good enough.

Martini: Learn all of them.


Not everyone drinks scotch, as Darth would have you (want you) to believe. Besides, if you can stock your bar with 22 year Macallan, Balvenie Doublewood, and Lagavulin, then you can afford to hire a bar tender.

 

OK

Perfect Manhattan

1 1/2 oz Canadian whisky
1/4 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz rosso vermouth
2 - 3 dashes bitters

Ketel Martini.

You can use the vermouth there as well....

Margaritas.

Good tequila, follow instructions on mix!

 

But what do you call it?!!!


Heres a list of a bunch, just print it out and make w/e on the spot.

http://www.mixologyguide.com/component/option,com_mtree/task,listcats/cat_id,44/Itemid,27/

 

Life is too short to drink anything else!
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Chicks love Apple Martinis. Buy some Smirnoff Green Apple Vodka.

 

And your guy friends will think you're a butt pirate!

 

Martini glass;
Martini - pour Vodka into iced shaker. Shake or stir, depending on Bond [shaken] or Bond girl [stirred]. Strain into glass while whispering the word "vermouth".
____

If you want guests to have hangovers, use Rum. With that [goal] in mind, here are 2 Rum recipes to serve to wannabe Cubans, while you nurse Martinis.

Highball glass;
Mojitos are popular with the youngsters these days - if you don't make Mojitos, that's all they'll talk about. If you do make Mojitos, that's all they'll talk about.
This was Hemingway's;

Combine; smash
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Juice from 1 lime (2 ounces) [no need to get all lime juice out]
4 mint leaves

add;
Crushed Ice
White Rum (2 ounces)

stir

add;
2 ounces club soda

stirring optional

Get smashed

________

Highball glass;
Cuban Missile Crisis, [which uses 151 proof Rum] is a variation of Cuba Libre [which was precursor to americanized Rum and Coke]

Fill glass with ice
Half fill with cola.
In shaker, mix 2 shots of white rum with juice of half a lime [no need to get all lime juice out]
add ice
shake.
Strain over coke -
Do not stir - upon serving, rum and lime juice mix should float over coke.
After drink is in hand, they can stir any ol' time they want to... or not.
_______

1 cheap bottle of Gin
1 expensive bottle of Gin
1 funnel [Important; not Oil/Fuel funnel]
1 other container

Before party;
Funnel contents from cheap bottle of Gin [Seagrams, for example] into "other" container
Funnel contents of expensive bottle of Gin [Tanqueray, for example] into Seagrams container
Funnel contents from "other" container into expensive bottle of Gin

1 bottle of Collins Mix

Try not to mention Vodka Collins, as the Vodka for your Martini is probably good stuff.

Offer female guests choice of Gin for their Tom Collins - invariably, they'll choose the "expensive" version, and wax® poetic about the greatness of said drink, though it is the cheap stuff, as you and your special assistant buddy chuckle to yourselves while drinking the "cheap" stuff, knowing full well that later, the girls will want to hop on the pogo stick. And they will.

 

Personally I loathe them, but if you have women around I've noticed that a lot of them are still drinking Cosmopolitans, especially with the Sex and the City movie being out.

Shaker with ice
1 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Triple Sec
1/2 oz Roses lime juice
1 oz Cranberry juice
splash of Grenadine (for color)

Shake well, use a martini glass, you're there

 

Frozen Margarita:

In a blender, mix:
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 of a 3 oz can of frozen limeade
1/2 of a 3 oz can of frozen lemonade
1 spoonful of frozen orange juice
3 oz (or a little more) tequila
2 oz Triple Sec or Cointreau
Fill with ice
Blend on high speed until smooth

For a little color and kick, put a little bit of Chambord in the bottom of the margarita glass before you pour in your margarita.

For a good after dinner desert drink:

Put vanilla ice cream in a blender
top with Frangelico, Amaretto, Kahlua, Baileys, or any combination of those. Don't measure, just pour.
Blend on high until smooth. If it's not thick enough, add ice cream. Too thick, more booze. Pour and serve.

 

I prefer mine Non-perfect on the Rocks. Drop the dry vermouth double the sweet...I always order VO or Crown Royal. Trust me, it makes a difference when they bar keep pours with a good whisky versus Big Bad Bob's Home Distilled Whisky.

Since it is summer and it seems to be the trendy drink of the year learn the Mojito:

Muddle Lime, mint leaves and powdered sugar (I use powdered as I think that it disolves easier than table sugar) in a glass
Pour in light Rum
top with soda water
garnish with lime and mint leaves
**Bacardi has a video on their site at http://www.bacardimojito.com/home/default.aspx


-Makes a good alternative to rum and Coke if you already have the Bacardi

 

If only I had a bar for him to tend... and you don't mix those anyway so he wouldn't have anything to do! My personal favourite is a 27-year old Bruichladdich I picked up in 1995. Drank the last of it this February, 13 years later! Pure nectar still.

As for other drinks to have in your cabinet: some cheap whisk(e)y for people who can't appreciate the real stuff, some excellent tequila, good russian vodka (don't use the popular brands), decent cognac & armagnac and some old port for after a nice meal.

Finally, life is too short to drink cheap wine. Find a decent dry white and red for a price not too high and buy some boxes of it so you always have a decent glass to offer. A wine cellar is great of course but that's a big investment.


Onno

 

The Stillman's Dram.. Ahh yes, I know it well!
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I can see you hosting a guest and heading over to the scotch cabinet when they request a glass. As you reach for the good stuff, you ask how they take it; they say with water (or soda), and you quickly move your hand to the bottle of Dewars.

I say go for the wine you like. I can honestly say I don't know expensive wine. I've never spent a hundred or more dollars on a bottle of wine. But there are $20-$30 bottles of wine that I really like, so I'm good with that. I'd hate to find out the hard way that I don't like a bottle of '68 Chateau Chablis leSomething.

 

We are known for the ubiquitous "Mint Julep" and that drink is by no means relegated to the Kentucky Derby, as many mistakenly think.

While we're on the subject of Kentucky, two ultra-premium bourbons deserve mention.

Pappy Van Winkle 20 year old. $75-$90 per bottle. Ultra rich, highly woody, with a flavor complexity that ranges from hard candy to caramel, to some smokiness. High barrel flavor.

Pappy Van Winkle 23 year old. Probably the rarest bourbon on the planet $180-$200 per bottle and as fine a drink as any single malt. Similar taste notes to the 20 year old only a sometimes overpowering woody flavor but almost syrupy in it's richness and complexity.

Booker's Bourbon - Even though this is made by Jim Beam, it is 'barrel strength' and comes out
the bottle as it came out of the barrel, usually between 120-126 proof. But don't be fooled
into thinking it will 'blow yer ears off,' It's sweet, hot, caramelly, rich. Best cut half and half
with water. These bottles are taken from barrels that are in the 'sweet spot' of the aging house, usually right in the middle where the wood aging has the perfect balance. The grain character and the wood character render a sweet hot flavor you will find nowhere else.

Back to the mint julep, here's a really easy and different take on the Mint Julep called
a 'corn whiskey mint spritzer'

Club soda - 4-8 oz.
Green Mint syrup. 1 oz. or to taste. (French made "Monin" is very good)
Clear white corn whiskey (Georgia Moon is a good choice) 2 oz.

 

vodka + kahlua + milk = white russian

 

caribou lou:
bacardi 151
malibu rum
pineapple juice


you might just bang an ugly girl or two

 

1. Proper Bloody Mary (to take care of what you overdid the night before):

Fill glass with ice, pour Ketel One or your choice 1/3 full. Low sodium tomato juice to 7/8 full. Add Worchestershire sauce, Tabasco, fresh ground pepper, celery salt (why you use low sodium tom. juice) and fresh lemon juice. Garnish with celery stalk with toothpicks stuck in celery with queen olives, pepperocini and cocktail onions. Serve with 7 oz beer sidecar.

2. Frozen Margaritas: (take away keys from anyone who drove to your house) I use a double jigger to measure, so adjust accordingly
Use ratio of 5-4-3 or 4-3-2 of quality tequila, Cointreau and Rose's Lime Juice. Fill blender full of ice, add tequila, cointreau and roses and blend. Add more ice if too thin. For meltdown, put half a jigger each of cointreau and tequila on top. Repeat.

3. Learn some good pairings of wine and food. Experiment with opening a bottle of wine, pouring and smelling it. Then see how it changes as it opens up with air over time. Figure out what YOU like, not what someone tell you that you should like. Find out if you like dry, semi-sweet or sweet wines. Then pair with cheese/chocolate (reds) and food.

Good luck!

 

I agree with other posters here. A lot depends on your age bracket, though.

Margarita - I like using gran marnier in mine instead of triple sec.

White Russian

A few martinis. Women love dessert martinis

Most women like mojitos too.

 

Cuban Missile Crisis is EPIC... I have someone I am going to use that on very very soon!!!!

next time darth opens the scotch bar... I'm THERE

great advice also on finding a good red and white that you can break out anytime... the wife and I have a house white and a muscato, but we've yet to settle on the house Red...

 

Water
Lemon aid
Kool aid

Let me know if you need the ingredients and steps

 

I had an intimate experience with several AMF's last weekend! Ours had an added splash of Blue Curacao instead of Grenadine.

It took 24 hours to recover!
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Great recipe Sometimes I add ice

 

Rock on, J Rock!