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Summer imbibing(yes Ron, I need your input)

Good evening gents. With the heat the way it's been, we in the midst of it are always on the lookout for cooling refreshment. The usual suspects of sun tea, plain iced water, and other mild concoctions of course comes to mind easily. I also enjoy fortefied dessert wines like Port. What I'm after are some ideas for a bit more adult beverages. This is almost embarrasing but I've never had a Martini. It just wasn't pushed at my generation. Oh, we had all the overly sweet, cutesy named crap like Fuzzy Navels, B52's, etcetera but that stuff never interested me. I prefer my mixed drinks a bit on the drier side than Koolaid. I've seen a number of recent articles on the resurgence of spirits and the cocktail hour and was immediately interested. I know a very little bit about bourbons, Irish whiskys, and Scotch whiskey. The other great mixing spirits are a mystery to me as far as good formulas go. I've had a number of Tangueray and tonic waters but never developed a taste for Vodka. I've been told that gin and vodka are distilled from teh same exact grains but of course the gin is flavoured with juniper berry essence. I like gin but really don't know what is considered a "good" brand. I have mostly been under the impression that gin and vodka are primarily mixing spirits and most are not intended to be taken neat.

So, throw out your best Tom Collins, Martini(shaken, not stirred:lol: ), gin and whatever, or even a vodka mixer. Brand recommendations are welcome as well as explanations of water types. You know, branch, tonic and the like. I've had horrid experience with rum and it was probably due to it being cheap as dirt and improper mixing. Feel free to throw out other ideas for shakers, bar tools, glasses, ice making, water carbonators, whatever grabs you.

Returning to the nonalcoholic drinks for a moment, I saw the neatest thing in a magazine the other day. This was very large glass water dispenser with some sort of floral motif on the glass. It had a tap on the bottom for dispensing the contents. What really caught my attention was what they had filled it with. Iced spring water with a good amount of sliced cucumber and chunked watermelon added in. I'll bet a large tumbler of that would be most refreshing indeed!

Regards, Todd
 
My summer favorites are. . .

1. Gin (or vodka) & tonic--I know its heresy, but we used middle shelf gin for this drink--not sure its worth spending the $ on top shelf booze when you're mixing it with tonic water?

2. Mojitos--we've made 'em from scratch and the bottled mixers; they're all good! Lime, mint, rum--what's not to like?!?
 
mrob said:
...Mojitos--we've made 'em from scratch and the bottled mixers; they're all good! Lime, mint, rum--what's not to like?!?

I've never tried Mojitos, but they just made my short list. I am a big fan of lime, mint and rum.
 
MMMMMMMojitos!!

I cut the grass today, felt like an all day affair, and let me tell you Todd, a nice cold (homemade) beer right out of the fridge, poured into a frosty mug did the trick! My Mexican Cerveza's are finished!

But Mojitos are excellent as well, as long as they are made with fresh ingredients.
 
mrob said:
Gin (or vodka) & tonic

I'll second that! With a twist of lime and either vodka or gin, it is the perfect summer drink for me. James Burke even talked about the gin and tonic on an episode of Connections, so you can drink with the knowledge you are protecting yourself from malaria!
 
One of the easiest and most refreshing mixed drinks I've ever had (drank it ALL the time in Ghana (that's west Africa)).

Diet Sprite & Bombay Sapphire Gin with ice:cool: . Regular Sprite works fine too.

Just mix to taste. Bombay is head and shoulders above other gins.
 
Mojitos, Cuba Libre (rum and coke), margarita (not to sweet, if on the rocks, and made well), are all favorites. And a true classic, the mint julep (hard to find though, and a REAL pain to make - requires planning a day in advance).
 

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Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
I'm not an expert on gin (you may want to wait for Ron to chime in here), but I enjoy Plymouth and Hendricks.

For vodka, I have to go with Grey Goose (despite the hype, it's very good), Ketel 1, Svedka (a bargain), and Stoli.

For tequila, there's only one that cuts the mustard- El Tesoro de Don Felipe. The silver makes a great margarita (with Cointreau and a dash of Grand Marnier), and their reposado and anejo are top notch.


Gettin' powerful thirsty over here.:tongue_sm
 
Wow! Thanks for the lightning quick responses. Moses, I had thought of the Mint Juelp first but did not mention it for fear of being snickered at. No kidding, I want a mint julep. Not because of the Kentucky Derby and all those lovely ladies in their big hats(though they do make my heart skip)and not because it's something that doesn't get mentioned all that much. I want to try it becuase it's an American classic or more rightly, and antebellum Southern classic. All the late unpleasantries over slavery aside, the old world of the pre civil war south was quite the sophisticated artistocracy. The mint julep was a product of that era and I just like the idea of refreshing mint and good bourbon!

Mitch, Mojito's eh? Well it shows you how far out of the loop I am. I had never heard of them before. I am a curmudgeon you know and tend to older more classic things but this one sounds grand.

Art, you know I love well crafted beer and I'll bet yours are terrific. My only trouble is that any yellow beer had better be danged good. I can't seem to get away from my browns/stouts/porters no matter the heat!

Aaron, it will be up to you who are more familiar with it to educate me about gin. I have indeed looked many times at the Bombay brand in the local spirits super store. I WON'T call this a "liquor store". It's so MUCH more. Probably 20,000 bottles of wine on the floor and several aisles of good spirits. They have most of the gins I'm familiar with. Boodles, Beefeater, Tangueray, and Bombay. Bombay Sapphire is absolutely beautiful and reminds me of the colour of Pashana's Blue Orchid hair lotion! If the gin is as good to drink as the Blue Orchid is to smell, then it's great indeed.

Jim, the brewed and iced tea is not to be forgotten. I know our English brethren eschew this practice but they haven't the heat that we deal with on a regular basis. Good iced tea is a far cry from some of the crap you get at restaurants that is made from a liquid concentrate. Yuck!


DJ, your link looks promising. I've become a real fan of cucumber anything toiletry related but had never considered it for beverages. That melon and cucumber bit I saw in the magazine looked fantastic.

Thanks again gentlemen. This info really helps.

Regards, Todd
 
Saphire Martini...olives...Makers Manhattan...Saphire & Tonic with a Lime...Mojitos...Margarita on the rocks with salt...

I do believe I see a few cocktails and a cigar in my future tonight...
 
I will NOT have iced tea sniffed at with some snobbish raised nose. It is a truely delightful and wonderfully cooling beverage, when made well. (As Todd says, none of that syrup crap). And it is meant to be SWEET.

As for mint juleps, you really can't go wrong, despite all the imagery, as long as it is made with a good bourbon. Actually Jack is fine for this, but Woodford Reserve makes any bourbon drink, or just straight up, sing. One of my all time favorite summer evening beverages is just Woodford Reserve with a couple of ice cubes. Right up there with good scotch neat in the cooler months.
 
White Russian? Man...

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Afternoon Todd,
An appropriate topic as the short hand just reached 5:00 in sunny AZ.

Gin and tonic is the official drink of summer. Bombay is tops but Seagrams is a nice mid level mixer also. I prefer diet tonic water. It compliments the dry gin much nicer than the sweeter regular tonic.

Vodka and grapefruit juice is a nice choice also, or cranberry for that matter.

A cosmo is quite nice in the heat but the ladies have a corner on that market. Grey Goose is tough to beat if you are so inclined however, which I often am. The manhattan is a nice concoction as well.
Cheers,
Jeff
 
jmhAZ said:
Afternoon Todd,
An appropriate topic as the short hand just reached 5:00 in sunny AZ.

Gin and tonic is the official drink of summer. Bombay is tops but Seagrams is a nice mid level mixer also. I prefer diet tonic water. It compliments the dry gin much nicer than the sweeter regular tonic.

Vodka and grapefruit juice is a nice choice also, or cranberry for that matter.

A cosmo is quite nice in the heat but the ladies have a corner on that market. Grey Goose is tough to beat if you are so inclined however, which I often am. The manhattan is a nice concoction as well.
Cheers,
Jeff

Funny things about the Bombay... it IS pretty expensive here. In Ghana, where it is sold sans sin tax, one liter (or litre there) will set you back about $15!!!:eek:

I don't really care for it with tonic... I need the touch of sweetness the diet Sprite provides to really enjoy it.
 
jmhAZ said:
Gin and tonic is the official drink of summer. Bombay is tops but Seagrams is a nice mid level mixer also. I prefer diet tonic water. It compliments the dry gin much nicer than the sweeter regular tonic.

You're reading my mind!

In my hand right now is a lovely G&T made with Seagrams Gin, diet tonic water, a squirt of bottled key lime juice and as much crushed ice as I can fit in this nice, tall sweating glass.

Ahhhhhhh. . .:tongue:
 
Todd,

You should get yourself a good book on mixing drinks. The two best that I am familiar with are The Craft of the Cocktail by Dale DeGroff and The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan. The classic is David Embury's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, but it has been out of print for a number of years (and is out-of-date with respect to newer concoctions).

Bombay Sapphire gin is colorless just like other gins. There used to be some yellow gins that were aged briefly in wood. Booth's House of Lords was one and so was Seagrams. House of Lords is gone as far as I know and although I haven't looked recently, I believe Seagrams is no longer a yellow gin, but it may still be. Even the Bombay bottle is not blue. I bought a bottle a number of years ago thinking that I could take off the label and have a pretty blue bottle. Alas, the bottle is wrapped in a blue cellophane or similar film and that gives it the color. My favorite gins are Plymouth, Boodles (which has more juniper than most), Tanqueray, and even Beefeater, which seems to have gone out of fashion. I recall Seagrams as being very nice but with more citrus and less juniper than most. I don't care for a number of newer gins that seem to have sweetner added. Tanqueray's "10" is an example of that, or so it seemed to me when I tasted it, but many people do like it.

Ken
 
mrob said:
You're reading my mind!

In my hand right now is a lovely G&T made with Seagrams Gin, diet tonic water, a squirt of bottled key lime juice and as much crushed ice as I can fit in this nice, tall sweating glass.

Ahhhhhhh. . .:tongue:

Dudes,

You are going to turn me into an alcoholic... all of these drinks sound so damned good... now I feel like I need one... I think that tonight it is going to be a SoCo with sprite (diet for me).
 
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