Original

Sobieski Vodka and the Mazowse Mule

December 7, 2008

Back when I was doing Soviet studies at university (when there was still such a thing), vodka was the liquor of choice. Since becoming a cocktail geek, my tastes have run more towards gin and bourbon. Still, I was happy when contacted with a query to give Sobieski Vodka a try. Named after King Jan […]

Read the full article →

MxMo XXXIII: Made from Scratch — Swedish Punsch and the Suédois de vanille

November 9, 2008

It’s Mixology Monday again. This month, Doug Winship at the Pegu Blog has declared the theme to be “Made from Scratch.” We are to make at least one of our own ingredients and decide if it’s worth the effort. I have written about Swedish Punsch before. This mix of Batavia arrack, neutral spirits, sugar, water, […]

Read the full article →

Bellringer Gin and the Bitter Apricot Cocktail

November 7, 2008

Every Thursday night, starting around 7 pm EST (00:00 GMT), we meet in the Mixolseum chat room and make up drinks. Usually we have a theme centered around an ingredient that we try to experiment with. The theme for November 6 was gin. Participants were asked to find a gin they haven’t previously purchased. This […]

Read the full article →

Genever and the Barleyflower Cocktail

October 7, 2008

When I got my bottle of Genevieve, a genever-style gin made by Anchor Distilling, I immediately tried the plain, fancy, and improved Holland gin cocktails. Then I started searching for other cocktails that took advantage of genever’s malty, strong flavor. I enjoyed the Amsterdam cocktail, which bring orange juice to the fore. Even more, I […]

Read the full article →

Black River Sidecar and Thursday Drink Night

September 22, 2008

This past Thursday Drink Night at the Mixoloseum was a resounding success. And not just because my submission, the Black River Sidecar, was named best off-the-cuff drink of the night. But I’m thrilled at the wonderful write-up Rick did over at Kaiser Penguin, including a great photo. Black River Sidecar 1 1/2 oz cognac 3/4 […]

Read the full article →

Astoria Cocktail

September 7, 2008

By modern standards, the Astoria is a very wet martini. I was telling the owner/bartender of the Three Lions Pub that the Astoria was my current favorite take on the martini, and he nearly fainted when I told him it was a 2:1 gin to vermouth ratio. He makes his martinis by rinsing the glass […]

Read the full article →

MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail

June 16, 2008

It’s time for Bourbon this Mixology Monday, thanks to the fellers at Scofflaw’s Den. This was one MxMo that Bryan, my chief taste-tester, was very eagerly awaiting. As always, I used MxMo as a justification to buy a nice bottle. This time it was Ridgemont Reserve 1792. This is a very smooth bourbon, a definite […]

Read the full article →

MxMo: Rum — Nassau Cocktail

May 11, 2008

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men… My post for last month’s MxMo was a bit short. I realized I could expand on it for this month’s theme, Rum, hosted by Trader Tiki. I had actually tried the Canton with several different rums, and was going to report on why I thought an […]

Read the full article →

Windward cocktail

February 1, 2008

Wanting to try out something new with my bottle of Grand Solage Calvados, I looked at a few recipes on the CocktailDB. I’m also in the mood to play with vermouth, which I’m only just beginning to appreciate. I was underwhelmed with the two calvados/sweet vermouth combinations; there was just no there there. Not enough […]

Read the full article →