Catch Up

Not that anyone reads this under any circumstances, but I do want to catch up on all the drinks I've been drinking. It's a lot of drinks. But, they've been spread out over four months or something, so it's not That bad.

Take a look at the new project, which is destined to take on world-historical importance:

thenewoldfashioned.com

It's like this thing, only it's a sweet podcast, too! Yes, that is better. Hooray!

#40. Paradise Cocktail

I had to go back and listen to the podcast to remember what this drink was. I remembered that it involved gin, and I remembered squeezing the juice out of an orange, but couldn't remember what it was called.

Pretty good, though. I remembered that it was pretty good. Equal parts gin, apricot brandy, and orange juice. I probably overdid it a little on the orange juice--i just juiced an orange and that's the amount we used. It was nice, though. Orange and gin is becoming one of my favorite combinations, and the apricot brandy is a pleasant additional sweetener.

So basically, sure. I'd drink it again. Why not? "Paradise" might be overselling it a bit, though, but hey. Hugo had to move a lot of drinks. You can't blame him for a little hyperbole.

#39. The Dutchess Cocktail

Question: Is this an intentional misspelling, to suggest that the duchess is Dutch? or is it just a mistake? I suppose we'll never know.

1:1:1 sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, absinthe. The absinthe makes it palatable, but neither the Bammer nor I enjoyed it much. Strong vermouth aftertaste, and although the absinthe is nice, it's not a drink with much complexity. There are a lot of things in this book that are basically flat and sweet, which is uninspiring but not so bad. Flat and dry seems kind of pointless.

#38. B. V. D. Cocktail

This one is out of sequence because I forgot about it. It is worth forgetting. It is terrible.

Equal parts French vermouth, gin, and rum. What? It's dreadful. It doesn't sound like a good idea, and it isn't a good idea, and you ought not drink it.

#37. After Dinner Cocktail

1:1 apricot brandy and curacao, plus lime juice and lime rind. Pretty good! Apricot brandy and curacao are both kind of mediocre drinks but the combination is pleasant enough and the lime pushes aside the bulk of the artificial taste that comes with low-end spirits. (Seriously: I'd get nice ones if I saw any for sale. But there isn't much of a market for apricot brandy, apparently.)

Pretty good. And, the first drink for the first practice podcast, "The New Old Fashioned." Look for it soon at an iTunes near you!

#36. Daiguiri Cocktail [SIC]

Rum, grenadine, lime. Done. The only question about this one is the loopy spelling. What's that about? No idea. Get it together, Hugo Ensslin, early 20th century bartender.

It's a classic, though. Just the right ratio of rum, sugar, and citrus. I don't know why the world needs so many variations. You don't need them all. Just drink daiquiris. Excuse me--daiguiris. Strike that. Just go with daiquiri.

#35. Oppenheim Cocktail

2:1:1 Bourbon, grenadine, Italian vermouth.

Yeah, this one is pretty much cough syrup. I know we've said that before, about other drinks, but this one really is the winner in the contest to taste the most possible like cough syrup. Congratulations, Oppenheim! Next time I get a cold, I'm just going to drink a couple of you and not worry about big cough syrup getting any more of my hard earned money. You hear that, big cough syrup? I'm onto your game.

Seriously, this wasn't very good, but anything that measures grenadine in units larger than dashes is going to be pretty suspect. This was pretty suspect. Skip it.