CS Booze Club.

[Treasure]

ooh, if you like the Ginger Ale and Whiskey; try a Ginger Ale and Drambuie http://drambuie.com

ordering one in a bar will be difficult - one not every bar carries Drambuie; 2 - most bars DON'T have Ginger Ale, they have instead Sprite/7up/Sierra Mist (gag!) but they can "fake" it if they have bitters - not the same, but passable.


Frambois - wow, looks like I may actually be in the wrong city for once, you see, a bartender friend introduced me to the Frambois/Guinness and when made properly the "head" should be slightly pink; I recently tried a "Neapolitan" - that was Guinness/Blue Moon/Frambois, and it was LAYERED like that, with the Guinness on top - freaky, was good, but i'll probably stick to my "black/red"??? though i may have to try the BM/Frambois - that sounds interesting as i can drink a BM w/ orange

ooh... and this summer i'm sooo looking forward to Wild Blue (Blueberry Beer) - its a Lager, made with blueberries, and it is by Anheuser-Busch 8%abv wooh

[KiaKat]

Most bars *should* carry Drambuie. It's a staple of certain old cocktails, and happens to be my secret to a great Old Fashioned. Dash of that, dash of Angostura, and you have yourself an unbelievably rich drink.

Doesn't work if the whisk(e)y used is Southern Comfort, though. Bleh. Too sweet.

Yes, I used to have a bar customer who ordered Southern Comfort Old Fashioneds. Urg.

[Ghel]

I can't stand the flavor of beer, and I don't care for malt beverages, such as "wine" coolers or "hard lemonade." The worst hangover I ever got was from Mike's Hard Lemonade.

I prefer mixed drinks, not too sweet. But I also like trying new drinks. You guys have given me some great ideas.

Is anybody else here a fan of mead? I love the flavor, even though it gives me a whopper hangover after even one glass.

[KiaKat]

It might be the leftover yeast giving you problems - beer, wine, and mead are all undistilled, and if you're sensitive, it could cause the hangover. Or it could be that you don't drink enough water with the lower-alcohol drinks, because you feel fuller. I know that happens to me sometimes.

I adore mead. One of my favourites was actually a dry lavender mead that was utterly delicious. Cannot, for the life of me, remember the name though.

[Frantic Freddie]

One of the things I'll occasionally get as a gift is a bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed.I'll usually invite a friend or 2 to enjoy it with me,but I make sure none of us have anything to do the next day

[Treasure]

Is anybody else here a fan of mead? I love the flavor, even though it gives me a whopper hangover after even one glass.

short answer: Yes!


long answer:

I prefer Chaucer's; I know there are others out there, and many that aren't as sweet, but
1 - I've been spiking my hot apple cider for breakfast (at 8am) out at Faire (TRF) with it since I was 16
2 - I LIKE sweet mead, I also LIKE the strong honey flavor; I don't care for flavored mead for the most part, don't get me wrong, I'll try them, but you never forget your first.
3 - Drunk Strawberries - its as easy as it sounds - take strawberries and cover with Mead for no less than 10 mins, for as much as 24 hrs ( but I don't recommend for much longer than that as the alcohol does begin to break down the berries) and then enjoy - be that eating them yourself, or feeding them to other attractive people that caught your fancy...


and yes Drambuie does go well in Hot Cider too

[thansal]

I think my mum actually has some Drambuie, and I'm very tempted to nick it to mix with ginger ale (or just bring some ginger ale over, she would probably love it also).

I, as of yet, haven't found any Mead that I actually liked, but I know that they range all over the falvour spectrum, so I try it when ever it shows up.

My other current addiction is cold Sake, which I love with a passion. however the language barrier means that I suck and remembering what any of the ones I have had are. I just end up ordering mostly randomly when I'm out.

Ninja Edit:
As everyone brings up how to doctor cider, I will state that mixing in some Canton is one of the greatest things ever. (Yes, I'm a Ginger addict, so what?)

[blondemarmot]

I, sadly, cannot drink dry wine as the heart burn sucks, so I stick with sweet. White Winter Winery makes (and delivers ) a bunch of different meads, wines and mixes like the "Mead-arita" which I plan on buying this summer. Served the sweet mead at my Rennaisance style wedding and I had a hard time finding a swallow left after 2 hours!
Was looking for something like a honey-jack or distilled mead and finally found in my local liquor store a honey liqueur called Bärenjäger! I had found this online some time ago and thought I would never find it the US. It is 35% and when drunk at room temperature is overwhelmingly sweet, but as the bottle states it is meant to be drunk cold. That definitely helps cut the teeth aching sweetness and is delicious when poured over vanilla ice cream.

[Treasure]

Ambrosia: 1 shot of Baenjager, in 1 (heavy pour) wine glass of Mead

yes it is super sweet, however if both are chilled, then it is drinkable, however its a sipping drink, and so will warm - i ice mine....

[blondemarmot]

All I have is the half-full barenjager and an empty bottle of mead staring at me right now.

[thansal]

Bärenjäger (or any liqueur really) over ice cream.

German place near me does Bärenjäger, so I adapted it with (if you haven't guessed yet, you aren't reading my posts :P) Canton.

Seriously, an amazing summer treat.

[KiaKat]

Lucien Jacob Framboise, over vanilla ice cream, with just a touch of hot fudge.

Heaven in a little ice cream glass.

[Victory Sabre]

I love Tanqueray gin, and club soda. I know most would use tonic water with gin, but it is too sweet for me.

For beer I'm a big fan of Grain Belt Nordeast. It's one of the best beers I've had in a long time. This Summer I'm going to North Carolina, and I hope to indulge in Yuengling beer. I haven't had any in 4 years, and am craving it a lot.

[Jester]

My current beer: Terrapin Sunray Wheat Beer (Terrapin Beer Company, Athens, Georgia). A wheat beer “made with a touch of honey.” Tupelo honey, no less, which I stock in my kitchen. Two of my favorite this in beer, wheat and honey, together.

On first glance, the Sunray is not overly cloudy, but then it is a wheat beer, with no pretense of being a hefeweizen. Okay. Color and opacity similar to Bell’s Oberon; to wit, light golden in color, somewhat hazy. (And by light golden, I mean light golden, not the pisswater yellow that you’ll find in BudMillerCoors.) The nose is subtle, with a slight sweetness, but nothing to really tell you what’s coming. (At this point, I still don’t. Typing as I take in the beer.)

First taste….Impressive. Definite honey and wheat tones, along with a slight hint of banana, as if Terrapin were daring you to compare this to a hefeweizen. Nice lingering sweetness. Now, while I don’t have any on hand (we have it on draft at work), I’d have to say at first blush this is actually a better wheat beer than Bell’s Oberon. And that is high praise indeed.

Mmmmm….second sip just brings me home. This beer is a keeper. Get some. Now.

I bought a bottle of Crystal Head vodka (yes, please, start mocking me).

By all accounts, Crystal Head is a pretty good, smooth vodka. I am sure there are some that mock it due to its bottle (more on this below), but from what my vodka-drinking friends and customers tell me, it's pretty righteous as vodka goes. (As you all by now, I am not a vodka guy.)

The bottle: A glorious crystal skull. Perhaps the greatest bottle in all of liquordom. And it pisses me off. Why? Because it's for a fucking vodka, and not one damn rum company, despite all their associations with pirates and pirate lore, ever thought to do this. It would have been PERFECT for a rum! I am so pissed at my rum producers that they never thought to do this. This bottle absolutely should be the receptacle for a fine rum, or even a rotgut rum, but a rum nonetheless, a product of the Caribbean, damn it!

(Note: not one of the pictures I found online did this justice, as you really need to see the bottle in person to fully appreciate the artistry and just sheer power it holds. The picture I selected is the one that most closely gives you an idea of seeing it in person.)

I can honestly say I wanted it for the damn bottle and the pair of glass skull shot glasses.

I get people asking for the bottle all the time at The Bar. I tell every one of the same thing. When the bottle is empty, we will gladly give it to them. Otherwise, they have only two options: go buy a bottle of it from a liquor store, or buy the remaining shots in the bottle. This second option can get rather pricey, as you can imagine...especially since our bar charges $10 a shot for this vodka.

Chocolate milk w/ spiced rum (Sailor Jerry's)

Actually sounds rather tasty, even to a guy not overly enamored with Sailor Jerry's. I am sure chocolate milk would go well with most spiced rums, actually.

The Canton was the only thing I could think of that would mix well with lemongrass and ginger (that I have in the house). It's kinda mojito-ish, and again, something nice and light to go with food.

I would think many, many rums would mix well with those mixers. Read your own words above, and you'll see why I said that.

Oh, and Ginger Ale and Whiskey.

Ginger ale goes well with rum as well, especially spiced rum. Kilo Kai Spiced Rum and ginger ale is one of the most refreshing cocktails I've ever had, as that particular rum just blends so well with ginger ale. I would even call it "alarmingly refreshing."

Note on ginger ale: If you like things with ginger ale, try them with ginger beer. No, it is not beer like Bud or Coors, just as ginger ale is not ale, and root beer is not root beer. It is a carbonated non-alcoholic beverage, basically a ginger soda, but far more gingery than ginger ale. My personal favorite is Regatta, which is just over the top with its ginger flavor. Great mixer, great with rum. Try it with Gosling's Black Seal for an impressive Dark and Stormy!

most bars DON'T have Ginger Ale, they have instead Sprite/7up/Sierra Mist (gag!) but they can "fake" it if they have bitters - not the same, but passable.

I beg to differ. I don't know where you live, but just about every bar I've been to has ginger ale, as it is a major mixer for a lot of drinks. A lot of people drink various rums and whiskeys with ginger ale, and it is often a standby non-alcoholic drink for those not drinking, or even for those with slightly disturbed tummies. There are bars that don't carry it, of course, but the majority of ones I've been to, especially the ones that serve a lot of cocktails, do have it, usually on the gun.

though i may have to try the BM/Frambois - that sounds interesting as i can drink a BM w/ orange

A couple notes here.
1. The Framboise we carry seems to differ from yours. We carry Lindeman Brothers Framboise.
2. While an orange slice is a classic accompaniment to beers such as Blue Moon and Shock Top, I urge you to not squeeze one into your Moon/Fram mix. Trust me, it doesn't need it. It has all the fruit it needs from the Framboise.

ooh... and this summer i'm sooo looking forward to Wild Blue (Blueberry Beer) - its a Lager, made with blueberries, and it is by Anheuser-Busch 8%abv wooh

Sounds interesting. Hopefully it's better than that dreck from Sea Dog Breweries. Yuck.

Most bars *should* carry Drambuie. It's a staple of certain old cocktails, and happens to be my secret to a great Old Fashioned.

I have been bartending now for five years. In that time, do you know how many Old Fashioneds I've made? I'll give you a hint: it's a number higher than zero, but lower than two. Yes, ONE. In five years. Between two bars.

Please, don't tell me that every bar "should" carry something that is used in cocktails that are "classic" when very few people order those cocktails anymore. (Yes, in some regions and in some bars, such drinks are still ordered. But not in all, and not in most.) It's this kind of reasoning that saw Galliano and B&B taking up space on the shelves at the bar I worked at previously. Taking up space...and collecting dust. Because no one ordered them or drinks with them. And frankly, if someone did and we hadn't had it...they would have been just fine.

I have nothing against these liquors, or these cocktails....just believe that the world has passed them by, and in most bars, they are expendable. Progress marches forward.

Is anybody else here a fan of mead?

From the rather impressive number of comments about mead, I would say you are clearly not alone in this place as a lover of mead.

Drunk Strawberries - its as easy as it sounds - take strawberries and cover with Mead for no less than 10 mins, for as much as 24 hrs ( but I don't recommend for much longer than that as the alcohol does begin to break down the berries)

If you see the berries breaking down after a day, it may be something other than the alcohol. I say this only because I was at a party where the guest of honor's friends presented him with strawberries....resting in a jar of moonshine, where they had resided for quite some time. And they seemed to be just fine. (I am not just talking visually, as I had one of the berries, and it was just fine....other than the fact that it felt like I had just eaten a strawberry bomb laced with rocket fuel!)

Canton is one of the greatest things ever. (Yes, I'm a Ginger addict, so what?)

You more than anyone else need to try ginger beer, my friend!

"Mead-arita"

As a fan of mead and a HUGE fan of margaritas, I must ask for more details on this particular concoction, please!

New beer time: Okay, so I can't have any more Terrapin Sunray tonight. Fooey. But I can have some more beer from the brewery, thank you very much. Because in front of me I have a Terrapin Rye Squared Imperial Pale Ale. Allow me to quote the label: " With twice the malt, twice the hops, and twice the flavor of Terrapin's award winning Rye Pale Ale*, they Rye Squared teaches you a lesson in good taste." *(I have never tried the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale.)

First impression: the Rye Squared looks lovely in the glass, a nice golden amber color, opaque, with a small head but decent legs.* The nose is a bit hoppy, but not overwhelming like some India Pale Ales might be. I am concerned, but there is something inviting about this aroma. Ah, that's it...in addition to the hoppiness, there is a bit of citrus on the nose.

First taste: It's like being hit with a velvet anvil. It smacks you upside the head, but makes you feel good about it. The hoppiness is definitely there, but in a pleasant way, as if you were both smacked and caressed at the same time. And a hint of....apricot? I am guessing, but that seems to be present. Hang on, let me take another taste....more research, after all!

Yes, this is definitely a heavier handed beer than the Sunray, but this is not a bad thing. This is a HEARTY beer. It would be great in colder climes than mine, but would also go great with a hearty meal. Steak. Pork loin. Roasts. Shepherd's Pie. Stews. Not sure how it would go with spicy foods, though.

This is a Man's Beer, without whacking you over the head with hops as so many IPA's do. (Full disclosure: I am not a fan of IPA's, or India Pale Ales...they're just not my thang.) Okay, I want to try the original Rye Pale Ale. Hell, I want to road trip to Athens, GA, to tour the brewery. This is my third Terrapin ever, and I have loved all three.

Oh, and I just found out that it's 8.5% abv. Whoooo! AND got a huge rating by RateBeer.com. So clearly I'm not alone.

Now I need a six of each of these Terrapins, damn it!

*(Legs, or lacing, are the residue the beer leaves on the glass as the beer level goes down. Generally speaking, better beers leave stronger lacing on a glass. Coors Light, for example, does not have strong legs. Actually, a toddler could break the legs of a Coors Light, simply by wishing it so.)

[Jester]

Apparently the beer gods are pleased with me, and want to reward me. Taking a break from watching television, I wandered to the fridge to search for food. Finding none to my liking, I figured I'd have another beer. What do I have, what do I have, what did I get, what did I get....wait, what's this?

Okay, I want to try the original Rye Pale Ale.

Are you shitting me? That bottle with the Terrapin bottle cap...can it be? Holy beering shit, it IS! Terrapin Rye Pale Ale! I didn't even remember getting this! Freakin' cool!

Similar color to the Rye Squared, perhaps a bit more orange, and slightly weaker (but still good) legs. Nose is far more subtle, definitely a hint of citrus, perhaps even pumpkin (or is that just the color playing tricks on my mind?).....but obviously not as aggressive as the Rye Squared.

Oh yes...this is the little brother of the Rye Squared. Still good, just not as bold. More drinkable, more pairable with many foods. More of an everyman's honest beer. Tasty, as a beer should be. Nice. Very nice. More approachable, more drinkable, without being tasteless swill. I like.