The Finer Things In Life

[FlaSoxxJim]

World’s Most Expensive Beer Made From Melted Antarctic Ice

 

Glacial water and ice are apparently a new chic trend in the high end adult beverage world. At this year's Tales of the Cocktail gathering in New Orleans, one of the highlights was enjoying vintage cocktails served with hand carved ice balls made from Arctic glacial ice.

[G&T]

I'm ready for a coconut cream recipe. And I have perfected the mai tai to my taste and I can tell that pre-made orgeat is a limiting factor. It has a nice taste but anything more than half an ounce becomes almost tart. I need something smoother.

[Felix]

I had a glass of Johnny Walker Blue last night. So goddamn delicious.

[southsider2k5]

I had a glass of Johnny Walker Blue last night. So goddamn delicious.

 

What did that set you back? I had one of those about 10 years ago and it was $17 for a shot back then.

[Felix]

What did that set you back? I had one of those about 10 years ago and it was $17 for a shot back then.

I have a friend that just bought a bottle of it (god only knows why... I just went to the store today and it was $180+tax), and he was nice enough to let me have a glass. I know he had one at a bar last weekend which was $20, though.

 

Picked up a bottle of Crown Royal Reserve today though, which I'm really looking forward to tasting. I have way too many bottles of whiskey right now (Johnny Red, Black, Green, Crown Royal Reserve, Bushmills, Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark). Overkill much?

Edited November 6, 2010 by Felix

[FlaSoxxJim]

I have a friend that just bought a bottle of it (god only knows why... I just went to the store today and it was $180+tax), and he was nice enough to let me have a glass. I know he had one at a bar last weekend which was $20, though.

 

Picked up a bottle of Crown Royal Reserve today though, which I'm really looking forward to tasting. I have way too many bottles of whiskey right now (Johnny Red, Black, Green, Crown Royal Reserve, Bushmills, Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark). Overkill much?

 

Add a bottle of Bulleit And a good rye into the mix and you are totally in business.

[Texsox]

ALright, anyone want to help me with some ratios? I am thinking of a

 

Eggnog

Vodka

Whipped cream

Monin Gingerbread syrup

 

I also have available Kahlua, Godiva white chocolate liquor, ameretto, cream, half and half. Outback is serving the Gingerbread martini that follows and I have no Bailey's or whisky in the house. She who must be kept happy enjoyed it and I'm trying to mix up something similar. We are knocking back a couple bloody mary's right now so I may need to only get close.

 

1 ounce Ketel One vodka

 

1 ounce Baileys Irish Cream liqueur

 

1/2 ounce Kahlúa liqueur

 

1/2 ounce Monin gingerbread syrup

 

1/2 scoop vanilla ice cream — semi-melted

 

Whipped cream

 

Gingerbread cookie

 

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

The Ron Atlantico and Matusalem Gran Reserva produced one of the best mai tais I have had in a while.

 

As for coconut cream recipes, I divide them into two groups — the ones with lime juice and the ones without lime juice. Lime juice and coco lopez is an unusual flavor combination that not everybody likes and I wasn't even so sure about early on but one that I've grown to love.

 

The go to no-lime coco lopez drinks for me are the painkiller you already know, and the ubiquitous piña colada that is quite a good drink when it's made right.

 

Here's a bulletproof blended piña colada recipe:

 

• 1 1/2 oz light rum

• 2 oz Coco Lopez cream of coconut

• 2 oz pineapple juice

blend smooth with 1 to 1-1/2 cup crushed ice, depending on how good your blender is (you can blend smooth using less ice with a quality blender).

 

To mix things up I'll often also do Coruba coladas by subbing dark Jamaican rum for the light rum as well a Kahlua coladas by subbing Kahlua. Both are excellent. For vodka drinkers, subbing vodka for rum turns your piña colada ito a chi chi.

 

If you want to try an unblended spin on a piña colada, Trader Vic's Bahia is a nice drink:

 

• 2.5 oz unsweetened pineapple juice

• 1 oz Lopez coconut cream

• 2 oz choice white rum (or 1 oz white and one oz gold for more rum character)

 

Shake with ice and pour over ice in a 10 ounce glass.

 

A dirty little secret of mine is that it was the scary, Windex-colored Blue Hawaiian that first got me into tiki drinks. It's still a good one, low alcohol and quite suitable for low-octane consumers:

 

• 3 oz pineapple juice

• 1 oz gold rum

• 1 oz cream of coconut

• 1/2 oz blue curacao

 

Shake with ice, pour and serve, garnished to the hilt with pineapple wedges, lime wedges, plastic jungle animals, and paper parasols.

 

Now in the plus-lime category, probably the winner is Beachbum Berry's original Coconaut from his Grog Log. It's a modern interpretation of several 1950s and 1960s faux Polynesian cocktails that are all worth a try. The ingredient ratios Berry gives are intended to serve 2 to 4, so scale accordingly:

 

• 8 oz coconut cream

• 2 oz lime juice (other vintage drinks called for a lot more)

• 7 0z dark Jamaican rum (Coruba ftw)

Blend in a blender full of ice until slushy. Tastes best served out of natural or ceramic coconut mugs.

 

For pyrotechnic flair, you can make the Beachbum's Coconaut Reentry by floating a cleaned out half lime shell filled with 151 rum and set alight. Mind your eyebrows and do this earlier in the drinking night rather than later :-)

[FlaSoxxJim]

ALright, anyone want to help me with some ratios? I am thinking of a

 

Eggnog

Vodka

Whipped cream

Monin Gingerbread syrup

 

I also have available Kahlua, Godiva white chocolate liquor, ameretto, cream, half and half. Outback is serving the Gingerbread martini that follows and I have no Bailey's or whisky in the house. She who must be kept happy enjoyed it and I'm trying to mix up something similar. We are knocking back a couple bloody mary's right now so I may need to only get close.

 

1 ounce Ketel One vodka

 

1 ounce Baileys Irish Cream liqueur

 

1/2 ounce Kahlúa liqueur

 

1/2 ounce Monin gingerbread syrup

 

1/2 scoop vanilla ice cream — semi-melted

 

Whipped cream

 

Gingerbread cookie

 

Those ratios look good — a gingerbread mudslide without the Bailys. I would up the Kahlua to a full ounce (or half the other liquor allotments to match if you want to keep the drink on the lower alcohol side) and pull the trigger.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I forgot a coconut cream drink that I really like and haven't made in a while. This is the "Blackstrap Betty", a drink created by TikiWahine that won the Forbidden Island Cocktail Contest a few years back. There's truthfully very little coconut cream in the drink (and feel free to up it to taste), but it' a really great drink.

 

• 1 ½ oz Cruzan Single Barrel

• ½ oz lime juice

• ½ oz Cruzan Blackstrap Rum

• 3 oz Pineapple Juice

• ¼ oz coconut cream

• ¼ oz Licor 43

 

Blend with crushed ice in pulses for no more than 5 seconds in a blender. Pour into a goblet, and garnish with a Mint Sprig.

 

[Texsox]

Wound up with this . . .

 

Equal parts eggnog, gingerbread syrup, vodka, and amaretto shaken with ice and strained into a martini class with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon. On the second batch I held back slightly on the vodka and upped the amaretto and eggnog to compensate.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Wound up with this . . .

 

Equal parts eggnog, gingerbread syrup, vodka, and amaretto shaken with ice and strained into a martini class with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon. On the second batch I held back slightly on the vodka and upped the amaretto and eggnog to compensate.

 

This sounds like a veritable holiday in a cup!! Once I get through the pumpkin and cider holiday drinkies ginger must be next on the list.

[Texsox]

This sounds like a veritable holiday in a cup!! Once I get through the pumpkin and cider holiday drinkies ginger must be next on the list.

 

 

I am not certain if a better oe could be made or purchased but the Monin syrup seems to work fine except you have to tame the super sweet profile.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Monin syrups are generally high quality. I have a Satrbucks gingerbread syrup that gets play during the holidays and I have my everyday fresh ginger simple syrup that might not be appropriately seasonally festive. I will be giving your drink a try though for sure.

[Felix]

Add a bottle of Bulleit And a good rye into the mix and you are totally in business.

I prefer just rocks (or neat in the case of the blue).

[FlaSoxxJim]

I prefer just rocks (or neat in the case of the blue).

 

Didn't mean mix as i mixed drink — rather, suggesting adding them to your already impressive collection.

[Felix]

Ah, that would make more sense. I'm not much of a mixer, so I assumed you were going for some other drink. Can't say I'll be buying another bottle too soon, but then again, I always say that, then I always pick up a new one after a month or so.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Bulleit is touted as a "frontier bourbon" and it has more dry rye character and less corn mash sweetness as typical bourbons. A very nice straight drinker a well as mixer and it won't break the bank.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Epic Hooch Win! I picked up a bottle of Martinique Rhum Clement Canne for $15 at a local grocery chain liquor store. The stuff is usually more than twice that price which keeps me from stocking the home bar with it. Great first press sugar cane rhum agricole. . . lots of grassy vegetal funk and tons of mixable possibilities.

 

My dilemma now is there are two more bottles on the shelf at the same ridiculous clearance price. Do I blow my monthly booze allowance and pick them up at a steal or do I content myself with the one bottle and then kick myself in a few weeks when I run out?

[FlaSoxxJim]

Wow, a Hemingway Daiquiri shaken up with the Clement Canne is exceptional.

 

• 2 oz Rhum Clement Canne

• 1 oz fresh squeezed white grapefruit juice

• 3/4 oz fresh squeezed lime juice

• 2 tsp simple syrup

• 2 tsp maraschino liqueur

 

You can probably play around with the ratios of the back-end sweetening ingredients, but this is pretty dang good just as it is.

[Texsox]

Epic Hooch Win! I picked up a bottle of Martinique Rhum Clement Canne for $15 at a local grocery chain liquor store. The stuff is usually more than twice that price which keeps me from stocking the home bar with it. Great first press sugar cane rhum agricole. . . lots of grassy vegetal funk and tons of mixable possibilities.

 

My dilemma now is there are two more bottles on the shelf at the same ridiculous clearance price. Do I blow my monthly booze allowance and pick them up at a steal or do I content myself with the one bottle and then kick myself in a few weeks when I run out?

 

 

Neither, that is an early Christmas gift for the family.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Neither, that is an early Christmas gift for the family.

 

And they have no idea how lucky they are!

 

P.S. I like the way you think — you can be my Secret Santa any time!

[Texsox]

And they have no idea how lucky they are!

 

P.S. I like the way you think — you can be my Secret Santa any time!

 

 

We made a little trip to our local higher end liquor store. She who must be kept happy plopped $120 worth of new supplies in the cart. I love this woman. Nothing out of the norm, just a regular restocking. She said we can build around those this month. My challenge is to keep finding drinks on the slightly sweet side of things. An ameretto sour filled the bill last night.

 

Which reminds me, for mixing, are some of the other brands acceptable? I always buy Disarrono, but I noticed a couple other bottles at almost half the price.

[FlaSoxxJim]

That woman is a keeper for sure!

 

As for amarettos, we mostly stick with Disaronno as well but I bet you could get away with a lesser product as a mixer.

 

Looking for a yummy new amaretto drink? Try this one.

[G&T]

Thanks for all the coconut recipes! I have to get more pineapple juice.

 

Meanwhile I need to get more rum. I haven't any since my first purchase and my bank account seems unusually fat (relative to my general poorness). I will upgrade the Appleton from the vx and get more Pussers because I need the painkillers. But I want something else to try as well. I have the stores with Cruzan available so o will probably go with something decent from them. Any suggestions?