Straight from the 12BB book, another IBA official cocktail:
Shaken with ice, strained into a martini glass.
This one is nicely balanced, but we couldn't really taste the grapefruit. Maybe the grapefruit we got wasn't too flavorful? Either way, we'll try this one again.
While flying Qatar Airways today between Doha and Hong Kong, I scoured the business class drink menu for cocktail ideas. They only list very well known cocktails on the menu (think martinis, gin and tonic, old fashioned) but they have quite a lengthy list booze that open up the possibilities.
Using a cocktail recipe app on my phone, I learned about the Kir which is apparently popular in France as an apéritif before a dinner. It consists of the
The flight attendants weren't familiar with the drink, so I had them bring me both ingredients and mixed it myself. I had no way of measuring things properly, but when I finally got it to where I liked it, I'm pretty sure I was using more liqueur than then prescribed 1:9 ratio.
Overall, it was OK. The Kir is not something I would go out of my way to order, but it was nice enough.
This was the first drink we made after picking up a proper bottle of rye. Old Overholt gets great marks, especially for cocktails, while being priced at less than $18 a bottle here in Boston.
Shaken. Served in a Martini glass with with a lemon garnish.
Good drink. The 12BB book says that the key to this drink is to only use just enough grenadine to take away the sharp sourness of the lemon juice, but that it is supposed to remain tart.
I pulled this recipe from the 12BB book.
Once again, the poor whiskey really shines through! Buying some proper rye is high on my bottle list. Otherwise, the drink is pretty nice. This is definitely a strong one!
Another IBA official cocktail, although the proportions below are slightly different. The official recipe uses less grenadine, but I think our grenadine has less sugar than most.
Shaken. Served in a martini glass, garnished with lime spray.
Great drink. Would definitely make it again. Maybe next time try with only grenadine (1 oz) as the sweetener to bring in more pomagranate flavor.
Whipped up two versions of daiquiris tonight. One with standard simple syrup, the other made from (light) jaggery syrup
We used the "light" jaggery nuggets we brought back from Burma to make a simple syrup. The daiquiri made with this syrup was much darker (a medium brown) and had a nice caramel overtone. The second daiquiri was made with standard 1:1 simple syrup and had a lighter flavor. Both were good, but I probably prefer the one made with jaggery.
Classic John (or Tom) Collins:
Stirred the first three ingredients with ice in a Collins glass. Topped with the soda water. Garnished with a lemon slice and cherries along with a teaspon or so of the cherry syrup.
Initially was too tart, but a spray of oil from the lemon peel seemed to balance it out.
Took a second stab at making some White Lady's. Last time, I tried the recipe in the 12BB book and came up with something way too tart. Ratio on that recipe was 2:1:1.
This time, I did as follows:
Shaken with ice. Served straight, garnished with spray from lemon rind.
This one turned out great. It's not the official IBA ratio (4:3:2) though so I might have to give that one a shot next time.
