Any tips on what drinks to order at the bar ! (liquor, whiskey)
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So what's the deal with this post? Bad experience?
Are you a novice drinker? Do you have any idea what you like?
My trusted rule for hangover prevention is to consume no more than 1 drink per hour, and I'm usually done after 2.
Ethanol is ethanol; be it in beer, wine or liquor - it's all the same intoxicant. It's a poison, but one your liver can break down. Don't overdo it, eat something if your drinking, drink some water before you go to bed and you'll be fine.
Funny !!!
The Deal is that it might sound a little weird but yes, I am a beginner. PS Don’t laugh, I know it's a lill embarrassing. What I have tried so far are Vodkas, tequilas "patron" shots etc.. they turned out okay.. But I want to experience the taste of all the great drinks.. Rums etc but I have no freaking clue what to order and I don’t wana feel like an idiot. I need some Guru's advice.. lol
It doesn't sound weird at all; don't be embarrassed - everyone starts somewhere. Here's as good a place as any.
Here we go with Booze 101.
Lesson 1: Hard alcohol - liquor. Distilled spirits.
There are 2 processes that happen to bring us these drinks:
* Fermentation
* Distillation
Fermentation. Yeast are all around us, floating in the air. Yeast eat sugars and starches, and as a byproduct produce ethanol. Say, for example, mashed up corn, soaked in water. This is how beer is made. Smashed grapes for wine. At a certain point, they'll produce enough ethanol that their environment becomes toxic, and the yeast die. I forget what that range is, but I think it's under 10% ethanol.
To get fermented liquids to higher proof (more ethanol content) the liquids are heated, and the resulting steam is fractionated. Ethanol boils at a lower temperature than water, so by controlling heat, and capturing the steam, and doing this process a number of times, it filters out the water, leaving more ethanol behind. That's called distillation.
Distilled Spirits that you will commonly see are:
1. Vodka. When I think of vodka I think of Russia. Traditionally distilled from potatoes, now more often distilled from grain. Good vodka is nearly tasteless.
2. Whiskey. A broad term, whiskeys are made all over the world. In Europe, mainly barley is used. In the US corn, rye and some wheat are used. Some varieties include Bourbon, Scotch and Rye.
3. Gin. Very British. Gin is 'infused' vodka. The primary flavoring is juniper berries, but other herbs are used.
4. Rum. Rum was traditionally made from sugarcane, and the molasses by products of the sugar industry. It comes in light, golden and dark varieties. The darker, the more flavorful the rum. Rum has a sweetness that lends itself well to tropical drinks.
5. Tequila. Ole! This spirit was traditionally made from the blue agave cactus. The good ones still are. There are 3 varieties; new, rested and aged.
Lesson 2: Cocktails. Mixed drinks.
Any of the above spirits can, and often are, drunk right out of the bottle, either as a shot, straight up (in a glass) or over ice (on the rocks).
Other times, they can by mixed with other things that enhance (or mask) the flavors of the spirit. These are called cocktails. There are entire books dedicated to cocktails, and although I used to bar tend, it was eons ago and my memory isn't that great. What I'll do it just use the list from above and riff on a few cocktails for each one. But before we get into that, I need to talk about glassware.
There are some common type of glassware you'll find in most bars, and different cocktails need different glasses to really make the drink shine.
Shot glass. Holds an ounce and a quarter.
Rocks glass. Heavy bottom, short.
Collins glass. Medium heavy bottom, but tall and thin, straight sides.
Martini glass. Stemmed, with a conical bowl.
1. Vodka cocktails:
The Cosmopolitan. Made famous by Sex in the city. Pink, so they're inda girlie, but I know some men that like them too. Served in a martini glass, vodka, cranberry juice and a sweet, orange flavored liqueur called Triple Sec.
Black/White Russian. Vodka and Khalua (A coffee flavored liqueur) add cream to make the white variety.
Bloody Mary. Vodka and Tomato juice form the foundation, from there the recipe is pretty much anything goes.
Screwdriver - Vodka and orange juice in a rocks glass.
2. Whiskey cocktails:
Bourbon and Coke. The name is the recipe.
Seven-Seven. Seagram's 7 Crown and 7-Up.
Manhattan - traditionally made with rye, but now usually bourbon, with sweet vermouth (a sort of high proof wine), bitters and and garnished with a cherry and orange twist.
A word on Scotch - with all spirits, but especially the 'Single Malt' scotch category, you're going to find some....how shall I put it...connoisseuriship? I think I made up that word...but what I'm trying to say is the 'top shelf' stuff is very rarely used in cocktails. Just as you don't often see "Honk if your'e horny!" bumper stickers on Jaguars, so too you don't mix a 16 year old scotch with Coke.
That said, there are some scotch that was made for mixing; like Johnny Walker Red or J&B.
I just realized I don't know any scotch cocktails. Oh well. Google it.
3. Gin cocktails:
Gin and Tonic. Another where the name is the recipe. Either a rocks or collins glass.
The martini. Gin and a small bit of dry vermouth. Glass should be self-evident, no?
4. Rum cocktails:
Rum and Coke - recipe is the name, rocks or collins glass, also known as a Cuba Libre.
Pina Collada - If you can't see the ocean from where you're ordering this, don't order it. Not all bars keep coconut milk on hand.
Daiquri - always a good test of a bartender. Light rum, sugar and lime juice, shaken and strained. Probably one of my favorite cocktails of all time.
Mojito - popular now, but I'm hoping the trend dies. They're too time consuming to make by hand, so if there's any sort of crowd, odds are good you're going to get a crappy pre-mixed one.
5. Tequila cocktails:
Tequila sunrise. Pretty drink. Tequila and orange juice with a splash of bright red grenadine syrup.
Margarita. I'm a purist - margaritas should never, ever, ever be slushy. If you want an Icee, go to 7-11. A margarita has salt on the rim of the glass. That's the way it goes. Tequila, lime juice, triple sec - shaken and on the rocks in a salted glass.
Lesson 3: Liqueurs
Liqueurs are usually very sweet, and usually have a little less alcohol than the distilled spirits, but certainly not always - there are some that pack more of a punch, but it's easy to loose sight of that because they're sweet - so be careful. I once tossed back half a bottle of Southern Comfort, thinking it tasted like candy. Next thing I knew it was 8 hours later and I didn't know where I was.
They can be used as mixers in cocktails (such as triple sec) or by themselves.
Just a few off the top of my head:
Chambord - raspberry flavored
Frangelico - Hazelnut flavored
Grand Marnier - Orange flavored
Khalua - Coffee flavored
Amaretto - almond flavored
Southen Comfort - peaches and whiskey
Jagermeister - ??? cough syrup flavored.
Creme de menthe - mint flavored.
Thank you so much for taking time for helping me out.. I really appreciate it.
Its a whole alot of information and I am very excited to explore the alcohol world ..
Another silly question.. Do U recommend to stay on the same drink, like for example if I am having Vodka, is it ok to change the next round for Gin, Rum, Tequila or something else..
I understnad that you mentioned some name of the drinks, but any other famous drinks ( Recipes) that typically guys like to prefer..
Location: Finally made it to Florida and lovin' every minute!
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Alcohol is alcohol. A number of people claim if you switch drinks you'll get hungover. It's not so much what you drink but how much. I highly recommend taking it easy as arsbadmojo stated earlier.
arsbadmojo, that was a very enlightening post.
(And I turned 21 many, many, many years ago!)
I agree with you about mojitos, they are trendy right now, but the only way to drink them is with fresh, genuine ingredients--for that matter, I agree with you about margaritas, too, but I only can drink about one of those, and no more than two mojitos.
One drink that I hardly ever partake in, but always enjoy, is port.
It is nice as a aperitif, but I usually have it as an after-dinner drink, either with dessert or alone. I love its sweet richness. Good port is strong, but smooth. I think it's kind of a manly drink, at least, I think manly guys *appreciate* an aged vintage port.
John, sometimes I'll switch types of alcohol, but I hardly ever drink anything stronger than beer or wine (and you can get plenty loaded on those if you aren't careful.)
I always drink plenty of water and eat plenty of food if I am in a drinking situation.
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