January Reads

 

January Reads

Sometimes Two is Not Better Than One

 I realized the other day that I had accidentally opened two bottles of dry vermouth and they were both mostly full (One Martini & Rossi, the other Dolin) so I'm going to try to use one of them up before moving on to my next themed week (which will be Suze BTW).

So last night, I made a Contessa.  Bit of a Negroni riff.  Equal parts gin (I used Plymouth), Aperol and Dry Vermouth (I used the Martini & Rossi).  I meant to give it an orange spritz but grabbed lemon instead which I think was a happy accident.  (Oh, and I figured out my issue with the spritzes - I need to not spritz directly into the drink.  Instead, think of it as something akin to spraying a cloud of cologne and walking through it.  I've been standing back and spritzing over top of the glass from about two feet below and the mist gradually settles into the glass but with much less intensity that way.  Been working pretty well).  

I liked this Contessa a lot and bonus, it's what I call a Water Bottle Drink.  By which I mean a drink I can batch and pour into my big ass water bottle.  I can usually fit three drinks in there and then I can take it with me to house parties.  Much better than cans of Cutwater cocktails.  

Ooh, also, I bottled the allspice liqueur that had been infusing for the past ten days.  It still needs to age in the bottle for a few days but I am very much looking forward to giving it a taste.  I'm using the Serious Eats recipe and am optimistic.  Hooray tiki drinks!

Currently reading:

• Physical - It's The End of the World as We Know It, edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene
• Audio - The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
• eBook - One Shot by Lincoln Child

Sometimes Two is Not Better Than One

Smoke and Snow and Ice OH MY

Plymouth week went fairly well.  The Vesper was my favorite, probably because it reminded me of the martinis my dad used to make (and let me take tiny sips from) when I was about eight.  Like, literally, that first sip took me back to watching Get Smart with my dad while he drank his "firewater" and I waited for the lemon peel.  To this day, I still love eating lemon peels.  

I ended up making a bonus Plymouth cocktail which blew me away enough to create an entire post so I'd remember it for later (see last post).  It was actually an accidental bonus.  It started because I wanted to make something with Italicus and Cocchi Americano and when teh Googles suggested something that ALSO had Plymouth it was like kismet.

Taking a break from themed weeks to use up some stuff and play with ideas and techniques.

We had a winter weather weekend.  Since we don't have a fireplace, I decided to try making a smoked old fashioned.  I'd never smoked a cocktail before so I wanted to keep it simple.  Evan Williams Black, rich simple, orange bitters, no garnish because I didn't want to cloud the smoke.

The cocktail turned out spectacularly.  I was a bit disappointed by the amount of smoke, I expected a big billowy plume, based on what I'd seen on the 'Tube.  I tried again the next day, using more wood chips and burning them for longer before extinguishing with my glass.  Same result, good drink, subpar theatrics.  But I'll take it!

I'm going to try a smoked espresso martini next!

Currently reading:

• Physical - It's The End of the World as We Know It, edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene
• Audio - Finished Carl's Doomsday Scenario, haven't started a new one yet
• eBook - Finished the Summer Pact, reading We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter

Smoke and Snow and Ice OH MY

Quickie

 White Negroni riff, equal parts Plymouth, Cocchi Americano and Italicus.  Orange zest. Five stars. 

Quickie

Goodbye Sherry, Hello Plymouth

 The rest of sherry week went pretty well.  The other two drinks I made, a Manzoni and a Sherry Valance, were pretty good.  I'd give them both a B+/A-.  I made a few other sherry drinks over the weekend but of course I don't remember what I made.  Welcome to my life.  I do have them written down, but at home, and I am not there.

Speaking of home, I am concerned about Stella.  She got a brushin' last night and yes, she hates being brushed but it wasn't any worse than usual, I actually thought it went a bit better than it usually did, she didn't fight me much and she didn't scream at me at all.  But after I was done she hid under the sofa, she didn't come out for dinner, she stayed there all night as far as I know, she was still hiding in the morning and didn't come out for breakfast.  This isn't normal for her.  Hopefully she'll be out by the time I get home from work tonight.

Went out this weekend and acquired a few new bottles:  Espolon Añejo tequila, Carpano Antica vermouth, Frangelico hazelnut liquor, Elijah Craig Toasted Bourbon, Empress 1908 gin, Averna Amaro, a bottle of Portland Syrups grenadine....and one other I CAN NOT remember....I got three from Magothy Liquors - the Averna, the vermouth and the Frangelico, and five bottles from Angel's Share, the gin, bourbon, grenadine, tequila and....one more....it'll come to me....I'll just keep staring at this screen, that'll work, right?  RIGHT?

Okay, let's just keep going, we're walking and we're walking....I also ordered two bottles of bitters online, celery and grapefruit.  OH!  And a bottle of Rittenhouse Rye!  HaHA!  I knew I'd remember!

This week is all about Plymouth Gin:

I made Donna Reed last night and I liked it, but, tbh, I probably liked it because Campari.  Big fan of Campari and double big fan of Negronis.  Regardless of why, I liked the drink.  But hoping another one of the cocktails I have planned for this week showcases it better.

Currently reading:

                Physical - This Book is All Elite

                Audio - Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinneman

                eBook - Just finished None of this is True by Lisa Jewell and about to start                                  The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin.  

Goodbye Sherry, Hello Plymouth

First Fail

 The hubs and I were down bad with teh sickness the past several days so I don't have much on the cocktail front to recap.  I made the third of my three planned Mr Black cocktails, IYKYK, and it was fine, nothing remarkable, but I might make it again.  That was last Thursday before the plague befell us.  

This week starts Manzanilla Sherry week!  On deck:

As you might notice, the first cocktail, La Perla, did NOT go over well with me at all.  It smelled good as I was putting it together and my comment after my first sip was "well, this isn't for me but I'll finish it" and my comment after my second sip was "nope, I was wrong, not finishing this".  I'll have to try the sherry straight to see if that's the issue.  I just opened it and it'd been kept cool and dry since purchasing so it SHOULDN'T have gone bad, but who knows.

It is ALSO possible the culprit was the lemon oil.  In an attempt to cut back on waste, I bought some food safe orange and lemon oils and put them in atomizers and I used the lemon oil last night.  Maybe it's not the one to one substitute I assumed it would be.  Ah well, live, learn, etc.

Trivia tonight so nothing new until Wednesday night, haven't decided yet which one Imma make, depends on whether I feel like juicing oranges tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Oh also!  I meant to be tracking my reading here as well.  I have finished one book so far this year, The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem.  Much like the La Perla, this wasn't for me.  I recognize the quality of the writing but I just didn't dig the story.  

Currently reading:

                Physical - This Book is All Elite

                Audio - Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinneman

                eBook - Live Wire by Harlan Coben

First Fail

So it begins

I've been playing around with mixology for a few years now.  I've built a nicely stocked bar, I know when to shake and when to strain, I know the importance of using the right ice.  I make myself a nice cocktail almost every night that I am at home.  But I've found that I'm just flitting around from one shiny new bottle to another and I really haven't taken time to explore the depth of my bar.  And I'm also developing anxiety around opened syrups and vermouths and sherries, oh my!  I do refrigerate my perishables but that only buys so much time.

I realized I need focus.

So I decided for 2026 to theme my weeks.  Each week will have one bottle or other ingredient in the limelight.  And every fourth or fifth week will be a Use-Up week, for those syrups and vermouths and sherries.  

This week's theme is Mr Black.  The three drinks I chose for this week were all featured on Steve The Bartender's YouTube channel.  These were original cocktails created for a Mr Black competition.

As prep for this week of cocktails, I made a cranberry syrup, a banana syrup, and a cocoa nib infused Campari.  Pretty sure I am going to infuse whatever is left of the banana syrup with cocoa nibs to make a chocolate banana bread old fashioned or something, but that is for later.

Of the three drinks, I've made two so far and they were both insanely good.  Flippin' Banana was on the sweet side, but not too sweet thanks to the healthy dose of Mexican chocolate bitters.  The Coffee Chocolate Boulevardier was recognizably a boulevardier, but softer on the palate.  The last one, IYKYK, I'll be making tonight.  

Next week, Manzanilla Sherry!

So it begins

2026: A Year in Cocktails - A New Beginning - Prologue (Grapefruit)

 Heh.

So yeah, today is the first day of my year in cocktails project.  I'll talk more about that later in the week.  Right now, I want to run down how 2025 ended and how 2026 began.

2025 ended with champagne.  'Nuff said.  I might have splashed some St Germain in there at some point but tha's about it, nothing fancy or notable.

But, 2026 began with THREE fantastic cocktails three nights in a row.

For Christmas, the hubs got me The Eras Pour, the Unofficial, Ultimate Taylor Swift Cocktail book and for that alone he should get a bit of a huzzah since he is most definitely not a fan but he LURVES me, he really LURVES me.  So I was paging through the book and came upon something called Careless Man's Careless daughter which used, among other things, grapefruit.  And hey, lookit, I just bought a grapefruit (one single grapefruit) the other day.  So I juiced that grapefruit and made that drink and holy shitsnacks it was fantastic!

But I was left with another six ounces or so of grapefruit juice and I decided I felt tiki, especially since, during a spate of housecleaning, I had uncovered our Lord of the Rings tiki mugs.  Did some Googling, found this site and made myself a Tiki Tonga Tang and folks, let me just tell you, this drink is DANGEROUSLY delicious.  I took a pic, but please please please do not expect me to make a habit of this, there will rarely be pics of drinks, sorry.

Last night I made a Hemingway Daiquiri which I had somehow never had before.  I used specs from Punch and was blown away.  Even the hubs liked it (typically his responses range from "I don't think I care for this" to "it's fine" so for him to say he actually liked a drink is a BIG DEAL.

I still have grapefruit juice leftover.  I might just make myself a dirty Greyhound with the rest of it and by dirty, all I mean is I ain't measuring shit, put that gin and that grapefruit in a glass with ice and that's IT.  So it might be a rare two drink night tonight, will have a Greyhound with dinner and make my first "on theme" drink for laters.  Yes.  This sounds like a plan.

2026: A Year in Cocktails - A New Beginning - Prologue (Grapefruit)