— Admiral Nelson’s Rum (@AdmiralNelsons) July 16, 2019
A younger me would have said “do it for the content.” Well as a freshly minted 30 year old I can now comfortably say, get this poison away from me. Thats coming from a guy who drank Admiral Nelson almost exclusively for four years in college too. Used to call it going sailing. They should have hired me to be a brand manager if they were smart.
Reminds me of that time I drank Cherry Rubinoff at a party at UMass one time. I’d tell you more, but to be honest thats basically the end of the night in my brain.
So for all the young guns out there that pound their fists when us Olds talk about what “real” Four Loko was like before they took the caffeine out; now is your time to shine. Mix up a few Red Bulls and a bottle of cherry Admiral Nelson and I’m sure it’ll have a similar effect. Godspeed.
Another drink, please! Summer is in full swing, and so is my sunburnt beer belly. Not to worry though, I’ve still been finding plenty of alcohol to stimulate my tastebuds. In between rounds of 3 Stars beers and assorted local sours, I’ve been hooked on one particular drink lately:
Mine don’t really look like this…
BLOOD ORANGE DAIQUIRI
First things first. Hyper-masculinity says that real men shouldn’t drink daiquiris because they’re a “gay” drink or something. If you’ve read my blogs on liquor store etiquette, you know I don’t believe in stereotyping drinks. Men can drink fruity cocktails, women can drink whiskey neat, and there is no such thing as a “gay” drink. Daiquiris are delicious, and you’re a damn liar if you say otherwise.
That having been said, this is not what I’m talking about:
Frozen strawberry daiquiris are not what I’m talking about here.
Let’s backtrack a bit. In order to balance a good cocktail, you need to understand flavors and how they interact with each other. You’re four main flavors in basic cocktail recipes are alcohol, sweet, bitter and sour. Of course there are others, but for the sake of simplicity we’ll stick with those for now. Some cocktails, like a Paper Plane, combine all four of these, while others, like a Manhattan, stick to just three (liquor, sweet, bitter). This balancing act is the key to mixology, not that I claim to be a master or anything.
A traditional daiquiri is a pretty basic drink for any bartender. Proportions are 3-2-1 white rum-lime juice-simple syrup. The idea is to combine rum with one sweet ingredient and one sour ingredient. These three easy ingredients get mixed together and poured over ice.
Daiquiris!
THE RECIPE
Knowing what we know about the flavor components, we can now add and subtract ingredients to make a drink that really hits home. For me, that results in a blood orange daiquiri. I’ve been using Mad River First Run Rum, blood orange soda, unsweetened lime juice, and cinnamon. I skip the simple syrup because the soda has enough sugar for me, but I do use more soda in my recipe.
Combine 1 part rum, 1 part soda and 1/2 part lime juice in a shaker. Add two dashes of cinnamon. Shake. Serve over ice. Garnish with a blood orange wedge.
Mad River Distilling, out of Vermont, makes some really great stuff.
Typical daiquiris use white rum, but I’ve elected to use an aged rum for two reasons: one, I think the light vanilla and barrel flavors work well with blood orange, and two, I didn’t have any white rum. When it comes to choosing a rum for this drink, it’s important to remember ABBC, Anything But Bacardi and Captain. These products belong in the garbage. You are a classy, sophisticated drinker and deserve better. For inexpensive white rums from New England, I like examples from Short Path Distilling and Privateer. For aged versions, I like Mad River (clearly), Berkshire Mountain Distilling, or Plantation (not from NE, but cheap and delicious). The great thing about rum is great bottles rarely go above $50, and you can often find amazing values in the $25-$30 range.
Game 7 is tonight, which means I’m drinking something that reminds me of home: Irish Car Bombs. It may not be the best drink to order in Ireland (you may or may not get thrown out of the pub), but I did one of these before each period in Game 6 and it worked like a charm, so I’m sticking with it. I feel like most people in Boston already know this one, but just in case, here’s the drink:
Irish Car Bombs are like chugging a milkshake without the brain freeze.
IRISH CAR BOMB
A Boston favorite, the Irish car bomb combines Irelands three biggest exports with a chugging contest for a boozy milkshake from heaven. Although maybe not a great choice for summer, it goes great with all things Boston, so there’s nothing I’d rather drink for this game.
THE RECIPE
Pretty easy as far as cocktails go. Pour half a pint of Guinness into glass. Pour a half ounce of Jameson or Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey and a half ounce of Bailey’s Irish Cream into a shot glass. Drop the liquor into the Guinness and chug the whole glass. Boom. Bring the Cup home, boys. LFG!
Fresh out of Memorial Day Weekend, you’re favorite booze hound is bringing you a new recurring segment about what’s in my cup. From beer to cocktails, straight liquor to the occasional wine, I drink it all. With summer officially underway, I can’t think of a better time to start this up.
So, what am I drinking? This guy:
An old standby in the cocktail world, I’ve found many people don’t know what this is.
THE PALOMA
A classic for many bartenders, I’ve found not many people I hang out with are familiar with this cocktail. It has all the refreshment and summery vibes of a margarita but with less sugar and the addition of grapefruit. I can crush a bunch of these things in the summer heat, and you will too once you try this out.
THE RECIPE
You’ll need blanco tequila, grapefruit soda and fresh or unsweetened lime juice at the minimum for this cocktail. Professionals sometimes use fresh grapefruit juice and club soda to provide the bubbles. Personally, I don’t like club soda and find that grapefruit San Pellegrino or other name brand soda’s work just as well. For an added level of complexity, sub in mezcal for tequila to provide some smokiness on the finish.
Stir together 2 parts tequila or mezcal, 2 parts grapefruit soda, and 1 part lime juice. If you prefer your drinks a little sweeter, stir in a teaspoon of sugar until it dissolves. Pour over ice. Serve in a highball glass, rimming the glass with salt if you so choose. Garnish with a lime or grapefruit wedge.
Right now, I’m drinking my Paloma with Riazul Plata Tequila, Organics Italian Grapefruit Soda, and Realime juice. That’s it. Riazul is one of my favorite tequilas, but does tend to run in the $40-$45 range. You by no means need to spend that much on a tequila in order to make a tasty Paloma. I find Espolon works great in cocktails and is half the price.
Del Maguey products range from $35-40 (Vida and Crema) all the way up to $200 or more (Pechuga).
Fidencio products range from $35 (Clasico) to $150 (Tobala).
For those not familiar with Mezcal, it’s like the Scotch of the agave world. Like tequila, it is distilled from any type of agave, not specifically blue agave like tequila has to be. The agave’s piña, or heart, is roasted to give it a distinct smokiness, which works great in many cocktails that also use tequila. For intro brands, I recommend the Del Maguey and Fidencio lines, which deliver high quality products without being overly expensive. In particular, I’d try Del Maguey Vida and Fidencio Clasico.
I hope you enjoy this cocktail as much as I do! Stay tuned to find out what I’ll be drinking next!
The 300s 