Liquor and one of CJ's mental blind spots

[cjsmith]

Sometimes when I'm out with friends I'll have a mixed drink from a bar. My latest favorite isn't a very complicated drink, but drinks in general are something I mostly just don't grok, so I only have stuff like that where there is a bartender and a well-stocked bar. I figure those are trained professionals who know how to deal with a glass containing multiple alcoholic things.

Today I was helping friends declutter for a move. Among other things, they let me raid their liquor cabinet. I now have a small handful of random kinds of liquor. Naturally I came home and had no clue where to put these things, as I've never owned liquor. I started to think that maybe if we have a party I could get really bold and buy the ingredients for some mixed drinks people like. Surely people who attend parties like that sort of thing.

It took several more hours for me to realize I could buy the ingredients for a mixed drink I like. I imagine they sell such things in stores. It's weird to realize that stores don't sell only things that other people like. They probably also sell things I would like.* All I have to do is go there and pick out something with myself in mind.

What a concept.
_______________________________
* Well, some stores. I admit, not many. I'm not entirely insane for not having thought of this before now.

Comments

[kimatha.livejournal.com]

Ok, the burning question: What mixed drinks do you like?

[mighty-sam.livejournal.com]

Or, you could just pour it all into a baby bottle and take it to bed. That's what I would do.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I don't even know enough about them to know which things I like are technically called mixed drinks. Is a margarita a mixed drink? I like strawberry margaritas. I have once had, and didn't loathe, a sloe gin fizz. My current favorite is buttery nipples -- the simple kind, two ingredients in a shot glass. I like fuzzy navels. Sadly, despite the names, the two do NOT go together. I like a thing I had once at a restaurant called "sand in your shorts" (or "sand in my shorts" -- can't remember). I know from college I used to ADORE amaretto and some of the things made with it; now that I have a big bottle of that I will research those again.

Basically, I like things with strong flavors other than alcohol. :)

What mixed drinks do you like? Maybe I should collect ideas!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

No insomnia ever at the HammVang residence! 8-)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I'll bring the butter. :)

(Had I been able to do both the dog park and helping declutter, I'd have been there with you, but I really had to choose and the dogs were threatening to eat our heads in our sleep.)

[kimatha.livejournal.com]

I like margaritas too - both strawberry and regular. My other really favorite mixed drink is the Mai Tai, which I think you should try if you haven't yet. I like gin and tonics - they've got sort of a sharp, piney flavor, which is nicely complimented by the lime. If you don't care for martinis you may not like G&Ts - I wouldn't recommend them. Let's see - bourbon with Sprite is very tasty.

Bailey's with coffee is very good with a chocolate-y dessert.

I have very limited mixed-drink experience. I stick with what I like, pretty much. I have never tried buttery nipples.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh OK, then I'll bring the... Hey! ;-)

Yeah, I hear ya. Dogs need to play!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I've never tried a Mai Tai, or a gin & tonic, or a martini. Given your descriptions I'll try the Mai Tai first. :)

Buttery nipples are creamy and sweet. A very girly-girl drink. But the name is rather embarrassing!

[airporter.livejournal.com]

Inferno Caesars:

Easy: 2 drops Worcestshire, Inferno Vodka, Clamato, in Lime and Celery salt rimmed glass.

Not So: 2 drops Worcestshire, Grated Jalapeno (Juiced, even) to taste, Vodka, Clamato, same glass.


A lovely burn.

[jcgbigler.livejournal.com]

I developed my appreciation for flavored alcohol (other than beer & wine) from an acquaintance of mine in Toronto, who makes her own flavored liqueurs. She starts with a base of vodka and adds various other ingredients to get the flavors just right.

One evening I was at her house, and she got out her liqueurs. She placed one in front of me and commented that it was one of her best. The flavors literally exploded all over the inside of my mouth. She got out another one and commented that it wasn't as nice--it hit most of the mouth, but missed the insides of the cheeks. I'll be damned if it didn't. Then she got out another one and commented about which parts of the mouth it did and didn't stimulate. Then another, and another. By the end of the evening, besides being comfortably warm & fuzzy, I had a deep appreciation for a whole new way of thinking about flavors and tastes.

Ever since then, regular mixed drinks have seemed rather pedestrian.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I remember your similar descriptions of salsa you'd made.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Masochist, are ya? ...sorry, personal question!

Ever eaten fresh habanero? YOW. I wonder how that'd do in your recipe.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

princeofwands makes habanero liqueur.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

Took me a while too, since I pretty much only drink when out :)

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

I love fuzzy navels too, but only if done with decent orange juice (ideally fresh, but Ceres, or failing that Tropicana will do as well). Hereabouts bars tend to use tinned, which is nasty :-/ Give Midori a try - that's one of my favourite things to mix into stuff (if you like margaritas, try a lime margarita with midori and cointreau).

Coffee with liqueurs in it is very nice too - Kahlua and Baileys is a standard but lovely combination. Tia Maria is sadly way too expensive to put in coffee (or even to buy very often) but you owe it to youtself to try a shot of it at least once :)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I'm not entirely insane for not having thought of this before now.

Nah. Just for other reasons. *ducks* ;-)

I don't grok too many drinks, either. There just isn't that much out there that's alcoholic that I like. Some sweeter mixed drinks or straight stuff at the sweeter end of the scale like Bailey's, but that's about it. I also drink so rarely that if we get something for me, often it will last for years if it has the shelf life. :-)

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

If you like SweetTarts, try an amaretto sour. I love them. I also add amaretto to hot chocolate.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

[google]... Will have to try that some time. I have all the ingredients now ('cept for the garnish).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh ick. Bars I've visited have never used tinned. That really changes the taste...

Tia Maria, eh? I'll keep an eye out. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Some sweeter mixed drinks or straight stuff at the sweeter end of the scale like Bailey's, but that's about it.

You might like buttery nipples, then. The name's embarrassing, but it's a sweet creamy drink -- butterscotch schnapps and Baileys, 1:1 in a shot glass.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Except wine, I too only drink when out, and that only when out with the drinking type of friends. Despite the fact I've bought liquor as a gift for folks, despite the fact that my friends said "raid the liquor cabinet", it honestly never occurred to me that if *other* people buy liquor they enjoy and keep it in their houses, then I could if I chose, too.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

Though now that I have liquor at home (bottle of peach schnapps and one of coffee liqueur) I still hardly drink it, whereas I know if I visited a friend who had some, I'd have a drink every time I visited. The liqueur is lovely to pour over icecream, though :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing when I picked up some of these items from friends. Peppermint schnapps! Amaretto!

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

Have you tried Midori? It's a Japanese melon liqueur that's a startling shade of green, but tastes very nice indeed.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

mm - peppermint schnapps. not had that in ages. don't care for amaretto too much (oddly, i love almonds, but not almond-flavoured stuff)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I haven't. It sounds familiar, but I've not tried it.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've always wanted to try a buttery nipple, but haven't had the schnapps.

[airporter.livejournal.com]

Sounds great - in small quantities, of course.

Now I'm imagining someone quaffing one of these drinks all unknowing in order to quench their thirst. ;-)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

sounds like you need a copy of Mr Boston's or some other bartender's handbook. lkeele gave me hers some years back. fun to read her notes, and see where the pages stick together. ;-)

make the drink into dessert, and i'm all over it. the last bottle of kahlua i had went almost entirely to milkshakes! mmmmmmmmm!

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, Kahlua on vanilla or coffee ice cream, with optional dark chocolate hot fudge.... *sigh*

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

We've been having that lately. Apparently it's one of deyo's favorite ways to get drunk. (He's a lightweight. He has a serving, then goes to sleep. Wheee!)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Sleazy thrill: Root beer schnapps in a root beer float.

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Wow, I can't imagine getting drunk from that. And he's no puny person either!

Me, never been drunk, either by ice cream concoctions or by any other method!

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm, Midori! Love it!

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Ice cream is our primary Kahlua mixer.