Liquorists

For the people that happen to wander onto my blog, have a merry christmas!

Because people always tend to have spare Champagne, here yet another simple cocktail to give it a little twist.


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- 1 Ounce of Peach Schnapps
- Fill with Champagne or sparkling wine
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Nothing hard about this cocktail, besides controlling yourself not to drink too many. Serve in a Champagne glass, and adjust the amount of Schnapps to your own liking.

A very easy Champagne drink for the holidays (or whenever you feel like drinking one really).


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- 1 Part raspberry liqueur
- 2 Parts Champagne, or sparkling wine
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Serve in a Champagne glass, and if the carbonation of the Champagne doesn't do the trick, give it a little stir.

Due some error in the code, there might have been some issues regarding posting comments. The captcha wouldn't come with a scroll bar so it would be impossible to fill out.
I'm working on a fix, but untill then, it seems if people are logged in, in a google account, there is no need to fill in a captcha and all goes well.

If there still are issues regarding comments, please leave me a mail using the contact button or direct to liquorists@hotmail.com. Feel free to post a comment under this post just to test if it works.

Other news, because some health issues ( nothing problematic, just alcohol and medicine don't mix) there where no updates for a bit. Hopefully this will stay this way so i can get back to work again.
So if people have suggestions, cocktails, drinks, holiday related things they would like to see here, just comment, or if that does not work, yet again, mail to liquorists@hotmail.com.

Thank you for the possible effort and have fun during the holidays!

A really easy cocktail, with no real known/important history.

The drink itself should look just like the cubra libre in the picture.

Ingredients:


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- One part Spiced Rum
- One part Amaretto
- Fill up with cola
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Just fill a glass with ice and add the ingredients, and stir it around a bit. Do not, repeat, not shake the drink. Carbonized ingredients and shaking don't mix well.

Jachtbitter, a herbal liqueur.
So now the big challenge, writing a description without mentioning jägermeister. But i already did it so i might aswel continue.

This coppery brown liquid is clear, and dark enough that it's hard to see through a glass. In tiny amounts the more brown-red colour becomes more visual.

The liquid itself, contains 30% alcohol(60 proof) and, tada, contains herbs. This results in the typical smell and taste most herbal drinks have, the more medicine-type taste profiles. But not in a bad way.
On the nose this smells a bit sweeter then the average "bitter". And the same goes for the taste.
While the drink contains not the least amount of alcohol, you will only get a little burning sensation on the edges of the tongue, and a warming feeling deep inside. Making it a great drink for when the weather gets cold.

To discribe the actual taste...the easiest is to compair it the herbal "bitter" everyone knows, jägermeister. Compaired to jäger this drink has no black liquorice in it.
There is some mint going on, chilling the sensation a bit. For the sweeter factor i'm hinting at raisins, far from as sweet, but someone it reminds me a little bit of them. Especially the aftertaste raisins leave in your mouth (the yellow ones rather then the black one).

Everyone know's Bailey's by now. If not, shame on you.
This time i've put my hands on the mint chocolate version if this liqueur. So to see the original Bailey's review click here, since this version is just a slight variation on the original.

So all the basic features are exactly the same, 17% alcohol (34 proof), the same colour, and the smell is almost the same aswel. The bottle says; with a hint of mint and chocolate, and thats exactly as it is. Nothing overwhelming, just bailey's with a tiny little hint of mint, and a bit more prominent dark chocolate.
For Bailey's fans, this should be a no-brainer, since the original has chocolate in it's tasteprofile aswel. This time it's just a bit more prominent, and darker.
Little bit more bitter, but, that's the pure chocolate.

Other then this, not much else to say, the drink gives exactly what the bottle tells you. Bailey's with a hint of mint and chocolate. Besides that, it's still the same, so a smooth creamy liqueur. That tends to do some strange things when mixed with peach schnapps.

Bailey's website, right here!

Another gold rum in the lower end bracket, and yet another one without a website ( to my knowledge).
This 37.5% alcohol( 75 proof) containing golden rum in a really simplistic bottledesign, has a rather light yellow gold colour, a bit lighter then what's usually the case with *golden* rums.

The rum doesn't has much nose, so in the end it will give the impression of beeing quite potent. Only due the alcohol overwhelming the other odors.
The bigger the surprise was when i realized when tasting this rum, it hints more at the sweet part of the pallet in the beginning, almost like a spiced rum. But it doesn't have the caramel taste a spiced rum has, it does hint in that direction. Especially in the very beginnig of the sip.
Only when swallowing the spirit releases the typical alcohol *taste* and leaves the intire mouth a little numb, especially the tip of the tongue. And it ends with surprising little burn down the throat.

Especially for a lower end rum, we are talking about around €9,- for a 70CL bottle, this tends to be rather mellow, and due this it will blend in really good into your cocktails. Where spirits in this pricerange are usually ment for.

Overall, quite a good deal if you ask me. Really does a good job in the mixing section, what surprised me a bit since usually cheaper brands tend to be much sharper.

As usual, no website again, so unfortunally no link for additional information...yet. I'll see what i can do.

For Halloween it's obviously nice to have some horrible looking shots in store. One of the most popular ones is the brain hemorrhage.
This horrible looking shot is quite easy to make and you only need 3 ingredients, beeing:

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- 1 Part Peach Schnapps
- 1 Part Bailey's Irish Cream
- Few drops Grenadine
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Now what you do is, put the Peach Schnapps in first. After that, poor the bailey's in but don't try to layer it. Just poor it in so it creates the little brainstructures you're looking for.
When that's done add some grenadine to add the bloody effect. As usual with shots, down the glass in one go (so don't created volumes larger then 2 ounces, they are hard to drink in one go).

Video of the process: Right Here.

From out of nowhere, a banana flavoured liqueur!
Besides finding the bottle in a liquorstore, there seems to be no information about this brand on the internet. Besides some obscure site i can't read.

Starting off, this yellow light gold-ish looking liquor contains 20% alcohol (40 proof).
The bottle design is exactly the same as the mandarin flavoured version shown here.
The liquid smells, obviously, like banana. Much sweeter and stronger then a regular banana, but not as fake as banana candy.

The taste however, is balanced around sweetness. Less banana then you get at first in the smell, and more sugary sweetness. Including the more bittersweet aftertaste like most sweet liqueurs.
Besides a tiny little numbing on the very tip of the tongue there isn't much alcohol scent going on. But the drink is very flavour potent, in a way that if you overdo it, you'll get enough of it very fast. Yet again, just like sweet candy.

When mixing in cocktails, besides making the drink a bit sweeter, you will get a banana hint going on, surprizingly not overwhelming the drink.

All in all, a nice sweet lower end french banana liqueur, around €6,- for a 35CL bottle.

If anyone has a site or other information about this brand in general, feel free to comment me on it, that would be much appreciated.

Yes, there will be some more updates soon, still have a absinthe to review and a have a few things planned to write about...i'll be back!

Time for another lower budged liquor, to be more specific, the Old Pascas Ron Negro Dark rum, a whole mouth full.

This honey gold colloured rum has a busy classic looking bottle, as seen in the picture, and retails for around €8,- for a 70CL bottle.
The rum is originated in Barbados and contains 37.5% alcohol ( 75 proof ).

This rum smells pritty average for a dark rum.
When drinking pure you sertainly notice the alcohol, not that you will really taste it, but more notice the alcohol vaporize. It also has a strong aftertaste that remains quite prominent.
While for example the Havana Club añejo has a more direct attack, this rum takes a little bit longer to kick in. Maybe thats why it says rich and mild on the bottle. Although i have to say i find it not especially mild or rich. But then again, who would expect that for this pricetag.
In a cocktail this rum blends right in like most rums, nothing special.

Conclusion, an average rum for its pricetag, and due that price, it won't be a big waste if it isn't what one would expect. Afterall, normally speaking, cheaper liquors tend to be best used in cocktails anyway.

Since i could not find any website from the distillers themself (if someone knows, a comment would be appriciated), so here is a link to the (German) importer: Borko

A absinthe name variation of the kryptonite, that doesn't have much to do with other kryptonite cocktails. But for the persons that do want more absinthe cocktails, here you go:

Ingredients:

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- 1 part Citron
- 1 part apple pucker
- 2 parts absinthe
- top with red bull
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This cocktail is a stirred one, so no other materials needed then a normal glass, some ice, and something to stir with.

It's nice and warm over here at this point, so time for a tropical cocktail!
A fairly easy on, but it contains the 2 basic ingredients that seem to make up most of the tropical orientated cocktails: a coconut rum and pineapple juice.

Ingredients:

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- 2 parts vodka
- 1 part coconut rum
- 2 parts pineapple juice
- top with 7up
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Shake the ingredients without the 7up untill its chilled, dump it into a highball glass full of ice, and top it off with 7up.

Source.

Time to get my hands onto a scotch whiskey this time, glen talloch blended scotch whiskey to be precise.
This is a relatively famous whiskey in the Netherlands. More info about that on this website.

This gold yellow coloured whiskey smells a bit less sweet then your average whiskey, with almost no smoke on the nose. Quite a nice smelling whiskey.
In the taste itself there is remarkably little smokyness aswel, and all your senses get bombarded with the pure whiskey taste. Nothing of the taste gets hidden in the smoke this way, and that isn't a bad thing in this case. While the very first hint is a sweet one, later on you get a more pure woody after taste. A bit on the bitter side but not in a bad way.
The after taste itself remains prominent for a minute or so, but is yet subtile in the same time.

When mixing with coke, the whiskey smell remains the prominent smell, but it does mellow out. Taste wise the coke really mellows the whiskey out, so even non whiskey drinkers might even enjoy it. Also the after taste gets allot less. A little alcohol burn down the throat will still remind you that you are drinking a strong spirit (40% or 80 proof).

All in all this is a very approachable whiskey, with hardly any of the offensive whiskey flavours going on that might put people off. More suprising is that this whiskey is more on the lower budget range with around €15,- for a 70CL bottle. Not a surprise that this whiskey is the best selling whiskey in the Netherlands.
It's a very old 100% scotch whiskey, with allot of single malts blended in.

Definatly worth a try if you are into, or maybe even if you aren't yet into whiskey.

Website: Here

The martini is a well known classic cocktail, and the story goes that it became popular around 1849 in San Francisco. Much later people starting using a variant with vodka instead of gin, because vodka is more neutral and that way you can easily make yet more variations on the drink.

Then there is the whole stirred vs shaken thing. The fact is, there is a difference in taste, the shaking will break up some of the ice more, and will add a bit more water to the drink. That way the vermouth becomes less prominent, altho the amount of vermouth is a point of discussion aswel. Churchill for example only would only *look at it from across the room* and basicly had a glass of gin.

The most accesable version of the martini ingredients are:

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- coat the shaker with dry vermouth, get rid of the remaining vermouth.
- 5CL of gin (or replace with vodka for the vodka martini)
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Stirr the drink untill it gets really cold, then strain the drink into a chilled cocktail glass (the martini is usually served as cold as possible). Add a olive as garnish..

Yet another aluminium bottle this time. And besides a fasion reason, it's also because this way this vodka will get chilled quicker. And we all know you should drink your vodka chilled. With the wide plastic cap on top it does remind me a little bit of a vacuum flask.

I don't think i really have to go into how this stuff looks, since, well, it's vodka. So that means i can start off right at the nose.
Which impressed me a bit. Since it's vodka you won't get all kinds of aroma's going on, but the alcohol scent on this one isn't very strong.
I could tell it has a very hint of fruitiness, but that would probably because it says so on their website and i am imagining it, so that would be almost non existant. You could call it a bit crisp instead.

Now, the taste is simular to the smell. You get a bit bitter alcohol taste right away, and it will numb the tongue rather quick. But the bitterness seems to be in the taste itself and only lasts seconds, and then the warm fuzzy feeling deep inside. No direct vodka burn in the throat itself though, it's more the slight bitterness of the taste.

But that is ofcourse when drinking pure, and i don't recall anyone drinking vodka for it's taste. It's either shots, or cocktails. And in cocktails this danzka vodka will blend right in.
A little more on the bitter side (like i mentioned allot by now) then i am used to, but less of the normal vodka taste. On stronger tasting cocktails, for example a white russian, the vodka taste will be even less prominent and almost gone.
All in all a really good deal for the pricerange we are talking about (around €14,-/15,- for a 75CL bottle). Especially when you aren't really focussing on tasting the vodka, you won't notice much of it, besides the effect of the alcohol later in the evening.
I can say it could compete with some brands priced a little higher perfectly well.

For more information visit their website: Danzka vodka (or just click on the picture above)

An easy one this time. From the jägermeister site, so unfortunally i don't have a clue where it originated.

Ingredients:

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- 2 parts jägmeister
- 2 parts malibu
- 2 parts pineapple juice
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Mix it all together in a shaker, then strain into a coktailglass.

The white russian is a somewhat newer cocktail, that doesn't come from russia like the name could suggest. It's just because the drink contains vodka.
The drink gained allot of popularity because of the movie the Big Lebowski, but the recipe itself is first seen around 1965.

This time the ingredients don't vary that much, but the amounts you use for each are. As listed by the IBA the ingredients are:


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- 5 parts of vodka
- 2 parts of cofee liqueur
- 3 parts cream
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Like said bevore, ratio's vary allot ( video behind the pic shows a 1/1/1 ratio). Just use whatever you personally prefer.

This is possibly one of the easiest cocktails you can make. Therefor, there obviously are tons and tons of other names for this drink. Use a specific brand, and the drink probably has another name just like that.

Ingredients:

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- 2 parts rum
- Fill with Cola
- Add a bit of limejuice and/or a limewedge
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Since the ingredients are so simple, shaking isn't really needed. Just a bit of stirring should do the trick after you have poured all the ingredients over ice.

For once, a cocktail, with a fairly clear history.
This cocktail is originated out of Boston, in 1898. To be more specific, in the Locke-Ober restaurant.

It has been told the drink was created to honor the election of Martin M. Lomasney in the General Court of Massachusetts.


The ingredients are rather simple:


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- 2 parts rye whiskey
- 1/2 part lemon juice
- 1/2 part orange juice
- one teaspoon of grenadine
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Shake the drink with ice, and serve in a chilled cocktail glass (cocktailglasses never contain ice).
Can be garnished with a maraschino cherry and/or slice of orange.

Time for a very old cocktail, the tom collins.
One of the first time this cocktail showed up, was in Jerry Thomas' The Bartender's Guide, 1876 edition.
Other then that, it's a rather simple recipe, so who exactly made it up..hard to tell.

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- 2 parts gin
- 1 part lemon juice
- dash of simple syrup (teaspoon)
- top off with carbonated water (club soda) *after* shaking
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Pour everything together, except the club soda, shake, serve in a tom collins glass on ice. Then add the club soda to top it off, or by preferenced taste.
Which is a rather important step, shaking the drink after adding something carbonated will not end that well.

Time for another funky bottle, the baquba rum blanco.
And that's the first thing you will notice, not a standard glass bottle, but like the picture shows, a aluminium blue bottle.
But how outstanding it might look, it also gave me my first problem. It's a little bit hard to pour from, and i ended up pouring really really carefull not to spill a bit.

According to the bottle this is rum is blended from ages rums, some ages for over 5 years in oak barrels. And then blended with fresh sugar cane destillate, ending with a charcoal filtering. Sounds impressive enough, but aging in wooden casks usually gives you a darker rum, and this is a pure blanco. Maybe a specific wood or barrel type. At least, there is no hint of aging due color nor smell to find. The rum is sporting a 37.5% alcohol (75 proof), so normal for a blanco.

That leaves us to the smell.
I'm getting a rather typical blanco rum smell. Meaning you can sense the alcohol right away, followed by some natural odors.
Now when tasting this, i do have to agree with the labeling. The rum does have a alcohol numbing on your tongue effect, but nothing strange. Just a little burn in the throat.
The taste itself is sweet at first, and going over in a more bitter aftertaste. And i don't know if i'm imagining things (my nose isn't working 100% at this moment), but in the aftertaste, i'm sensing just a tiny tiny little hint of a smokey, oaky thing. But only noticable when i'm trying really hard.

Maybe due the filtering that this rum has blended into a more mellow sweet rum, it might also have taken away a bit of complexity. But compaired to other rums in the same price range (around €17,- for the 100CL) it can stand it's ground.
A bit less complex, but a mild sweet rum with a somewhat more bitter aftertaste.
But i do also have to say, almost all rums in this pricerange, and especially blanco's are made mostly for mixing, not for sipping.
And thats what i thing this rum is doing fairly good. The lack of complexity won't be noticed in a mix, neither the slight bitterness in the end. So a good alternative for your cocktails from the other mass market rums, that tend to be 1 or 2 euros higher in price.

This rum is made from blended caribbean rums, but the company itself is dutch. So it's because i noticed the blue bottle in the shelves, otherwise i had never heard of this brand before. Therefor i don't know the availability in other countries.

Overall final note: because the company seems to be quitte young, and for the pricerange of this rum, i don't have anything bad to say. It won't be sipping material, but i don't think you will find any other blanco rums that are, that are comparable in price.

Find more info on: the Baquba site.

A very common cocktail this time, the margarita.
There are so many rumours about who supposed to have created the margarita, that noone really knows for sure who it was. It was probably around 1930/1940 in the southern region in the U.S., or Mexico.

What is know is that it's a very popular, and easy cocktail to make. And when things are popular, recipes tend to change, or vary allot. And there will be tons of (colour)variations on the original with different names to choose from aswel.

The basic ingredients:

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- 2 parts tequila (please, use real 100% agave tequila and no obscure mixto brands).
- 1 part triple sec, or any variation on the triple sec (cointreau, Grand Marnier).
- 1 part fresh squized lime juice.
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Shaken, and served in either a rocksglass or a cocktailglass over ice. Rimmed with salt, and garnished with a lime weel if you want to be really fancy.

As usual, the ratio's greatly differ, the standard IBA list of cocktails state a 7 parts tequila, 4 parts triple sec and 3 parts lime juice. But the one stated above is far more easy to do at home. But toy around with the ratio's you personally prefer.

And as a final note, the cocktail gets as good as the ingredients you use to make it. So trying to blend in a mixto for a tequila will affect the taste of the drink dramaticly. Same goes for the triple sec, and basicly everything you use in a cocktail, given there is enough in the drink to make it noticable.

Don't agree with the above? Other things to share about the margarita? I've changed the commenters options, so everyone should be able to comment, no sign in required anymore.

As promised to someone, time for a cocktail recipe!
To be more precise, the daiquiri.

The basic *design* of this cocktail goes way back to the 18th century when sailors mixed rum with the same style of additives as when the daquiri was defined with that specific name in 1905, in, you could have guessed it, a town called Daiquirí, in Cuba.

While in that specific daiquiri they used Bacardi white rum, every white rum should work just fine. Other then the basic recipe, there are tons of variations to be found.

The basic ingredients are:

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- 8 to 9 parts white rum.
- 2 to 4 parts lime juice.
- 1 part simple syrup (water and sugar mixed into a 1 to 1 ratio).
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This cocktail is now shaken (the original was stirred), and served without ice, in a cocktail glass

The ratio's differ allot, and the ingredients are so simple, that it wouldn't do much harm to change the ratio's around a bit. For example, if you're a huge rum lover.

It's summertime, so time for some general information about tequila, as in the different types, what is a tequila made off, why not all agave products can be called tequila, etc.

First off, what exactly is a tequila?


The distilled spirit of the agave plants in general is called mezcal.
Tequila is the product of the blue agave.While other agaves can be used, only the product of the blue agave can be called a tequila. And only if it is made in the tequila region in mexico. If made anywhere else, it can't be called a tequila, prohibited by law.
The Mexican government made this law to create a quality mark for tequila.

When the blue agave plant is around 6 to 8 years old, the leaves of the plant are removed, and the juicy heart of the plant is collected. This heart is heated and shredded. After that, it gets masurated, and the *musto* is fermented, and later distilled.

Now comes into play what style of tequila they plan to make out of it.

First off there is the choise of a pure 100% agave tequila, and then there is a mixto, a spirit with 51% pure agave, and the other 49% is often filled with sugarcane, or other sugars.
In general the 100% agave products are the one to look out for, and are in most cases superior to the mixto's, due them beeing all agave, and not a random mix with often artificial flavourings and colourings added to give the mixto a impression to be aged. All pure agave tequila's will have 100% agave text written on the label in some form.

Then there are the different types:

Blanco/Silver/White/Platinum/Plata

This is a often non aged, clear tequila. This is as pure as it gets (unless it's a mixto ofcourse..). Some brands do store the tequila in stainless steel tanks to smoothen a bit before shipping.

Gold/Joven/Oro

In most cases a mixto, where they will add colourings and flavourings to give the impression of age. But it can be a mix between a blanco or reposado or older tequila. But if so, it will tell you on the label somewhere: 100% agave.



Reposado

This is a real rested tequila. Aged in wooded barrels between 2 and 11 months, it will take over a bit of the colour and taste of the wood itself. So the material and possible former uses of the barrels (storing whiskey, wines etc) can greatly effect the taste.


Añejo

The next best step, tequila aged for at least a year. Since it's aged longer, it will have more properties of the wood and a darker colour.


Extra Añejo

This is a even more aged tequila, aged more then 3 years, taking yet even more properties of the wood in it.

In general, how more ages the tequila is, how better suited for sipping pure. Most blanco's can be used best for cocktails, or shots. But this also depends on the brand, and also on the pricetag of the bottle. Since time is money, the more aged a tequila is, the more you will have to pay for it. And to let a expensive extra añejo simply vanish in a mix drink and let all unique flavours get masked by the taste of something else is simply not done.

For more detailed information take a look at tequila.net.

And as always, feel free to comment.

Since i wanted to improve the look of this blog, i was, and still am toying around with some different themes.

Any links that don't work like they should? Other elementents not working like intended? That will probably be of short notice while *under construction*.

So if anyone has any suggestions or feedback? Don't be afraid to comment.

Since it has been a rather slow week or two, not that much updates unfortunately.


This will hopefully be over soon, untill then, you can read and dream about Partida's new Elegante Tequila here, and on their own website, here!

No unfortunatly i'm not. But some people are, as you can read here.
Jeff Arnett is the master distiller at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, and his job uncludes like you can read in the link above, tasting the whiskey.

I bet there are quite a few people jealous of him right now.

Might be a little bit offtopic, but here are a few youtube links from some great stand up acts about liquor/alcohol:

Jim Breuer - Hilarious, but true.
Dave Attell about jägermeister
Bruce Jingles about jägermeister
Robin Williams
Denis Leary
Steve Trevino
Randall Park
Jack Dee
Woody Allen

If you found other ones, leave me a link in a comment and i'll edit them in here.

Jägermeister..who doesn't know it. This herbal liqueur is made in Germany, contains 35% alcohol ( 70 proof) and comes in the recognizable green bottle.
Unlike some strange urban legends suggest, there is no deerblood in jägermeister. But it does contain 56 different herbs, that has to count for something.

First off, this stuff is dangerous. Not in a negative way, but it's hard to spot the alcohol in it, while it's a rather potent drink, when consumed pure. You really have to try to capture a hint of alcohol when sniffing the drink. It's hardly there.
What you do get, are, no kidding, herbs! To be a bit more precise, it smells a bit like your average coughing syrup. Including a hint (well a bit more then a hint) of liquorice and mint.

The liquid itself is a dark red-brown and clear, and tastes the same way it smells. It will give a little numbling feeling on the tongue from the alcohol, but there is hardly a burn going on. At most a warming sensation going down your throat.
Right after the initial taste you get a aftertaste of mint, which fades away into a subtile bitter.
And yes, as the slogan states, best served ice and ice cold.

Like most liqueurs this can be mixed into many cocktails, you can find a fair few on their website. The herbal taste remains quite strong when mixing it into your drinks, so if you don't like the herbal thing going on, use a little less.

Overall it's one of the drinks im always in for, the flavours aren't as jawdropping strong as in allot of other liqueurs, and a 100cl bottle of jägermeister will only cost around €16,-.
If you have never had jäger, shame on you and run to the liquorstore at once and buy some. Or try a shot at the local bar.

If you want to know more about jägermeister, visit their website here.

And as aways, feel free to comment on my mistakes, or other human errors i might have written down.

The main *buzz* around absinthe has always been the rumours about the psychedelic effects it supposed to have.
Well that's simply not true.
It does seem to have an additional effect besides the alcohol, that's supposed to be caused by thujone, that comes from the wormwood used to make absinthe.
Thujone on itself is toxic in higher doses ( allot of substances are), but in the minor amounts that are in absinthe it does no harm.
In fact, if one would drink absinthe for that reason, the alcohol would kill allot earlier then the thujone.
People did suggest the pre banned absinthe contained allot of thujona, making the *effects* stronger then today's, so that would be the reason of the ban.
After some testing from the still existing bottles that proved not true.

Allot of artists used to drink absinthe, and claimed it did help them artisticly.
While the high alcohol in absinthe might made them think a little different then normal, the thujone made them a bit sharper so they could actually use all impressions they where getting to write/paint them down. But what the thujone actually does isn't that well known, besides convulsions and death resulting from a lethal amount of it.

The reason allot of people earlier got so sick of it, was propably due that allot of homebrews had other very toxic ingredients in them (making the drink green).

Other then that, allot of herbs supposed to have additional effects then just to add flavour, so the absinthe effect could aswel be a mix between other herbs inside the drink.

Personally i'll do my best to get my hands on some absinthes, since it wasn't just popular in the old days because of the so called psychedelic effects. People used tons of now illegal drugs in all kinds of mixes to fix diseases. But the most obvious reason why it was popular was probably just because...it was tasty. And im very eager to find out if thats really the case. The rumours and the way to prepare the drink are at least intriging.

Below a modern marvels segment from youtube about absinthe:



Have anything to add or ask? Feel free to add a comment.

This time i will go a bit into abinthe.
What it is, why it got banned, the drinking method's, etc. Probably not going to fit into one article all at once, so bear with me.

To start off, abinthe is a very old liquor dating from the 17th century, and used to be very popular among all ranks of society around the 19th century. While absinthe was very popular around then, the wine industry had a all time low.
That's what also coased it's main downfall. The rumours about the wormwood's thujone making you go crazy was hyped allot by the recovering wine industry.
One additional problem was that allot of people drank bad quality absinthe, that contained poisonous substances. And due lack of research most countries simply banned the drink almost 100 years ago.

The main ingredients for the flavours are wormwood (where the thujone comes from), anise and sweet fennel.
Allot of the *better* absinthes are distilled, and the main reason people often use some sugar when preparing absinthe, is to mark the really bitter taste from the brands that don't distill their spirit. Since undistilled, it will remain a very bitter substance.
After the distillation other herbs are added to give it the green yellow colour. Altho there are brands that use artificial coloring to get a really bright green.

That brings us to the way absinthe is prepared.
The standard procedure is to add a bottom of absinthe to a glass, then drip (slowly) icecold water into the glass.
What will happen is, some of the herbal extracts that are *hidden* in the alcohol separate when you add the ice cold water. Thats why the drink becomes less transparent and more white.
Often it tends to be a 1/4 part of absinthe and 3/4 parts of water, but basicly when the whole drink is evenly cloudy, it's done.
That may sound watery, but since the spirit contains around 60% or 70% (120/140 proof) alcohol, and the water breaks allot of the aroma's loose, thats not the case.

As said before, due to horrible quaility absinthes people where adding sugar into the mix, dripping the ice cold water on top of a sugarcube, on a special absinthe spoon.
This would hide the very bitter taste of non distillated absinthe.
Then there are also people who light the icecube on fire, but just like 101 proof rumcocktails, thats usually just for the showfactor.

I will get into a more detailled article about thujone, and the myths it has created around absinthe later on.

And as usual, feel free to comment or correct me.

Time for some whiskey, Famous Grouse whiskey to be precise.
I have 4 types here to review now, but i'll start off with these 2 and will make a new one for the remaining two.

To start off, it's a scotch whiskey, containing the usual 40% alcohol (80 proof).
The Finest beeing around €24,- a liter, and the blended around €28,-.

Both liquids are yellow gold ish in collor as you can see on the pictures, but the blended whiskey is a bit darker.
The Finest will ofcourse have your typical whiskey smell, but it's a bit on the sweet and mild side. Maybe some hints of honey.
While the Blended has a heavy oaky smell to it.

The Finest has a bit of a malty sweet taste to it, and the alcohol will imidiatly numb the tongue a bit. On the aftertaste you will notice a stronger wood taste then when you first sip it. The Blended whiskey will have a more smoother taste with less of an alcohol attack, and allot more wood and smokey flavours to it.

Both rather typical whiskey's to me personally, and besides the differences i just mentioned, not too different.
The Blended one does seem to be smoother and easier to drink, but you will have to deal with a far more heavy smoke flavour aswel then.
Since i'm not a huge whiskey fan, these haven't been able to convince me personally. But i will probably edit a few more details in when comparing them with the other two, both 12 year old, so i can give a more proper explanation between the quality of the four. And in general

If you can't wait and want more information about this Scotch whiskey brand, visit their site here!.

To fit in with the post below, i thought i'd give this particular brand of vodka a closer look.
First off, Grey Goose is a french brand, the vodka is 40% (80 proof) and it has a fancy looking bottle (i like the frozen look to it).

On to the liquid itself. It's obviously a clear blank liquid, like all vodka's seem to be. It has a tiny bit of a alcohol smell going on, but it's surprisingly little. Other then that, no smell at all.
When drinking it, that changes very rapidly though. Not that you will get a insane alcohol taste, but you do feel the tongue numbing right away, and the famous vodka burn down the throat.

On to mixing it into drinks, since that is probably what everyone is doing with vodka anyway. When mixing it with regular coke, the alcohol smell vanished, no where to be seen. Unless you really dig into it nose deep.
No harsh alcohol taste going on either, it really seems to vanish into the drink, like a good vodka should do. No nasty burn, no harsh alcohol flavour ( admitted, you do keep a little bit of alcohol taste to the drink ofcourse, but compaired with my personal other vodka experiences, it's very tolerable). One of the finest vodka's i've had so far, but also one of the most expensive ones. (looking at €33,- ish for a 100cl bottle). Personally, i think its worth it.
If you're into vodka, this is your thing.

Find more info about Grey Goose, here!

Just a bit of general information about vodka, such as:

What is vodka?
Where does it come from?
What's it made from?


What is vodka.

First off, vodka is a very clear spirit, with very little smell or taste, and between 38% and 40% alcohol in general. There are different laws and rules on how much alcohol a vodka should have to carry the label vodka. In the EU it's 37.5%, while the classic Russian standard was rounded at 40% (80 proof). Due to beeing filtered allot to remove inpurities, it's a very popular liquor to use in cocktails. Since besides adding alcohol it will not change the flavour of the drink dramaticly.


Where does vodka originate from.

This is an ongoing discussion, but it would be in the region of Russia or Poland where the vodka was invented. Currently allot of countries have vodka producing distilleries.


Ingredients.

Like all spirits, there isn't a single ingredient that makes a vodka. Most vodka's seem to be distilled out of grain (often wheat), but some are also distilled out of potatoes.
Since after the distillation finishes, the vodka will contain almost completely out of alcohol, it will be deluted with water.
That's the reason some vodka's may taste watery.
The main difference between vodka and the other spirits is that after the distillation process, it doesn't go in barrels to age, but it gets filtered a few times. The more, the better, to remove all possible impurities.
This also means most of the original smell and taste goes lost in this phase, but since most spirits get a great part of their taste due aging in specific types of wooden barrels, this isn't an issue.

Since the vodka will end up as a very neutral spirit, it will prefectly blend into allot of cocktails, and thats why allot of distilleries made allot of different flavoured verions that will go well in all sorts of drinks.
From all the stronger liquors, vodka is the best selling one.

A few of the bigger vodka brands:

Absolut
Smirnoff
Grey Goose

While wanting to write out a few things about vodka first, i came across a serie of youtube videos about the history of whiskey, interesting enough to link here.

To save room on the page i only embedded the first of 6. Just click the links below to watch the rest of the videos on youtube.




Part2
Part3
Part4
Part5
Part6

For how distillation itself works, and the history of that, check out the following links:

Part1
Part2
Part3
Part4
Part5

Today i've had the privilage to have not one, but 2 bottles of havana club to review.
The Añejo Blanco and Añejo especial.
According to their website, the añejo blanco is the most aged of all white rums, and the most white of all aged rums. Best suited for your mixed drinks The especial beeing a more aged darker rum. Also perfectly suited for the more classic cocktails, but also suited for drinking on the rocks.

First off, the añejo blanco. It's indeed a colorless, clear drink. While the añejo especial kicks in a nice clear golden color.
When doing the smell test, i came to the conclusion the description on their website is somehow correct. The blanco has a light odor to it.
It has a little bit of a fruity thing going on, but due it having a light smell, the alcohol does kick through. But not in a offensive way. It's a bit of a complex smell, and not as sweat as, a bacardi superior for example.

The añejo especial has the same odor, but smells somehow more aged. Probably due a hint of oak comming through. When compairing it to a captain morgan's spiced rum, the smells are way off. The smells in the havana club are much more subtile and harder to pick, while the captain's bombards you with a really sweet caramel/vanilla mix.

On to the taste. The blanco has a little bit of fruit going on at the very start. After the initial taste you get a bit more bitter, somewhat oaky aftertaste. Due it beeing not as sweat as the bacardi mentioned earlier the burn is a bit more intense. Mixed it keeps the complex flavor and smell but the oaky aftertaste fades away first.
The especial has far less burn going on, but more oaky flavors. It does keep the destinctive havana club taste, and the difference with the blanco isn't a huge gap. When mixing you also get a hint of vanilla in the especial, that tends to be hidden a bit when drinking it pure. Would be suited on ice ofcourse.

When compairing it to the other rums in the same price range, the bacardi superior and captain morgan's i mentioned above ( just because i happend to have them im picking those) it comes out the havana club has it's own distinctive smell and taste. It's a bit more complex and less sweat then the other brands but does have some extra, almost spicey kick to it.
For the occasional rumdrinker that might be bad, since the first impression is less sweat, but once you get to look beyond that it's a fine tuned rum for it's pricerange ( around 17 euro's for a 100cl blanco, and the same for a 70cl especial ). The añejo blanco has a 37.5% alcohol content, the añajo especial kicks in at 40%.

Overall it got me interrested in the more expensive higher end rums they have, to see if they are a bit smoother then these two. Since that's the only thing i'm missing a bit. If i can manage to find one that is, the local stores around here don't have the biggest assortiment. Since it's a Cuban brand, this won't be sold in the US.

For more info about these and other flavors visit the havana club website.

Today i gave the Bombay Sapphire dry gin a test. I haven't had much different brands of gin but, can't judge what you don't know right?

Starting off, its a clear substance, no big surprise there.
While sniffing it, i get a clear, but subtile pine smell. A rather fress pine smell, like if you just cut of a branche of a juniper bush. (while it's made by flavouring with juniper berries it would be strange if it would smell like something else)
Because of the last gin reminded me like i had a complete pineforrest for dinner, i'd start of by warning for this. Strange enough i don't smell the alcohol in this particular one, while with a whopping 47% alcohol content, it's not a light drink.
For the same reason, i did not get a pine bombartment while tasting this pure, all the alcohol just melted my tongue right away. Overall not as attacking as i thought it would be, and besides the alcohol burn not too bad.
Other then that, there are a few subtile hints from the other herbs. But too subtile to be really able to call them out. They do add something to the complexity off the drink. Also i would mention, the label does mention it is a dry gin. And well, it is. No moisture draining thing, but it does add a little dry-ness.
But if you do not like the taste of gin in general, this would still be a bit harsh on you i would reccon.

While mixing it into another drink, the pine taste becomes less bitter and overwhelming, but it does remain prominent in the drink. But it's not totally going to overpower the drink.
When using it in a normal dose it will just add a pine taste and smell, and tons of alcohol to the drink. While former experiences with gin where far less smooth it would class this particular one above them, but since i have no clue what brand those where, thats a bit of a irrelavant comment. So in terms of a gin in general, i'm glad i found this particular one. But before buying a bottle, i would really advise giving gin in general a test. It's probably a yes or no thing with hardly a middle road in between.
I would say this is a not a bad gin at all. Give it a try if you are into gin and are able to find it.

If you want more information about this london distilled dry gin, click here!

Yes, i've got my hands on some Bailey's original. It may sound strange but for some reason i've never had it before, maybe due my family and friends consisting of beerdrinkers rather then something else.

Now i'd guess everyone knows how this stuff looks like. It is a non clear mokka-ish color. On the taste department, it smells like a chocolate/coffee mix. Just a little hint of alcohol.
And about the taste, if you like chocolate milk and coffee, you're going to like this. It goes down really smooth, no harsh alcohol effects ( not so surprising, it's 17% alcohol). I could mention the fact that it's a little bit creamy, but with the *irish cream* on the bottle, that would be obvious.
In a mix you would notice a bit more of the coffee aftertaste, and it will be turning the drink into a more creamy smooth substance. Silly thing i get more of a chocolate aftertaste when drinking it pure, and more of a coffee aftertaste when mixing this.

Bailey's isn't a big brand for no reason. They are well know for this irish cream and it's not just because of marketing. It's just a good drink, also easily comsumed pure, altho i would think you don't want to drink a bottle at a time. Best off in turning your cocktails into a more creamy chocolate/coffee -ish mix, since it will be really good at smoothening the drink out, even when adding stronger alcoholic content. Also really good for shot type drinks, and it does layer quitte good for the pousse-café style shots.
All in all a drink you should have in your house when into this stuff. It does contain milk so it would be less suitable for the person who would store it for a few months, and take a drink once in a while. It will go bad that way eventually.
If you haven't had it before, but are into cocktails, or smooth liquours that aren't mind numbing sweet, go buy a bottle at once!

For more info check the website: here

It has been a busy week, but im doing my best to get my hands on some more stuff.
I just have to travel a bit further then normal to get them, so updates comming soon!

And for all the cocktaillovers out there, everyday drinkers has tons of recipes and video's, so take a peek on there if you can.

Also, if anyone really wants to see a drink covered, feel free to comment or mail me and i'll do my best to find it, try it, and write about it.

Now here is a rum that was on my wanted list. This 35% alcohol containing spiced rum was rated high from some friends and some internet sources i've read.

Now to start off, it's a light yellow-gold colored liquid, not a surprise there. What did surprise me a bit was the smell. It's a much sweeter smell then the other rum's i've had before, and has a hints of caramel and vanilla in it. Which i did not expect in a spiced rum. But they did mix in very well.

In the taste test, i found this a very smooth, but sweet rum. No harsh flavour attack but balanced at the sweeter part of the rum section.
First things you will notice ofcourse is that its spiced up a bit. The alcohol burn isn't bad on this one, and after the initial taste is gone, you will once again taste stong hints of caramel and a little bit of vanilla in the aftertaste. Which seems to smoothen the drink quite a bit.

Pure, this rum is not bad at all. I like it, but drinking 35% stuff pure wont last you very long. So i found out when mixing it, the spiced portion of the drink goes away a bit faster then the caramel after taste, which remains rather prominent even while mixing.. And it tastes yet again smooth on the pallet while the spices crank it up a bit. But in a good way.
No bombardment of complexity going on, but the spicey intial taste and the sweet caramel aftertaste do balance quitte good.
So my friends are correct. Pages i've read on the internet are correct. This rum is simply put good, especially for the pricerange.. And it's around the normal price you would pay for a average rum aswel. (around 16 euro for a 70CL bottle if i remember correctly) Deffinately worth checking out if you like a sweeter rum, with spicey hints, and spicy drinks in general.

Captain morgan's website is right about: here

This time it's time to get some tequila going, the silver sierra tequila to be precise. It's a cheaper tequila i bought a while ago, just to give this a shot.
It's has a 38% alcohol content, nothing strange going on there. It doesn't have a 100% agave label on the bottle, so its not, but when seeing the pricetag, you get what you pay for.

Now, since it's a silver tequila, its obviously has no color. The smell is a mix of agave ( at least i think thats what causing the typical tequila smell), alcohol and just a little bit of a smokey thing going on in there.
When drinking it pure, you will notice right away that it's not smooth at all. It delivers a mean punch, and has a rather strong burn. You also get a hint of a smokey taste, a bit stronger then in the smell of the drink. But overall, its a right in your face alcohol burn, that makes tasting the actual taste rather hard.

When mixing this stuff the burn goes away pritty quickly. The smokey taste remains, together with a little bit of agave taste whats left. You will actually taste that a bit better this way due the alcohol not burning away your tongue.

Overall i would say, you get what you pay for. It's a cheaper tequila, and you will notice it.
You can drink it pure in shots to get wasted, but you dont really have to do it for a smooth tequila taste, because it's simply not there. When mixing this into other drinks, like most alcohols, it's not too bad anymore. And quite enjoyable when using it in the right proportions, and not really focussing on the taste of the alcohol itself. But it has to be said, always, always go for the 100% agave tequila's.

Sierra tequila website can be found: here

This is a very popular liquour, probably because....its blue!
It's a citrusbased liquour with 21% alcohol in it. And ofcourse, its obvious where this stuff comes from.

Well, i don't really have to go over the look of this stuff, its obvious. It smells sort of like mandarines, with almost zero alcohol odor to it.
When tasting this pure, it will taste a bit like cheap orange candy, with tons of sugar in it. Not really the mandarin you would expect, more a bitterswear orange. But thats not so weird considering it's made of a citrus from curacao, simular to the orange from there, who are known to be rather bitter.

While you can drink this stuff pure, i wouldn't recommend it. Its just too sweat, and im afraid its horrible hangover material aswel when overdoing it =P.
When mixing this in cocktails, where it's ofcourse made for, due the bright color, it will give it a sweat hint of citrus, but not as strong as triple sec for example. But besides the taste it's the most popular to just get strange colorcombinations from it. For example, when mixing it with a regular coke, you will get a dark green colored liquid.
For mixing drinks, it will be allot better when you want to give your drink a little tropical citrushint. But mostly because of the blue color and not because the taste is that spectacular.

Bols Blue Curacao website can be found: here

Yet another liquour i happend to have at home.
This time its a triple sec, which is a orange peel-ish liquour, used in tons of cocktails. Since its a cheaper bottle (just over 10 euro for a 70CL if i remember correctly), there isn't much to find about this specific bottle. Besides it containing 35% alcohol.

Now to go to the drink itself, its like usual a clear liquid. Which smells, a bit like a weird mix of orange and glue, but that is probably due the cheaper brand.
When drinking this, take in mind; do never, ever, drink this pure. Its horrible unless you really fancy a dry bitter tasting orange drink. Nothing fresh or juicy here, just plain bittersweet orange.
When mixing this stuff, take in mind it will tend to overpower your drink. And since its a rather bitter and not juicy taste, thats not particularly good. When adding it in small amount in cocktails with citrus things going on in them, it will be fine. But then again almost everything will be fine in small amounts. Personally i would prefer Cointreau over this any time, but it will be more expensive aswel ofcourse.

Overall, not bad for it's pricetag. But for drinking pure, you just do not want to drink this pure. When mixing it the way you should, in small amounts, it will be allot better. Just because it's a really bittersweat orange taste, and i would rather have a more juicy or even just normal orange juice in my drink then this. You can't really compair the taste of those two tho, so if you like the more unnatural strong orange thing going on, this could be your thing.

Now who doesn't know this caribbean rum with coconut taste, in the white bottle.
Since it has malibu in its name, its not too hard to think of where it's from. And its actually a liqueur and not a pure rum, with its 21% alcohol volume.

To start off, its a clear silver rum, with a very strong coconut odor ( duh =P).
When drinking this stuff, you don't really get much rum taste at all, its mostly coconut, so if you'r not a fan of that, skip this right away. Its very sweet and easy to drink pure aswel, but it might be a bit far to sweet for that purpose.

But stuff like this is ofcourse just perfect for mixing drinks. When you want your drink to have a tropical taste and smell, you can just add a dash of malibu to the drink. You don't even have to use much to get the coconut taste going, and it might even overpower the drink really quick.
Mixed pure with some fruitjuiced, this will be a very light and fruity cocktail, just be aware of the massive amount of sugars going on then ( no one wants a bad headache the next day).
When mixing a heavier drink, where you want to actually taste rum, its best to use a normal silver rum, and just add a little bit of malibu, since mixed all the *burn* from the alcohol seems to vanish and you have a really sweet drink left.

It's a popular liquour, and it is priced like one. Nothing really expensive since its only 21% alcohol, but it will be something around 17/18 euro for a 100CL bottle. Nothing wrong for having a bottle of this in the house for when you feel like adding some tropical hints of coconut to your cocktail, just dont really pay attention to the rum label on it.


Malibu website: here

Starting off at this dark rum, a relatively cheap one at it.
It's been a bit tough finding some info on this rum, and the bottle doesn't have much information on it either. Other then having 37.5% alcohol in it, and having some caribbean origin.

Now for the actuall stuff itself. Its a gold collored liquid, and smells a bit less sweet then a bacardi dark rum ( just to compair the two). Mostly because it has a bit less odor, so you smell the alcohol itself better.
The taste, well the obvious dark rum-ish, but it tends a bit more to the bitter end with a strong aftertaste thats actually stronger then when you take the first sip.
Mixed with something else, it turns milder very quickly but still keeps up with a strong rum taste.
Personally i think its not as smooth as other dark rums i have had, but this will ofcourse only be relevant if you drink it pure or in stronger mixes. Which isn't too bad since its a fairly cheap rum, costing around 14 euro for a 100CL bottle.

Since the rum isn't that expensive, its a good base for mix drinks where the rum content isn't too high, but for pure, or drinks with higher rum contents, i would go for a smoother, often higher priced rum. But for the price it's at, its a good deal.
Its not too bad for drinking pure, but will be a bit better in cocktails due the rather heavy taste attack.

So yes, to make clear what the meaning of this blog will be, reviewing all kinds of liquors!
We will try to discribe as accurate as possible what the drinks will taste like, what the price/quality is (according to me) and what the best use is (pure, mixed, goes well with what, etc).

Since noone will be readin this anyway, we dont really need to hurry, and will test out with the simple, cheaper common stuff everyone will encounter once in a while.