Today’s cocktail is a very interesting mix with some dark rum (then again it may depend on your choice rum). It’s dark sea foam green color adds intrigue and mystery as a start. It has a pleasant pineapple aroma and the lime garnish makes for a rather inviting mystery. It starts light and sweet, moves quickly to a citrus mix, then to a stiff spiced rum finish. It’s pretty good overall, but it is equally mysterious in taste and looks.
Alc. Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10
Surf Sider
1 1/4 oz Dark Rum 3/4 oz Blue Curacao 3/4 oz Grand Marnier 1/2 oz Rose’s Lime Juice 1 1/4 oz Pineapple Juice Lime Wedge
Shake and Strain into a chilled cocktail glass garnish with a lime wedge.
Today I bring you one of the best drinks I’ve had since the ” ‘57 T-Bird with Arizona Plates.” The Tidal Wave has great presentation and a very inviting coconut and almond aroma. It starts tropical and sweet, moves to a stronger coconut kick, then finishes with a more alcohol amaretto and sour bite. It’s not often you get such a great mixing of flavors across your palette, but this drink delivers in every respect. On my next menu revision I’ll be doing a section of “seasonal favorites” and this is sure to make the list!
Alcohol Taste Rating: 4.5/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
Tidal Wave
1 1/2 oz Coconut Rum 1 oz Blue Curacao 3/4 oz Lime Juice 1/2 oz Amaretto 1 tablespoon Coconut Cream 1 teaspoon Sugar (Superfine if you have it) Lime Slice (Additional Garnish: Small Orchid if available)
Shake all liquid ingredients with the sugar with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish by floating a lime slice on top.
Well this was supposed to be a 2 for 1 tuesday, but I’m not getting around to the post until after midnight, so now it’s just two drinks without the snappy title. So today we’ve got two interesting cocktails, one much better than the other.
First up is the “Wall Street Wizard,” which is straight alcohol stirred and strained for a great emerald look. Unfortunately that’s about all the drink has going for it. It has an earthy citrus aroma, but so much of the midori flavor is lost with the other alcohols. It starts with a hard curacao bite and finishes with equally hard gin flavor. It’s not one I recommend very much as it’s a tough one to drink, unless you’re looking for something VERY different:
Overall Rating: 3.5-4/10
Alc. Rating: 9/10
Wall Street Wizard
1/2 oz Gin 1/2 oz Vodka 1/2 oz Light Rum (Gold Used) 1/2 oz Blue Curacao 1/2 oz Midori
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Hypnotized by the color…so your think it’s better than it is.
So next up we’ve got something much better. The “.44 Magnum” is a powerful mix that doesn’t quite taste as powerful as the ingredients at work here. The topping of 7Up/Sprite makes for a citrus fizz aroma and start to the drink. Mid pallete is a sweet/sour rum, followed by a Jamaican dark rum finish with a hit of pineapple. Due to the less than appealing color and presentation in this drink, an opaque tiki glass would probably be better than the listed “bucket glass” in my recipe book.
Overall Rating 7/10
Alc. Rating 6.5/10
.44 Magnum
1/2 oz Light Rum (Gold Used) 1/2 oz Dark Rum 1/2 oz Jamaican Rum 1/2 oz Vodka 1/2 oz Triple Sec (or Cointreau) 3/4 oz Pineapple Juice 1 1/2 oz Sweet/Sour Sprite
Shake all but sprite with ice. Strain into an iced tumbler (or tiki glass). Top with sprite.
Well with a recent restock of my Captain Morgan Original, I was lovingly greeted with a little ad/recipe book on the bottle. While most company designed drinks are iffy at best today’s actually has a nice balance of flavors. A mild citrus aroma paired with some subtle almond undertones makes this a very inviting drink. Granted my substitution of Blue Curacao for the orange variety might make this visually appeal a little strange, but with the right garnish it does come back around. Really the only difference between orange and blue curacao is the color, so it doesn’t change the flavor profiles of the drink with this substitution.
Starting with a smooth juicy flavor it slowly moves to a spiced rum and mild almond finish. It may not be a drink for the menu, but it certainly warrants keeping the little card around to make it again.
Overall Rating: 7/10
Alc. Rating: 2/10
Captain Morgan Ⓡ Citrus Squeeze Punch
1.5 oz Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
1 tbsp Orange Curacao (Blue used) 2 oz OJ 1 tbsp Lemon Juice 1/2 oz Almond Syrup
Straight build in a rocks glass over ice. Stir well. Garnish with your choice of sliced or peeled citrus fruit (orange, lemon, and/or mint spring)
So today I need recap on the past month from episodes of the show. First we have the Red Snapper Shot from June 4th which is a great recipe that yields 2-3 shots.
Red Snapper Shooter
3/4 oz Canadian Whiskey 3/4 oz Cranberry Juice 1/2 oz Amaretto
Shake with ice, strain into (Chilled) shot glasses (makes 3oz)
Next up we’ve got a side by side comparison tasting of two blue summer-style schnapps. Dekuyper’s Island Punch Pucker and Maui Blue Hawaiian. Where I’m from the Pucker is VERY difficult to find so I had to seek out some kind of alternative. While the Blue Hawaiian has a similar flavor it may require a little bit of sweet/sour mix to use it as a “substitute.” More on that in Episode 8.5:
Finally we have today’s festive 4th of July Shot. It’s a powerful orange blast both in aroma and taste. The presentation (as with any layered drink) is quite impressive and really matches with the Red, White, and Blue theme. Although there is also a “Red, White, and Blue Shot” (made with peach schnapps instead of Cointreau), I found this version layered much easier and made for a better demo. For my initial reaction check out the new episode (9) of the show.
Well today’s cocktail is a tasty creation that is visually disturbing. Very dark green with a foamy top, and a little bloody grenadine doesn’t make it all that appealing (although it does match the name). Good thing the taste delivers and then some!
The “Nordic Death” features a tropical berry flavor with a light sparkle. It has a mild alcohol(y) taste on the finish. I’d call this a great party drink, especially in the creation side of the presentation.
Alcohol Taste Rating: 1-3/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
Make it Again? Yes! Already on the menu
Nordic Death
½ oz Vodka ½ oz Raspberry Liqueur ½ oz Midori ½ oz Blue Curacao 2 oz Pineapple Juice Sprite Dash of Grenadine
Shake vodka, liqueurs, and pineapple juice. Strain into an iced Collins glass. Top with sprite and dash grenadine on top.
“What’s that floating in the ocean? Oh it’s just a Norwegian”
A cast into the Atlantic catches you a “Blue Marlin!”
With it’s citrusy aroma, and brilliant blue color you know this one is a catch!
Ok so nautical puns aside this is an interesting and powerful drink. The Blue Marlin Cocktail features a sugar rim and feels very tropical. Unfortunately the taste doesn’t quite come up to par with the classy appearance. I feel the drink is very lacking in a more well rounded taste palette. Of course I do prefer sweeter drinks, so it might just be me.
That being said the addition of the sugar rim, really helps make the drink manageable. It’s not very sweet in the first place, so having that extra bit on your lips redeems the cocktail a bit. Also I did need to substitute a little citron vodka into the mix which may have thrown things off a little bit.
Either way the Blue Marlin is a great drink in terms of presentation, but the taste isn’t for everyone.
Alcohol Taste Rating: 6-7/10
Overall Taste Rating: 5/10
Make it Again? Maybe. Try again with all citron rum, or variation with more juice
“This is a catch! …Too bad we’re looking for Barracuda”
Blue Marlin
2 oz Citron Rum (1/2 citron vodka, 1/2 light rum used)
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
1/2 oz Sweet/Sour
Lemon Wedge and Sugar (for rim) Orange Twist (or orange blossom)
Rum lemon wedge around edge and rim with sugar. Shake and strain rum, curacao, and sweet/sour with ice. Strain into prepared cocktail glass. Garnish with Orange Twist.
This week I’m featuring an additional drink as I forgot to post last Monday.
Recently I tried Mitch Hutt’s version of the “Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster” from his recent Geek and Sundry Vlog.
The drink is a unique sea foam green color with a citrus and gin aroma. The cocktail starts sweet and goes quickly to sour. Then you get a moderate gin flavor and it finishes with a tart bourbon taste.
Alcohol Rating: 6-7/10
Overall Rating: 8/10
Make it Again? Yes!
Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
1/2 oz Bourbon
3/4 oz Gin
1 oz Sour Apple Pucker
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist
Medium Of Mixology 