The Smoking bar $ Craft Cocktails and Cigars

Which Tatuaje "little Monster" should I review next?

Mini mum	0.0%	[ 0 ]
Baby Face	0.0%	[ 0 ]
Lil' Drac	50.0%	[ 1 ]
Frank Jr.	50.0%	[ 1 ]
Total Votes:			[ 2 ]

This poll closed on October 6, 2012.
No longer accepting new votes.

[Valtiel the Watcher]

The Smoking Bar











Breaking News
I had the pleasure of attending the West Coast Finals of Ron Diplomáco's World Tournament yesterday. It was stiff competition between all 8 contestants, 7 of which came from right here in San Francisco with the 8th and final contestant coming from Portland Oregon. Each contestant had 5 minutes to create a cocktail showcasing one of Ron Diplomatico's rums. The commit ion was as stiff as the drinks and in the end Burbon and Branch's Darren Crawford came out on top. He will now go to Venezuela to compete against bartenders from around the world to see who the best bartender is. To keep up to date with all the news regarding this event and who finalists in your country might be, check here

Welcome to the thread about drinking and smoking and s**t like that.
it seems this thread was a bust in the Main LD forum so I hope that this thread has a better home here. I mean, Tobacco is a food right? Either way cigars and alcohol go together like peanut utter and jelly so I'll mention both.

Other Threads and Links
An Alcoholic's Guide to Not Overdoing it
Beachbum Bliss ☠ The Art of the Tiki Beverage
Homemade Boozy Delights and Their Applications...

A Round Of Drinks
cheese_whine

Many of us drink for various reasons, but usually it's to get shitfaced. Most of those brightly colored cocktails are designed to make up for the fact that most people have not acquired a taste for these abrasive beverages. I hate most of those drinks. If you think Bailies Irish Coffee is too strong, you enjoy the numerous flavored vodkas that exist or you ever enjoyed a "Cosmo" or "Appletini" then you might not enjoy these drinks. If you however want to try something classic or near toxic and everything in between then sick around.


A Few Standard Recipies

The Martini
A simple enough drink. You always hear people saying "make i dry dry DRYER GOD DAMN IT! Use an eyedropper of vermouth, no LESS!" I still don't fully understand the reasoning behind this since what's the point if you can't even taste the vermouth? why not just pour yourself a glass of gin? That being said some notes. 007's Vodka-tini will never be a martini. I have no idea why this is so popular, When I ask for a martini at a bar I shouldn't have to say that I want gin in it. Also don't shake them, make them stirred. 

2 parts Gin (I'm most fond of Hendrick's or Bombay Sapphire)
1 part Italian Vermouth (Bianco or dry depending on your tastes)
Pimento Olive

Fill a bar glass 2/3rds of the way with Ice. Pour the Gin and Vermouth into the glass and Stir Vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into a 4 oz cocktail glass and garnish with an olive or a lemon twist. If you prefer the older standard, The turf club used equal amounts of vermouth and "Tom" gin and added 2 or 3 dashes of angostura bitters.

The Manhatin
Pretty much the Martini's whiskey based, more versatile cousin. It is a drink that doesn't demand nearly the orthodox attention that the martini seems to ask for. It can be made with Scotch, Irish Whiskey, Rum, orange bitters, angostura bitters, with a dash of absinthe what have you.

2 parts Burbon (I generally use rye with mine but it's not as sweet)
1 part sweet vermouth 
2 dashes of angostura bitters
maraschino cherry or lemon twist for garnish.

Pretty much made the same way the martini is. Stirred, never shaken. Look for some good variations like the Rum Manhattan, The Black Manhattan, or the perfect Manhattan made with dry vermouth.

The Margarita
Yes the pre-made mixes seem nice but honestly it's mind-numbingly simple to make fresh. Also make sure that the tequila says 100% agave on the bottle. Would you drink scotch that was 60% scotch and 40% mystery alcohol? didn't think so.

juice of 1/2 a lime
2 oz's of tequila (Best to use Bianco or silver)
1/2 teaspoon of agave nectar to taste.
optional 1/3 oz of triple sec

Use a shaker to vigorously shake the ingredients for 30 seconds. serve in a salt rimmed glass on the rocks or straight up if you prefer.

The Aviation

1 1/2 oz gin
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
1/4 oz crème de violette or crème de Yvette

Fill a mixing glass halfway with ice, and pour in the ingredients. stir vigorously and then strained into a chilled cocktail glass.

Improved Gin Cocktail

2 oz genever
1 teaspoon simple syrup
1/2 teaspoon maraschino liqueur
1 dash absinthe
lemon peel for garnish.

Fill a mixing glass halfway with ice, add the fluids and stir vigorously for 30 seconds. strain into a cocktail glass and then garnish with the lemon twist.

Old Fashioned

1 sugar cube
2 dashes of angostura bitters
2 oz of whiskey (bourbon or rye)
Lemon rind for garnish

Muddle the sugar cube in the bitters and a splash of water. Pour the whiskey into the bitters mixture and garnish with the lemon. Can be served on the rocks or straight up.

Sazerac

1 sugar cube
3 dashes of peychauds bitters (no angostura is not a substitute for this)
1 1/2 oz's of cognac or rye whiskey
1/4 oz of absinthe (Pernode or Herbsaint if you can't get real absinthe)
Lemon peel for garnish

Get two old fashioned glasses, pack one with ice to chill and I. The other, muddle the sugar cube with the bitters and a splash of water. Pour in the cognac and mix with an ice cube or something. In the other glass discard the ice. Pour the absinthe in the glass and allow it to coat the glass. A small pool should form on the bottom and discard the excess. Pour cognac mixture into the absinthe rinsed glass and garnish with lemon peel.

BONOUS ROUND!



Possession (Bioshock Infinite cocktail)

Ingredients:
1 bunch of Basil
1/2 Lemon
1/2 Lime
25 ml Sugar Syrup
50 ml Tanqueray Gin

Abisnthe Froth recipe (Serves 4):
1 Egg White
25 ml Sugar Syrup
25 ml Water
25 ml Absinthe

Directions: Add Basil and Lemon half into a cocktail shaker and muddle the two heavily. Next add a shot of sugar syrup to the mix, add in the Tanqueray gin double measure, fill to the top with Ice and shake vigorously. Finally strain through a strainer forcing any remaining liquid out of the ingredients. Serve in a rocks glass with fresh ice. Add some Absinthe froth to the top of the drink. To make the froth, combine the ingredients in blender and whisk until foam forms, skim some off and add to the top of the drink.

“With POSSESSION, the free will of your enemies matters no more. Make your foes blindly fight and die for you.” -Fink Manufacturing advertisement

Drink created by James Dance of Loading as part of an official Bioshock Infinite series of drinks. The drinks will be be served at Loading’s Bioshock Infinite event in Soho on March 29th. Photography by Will Edgecombe.

"but what about Tobacco?"



Before you ask yes of course I know tobacco is not a food. Seriously do you really believe that this is not something that I understand? Is it impossible to grasp the possibility that with cocktails and alcoholic beverages being the main theme of this th read I thought that was reason enough to place this thread in say... Oh I don't know, the food and drink forum? If you don't smoking is not a prerequisite for enjoying this thread but rum, scotch, whiskey and tequila all go amazing with cigars and pipe tobacco.

Well s**t. Yes smoking is still a very big trend thanks to big Tobacco Companies and all that but more and more the finer tobacco products are making a comeback. Yah yah it's not weed and it won't get you high, it'll give you cancer, surgeon general etc etc. Cigars and pipe tobaccos are something you smoke for the flavors and the nice sweet and savory blends. I have a sweet tooth when it comes to tobacco myself so I usually hit the pipe. I like it since people don't mind me smoking something that smells like cherries or caramel in their homes. Cigars generally are spicy and savory. I prefer medium to mild cigars myself with a bit of a sweet flavor to them.

I recentally had the pleasure of meeting one of the members of the Grand Habano family as he was showcasing his cigars. I am mainly a pipe smoker so it was nice to gain a bit of knowledge of cigars that i did not have previously. I am still fresh to the world of cigars since my budget makes it impossible to buy more than one or two cigars a month so anything anyone can share would be great.

The Favorites

I only have a few favorites in both pipe tobaccos and cigars. if you have any personal favorites let me know and I may post them here.

Cigars
I was introduced to cigars with Arturo Fuente's Hemingway cigars. They are very good for starting out but my current favorite are the people from Gran Habano. The Gran Reserva #3 is pretty mild wrapped in cedar. It has a sweet flavor similar to pipe tobacco. it makes for a very smooth smoke.

I have recently become quite partial to Tatuaje cigars. They are hard to find but relatively inexpensive and very very good quality.

Pipe Tobacco
Grants Tobacconist
This is the house tobaccos from my favorite tobacconist. They're relatively inexpensive and for bulk tobaccos they make for a good smoke. My favorites are the Old drum and the Royal Reserve, both a sweet mild smoking tobacco, the former having a heavy vanilla flavor while the other tastes a bit like caramel.

(Due to being evicted, it will now be impossible to find this blend of tobacco anymore. Information in the disappearance of this long time institution can be found here)

Mac Barren
I like the dark twist, a slightly sweet blend with a bit of kick to it. I also like the chocolate and honey as well but usually have to blend that with something mild to cut the bite.

Samuel Gawith
I like these alright. the firedance is interesting but it can be almost too sweet and fruity, like a fruit roll up. Another one i had had so much bite to it it was practically unsmokable. 

[Valtiel the Watcher]

The Essentials For a home Bar


Required Reading:
Boozhound- Jason Wilson
A very entertaining read with a little history, a little bit of worldly knowledge and some good drinks.
Imbibe- David Wondrich
One of the best guides to the cocktail ever written
Jerry Thomases Bartender's Guide, 1887 reprint- Jerry Thomas
Cheep for your kindle app and full of incredibly useful tips.
Absinthe Cocktials- Kate Simon
A good set of recipes centered around that nortorious spirit and surprisingly one of the few kitschy Cocktial books not filled to the brim with BS.

If sweet drinks is more your flavor check out the reading list in my other thread

I figured I should add this section in case anyone wanted to entertain. There are some essentials and I shall list them here.

The Basics

For pretty much every major drink, there's usually some sort of base spirit. Here are the ones that are always a good idea.

- Gin I generally keep a cheap traditional london dry gin, but I also like to keep some Hendricks around for good measure.
- Whiskey Burbon, Rye, Irish, and single malt scotch. you don't have to go all out and get all of them but if you can afford it, it doesn't hurt.
- Tequila One of the most misunderstood spirits out there but that's mostly due to so many of the awful blended "mixtos" out there. get 100% agave. it's more expensive but worth it. A good Bianco, Reposado and an añejo.
- Rum another often abused spirit. It's a good idea to keep a white, an aged, an agricole and a cachaça. If you decide to delve into the dark mists of the dreaded tiki beverage, you will need more varieties of rum than you ever knew existed, and you will learn all their varied tastes.
- Brandy you'll need a good value VSOP cognac, (you don't need to shell out for a 1000$ bottle of Hennessy, a good apple brandy or applejack. Pisco is also handy.
- Vodka While I'm not a fan, it is good to keep some of the stuff around, though they say one "tastes" better than the other, you can get by with some cheap s**t. I personally would stay away from flavored vodkas.

And Beyond

Here are some other things that are good to have on hand for more elaborate cocktails.

- Orange Liqueur Tripple sec, Orang Curaçao, Cointreau and Combier, etc..
- Maraschino Liqueur Not the juice from the cherry jar or cherry liqueur. Luxardo is the oldest and the best.
- Vermouth You should have a dry, a sweet and a white. I would suggest getting some good vermouth since (shockingly enough) it can be drunk on it's own.
- Campari and Aperol A bitter sweet Italian amari.
- Bitters Always stock Angostura, Peychauds and orange bitters. mandatory if you're making manhattans.

and even more beyond

Of course some other essential things that you should always keep on hand

- mountains of ice, Hoard the s**t.
- Oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruits and fresh pineapple
- Tonic Water. any will do but Fever Tree and Q are the best.
- Sparkling mineral Water
- Club Soda
- Ginger Beer. Not to be confused with ginger ale. Reeds is my favorite.
- Tomato Juice.
- Sparkling wine.
- Agave Nectar
- Marachino Cherries. Anything but the neon red pieces of s**t. Either dark red, Luxardo's cherries or make your own.
- Simple syrup. (Don't worry you can make it cheep and easy)
- Grenadine. Also homemade.

syrups an all that s**t

yah I know what you're thinking. "Hey you say alot of s**t about 'make your own this and that but how the hell do I do that s**t?'" Well.... I guess I'll just tell you

Homemade Grenadine

3 cups of pomegranate juice (Pom works fine)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 ounces of lemon juice
strips of zest from one whole orange (NONE OF THE WHITE PART)

in a medium saucepan, bring the pomegranate juice to a boil. add the rest of that s**t and lower heat to medium stirring to dissolve the sugar. cook and reduce for 45 minutes. strain into the container of your choice through a fine mesh strainer discarding the zest.it can be refrigerated for 2 weeks but if you want it to keep longer add a half ounce of 151 rum and it'll keep for 2 months. just don't use it to make Shirley temples at your kids next birthday party.

Preserved Cherries

2 pints of bing cherries, pitted.
1 tablespoon of salt
2 1/4 cups sugar*
juice of one medium lemon*
1 tablespoon of almond extract.*

*will need for next day
**not a bad idea to keep a few jars or sealable containers on hand.

Put the cherries in a HEATPROOF glass or ceramic container like a casserole dish or a Pyrex bowl. in a medium saucepan combine 1 1/4 cups of water and the salt. bring to a boil stirring to dissolve the salt. remove from the heat allow to cool for 10 minutes then pour the warm fluid over the cherries. cover and refrigerate overnight. Drain the cherries discarding the liquid and rinse them with cold water. wash the bowl and return the cherries to the clean bowl. in a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, lemon juice and 1/4 cup of water. bring to a boil stirring to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat and add the almond extract. pour the mixture over the cherries; let cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight, stirring occasionally.

Simple Syrup

1 cup of sugar
1 cup water

... yes that's it.... heat both in a saucepan and stir until sugar is dissolved. simmer for 5 minutes, let cool and then cover tightly. refrigerate.


Essential Barware

Stuff you'll need.

- Some sort of cocktail shaker,like the boston shaker or one of those ones with the built in strainer.
- Strainer, fits over the glass. even one of those mesh strainers work fine as long as you can serve something straight up.
- Jigger, A 2 sided measuring tool, looks like an hourglass.
- Barspoon, A long handled barspoon works better than a teaspoon.
- Juicer, because you'll never have sour mix or margirita mix in your house again right? emotion_awesome the handheld one is the most convenient.
- a zester or channel knife. you can also use a vegetable peeler.

(with garnishes, when you are zesting, work over the glass. you want the oils that spray out to work it's way into the drink.)

Finally glassware.

I'm pretty liberal on glassware but it's a good idea to have a few very small glasses. no 8 oz martini glass, get something sane. It's good to have a 4-5 oz glass, an 8 oz glass and a few pint glasses.

[Valtiel the Watcher]

DRINK OF THE WEEK

A Cocktail using Ron Diplomáco's Rum.

Penumbra

Ingredients:

30 ml de Ron Diplomáco Reserva Exclusiva
10 ml de licor de Benedictine
10 ml de Madeira (port wine)
5 ml de licor de Maraschino (such as luxardo)

Stirr with cubes of ice and strain into a glass.

Created by: Jiri "George" Korinek from Tretter's bar



Spirit of the month


El Diplamitico Reserva Exclusiva

Due to the Ron Diplamitico World Tournimant going on I figured I would showcase one of their most popular rums that I have sampled many times. It is the rum I have people try when they tell me they don't like rum. It is with this rum that I convert them to rum drinkers themselves, and it is with this rum I show those who drink captain Morgan and Bacardi that rum is not one taste, not one uniform spirit, but a spirit with variety. It is very sweet and delightfully smooth, more like a fine cognac than a rum. It has a slight fruitiness to it all it's own. If you get a chance to try this spirit then please try it, it is worth the price.

Tobacco of the Month



Because I didn't get a chance to take notes on this cigar when I sampled it, I am going to just post this YouTube video.

[Valtiel the Watcher]

Shared Drinks and Smokes

Cocktails

Katsumi_Noir

Double Sweet Stag

50ml Jaegermeister
Half pint Red Bull
Large dash of Blackcurrent Cordial
Dash of Lime Cordial

Pour into a pint glass of ice, stir and serve.

Katsumi_Noir

Traditional Scottish cure for the common cold:

Hot Toddy:

Ingredients:
Whisky (I like Isle of Skye)
Water
Lemon Juice
Sugar
*Measure as you see fit*

Put water in a pan and bring to the boil.
Add sugar & stir to dissolve.
Add lemon Juice.
Stir.
Add a generous helping of Whisky. (this means just pour it in)
Stir.

Pour into a mug & drink.

VoirRouge

Stuff you might want to try if you like to get sloshed

Henesay sprite and lemon known as K.C. Tea
Get the goblet style glass (a large wine glass basically) two shots of hennny, rest of it as sprite and squeeze in half a lemon. Tastes like ******** tea.

Caribou Lou
half a gallon 151 Rum,
Pineapple juice
one cup Malibu Rum...

Homicidal Orange

blueberry vodka+irish cream+grand marnier= blueberry muffin.

gonk

Brands

Cigars and Pipe Tobacco

[Miss Esa]

The thread looks fantastic! Do you mind if we share drink recipes? I have a a folder full of favorites. ^.^

[Valtiel the Watcher]

Miss Esa

The thread looks fantastic! Do you mind if we share drink recipes? I have a a folder full of favorites. ^.^

Would be insulted if you diddn't

[Katsumi_Noir]

Traditional Scottish cure for the common cold:

Hot Toddy:

Ingredients:
Whisky (I like Isle of Skye)
Water
Lemon Juice
Sugar
*Measure as you see fit*

Put water in a pan and bring to the boil.
Add sugar & stir to dissolve.
Add lemon Juice.
Stir.
Add a generous helping of Whisky. (this means just pour it in)
Stir.

Pour into a mug & drink.

[Umesono]

I like the idea of this thread. Keep going with it! There's isn't a comprehensive cocktail/drinks thread here I think. Pictures would be awesome too.

As for smoking (kids you know you shouldn't do it!) but my god, ever since moving away from home where my dad has smoked since I was young, i sometimes want a cigarette. Sometimes I walk behind people who light up and I'm like inhaling the fumes behind them!

[Skye River]

Drinks whether if they are alcoholic or not are fine since it goes with meals as a side item or within the cooking sauce/marinade.

Tobacco has never provided any vitamins or any health benefits.

1. You chew it, you spit it out.
2. Smoking a cigar or cigarette (regardless of brand) is just a quick fix to relieve stress. Despite any "flavor" or accent that comes with cigars, there is no proven source of vitamins, carbs, etc. Digesting it is not advised for your digestive system.

[Valtiel the Watcher]

Skye River

Drinks whether if they are alcoholic or not are fine since it goes with meals as a side item or within the cooking sauce/marinade.

Tobacco has never provided any vitamins or any health benefits.

1. You chew it, you spit it out.
2. Smoking a cigar or cigarette (regardless of brand) is just a quick fix to relieve stress. Despite any "flavor" or accent that comes with cigars, there is no proven source of vitamins, carbs, etc. Digesting it is not advised for your digestive system.

if being an American has taught me one thing is that it doesn't need to have nutrients to be considered food. Either way tried this in the LD for that very reason and got recycle binned right away. I figured it'd me more at home here.

Edit: not to mention cigars and drinks are like peanut butter and jelly. They don't need to be together but can be a perfect match.

[Valtiel the Watcher]

Finally updated the drink of the week. added the aviation cocktail. Yah it's one of those sweet drinks and it has a cool ethereal blue to it.

[Charley]

I'm one of those heretics that takes their martini with a twist instead of an olive, but yes please make it all gin and no vodka. Vermouth I'm fine with, but it's gotta be crisp, clean, dry vermouth. I've got an unofficial rule that it's gotta be cold weather for me to order a martini.

Also heretic + but Tanqueray Rangpur is excellent for the same reasons.

I'm usually not a cocktail person though. I'm a single session wine or beer guy and usually think around food pairings. I'd be down to help folks match drink choices to meals.

[Valtiel the Watcher]

Charley

I'm one of those heretics that takes their martini with a twist instead of an olive, but yes please make it all gin and no vodka. Vermouth I'm fine with, but it's gotta be crisp, clean, dry vermouth. I've got an unofficial rule that it's gotta be cold weather for me to order a martini.

Also heretic + but Tanqueray Rangpur is excellent for the same reasons.

I'm usually not a cocktail person though. I'm a single session wine or beer guy and usually think around food pairings. I'd be down to help folks match drink choices to meals.

I'm generally ok with enough gin in my martinin that I can at least taste it but there are enough variations on the martini that aren't so orthodox. Just had a martini esque cocktail which included crème de violette and absinthe, it was surprisingly good.

[Charley]

My wife used to be a bartender and I've kind of wanted her to reignite her talents, but I don't know if I want to invest the time and money to dive into mixology yet. Maybe once we build our new stemware shelf and have room to move things around. We've got two wine racks and a beer fridge, but liquor holdings are usually for very sessionable bourbons, scotches, and dark rums that I nurse over rocks in a tumbler.

I will say that I'm a total sucker for a smartly done bloody mary or a mint julep though. Southern things in my blood that will never die.

[Fashion Fascist]

I fully support this thread. Finally, others who appreciate the finer things in life!