Ask a Bartender!

[Mister Ash]

I had a pint called Skullsplitter once. It was 9.2%. Pretty damn manly if you ask me!

Skullsplitter, from Orkney brewery used to be the strongest beer (traditional english beer, I'll add), till some of the nice folks at Abbydale, in Sheffield, brewed "The Last Rites' which clocks in at 11%

although, while on the subject of beer, we once had an idea (us being Me, my boss, and the brewer at Titanic brewery (who brews our house beers)) of adding 2 litres of Port, to an 18 gallon cask of Titanic Wreckage. we arn't sure on the exact math, but it started at 7.2%, bumped up to around 9% after adding the port, and the secondary fermentation pushed it up to... 12-13% (Brewers yeast dies at around 14%, so no stronger than that)

that made a mess out of alot of people.

How did that end up tasting? sounds like it could have been a good brew

It was bloody gorgeous actually! Wreckage is a Christmas beer anyway, so quite sweet, heavy malts, cinnamon and almond aftertaste. Combine that with port, and it's sweeter, fruitier, and doesn't taste like it's gonna blow your head off, but still manages it.

 

[hashinta]

I had a pint called Skullsplitter once. It was 9.2%. Pretty damn manly if you ask me!

Skullsplitter, from Orkney brewery used to be the strongest beer (traditional english beer, I'll add), till some of the nice folks at Abbydale, in Sheffield, brewed "The Last Rites' which clocks in at 11%

although, while on the subject of beer, we once had an idea (us being Me, my boss, and the brewer at Titanic brewery (who brews our house beers)) of adding 2 litres of Port, to an 18 gallon cask of Titanic Wreckage. we arn't sure on the exact math, but it started at 7.2%, bumped up to around 9% after adding the port, and the secondary fermentation pushed it up to... 12-13% (Brewers yeast dies at around 14%, so no stronger than that)

that made a mess out of alot of people.

How did that end up tasting? sounds like it could have been a good brew

It was bloody gorgeous actually! Wreckage is a Christmas beer anyway, so quite sweet, heavy malts, cinnamon and almond aftertaste. Combine that with port, and it's sweeter, fruitier, and doesn't taste like it's gonna blow your head off, but still manages it.

ahh don't tell me that! now i just want to try it for myself damn i'm going to be thinking about beer all night now.

Also for my question, what the hell is with music these days? how did we ever fall so far that someone like lady gaga or the jonas brothers can be even allowed near a microphone let alone a recording studio!

 

[gentleben]

Also for my question, what the hell is with music these days? how did we ever fall so far that someone like lady gaga or the jonas brothers can be even allowed near a microphone let alone a recording studio!

I don't mind Gaga, at least she's writing her own stuff and looks poon half the time. I can't say I know who the Jonas Brothers are, so I won't pass judgement on them either.

The person I really don't like in the music industry these days is Billy Ray Cyrus's kid, I don't know where her sense of entitlement came from, but the whole Radiohead debacle was well worth it just to see her get put in her place.

Do you know the receipt for "To Be Or Not To Be" ? I know that it has Cola, Blueberry and Black Pushkin(I think that's the name)

To tell you the truth, your best bet with drinks like this is to just consult the internet. I don't bother learning many modern drinks because I feel that a lot of them have departed from the art of making cocktails. There are thousands of drinks getting invented every year, and it is just not a good use of time to go out and try to memorize every drink you come across. Sure, 1 punter in every 1000 will be shitty when you don't know how to make a "flaming aligator" or some such crap, but the fact of the matter is, 99% of bartenders wouldn't know how to make it anyway, and chances are that I could make something off the cuff that they would like just as much.

I mainly concern myself with learning the classics and knowing the products that I have at my disposal well enough that I can use everything in my bar in at least one drink, as I find that a decent knowledge of the basics provides you with everything you need to make great drinks. You can get a long way making small, subtle changes to a great drink. One twisted classic that I've been working on lately (still isn't completed) is called the English Rose, and is essentially a martini variation using Hendricks Gin (super complex rose petal and cucumber infused gin), rose syrup that my sister brought home from India, dry vermouth and bitters.

 

[Mister Ash]

*snip*

One twisted classic that I've been working on lately (still isn't completed) is called the English Rose, and is essentially a martini variation using Hendricks Gin (super complex rose petal and cucumber infused gin), rose syrup that my sister brought home from India, dry vermouth and bitters.

that sounds pretty nice... I do enjoy cocktails (making, and drinking them) but in my pub, I don't get much chance. more of a traditional beer swilling place. wooden floors, brick walls, 10 hand pumps.

But if you can think of a few things to use up the bottle of Taboo I've had on the shelf since christmas 2007, it'd be nice.

 

[gentleben]

*snip*

One twisted classic that I've been working on lately (still isn't completed) is called the English Rose, and is essentially a martini variation using Hendricks Gin (super complex rose petal and cucumber infused gin), rose syrup that my sister brought home from India, dry vermouth and bitters.

that sounds pretty nice... I do enjoy cocktails (making, and drinking them) but in my pub, I don't get much chance. more of a traditional beer swilling place. wooden floors, brick walls, 10 hand pumps.

But if you can think of a few things to use up the bottle of Taboo I've had on the shelf since christmas 2007, it'd be nice.

I've never heard of Taboo before, and searching for it on google wasn't as productive as I had hoped, but I'm assuming it's the Absinthe I've found hits on?

Some absinthe cocktails I make...

Wicked Witch of the East - on page one.

Morning Glory Fizz

45ml Dewar's Special Reserve Scotch
15ml Absinthe
15ml Lime juice
15ml Lemon juice
2 bar spoons of castor sugar
1 egg white

-Add sugar to the mixing glass, juices, sotch, absinthe and eggwhite.
- Dry shake without ice to emulsify the egg
- add ice and give it a second shake
- Strain it in to a highball and top with sparkling water.

Unfortunately there's not much I can do for you in the way of absinthe cocktails. I only have one absinthe in my bar which I wouldn't give to anyone.

 

[Mister Ash]

*snip*

*double snip*

from Wiki (after some digging)

Taboo is a fruit-flavoured spirit made in the UK. Its main ingredients are vodka, white wine and exotic fruit juices. Its alcohol content is 14.9% (29.8 proof).[1]
Taboo was first put out on the market in 1988 by drinks company First Drink. However after a honeymoon period for the product up until the early 1990s the company spent very little money on promoting it in later years; in 2005 only £8,000 was spent. However in 2006 First Drink hired 23red to boost Taboo's profile.

it's a bizzare drink, the only person i know who liked it, was my ex, and she only drank it once in blue moon

 

[gentleben]

*snip*

*double snip*

from Wiki (after some digging)

Taboo is a fruit-flavoured spirit made in the UK. Its main ingredients are vodka, white wine and exotic fruit juices. Its alcohol content is 14.9% (29.8 proof).[1]
Taboo was first put out on the market in 1988 by drinks company First Drink. However after a honeymoon period for the product up until the early 1990s the company spent very little money on promoting it in later years; in 2005 only £8,000 was spent. However in 2006 First Drink hired 23red to boost Taboo's profile.

it's a bizzare drink, the only person i know who liked it, was my ex, and she only drank it once in blue moon

Wow, great job they've done boosting its profile when you can't even find it searching "taboo liqueur" on google. Top notch.

Sorry, but I'm finding it really hard to imagine what that would taste like. I'm sort of imagining something lik Hpnotiq, and that drink is such a clusterfuck that I wouldn't serve it to Hitler (assuming he was the kind of 12 year old bi-curious dance enthusiast that would order it).

But then, on the other hand, with the white wine aspect it could be quite unique, however, just its name makes me feel that it would be gross (Couldn't stop thinking of this as soon as I thought of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjK-hCgk4Hk ).

Just toss it in to the drink I make whenever someone wants a fruit tingle in my bar (our entire venue doesn't stock blue curacao because it is retarded and essentially a triple sec full of blue food dye)

30ml Vodka
15ml Massanez Pomme Verte (Green apple liquer)
15ml Paraiso (Lychee Liqueur)

In a highball glass, fill to about 2cm from the top with cranberry juice, and then top off with lemonade.

Substitute one or both of those out for the whatever it was called. Serve it when people ask for a fruity cocktail, it's a method I use whenever I get told to push something because we're getting new stock in.

 

[Time Travelling Toaster]

I'll stick with my gamers cocktails
If anyone wants the recipes for them I'll happily dig them out of the endless experiment cupboard I have.

 

[Anarchemitis]

What is a Vesper?

 

[gentleben]

What is a Vesper?

Another martini variation.

It was invented by James Bond in Casino Royale. The original recipe they used in the book was different to the one they used in the movie.

From the book:
"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."

"Oui, monsieur."

"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"

"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.

Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."

As it was originally invented in the 50s, a lot of the ingredients that were around then aren't around or aren't easily accessible anymore (many of the alcohols have also toned down their alcohol percentage since then, Gordon's gin for instance used to be 90 proof I believe, and is now only 80 proof). Esquire magazine printed a "remake" of the cocktail using modern ingredients in conjunction with the movie coming out.

"Shake (if you must) with plenty of cracked ice. [Mix] 3 oz Tanqueray gin, 1 oz 100-proof Stolichnaya vodka, 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc, 1/8 teaspoon (or less) quinine powder or, in desperation, 2 dashes of bitters. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and twist a large swatch of thin-cut lemon peel over the top."

A vesper is also a kind of scooter or the Roman god of the evening star.

 

[Mister Ash]

Three measures of Gordons, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet, shake over ice then add a thin slice of lemon peel.

Lillet is a brand of French aperitif wine. It is a blend of 85% wine and citrus liqueurs made from a variety of oranges. [I didn't know, so I looked it up, and posted it too]

 

[Mister Ash]

What is a Vesper?

*snip*

damn Ninja...

 

[Gerazzi]

hhmmm.....how do you stop your life from spiraling out of control when you were the one to start everything that has happen?

42.

 

[gentleben]

What is a Vesper?

*snip*

damn Ninja...

I'm like the wind.

 

[kaziard]

gimme a few drink ideas, prime spirit is sambuca (had slippery nipples) but i likes me vodka too

 

[kaziard]

What's the manliest drink out there

Mike's hard lemonade without the lemon.

I always considered that brand kind of gay.

Whats the manliest beer

I had a pint called Skullsplitter once. It was 9.2%. Pretty damn manly if you ask me!

come back when you have had a sheepshagger....that came out wrong

 

[Mister Ash]

gimme a few drink ideas, prime spirit is sambuca (had slippery nipples) but i likes me vodka too

Fallen Star - 1 shot each of Jack Daniels and Sambuca.

 

[D_987]

Have you ever been captured and / or held prisoner by a scientific group looking to find lost treasure by forcing you to recall memories of your ancestors?

 

[chromewarriorXIII]

What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

African or European?

EDIT: Ninja'd... well that's a first I think...

EDIT2: A question. My dad apparently made this mix of Fresca and tequila that is really good (wouldn't know, I'm 16) but he can't think of a name for it. Got any suggestions?

 

[gentleben]

gimme a few drink ideas, prime spirit is sambuca (had slippery nipples) but i likes me vodka too

I've had some people come in and get a black storm - layered shot of black sambucca, kahlua and irish cream.

Vodka you can do anything with. Seriously. Take vodka, add whatever random assortment of mixers you want, and assuming you like the flavour of the mixers combined you will like the flavour of the finished cocktail.

But just for the sake of it, try 30ml vodka, 30ml Licor 43, lime and soda.