Ferris Bueller

I've made my official entry, but as far as mixed drinks, if you have a hot day, heres my white sangria mix for the books:
(WARNING: THIS WILL GET YOU TANKED)
Recipe is PER PITCHER.
1/2 Bottle Champagne
2 oz courvoisier
3 oz cointreau OR grand marnier
1/2 can sprite
3 oz simple syrup
5-7 FRESH mint leaves crushed in ice
sliced oranges, limes, cherries
Ice to fill.

Combine in pitcher, stir, consume.

As far as straight from the bottle drinks, I'm a scotch man myself. I have a 1954 Macallan that I paid a kings ransom for (no, really, thousands of dollars) that I prize above all else. I'd love to get my hands on the coveted 1926 Macallan, but at the mere price of 38k USD per bottle for the remaining 8 bottles in existence, it may be a while before it's sitting atop my bar. Although, for everyday drink, a standard Macallan 18 year or 21 year isnt bad at all.

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

CingularDuality

Oh, it depends on what I have available... If I use fresh peaches, then I have to use some syrup along with the peach schnapps, the rum, the triple sec and the fresh lime or lime juice.

If I use canned (well) peaches, then I can go easy on the syrup, or maybe even skip it.

My wife just brought home a 2 liter bottle of some generic peach soda that I thought would go well with a non-frozen version of my daiquiri. Turn it into a sparkling peach daiquiri...


Anyway, I'm not big on recipes. My favorite drinks are pretty simple and the recipes can be found in that tattered Mr. Boston's that every bar must have. The rest I make up as I go. If it doesn't taste quite right, I'll foist the drink off on some unsuspecting guinea pig and tweak the next one. Rinse and repeat until I like what I taste. Sometimes this goes on long enough that I don't care what it tastes like. <shrug>

Oh, and I know you said you didn't want frozen drinks in this contest, but if you're making frozen drinks, you must have a good blender. I recommend this: http://www.vita-mix.com/ but don't buy it new. Like BowFlex machines, there are always some used-once deals for sale in your local classifieds. This blender is absolutely worth the price new, though.

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Ferris Bueller

Indeed. Although, I did get drunk enough once to break my blender and got very creative by cranking my kitchen-aid stand mixer on ludicrous speed and made drinks that way for a while. The aftermath the next day of cleaning various used-to-be-frozen drink concoctions off the roof of the kitchen was quite interesting as well.

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

Razcsak

This right here is how to host parties. Fantastic. Its also pretty much what a friend and I do whenever we manage to find ourselves in a house party with a nice bartender and a good selection. Since we're getting a house together this fall, I'm predicting many, many such nights.

For summer drinks, though, I'm currently fond of a very basic Amaretto Sour. 1:2 Amaretto : Sour mix blend.

Boot

I've collected a decent martini list over the years. One of the ladies' favorites:

Washington Apple Martini

1.0 Crown Royal
1.0 Sour Apple Pucker
1.0 Cranberry Juice

Combine in shaker with ice, shake, pour, serve.

I also had a longtime martinier tell me the secret to a good martini is how you shake. Don't treat the thing like it's your baby rattle. Rock it, with a whole body motion. It's real old school, Mad Men style.

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WhiskeySix

^^^ men who know the key to a good party (great drinks btw - both sound awesome!)

c'mon, work it out my man!!


not a big fan of gin, but if any of the neigbors have some, we'll dial this one up and see what's what!

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ScratchMonkey

So what does this accomplish, exactly? Is the objective to mix thoroughly, or not? (The scientist in me wants to know. )

For comparison, there are dishes where complete mixing is not wanted, since you want pockets of particular flavors. With chocolate chip cookies, for example, you don't want the chips reduced to liquid and blended into the batter. The same applies to blueberries in blueberry pancakes. Is that what you're after with globules of some of the liquids in a mixed drink?

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Boot

Good question, and to confirm your suspicion I can tell you that it blends the same and there is no difference in taste. The difference is in the expectation of the drinker. In my house usually only the women drink martinis, so making the martini with a "special process", especially one that is a bit showy (or makes me look goofy while I do it) makes it taste better (to them).

It's an odd point I know, but sometimes complicated is special. Example: Starbucks' coffee stinks (bring it, baristas). But when we go I order a medium coffee. My wife asks for a skinny venti latte with a shot of sugar-free vanilla, chocolate flakes, and something else I can never remember. It's the experience we're paying for, not the coffee (which stinks).

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WhiskeySix

The point of violent shaking is to break off all the pointy edges of the ice... these melt nearly instantly, which instantly cools the otherwise room temperature drink - and mellows it a bit.

explanation compliments of an episode of Good Eats a few years back

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Sarcoma

Served at my wedding, taste like fruit punch.

1 part Creme De Almond
1 part Southern Comfort
1/2 part pineapple juice (no pulp)

Its sweet and fruity, great for a mixer.

Sarcoma

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ScratchMonkey

Ah, my favorite source of kitchen science.

So now I'm wondering if there's a better way get little slivers of ice, when my ice source might not have enough little points. I bet you could use a shaver or other source of crushed ice to throw a little "snow" in the drink along with cubes prior to mixing.

I was also listening to something on the radio suggesting that you freeze a bit of something you want chilled in ice trays to avoid diluting the something when you serve it. For example, freeze cubes of soup for gazpacho to put in the soup at serving time on a hot summer day.

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snooggums' density principal: "The more dense a population, the more dense a population."

Iliana: "You're a great friend but if we're ever chased by zombies I'm tripping you."

Boot

Icepick should do it. Might have to get me one.

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ScratchMonkey

Some blenders come with ice crusher attachments, and some refrigerators with automatic ice makers have a crushed ice setting.

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snooggums' density principal: "The more dense a population, the more dense a population."

Iliana: "You're a great friend but if we're ever chased by zombies I'm tripping you."

CingularDuality

A decent blender will turn ice cubes into a snow cone with one or two pulses.

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

ScratchMonkey

So there you have it: Crush one cube together with the un-iced drink, and you've got it fully blended and chilled, and just add a few cubes to hold it at the low temp. The Lazyboy way to blend a drink!

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snooggums' density principal: "The more dense a population, the more dense a population."

Iliana: "You're a great friend but if we're ever chased by zombies I'm tripping you."