As Familiar as a Tetnus Shot, or Cosmopolitan vs. Rusty Nail

Hello from Michigan!  Where roads are rough, winters are rougher, and where you need a GPS and a note from mommy to turn left on a main street.  What in the world is with the roads here?  Locals tell me that once you get used to the potholes, the road construction, the tailgating, the no-fault insurance, and the Michigan Lefts, you'll be fine.  Michigan Lefts?  What in the world are Michigan Lefts?  I had to look it up, so click on the link to find out Wikipedia's explanation: Michigan Lefts.

Basically, you have to drive past the road you want to left on, then do a U-turn and drive back to the road you wanted to turn left on and turn right on to it.  They're.all.over.the.state.  What genius thought of these?  Proponents say that the collisions aren't as bad as they would be if left turns were allowed.  What they fail to recognize is that people are spending longer times on the road, which makes them more susceptible to collisions.  Plus it takes you twice as long to get anywhere.  Who can I call to point this out to?  Anyone have the Governor's number?

Anyway - back to the cocktails!  This challenge has two fantastic drinks!  By the way - if you ever have any questions about the title, don't be afraid to ask - my wife did about this one, so I told her what it meant.  Speaking of my wife, Cosmopolitans are one of her favorite drinks (these segues are getting smoother, no?).  I've actually witnessed her send one back because it wasn't mixed right - they redid it, and everything was fine.  I've also seen her call a restaurant a couple of days after having a Cosmo and asking for the specific brands that restaurant used because she enjoyed their version so much - yup, my girl knows her some Cosmos!

Cosmo without the shake

I was actually nervous when she tried this - I wasn't sure why, but I was.  She really enjoyed this version - I've already contacted the IBA, so they can announce to the masses, her pleasure with their recipe through print in their next newsletter.  I'm waiting for a thank you letter from them - I can only assume that it has been lost in the mail.

The Two Condenders

Here `tis:

Cosmopolitan

1.4 oz. Citron Vodka

0.5 oz. Cointreau

0.5 oz. Fresh Lime Juice

1 oz. Cranberry Juice

Place all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake.  Strain into a chilled glass garnish with a lime slice.

Now onto the Rusty Nail - a completely different drink from the Cosmo - but how good!

About to be one of my favorite cocktails

I remember thinking that it tasted like my childhood doctor's office smelled...perhaps my childhood doctor had a problem that my parents and I weren't aware of.  I have read that Scotch can sometimes be described as "mediciny", so I guess I know what is meant by that now.

The Rusty Nail is a fantastic drink that if you haven't tried yet, you should...here's the recipe:

Rusty Nail with a Spherical Ice Ball

Rusty Nail

1.5 oz. Scotch Whisky

0.8 oz. Drambuie

Pour liquors over ice.  Gently stir and enjoy.

So here I am again, as I was when I left California with two phenomenal drinks.  There was a tie when I left CA, and here I am with our first entry in MI - I'm thinking this should be a tie too.  So....the winners are....Cosmopolitan AND Rusty Nail!!!

The Winners!

The Ingredients
For the Cosmopolitan:
Citron Vodka - Svedka
Cointreau - Cointreau
Fresh Lime Juice
Cranberry Juice - Ocean Spray

For the Rusty Nail
Scotch Whisky - Buchanan's 12 Year
Drambuie - Drambuie

Up Next...Azov.  Or, Sea Breeze vs. Russian Spring Punch

Brazil for Spring Break, or Caipirinha vs. Sex on the Beach

Hello and welcome to this rendition!

 I'm reminded of waiting on a gift for a birthday for a long time, and then getting it, and wished I hadn't.  The Caipirinha is a unique tasting drink that I had looked forward to - it's the national cocktail of Brazil. No offense to my Brazilian friends, but...really?   I'd rather drink something non-alcoholic than the Caipirinha (did I really just type that?). To me, it's obviously the Leblon I dislike, so perhaps a different type of cachaça would change my mind on at the Caipirinha...a very acquired taste. Wow...any suspense on which drink won this round?

The two contenders

Caipirinha

1.7 oz. Cachaça

half fresh lime cut into 4 wedges 

2 teaspoon sugar

Place lime and sugar in old fashion glass and muddle.
Fill glass with ice and Cachaça

Ingredients for Sex on the Beach

And now onto Sex on the Beach.  <Insert your own joke here.>  One of my favorite drinks when I was younger was the Fuzzy Navel - this has some of the ingredients in it, and some people put vodka in their Fuzzy Navels (maybe to try and cure the fuzziness..haha...ha. Ha.  Sorry.)

Sex on the Beach

1.4 oz. Vodka

0.7 oz. Peach Schnapps

1.4 oz. Cranberry Juice

1.4 oz. Orange Juice

Build all ingredients in a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with orange slice.

Sex on the Beach <viewer discretion advised>

From its name, you'd think it was a shot, but it's not.  I enjoyed Sex on the Beach <Insert your own joke here.>, so the clear winner this round is Sex on the Beach!

The Ingredients
For the Caipirinha:
Cachaça - Leblon
Fresh Lime juice

For Sex on the Beach:
Vodka - Prairie Organic 
Peach Schnapps - DeKuyper Peachtree
Cranberry Juice - Store Brand
Fresh Orange Juice

Up Next -  Two Differently the Same, or Champagne Cocktail vs. Mimosa

Passengers to the Republic, or Sidecar vs. Singapore Sling

Passengers to the Republic - wasn't that a movie with Jimmy Stewart?  No?  What am I thinking of?  Hmm...

Okay, so you know from the last match that the Sidecar loses by default.  Sorry - I just don't like Sidecars.  I know there are the cocktail elite out there that have probably discounted my blog because I said this (wait - haha - they probably did that the first time they read my blog - hahaha), but it's just too bitter for me.  So here's the recipe:

Sidecar

1.7 oz. Cognac

0.7 oz. Triple Sec

0.7 oz. Lemon Juice

Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Sidecar Ingredients

Now with that all behind us, this next cocktail is a real treat. This is why I started the blog.  The Singapore Sling is a perfectly balanced drink - nothing over powers anything else in it.  Not too much alcohol, not too much fruit juice - everything is balanced.  What I don't know is why mine wasn't quite as red as ones I've seen in pictures.  If anyone has a suggestion, leave a comment.

Singapore Sling

1 oz. Gin

0.5 oz. Cherry Liqueur

0.25 oz. Cointreau

0.25 oz. DOM Bénédictine

4 oz. Pineapple Juice

0.5 oz. Lime Juice

0.3 oz. Grenadine

1 dash Angostura Bitters

Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Shake well.
Strain into highball glass.
Garnish with pineapple and cocktail cherry.

Singapore Sling Things

The drink calls for pineapple juice.  I don't have a juicer, but I read online that you can juice a pineapple with a blender, so I assembled everything together, and got to blendin'.  It worked great! 

Pineapple

Pineapple in a blender

Pineapple through a sieve to separate the solids from the juice (an incredibly lengthy process)

Pineapple through the sieve, in the process of yielding about six ounces

 It took me about an hour to juice 1 pineapple, and yielded about 6 ounces, but yes, you definitely, and without a doubt, can juice a pineapple with your blender.  Will I ever do it again?  Absolutely not!

Pineapple on the edge

Winner!

 

The obvious winner is the Singapore Sling!  I would order (and have since) ordered this in a club.  A friend of mine ordered it, and the bartender used Maraschino instead of Cherry Liqueur - BIG difference!

By the way, did you get the title reference?  Singapore is a Republic unto itself - I didn't know that until I did this blog - look at me learning and everything!

Ingredients

For the Sidecar

Cognac - Landy VS

Triple Sec - Cointreau

Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

For the Singapore Sling

Gin - Citadelle

Cherry Liqueur - Luxardo Cherry Liqueur

Cointreau - starring as itself

D.O.M. Bénédictine - starring as itself

Freshly Blended Pineapple Juice

Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

Homemade Grenadine

Up Next - Bushes for the Ghost, or Bramble vs. Bloody Mary

The Pirates Smoked my Cigars! or, Bacardi vs. Cuba Libre

I let you down.

I let myself down.

I let the entire cocktailian community down.

This is pretty bad folks.  I can't apologize enough.  It happens to everyone at one time or another, I suppose.  I just didn't think it would happen to me so soon.  See, there's been a lot of stress in my life lately, and I know it's not an excuse, but I guess that's all I have.  Please forgive me.  I can't believe I'm saying this myself, but here it goes - I bought grenadine instead of making it.  I told you it was pretty bad.  I just simply didn't have enough time to juice the pomegranate, let alone time for it to cool properly.  I will say that the brand I bought - Stirrings - is the finest manufactured version I've ever had.  It's not that red colored sugar water that's passed as grenadine so often today.  So - whew! - I feel much better now!  Next time I need grenadine I will make it, and show how I do...

...our first drink is the Bacardi!  The only drink recipe that's protected by copyright law.  "Is that true?", I wondered.  "Maybe." I answered.  "You're being incredibly liberal in your use of punctuation and grammar.", I added.   Sorry - wow - see?  A lot of stress...

Well, yeah, it's true, but only because of the name Bacardi.  If it were called "Rum Cocktail" it couldn't be copyrighted.  So - this was a fine drink - just a little too harsh/sour for me.  I think it was the rum, and you'll see why I think that at the bottom of this entry.

Bacardi

1.5 oz. Bacardi White Rum

0.7 oz. Fresh Lime Juice

0.3 oz. Grenadine

Pour all ingredients into shaker with ice cubes, shake well, strain into chilled cocktail glass.

The three parts of a Bacardi

Now we move on to the Cuba Libre.  I was surprised by this - I've had it before and really didn't care for it at all.  I had it this time, and...well..."Free Cuba!"  Hold on - if you're reading this, and part of Homeland Security, I'm not in any way saying that the US should lift any part of the embargo on Cuba.  I'm just saying that I really enjoyed this drink, so please don't deport me back to Canada...Free Cuba is what Cuba Libre means in Spanish.

Bacardi on the left and Cuba Libre on the right

Cuba Libre

1.7 oz. White Rum

4 oz. Cola

0.3 oz. Fresh Lime Juice

Build all ingredients in a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with lime wedge.

Toss these in a glass for a Cuba Libre

Now the key to this, that I think is missed a lot, is that the directions say to build the cocktail - don't stir, just build.  Much like you'd build a pousse-café (see the B52 entry) - one ingredient at a time, and no mixing.  I'll tell you, this drink was very refreshing - it even bordered on Gin and Tonic refreshing for me.  I should A/B them one day...I'll put it on the to-blog list.

Cuba Libre!

The winner in this round was easily the Cuba Libre.  So I think the big difference was the rum brands.  I've drank Bacardi before, and I think they have a decent product, but when I compared it with Don Q's Cristal, it was night and day.  Bacardi had that nasty alcohol bite, and Don Q was smooooooth and had that nice easy-drinking mouth feel to it.  I'm glad I only bought a small bottle of Bacardi for this entry...

The Ingredients
For the Bacardi:
Bacardi White Rum - Bacardi Light
Grenadine - Stirrings

For the Cuba Libre:
White Rum - Don Q Cristal
Cola - Coca-Cola (Coke)

Up Next - Fishing in Sicily, or Barracuda vs. Bellini