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

Cena para desayuno, or Tommy's Margarita vs. Tequila Sunrise

Two tequila drinks in one challenge - I'm not a tequila guy, so this should be interesting.  I've never understood taking a shot of tequila - you know, salt on the hand, lick the salt, take a shot, eat a lemon wedge.  Maybe it's the brand I've always had it with (Jose Cuervo), but I've never been able to enjoy doing tequila shots.  Someone once told me to skip the salt and lemon and just chase it with a shot of tomato juice - that worked but then what was the point?

First up is Tommy's Margarita.  Who is Tommy, and why does he get his own Margarita?  I searched high and low, just for you (well okay, for me too). The deal is that this Margarita was created by Julio Bermejo whose family owns Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco, and if you're in town and feel like tequila, this is the place to go.  Tommy was Julio's dad who passed on in 2011, and is the namesake of the drink.

Tommy's Margarita Ingredients

Tommy's Margarita

1 1/2 oz. Tequila

1/2 oz. Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

2 Bar Spoons of Agave Nectar

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Tommy's Margarita

Now the Tequila Sunrise is a gorgeous looking cocktail tha....OH I JUST REMEMBERED!!!  IT NEEDS GRENADINE!!!  Man oh man!!!  Remember when I said that I let myself down because I used the bottled stuff and I said that the next time I'd be making grenadine?  Well this is the next time!  Aren't you excited?!?!?!?  Woo hoo!!!

Ready?  Here we we go:

Ingredients

Grenadine

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Cup Freshly Squeezed Pomegranate Juice

1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

2 to 3 Drops Orange-Flower Water

1. Heat pomegranate juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until steam rises from the surface and a few bubbles have formed around the perimeter of the pan, about 5 minutes. (Do not boil.) Remove from heat.
2. Add sugar and stir until it has dissolved and the liquid is no longer cloudy, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in lemon juice and orange-flower water and let the syrup cool to room temperature, about 40 minutes. 
4. Transfer to a container with a tightfitting lid and refrigerate for up to 1 month.

The above was borrowed stolen from Chow.com - awesome site if you have a chance.

Clear - kinda

Cooling

So the Tequila Sunrise has been around for a while, in two versions - the one the IBA uses was introduced sometime between 1930 - 1940 and it is fantastic!

Tequila, Orange, and Grenadine

Tequila Sunrise

1 1/2 oz. Tequila

3 oz. Orange Juice

1/2 oz. Grenadine

Pour tequila and orange juice directly into highball with ice cubes.

Add a splash of grenadine to create chromatic effect (sunrise), do not stir.

Garnish with orange slice and cherry.

Tequila Sunrise

Wow this was tough deciding which one I liked better.  Tommy's Margarita has it's charms, but the Tequila Sunrise is so good that I just couldn't eliminate it.  So what could I do?

Well...if it can be done on American Idol, gosh-darn-it, it can be done on Drinking the IBA - both drinks are moving on to the next round!  Don't tell Simon I'm using his idea.

To keep things even, I had to decide on a drink to drop - that was fairly easy - the White Lady was gone.  No tears spilled over that one!

The Winners!

Now - if I could only remember where I left that worm...

The Ingredients

For Tommy's Margarita:

Tequila - Espolon Reposado Tequila

Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

Agave Nectar - Madhava 

For the Tequila Sunrise:

Tequila - Espolon Reposado Tequila

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

Homemade Grenadine

Up Next - Lounging with the Scorpian, or Between the Sheets vs. Stinger

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