Yeah. I bet you're right. I probably can't actually tell the difference between half the stuff, but if I know it's expensive then my mind just makes it taste better. Like with wine. I don't know shit about wine, but I feel fancy and nice when I drink expensive wine. But wine doesn't belong in this thread, so sorry for brining it up.
I love beer when I don't want to get drunk. But if I want to feel the alcohol at any point, it must be a night of whiskey. Jack is my shooting whiskey, forever, double Johnnie black or double Jameson for pool or cigars.
The guys on mythbusters did a taste test with the filtering of cheap vodka, and they found that it does indeed improve the flavor. They got a vodka expert to taste expensive vodka and cheap vodka, with a myriad of different filtration levels in between. He rated the levels of filtration correctly. It wasn't as good as the expensive vodka but it was an improvement over the cheap, unfiltered stuff.
You know those ads - Dicerona on the Rocks? Well I tried one of those, and wow, delicious! It tastes like cherries.
I'm sipping on a G+T made with bombay saphire as I type, with a big ol' hunk of lime floating in it. Very good.
I'm a fan of a classic screwdriver, or anything mixed with pineapple juice. I love pineapple juice. Also, just about any girly drink I will enjoy, although I've never tried a martini.
As for shots, I am inexperienced in this area, but I had a "Cock Sucking Cowgirl/boy (depending on the orientation of your bar)" and it was delicious. Butterscotch Schnapps + Baileys.
I also invented (or just assume I invented) what I call a Tropical Eddy. It's orangle/pineapple juice with vanilla vodka (stoli's if possible). It's a creamsicle, but with a tropical twist!
The best drink for establishing that you did not come to the bar to be fucked with is a crowbar with a Jack chaser. It's not very girly and if you fuck it up you will totally be fucked with.
One shot; Crown, 151, Cuervo. The Jack chaser is because before my first crowbar, my buddy refused to let me know what's in it, and the bartender was making wierd faces and trying to talk me into a chaser.
Wait, so that's one shot of each, or one of three equal parts? Because that sounds decidedly fucking nasty. Then again anything with Cuervo in it is nasty, so.
Wait, so that's one shot of each, or one of three equal parts? Because that sounds decidedly fucking nasty. Then again anything with Cuervo in it is nasty, so.
Three equal parts. It's quite effective. See I don't like shots that include ingredients that are less than 80 proof.
One shot; Crown, 151, Cuervo. The Jack chaser is because before my first crowbar, my buddy refused to let me know what's in it, and the bartender was making wierd faces and trying to talk me into a chaser.
That sounds terrible. Bitter Sweet and Sour? Yuck. Much better is the three wisemen.
Johnny, Jack, and Jim
Also. Poo poo on all of you who like Reposado. Reposado is for mixing, not for drinking. Anejo is for drinking.
Taco Bell does win the franchise war according to the tome of knowledge that is Demolition Man. However, I've watched Demolition Man more then a few times and never once did I see WoW. In conclusion Taco Bell has more lasting power then WoW.
I love whiskey, but scotch is still my one true weakness. Peat is the preferred flavor of real men. Unfortunately I am still in college and everyone drinks fucking 40s or PBR or jungle juice or shit.
Most of the commercial gin I've had tastes like fucking trees. Yes, I know it's really juniper, it still blows.
Podlyyou unzipped me! it's all coming back! i don't like it!Registered Userregular
edited August 2007
For anyone in NYC, there's a store on Broadway by astor place that has RIDICULOUS prices on expensive liquor and large bottles of average liquor. For example: a 1.5 litre bottle of Bombay was $40. Dalwhinnie, a $75 bottle, was $30.
I like Dalwhinnie even more than Johnny Walker Blue.
For anyone in NYC, there's a store on Broadway by astor place that has RIDICULOUS prices on expensive liquor and large bottles of average liquor. For example: a 1.5 litre bottle of Bombay was $40. Dalwhinnie, a $75 bottle, was $30.
I like Dalwhinnie even more than Johnny Walker Blue.
Oh god, I love Johnnie Walker. I've only had green label though.
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MrMisterJesus dying on the cross in pain? Morally better than us. One has to go "all in".Registered Userregular
Unfortunately I am still in college and everyone drinks fucking 40s or PBR or jungle juice or shit.
I've spent a lot of nights recently drinking 40s in the park with friends. Which is pretty hilarious, given that I'm over 21. Still, it's cheap and fun, and it means that I don't have to take anything back to the camp I work at (a big no-no).
Unfortunately I am still in college and everyone drinks fucking 40s or PBR or jungle juice or shit.
I've spent a lot of nights recently drinking 40s in the park with friends. Which is pretty hilarious, given that I'm over 21. Still, it's cheap and fun, and it means that I don't have to take anything back to the camp I work at (a big no-no).
Ever since seeing Don't be a Menace to South Central while Drinking your Juice in the Hood, I just love the concept of 40s and find them incredibly awesome.
Also, Desaronno (sp?) amaretto and cranberry juice is super awesome.
For anyone in NYC, there's a store on Broadway by astor place that has RIDICULOUS prices on expensive liquor and large bottles of average liquor. For example: a 1.5 litre bottle of Bombay was $40. Dalwhinnie, a $75 bottle, was $30.
I like Dalwhinnie even more than Johnny Walker Blue.
Thank you for the tip. Mmm, I can get me some gin. And none of my friends at school like gin so I won't have to share.
For anyone in NYC, there's a store on Broadway by astor place that has RIDICULOUS prices on expensive liquor and large bottles of average liquor. For example: a 1.5 litre bottle of Bombay was $40. Dalwhinnie, a $75 bottle, was $30.
I like Dalwhinnie even more than Johnny Walker Blue.
Oh god, I love Johnnie Walker. I've only had green label though.
Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited August 2007
Bourbon: Knob creek for quality, Jim Beam for mixing
Scotch: Eh, I just pick up various small-batch brands with unpronounceable Gaelic names and don't really have a favorite among them
Gin: it all tastes the same to me - like being shoved into a juniper bush. I have a big bottle of Bombay Sapphire for people who swear there's a difference, but generally use a lower-priced brand when I mix gin.
Vodka: rarely drink it and when I do I mix and generally punt to cheap brands. Skyy is okay but overrated. Grey Goose is just fucking silly.
Rum: Myers is really the best. Dark rum goes nicely in a lot of things that traditionally use flavorless light rum. Bacardi's a fine fallback for mixing, but doesn't have much flavor.
Liquors:
DiSaronno amaretto is criminally overpriced and has irritating advertisements, but is pretty damned good.
Bailey's is only slightly better than lower-priced Irish Creams like Carolins
Kaluha or Starbucks coffee liquor isn't much different from Hiram Walker or DeKuyper or whatever. Actually this is true of most liquors.
Chambord is a tasty exception to the above rule, but is criminally overpriced as well.
There are like a zillion types of indistinguishable anisettes (ouzo, absinthe, arak, etc).
Bizarre bitter herbal drinks like chartreuse are best left to the french.
Pimms and Campari beg the question of why someone would willingly drink them.
Ditto for Jagermeister and Drambouie.
I (shamefully) kind of like Southern Comfort.
Cuarenta Y Tres is a nice, though pricey, vanilla/ caramel liquor and mixes nicely with cokes or citrus juices.
My typical drink is bourbon and lemonade or bourbon and grapefruit juice. I'm not much of a heavy drinker, though, and have a drink or two per week.
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
Bushmills and Maker's and 151. Jager or Goldschlager on occaision, Dickel if I'm broke. All a man needs.
Try a Jager and Goldschlager (floating on top) bomb, I call it a gas chamber.
Gin & Tonic, love those. Need a good gin, something with more than just juniper taste.
Absinthe, brought a bottle of the real stuff back from Czech Republic, friends and I had it over ice cream, it was great.
I try to get something different each time I'm at the store. Recently I had a bottle of green tea liquor, and also made chocolatinis with Absolut and a Twinnings chocolate mixer.
I can't recommend Twinning's mixers enough. They have a kicking bloody mary mix, it's chunky and heavy on the horseradish.
Taco Bell does win the franchise war according to the tome of knowledge that is Demolition Man. However, I've watched Demolition Man more then a few times and never once did I see WoW. In conclusion Taco Bell has more lasting power then WoW.
I used to love rum all-out, but lately I've tired of it.
God, do I hate gin. I don't understand people's general love for Jagermeister either.
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VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
edited August 2007
I don't get the jager love OR hate. it's such an easy shot to take, though I'd never buy it at home. it's fine at a bar, especially if someone else is buying.
Anyone here ever tried absinthe? I've always been curious.
It tastes like anisette, only a little more bitter and less sweet. You're not missing much.
Did you do the sugar and ice water thing? Because otherwise it's like drinking grape juice and complaining that it doesn't have the dry taste of a red wine. Also, there are a lot of nockoffs that aren't really absinthe and are just really high proof green colored crap.
I haven't had any, but a few of my friends went looking for it in Paris and were disappointed.
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VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
edited August 2007
if it doesn't have a load of... wormwood? some sort of poison, then it isn't absinthe. I think the poison is sort of the whole point as I've heard it can make you hallucinate.
this seems to be partly myth though, as anyone I know who's tried it has said it doesn't really even come close to that and just fucks you up.
I can't taste the difference between good alcohol and bad alcohol unless it comes to God-Forsaken bourbon.
You are right about the chambord, though. Champagne cocktails with it are amazing.
No self-respecting dude should ever be caught with a champagne cocktail in his hand unless he's holding it for his girlfriend or sharing it with his boyfriend.
And vodka snobbery is the height of alcohol wankery. It's meant to be flavorless and regulations in the US further force it to be just that. Gin snobbery is a close second, since the juniper was basically introduced to mask the fact that the alcohol was otherwise of low quality and flavor.
Rum, Brandy, Whiskey and Tequila are pretty much the only alcohols worth getting fancy about, and I don't have enough experience with brandy or tequilla to offer a good opinion. I do know enough to discount the opinions of people who base quality on how much something costs or how upscale the advertising is.
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
Anyone here ever tried absinthe? I've always been curious.
It tastes like anisette, only a little more bitter and less sweet. You're not missing much.
Did you do the sugar and ice water thing? Because otherwise it's like drinking grape juice and complaining that it doesn't have the dry taste of a red wine. Also, there are a lot of nockoffs that aren't really absinthe and are just really high proof green colored crap.
I haven't had any, but a few of my friends went looking for it in Paris and were disappointed.
I had the stuff with the different breed of wormwood (botanical versus something-or-other), and had a taste of some stuff from the Czech republic that was supposed to be "genuine". They tasted about the same, and yeah I did the sugar cube/ water thing. Really, it was just a dry anisette/ pastis with floral notes.
There's a lot of mystery, history and romance swirling around absinthe, but at least one account that I've read suggested that it mostly got its reputation from the fact that it was an early popular high-alcohol distilled drink in Paris when Parisians were pretty used to swilling wine, and a lot of people overdosed or got ripped simply because they drank too much. Wormwood is apparently toxic at high doses, debatably with very mild hallucinogenic properties.
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CrayonSleeps in the wrong bed.TejasRegistered Userregular
edited August 2007
I shall break it down by type, considering I am a fan of all liquors.
Bourbon(s): Woodford Reserve - Smooth, heavy, but extremely easy to knock back. Preferred over Blanton's and is about 25-30$ less. A must try if you even "kind of" like bourbon.
Blended Whiskey: Seagram's Seven Crown - Cheap and mixable. I'm not too fond of the "american" blended whiskey, but this one has high mixability and extremely cheap. You can go with a classic "seven and seven" with this and 7-up, but I much prefer a Vernors Ginger Soda with it.
Favorite Irish Whiskey - Almost every single one of them. They all offer a unique experience.
Scotch - Johnnie Walker Gold Label - Not a single malt or blah blah blah, but still my favorite out of what I've tried. I'm not a snob enough to say that a single malt is somehow inherently better than a blended. I've tried their blue label and find it most satisfying, but it's even out of my price range, but I can work with this bottle and for it's price I don't think it can be beat.
Canadian - Something I generally stay away from but I do like to knock back some Forty Creek Barrel Select. I loathe Crown Royal with a passion, but Forty Creek is just about the only Canadian I'll drink, and enjoy while drinking.
Rum - Tie. Mount Gay Extra Old and Flor De Cana 7 year dark rum. Both are excellent choices with Mount Gay coming in a bit more pricey. I consider the Mount Gay to be better sipped while I find Flor De Cana to be the greatest rum in mixed drinks. There is no greater mojito rum than Cana, even if it makes it dirty.
Vodka - Chopin. To be honest I'm not a huge fan of Vodka. I've tried the Goose, Belvedere, Level, Ketel, and everything else under the sun and I found that I only really like Chopin or Stoli Vanilla (which can't be considered a true vodka I suppose). Chopin has a clean taste without much burn, goes down smooth and makes an excellent martini. Sexcellent martini I should say.
Tequilla - Tres Generaciones Reposado or Herradura Reposado. Patron is overrated, so is Anejo most of the time. Anejo just takes too many characteristics from whiskey for me to enjoy it as a true tequilla. I still stick by and say that Patron is extremely extremely overrated, especially if using it as a base for a mix. One thing I've noticed about mixed drinks and tequilla is that you don't need to go with an Anejo as its characteristics overpower mostly everything and does not provide a great mix. Same with Grand Marnie as the "triple sec", it's just too strong to make a good Margarita even though people will swear by it because it's expensive.
There's a lot of mystery, history and romance swirling around absinthe, but at least one account that I've read suggested that it mostly got its reputation from the fact that it was an early popular high-alcohol distilled drink in Paris when Parisians were pretty used to swilling wine, and a lot of people overdosed or got ripped simply because they drank too much. Wormwood is apparently toxic at high doses, debatably with very mild hallucinogenic properties.
I've had friends get nothing out of it, some say they got visual hallucenation. I just had good ol' lowered inhibitions.
Also romanticized for helping kill/drive insane artists.
Blended Whiskey: Seagram's Seven Crown - Cheap and mixable. I'm not too fond of the "american" blended whiskey, but this one has high mixability and extremely cheap. You can go with a classic "seven and seven" with this and 7-up, but I much prefer a Vernors Ginger Soda with it.
Vodka - Chopin. To be honest I'm not a huge fan of Vodka. Chopin has a clean taste without much burn, goes down smooth and makes an excellent martini.
Considering your liquorious acumen, you probably already know this: Chopin is a potato vodka. Grey Goose and all that other shit are grain vodkas. If you are sipping, potato > grain.
If you are mixing, buy the cheap, grain stuff and filter it a few times. That's what the "premium" grain brands do, except they charge you heftily for it. (Granted, their filtration techniques are more sophisticated)
Final piece of advice: If you are trying out a new bartender, order an old-fashioned. You have to choose between whiskey and bourbon, as well as sweet or sour. Whether you actually like this drink (I don't) is irrelevant. It separates the bartender wheat from the chaff.
There's a lot of mystery, history and romance swirling around absinthe, but at least one account that I've read suggested that it mostly got its reputation from the fact that it was an early popular high-alcohol distilled drink in Paris when Parisians were pretty used to swilling wine, and a lot of people overdosed or got ripped simply because they drank too much. Wormwood is apparently toxic at high doses, debatably with very mild hallucinogenic properties.
I've had friends get nothing out of it, some say they got visual hallucenation. I just had good ol' lowered inhibitions.
Also romanticized for helping kill/drive insane artists.
Artists who immortalized the drink in their paintings. Which is a big draw to the pseudo-intelligentsia liberal arts type with some degree of art history knowledge.
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited August 2007
Old fashioneds are a good use of good bourbon.
Bourbon, dash of bitters, sugar cube, and an orange wedge or cherry (or both), served in a wide highball glass.
Mint juleps are actually similar, only with mint instead of bitters. They're pretty good and the only reason I don't really drink them is that I'm not a plantation owner.
I also have a weakness for Irish coffee. Jameson's, cream or half-and-half, freshly brewed coffee and sugar.
Posts
I wouldn't be at all surprised if our tastes our clouded by all the cash we throw at some of the stuff we drink.
You know those ads - Dicerona on the Rocks? Well I tried one of those, and wow, delicious! It tastes like cherries.
I'm sipping on a G+T made with bombay saphire as I type, with a big ol' hunk of lime floating in it. Very good.
I'm a fan of a classic screwdriver, or anything mixed with pineapple juice. I love pineapple juice. Also, just about any girly drink I will enjoy, although I've never tried a martini.
As for shots, I am inexperienced in this area, but I had a "Cock Sucking Cowgirl/boy (depending on the orientation of your bar)" and it was delicious. Butterscotch Schnapps + Baileys.
I also invented (or just assume I invented) what I call a Tropical Eddy. It's orangle/pineapple juice with vanilla vodka (stoli's if possible). It's a creamsicle, but with a tropical twist!
One shot; Crown, 151, Cuervo. The Jack chaser is because before my first crowbar, my buddy refused to let me know what's in it, and the bartender was making wierd faces and trying to talk me into a chaser.
Three equal parts. It's quite effective. See I don't like shots that include ingredients that are less than 80 proof.
Because I fucking LOVE mezcal shots.
"This award-winning Scorpion Mezcal Añejo 1 Year Old is artisan-made in small batches in Oaxaca, Mexico, with a real scorpion in every bottle."
That sounds terrible. Bitter Sweet and Sour? Yuck. Much better is the three wisemen.
Also. Poo poo on all of you who like Reposado. Reposado is for mixing, not for drinking. Anejo is for drinking.
Most of the commercial gin I've had tastes like fucking trees. Yes, I know it's really juniper, it still blows.
I like Dalwhinnie even more than Johnny Walker Blue.
Oh god, I love Johnnie Walker. I've only had green label though.
I've spent a lot of nights recently drinking 40s in the park with friends. Which is pretty hilarious, given that I'm over 21. Still, it's cheap and fun, and it means that I don't have to take anything back to the camp I work at (a big no-no).
Ever since seeing Don't be a Menace to South Central while Drinking your Juice in the Hood, I just love the concept of 40s and find them incredibly awesome.
Also, Desaronno (sp?) amaretto and cranberry juice is super awesome.
Thank you for the tip. Mmm, I can get me some gin. And none of my friends at school like gin so I won't have to share.
Highland Park 30y = :O
So expensive, though.
Scotch: Eh, I just pick up various small-batch brands with unpronounceable Gaelic names and don't really have a favorite among them
Gin: it all tastes the same to me - like being shoved into a juniper bush. I have a big bottle of Bombay Sapphire for people who swear there's a difference, but generally use a lower-priced brand when I mix gin.
Vodka: rarely drink it and when I do I mix and generally punt to cheap brands. Skyy is okay but overrated. Grey Goose is just fucking silly.
Rum: Myers is really the best. Dark rum goes nicely in a lot of things that traditionally use flavorless light rum. Bacardi's a fine fallback for mixing, but doesn't have much flavor.
Liquors:
DiSaronno amaretto is criminally overpriced and has irritating advertisements, but is pretty damned good.
Bailey's is only slightly better than lower-priced Irish Creams like Carolins
Kaluha or Starbucks coffee liquor isn't much different from Hiram Walker or DeKuyper or whatever. Actually this is true of most liquors.
Chambord is a tasty exception to the above rule, but is criminally overpriced as well.
There are like a zillion types of indistinguishable anisettes (ouzo, absinthe, arak, etc).
Bizarre bitter herbal drinks like chartreuse are best left to the french.
Pimms and Campari beg the question of why someone would willingly drink them.
Ditto for Jagermeister and Drambouie.
I (shamefully) kind of like Southern Comfort.
Cuarenta Y Tres is a nice, though pricey, vanilla/ caramel liquor and mixes nicely with cokes or citrus juices.
My typical drink is bourbon and lemonade or bourbon and grapefruit juice. I'm not much of a heavy drinker, though, and have a drink or two per week.
Try a Jager and Goldschlager (floating on top) bomb, I call it a gas chamber.
Gin & Tonic, love those. Need a good gin, something with more than just juniper taste.
Absinthe, brought a bottle of the real stuff back from Czech Republic, friends and I had it over ice cream, it was great.
I try to get something different each time I'm at the store. Recently I had a bottle of green tea liquor, and also made chocolatinis with Absolut and a Twinnings chocolate mixer.
I can't recommend Twinning's mixers enough. They have a kicking bloody mary mix, it's chunky and heavy on the horseradish.
Is all you need to know.
PS. Drink it neat.
I used to love rum all-out, but lately I've tired of it.
God, do I hate gin. I don't understand people's general love for Jagermeister either.
You are right about the chambord, though. Champagne cocktails with it are amazing.
Did you do the sugar and ice water thing? Because otherwise it's like drinking grape juice and complaining that it doesn't have the dry taste of a red wine. Also, there are a lot of nockoffs that aren't really absinthe and are just really high proof green colored crap.
I haven't had any, but a few of my friends went looking for it in Paris and were disappointed.
this seems to be partly myth though, as anyone I know who's tried it has said it doesn't really even come close to that and just fucks you up.
No self-respecting dude should ever be caught with a champagne cocktail in his hand unless he's holding it for his girlfriend or sharing it with his boyfriend.
And vodka snobbery is the height of alcohol wankery. It's meant to be flavorless and regulations in the US further force it to be just that. Gin snobbery is a close second, since the juniper was basically introduced to mask the fact that the alcohol was otherwise of low quality and flavor.
Rum, Brandy, Whiskey and Tequila are pretty much the only alcohols worth getting fancy about, and I don't have enough experience with brandy or tequilla to offer a good opinion. I do know enough to discount the opinions of people who base quality on how much something costs or how upscale the advertising is.
There's a lot of mystery, history and romance swirling around absinthe, but at least one account that I've read suggested that it mostly got its reputation from the fact that it was an early popular high-alcohol distilled drink in Paris when Parisians were pretty used to swilling wine, and a lot of people overdosed or got ripped simply because they drank too much. Wormwood is apparently toxic at high doses, debatably with very mild hallucinogenic properties.
Bourbon(s): Woodford Reserve - Smooth, heavy, but extremely easy to knock back. Preferred over Blanton's and is about 25-30$ less. A must try if you even "kind of" like bourbon.
Blended Whiskey: Seagram's Seven Crown - Cheap and mixable. I'm not too fond of the "american" blended whiskey, but this one has high mixability and extremely cheap. You can go with a classic "seven and seven" with this and 7-up, but I much prefer a Vernors Ginger Soda with it.
Favorite Irish Whiskey - Almost every single one of them. They all offer a unique experience.
Scotch - Johnnie Walker Gold Label - Not a single malt or blah blah blah, but still my favorite out of what I've tried. I'm not a snob enough to say that a single malt is somehow inherently better than a blended. I've tried their blue label and find it most satisfying, but it's even out of my price range, but I can work with this bottle and for it's price I don't think it can be beat.
Canadian - Something I generally stay away from but I do like to knock back some Forty Creek Barrel Select. I loathe Crown Royal with a passion, but Forty Creek is just about the only Canadian I'll drink, and enjoy while drinking.
Rum - Tie. Mount Gay Extra Old and Flor De Cana 7 year dark rum. Both are excellent choices with Mount Gay coming in a bit more pricey. I consider the Mount Gay to be better sipped while I find Flor De Cana to be the greatest rum in mixed drinks. There is no greater mojito rum than Cana, even if it makes it dirty.
Vodka - Chopin. To be honest I'm not a huge fan of Vodka. I've tried the Goose, Belvedere, Level, Ketel, and everything else under the sun and I found that I only really like Chopin or Stoli Vanilla (which can't be considered a true vodka I suppose). Chopin has a clean taste without much burn, goes down smooth and makes an excellent martini. Sexcellent martini I should say.
Tequilla - Tres Generaciones Reposado or Herradura Reposado. Patron is overrated, so is Anejo most of the time. Anejo just takes too many characteristics from whiskey for me to enjoy it as a true tequilla. I still stick by and say that Patron is extremely extremely overrated, especially if using it as a base for a mix. One thing I've noticed about mixed drinks and tequilla is that you don't need to go with an Anejo as its characteristics overpower mostly everything and does not provide a great mix. Same with Grand Marnie as the "triple sec", it's just too strong to make a good Margarita even though people will swear by it because it's expensive.
Gin, Cognac, Brandy - Don't drink personally.
I've had friends get nothing out of it, some say they got visual hallucenation. I just had good ol' lowered inhibitions.
Also romanticized for helping kill/drive insane artists.
Seconded. Seagrams' is good stuff for the money
Considering your liquorious acumen, you probably already know this: Chopin is a potato vodka. Grey Goose and all that other shit are grain vodkas. If you are sipping, potato > grain.
If you are mixing, buy the cheap, grain stuff and filter it a few times. That's what the "premium" grain brands do, except they charge you heftily for it. (Granted, their filtration techniques are more sophisticated)
Final piece of advice: If you are trying out a new bartender, order an old-fashioned. You have to choose between whiskey and bourbon, as well as sweet or sour. Whether you actually like this drink (I don't) is irrelevant. It separates the bartender wheat from the chaff.
Artists who immortalized the drink in their paintings. Which is a big draw to the pseudo-intelligentsia liberal arts type with some degree of art history knowledge.
Bourbon, dash of bitters, sugar cube, and an orange wedge or cherry (or both), served in a wide highball glass.
Mint juleps are actually similar, only with mint instead of bitters. They're pretty good and the only reason I don't really drink them is that I'm not a plantation owner.
I also have a weakness for Irish coffee. Jameson's, cream or half-and-half, freshly brewed coffee and sugar.