Comments on: What To Drink (Booze Edition)

By: Bud Greeny

Bud Greeny — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 19:59:34 +0000

That “things you dont need section” is lame… rye whisky rules, and so does jacquins and gin. You sound like the kind of guy who would offer horrible michelob ultra as the beer, too, or bud light simply because it’s the best selling beer in the world. Have some originality and turn people on to stuff is what I say.

And vodka– tasteless and orderless– is NOT a reasonable alternative to gin!!!

By: Bud Greeny

Bud Greeny — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 19:58:09 +0000

That “things you dont need section” is lame… rye whisky rules, and so does jacquins and gin. You sound like the kind of guy who would offer michelob ultra as the beer, too, or bud light simply because it’s the best selling beer in the world. Have some originality and turn people on to stuff is what I say.

And vodka– tasteless and orderless– is NOT a reasonable alternative to gin!!!

By: Amos the Poker Cat

Amos the Poker Cat — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 18:23:33 +0000

Sorry, this got posted under the wrong message. Probably operator error.

Ya, I too have to disagree with you about not needing gin in a minimal bar collection, especially during the summer time. Although, I am a rye fan as well.

Doing a search by ingredient on iDrink.com (http://www.idrink.com/drink_by_ing.html), I turn up 1584 recipes with gin, 493 with bourbon, and 681 with rye/whiskey.

By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 04:31:09 +0000

I don’t like vodka myself, but if you’re looking to save money on it, you can get pretty good results running swill-grade vodka through a Brita filter five or six times. Try googling for “vodka brita oh my god it burns” (without the quotes) to find some courageous researchers’ write-up of the procedure.

By: Nat Lanza

Nat Lanza — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 02:26:49 +0000

Tequila’s a damn good marinade base for chicken, actually.

Tequila, lime, a dash or two of hot sauce. Mmm.

By: Dr. Click

Dr. Click — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 01:02:53 +0000

No tequilla? Sure, maybe if your definition of “tequilla” is the stuff they serve at quarter-shot nights in a college bar. But there are tequillas that rival whiskies for smoothness and complexity of taste (though they do come with price tags to match). I keep a few around. Perhaps that falls into the “personal preference / Porto” let-out.

On the other hand, I can’t see what you’d *cook* with tequilla.

By: Mark Denovich

Mark Denovich — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:10:01 +0000

I like having a good drinking vodka, and a mixing vodka. Can’t have guests making crappy mixed drinks with $27/bottle vodka… and since I like my vodka straight-up, I won’t settle for the cheap(er) stuff.

I’d say the one cordial to have is Kahlua. It’s tasty, and is a key ingredient in many a mixed drink. Good on ice cream too.

It’s also a good idea to get a six pack of Tonic and Soda waters in little glass bottles. It keeps forever, and they are a handy size… little waste for one or two drinks.

By: Nat Lanza

Nat Lanza — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:39:05 +0000

You’re right about bourbon being more useful for cooking. Really, I’d suggest just picking up both, since for either a decent bottle is maybe $20, but I guess strict minimalism may require choosing.

Pretty much all of the places you just described using bourbon, though, are places where I’d probably use rum, which might be why we differ there.

Well, except for the irish coffee. Then I’d just use a nice bottle of Bushmill’s or Jameson’s, for I am picky and want actual irish whiskey for my irish coffee.

As for vanilla beans, you’ll probably also be able to find them at Whole Foods or a similarly yuppie-ish grocery store. You can pretty much spend as much as you’d like on them, but I wouldn’t bother with the super-expensive varieties. And yeah, the bottle just sits out in a cupboard and not in the freezer.

By: peterb

peterb — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:24:18 +0000

Jon,

1. Penzey’s Spices (http://www.penzeys.com) sells various varieties of vanilla beans via mail order, or you can find a local source. To split them, just run a knife down one edge. If you just put the vanilla bean in without splitting it, it’ll work just fine, also. A couple of beans should last you for years.

2. Yes.

“Nat, you ignorant slut….” I’ll defer to your experience with the corkscrews. I recommend brandy over rum because I find rum, even gold or white rum, to be too sweet and a little less versatile. But if rum suits you better, rock on.

I still disagree with you on the gin front, for two reasons. First, you already have the bottle of vodka in the freezer, which can be use to make vodka martinis or vodka and tonics, both reasonable replacements for their gin brethren. Second, bourbon can be reasonably used for more _cooking_ than gin can (are there -any- recipes that call for gin? lingonberry flambe or something?) Put a little bourbon in coffee and you get a nice irish coffee. Put a little gin in your coffee and you get a coffee cup hurled at your face. Bourbon matches with chocolate as well, gin doesn’t (to my taste). Bread pudding with some bourbon: a bold yet sassy dessert. Bread pudding with gin: an affront against god and nature.

Your point about the plastic bottles is absolutely correct, and appreciated. Also, it’s considered polite to decant the wine from the box before serving it to guests.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 17:16:25 +0000

Two quick dumb questions:

1. Where do you get raw vanilla beans, and how do you split them?

2. The extract bottle is kept in a cupboard, not in the freezer (that’s for drinking), right?