Cherry Blossom

• 2 oz. Cherry vodka
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• soda water
• Garnish with cherry and lime wedge

Build in a pint glass. Add vodka, lime juice, simple syrup, and fill with ice. Add to shaker and shake the hell out of it. Pour back into the pint glass, add ice to the top and fill with soda water. Crush the lime wedge over the top and serve with a straw and a cherry.

Stolen with love from Shanghai Tunnel, Portland, OR.

Old Fashioned

There is plenty of debate about the true recipe of the Old Fashioned. Though the typically built with bourbon, we find that rye often makes for a more complex cocktail.

Build in an Old Fashioned glass

• 1 1/2 oz. bourbon (or other whiskey)
• 1 sugar cube
• 2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters
• Splash soda water
• Garnish with orange slice and maraschino cherry

Place sugar cube in bottom of glass and use the 2-3 dashes of bitters to saturate the sugar cube. Add a splash of soda water and muddle until sugar is dissolved. Add ice to top of glass and add whiskey. Stir for 15-20 seconds, garnish with orange slice and maraschino cherry.

Some prefer to add a small bit of orange peel before the muddling, which makes for a slightly sweet and less bourbon-forward drink.

Hit the break for the other 2!

Manhattan

You’ll serve this one up (no ice) in a chilled cocktail glass. To chill the glass, fill it with ice and top with water while you’re building your Manhattan in a shaker or pint glass. When it’s time to serve, dump out the ice and water and give the glass a good shake.

The Manhattan, like the Old Fashioned, can be made with various whiskies. Rye or Canadian is best.

Build in a pint glass.

• 2 oz. Rye or Canadian whiskey
• 3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth
• 1-2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• Garnish with maraschino cherry

Fill pint glass with ice and add whiskey, vermouth, and bitters. Stir for 15-20 seconds. Strain into chilled cocktail glass, garnish with cherry and serve up.

Whiskey Sour

Time to show of your cocktail shaking skills. Dust off the shaker and build this classic sour in it.

• 2 oz. bourbon or rye
• 1 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• Soda water
• Garnish with lemon twist and maraschino cherry

optional: rim your serving glass with sugar. Use and lime wedge to wet the rim and dip in a course sugar

Fill your shaker with ice and add the whiskey, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds and strain into a sour glass (6 oz.) filled with ice. Top up with soda water.

ENJOY!

Note the extra "E"

You’ve probably seen it spelled both ways. So which is right? Is it “Whiskey” or “Whisky”? Or is there any difference at all?

Well, the answer is… kind of.

Technically the bonus vowel is added to the Irish and American varieties (whiskey, whiskeys) whereas the ones from Scotland, Whales, Japan and Canada are referred to as “whisky” or “whiskies”.

Until fairly recently the New York Times made no distinction between the two (see this post from 2008), lumping all under the “Whiskey” spelling. Well, you can imagine that there were a number of Scotch drinkers who didn’t find this particularly pleasing, so the Times has since changed their stance on the matter and now their spelling reflects the different categories.

Well, we’re not the New York Times, so for our purposes, we’re going to call it all “whiskey”.

Think you can tell Coors Light, Bud Light, and Miller Lite apart? So did we.

It would be a lie if we told you we set out on this taste test of the three biggest light beer brands to hone our discerning beer palettes. More accurately it was an excuse to throw back a few domestics. We decided whoever did the worst job identifying the beers would write the post… so here I am.

We started with a couple of cans of each of the three major light beer brands, all chilled to the same temp. Then in a double-blind taste test (meaning neither the subject nor the person assisting the subject knew which glass held which beer) we set about to try to tell them apart while blindfolded.

Hit the break for the full results.

Results

Kevin and Ryan both nailed it. I apparently can’t tell the difference between Bud Light and Coors Light, which is a little disappointing considering I’ve had more than my share of each. The one we could all pick out was Miller Lite, but I’ll let you decide if that’s good or bad.

Now go try this at home and let us know how you did in the comments!

Unfortunately for tequila, many of us have a “first time” story that starts in a dorm or apartment somewhere and ends in fetal position clutching a garbage can. I hope we can convince you and your stomach to give it another try.

You probably know that products like Champagne and Cognac come from very specific regions of France. What you may not know is that tequila is bound by similar laws, often called PDO’s (Protected Designation of Origin). Tequila — made from the agave plant — comes only from the Mexican state of Jalisco.

Not all tequilas are created equal. Hit the break to find out why.

Real Tequila is 100% agave, period. But the law only requires a spirit labeled “tequila” to be more than half agave-based. Meaning that just 51% of the sugar fermented to alcohol must come from the agave plant. In the cheaper brands — “mixtos” –the other 49% comes from non-agave sugar, cane sugar mostly. If it doesn’t say “100% Agave” it’s a “mixto”. Now, if you’re cash strapped a “mixto” margarita won’t kill you, but don’t blame us if you end up with that garbage can again.

The tequila aging process determines how smooth, complex, and generally tasty the spirit will be. Here are the three general categories:

• Blanco (white)
  White, un-aged tequila, bottled just after it has been distilled. The flavor of blancos tends to be harsher and less complex than tequilas aged longer.
• Reposado (rested)
  By law, reposado tequila must be aged more than two months but no more than 364 days. It can be aged in oak barrels of varying sizes.
• Añejo (aged)
  Añejo tequila is aged for at least one year, but no more than three in small oak barrels. Generally the longer the tequila is aged the smoother and more complex the spirit becomes.

In 2006 another category was introduced, Extra Añejo, which is aged at least three years.

So what now?

We hope you’re prepared to give it another go. Next time you’re feeling like a fiesta, hit up your favorite liquor store with more than $20 in your pocket and find yourself a nice, 100% agave, reposado (or better) tequila. We bet you’ll enjoy it.

Hit the break to find out why.

When shaking any drink with ice, you’ll inevitably end up with a cloudier and more dilute drink than you started with, and that’s not a good thing. When shaken, your drink becomes infused with air that will cloud your cocktail. That’s not just bad aesthetics, but it can actually ruin the texture and flavor of a drink. Shaking will also give you little bits of ice that will melt much faster than large pieces, diluting your Martini. Less than ideal.

The general rule is to shake cloudy drinks (with fruit juices, eggs, etc.) and stir everything else. Make sure you’re stirring for a good 15-20 seconds.

Pisco Sour

• 2 oz. Pisco
• 1 oz. Lime juice
• 3/4 oz. Simple syrup
• 1 Egg white
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters

Build in a cocktail shaker. Fill shaker with ice, then add Pisco, lime juice, simple syrup, and the egg white. Shake hard for at least 30 seconds. Strain into a sour or Old Fashioned glass and serve up (no ice). Add the dash of bitters to the top of the foam on the cocktail.  Alternatively, in place of the cocktail shaker you can blend with crushed ice.

White Mexican

• 1 oz. coffee liqueur
• 2 oz. vodka
• Horchata

Build in an Old Fashioned glass with ice. Add coffee liqueur and vodka. Then slowly add the horchata, floating it over the other ingredients. Serve as is, but stir gently before drinking.

By substituting the horchata — a mexican drink made from rice for the cream (or half-and-half in The Dude’s case), you get a sweeter cocktail. It’s like dessert all by itself. Great for after dinner.

Hit the break for the second recipe.

Blind Russian

• 2 oz. vodka
• 1 oz. coffee liquor
• Irish cream

Build in an Old Fashioned glass with ice. Add coffee liqueur and vodka. Then slowly add the Irish cream, floating it over the other ingredients. Serve as is, but stir gently before drinking.

For those of you looking for something a little stiffer after dinner at your in-laws, this is your drink. Called a “Blind Russian” because all the ingredients are alcohol, it still might take more than a couple to drown out your mother-in-law.

Enjoy!

33 Bottles of Beer is a pocket-sized beer tasting journal made right here in Portland. Created by Dave Selden of BS Brewing after attending a few too many brewfests, this great little notebook allows you to record tasting notes anywhere. Record all the info and stats about the beer, including where you had it and any notes, then fill in the unique flavor wheel for a cool visual look at the taste of the beer. The book allows you to quickly refresh your memory about beers you’ve had, and is a lot of fun for casual drinkers and beer geeks alike. And all for only $4.

He’s also developed similar books for wine and coffee.

For more information or to purchase your own, head over to 33beers.com or get it on Amazon.