Two At The Most

My initial association with the word Tuaca is a horse. Why someone named a Quarter Horse after an Italian liqueur, I’ll never know. I’ll admit I was surprised to discover the current owner of Tuaca the horse had never heard of Tuaca the liqueur. Then again, even though I had heard of it, I don’t think I’d ever tasted it until receiving a sample recently.

Tuaca claims to be the resurrection of a recipe initially created for Lorenzo de’Medici (1449 - 1492). Often called “the Magnificent,” he was the de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and remembered as a patron … Continue Reading

I had my first taste of Fernet Branca several months ago, when I noticed a bottle at the liquor store, and the name rang a bell. Only when I got home did I discover what I was remembering was the Hanky Panky, a drink that required a mere two dashes of the stuff.

Fernet Branca

I opened the bottle, took a whiff, … Continue Reading

Before I wrote about cocktails, I wrote about beer. For a while, I was an avid homebrewer. And even though I haven’t been brewing recently, and have been passionate about mixed drinks, I do still love beer.

The Yellow Cap

When my friend Matt told me he had the chance to try Westvleteren 12, I have to admit I was … Continue Reading

Sobieski Vodka and the Mazowse Mule

Back when I was doing Soviet studies at university (when there was still such a thing), vodka was the liquor of choice. Since becoming a cocktail geek, my tastes have run more towards gin and bourbon. Still, I was happy when contacted with a query to give Sobieski Vodka a try.

Named after … Continue Reading

Bitter Apricot Cocktail

Every Thursday night, starting around 7 pm EST (00:00 GMT), we meet in the Mixolseum chat room and make up drinks. Usually we have a theme centered around an ingredient that we try to experiment with.

The theme for November 6 was gin. Participants were asked to find a gin they haven’t previously purchased.

This was a big challenge for me. I’ve made an effort to try as … Continue Reading

It’s time to review the fun that was Mixology Monday 32, Guilty Pleasures. I asked you to share with us your shameful confessions, those drinks you love although they’re so, so bad for you.

Turns out, our mixologists are, by and large, fairly shameless. Sure, like going to confession, some of us gave the pro forma statement about how bad we know these drinks are, but mostly we proclaimed that what makes a good cocktail is that we like … Continue Reading

It’s definitely a fun time to be a gin lover in the US. Several distillers across the country are producing new, exciting gins. I’ve tried most of the West Coast contenders, but my latest acquisition comes to us from Philadelphia: Bluecoat American Dry Gin.

Corpse Reviver No. 2a

The distiller tells us they use a handmade copper pot still, using a slow heating process in their five batch distillations to maximize separation to reduce … Continue Reading

Over at A Mountain of Crushed Ice, Tiare had a contest to name her drink. As I always have a hard time naming my own drinks, I was thrilled when she liked my name. Especially since the prize was a bottle of Swedish punsch!

Swedish punsch is one of those ingredients that’s near mythological here in the United States. While it’s common in Sweden, it has not been available … Continue Reading

I’ve had my eye on Magellan Gin for a while. Something about that ethereal blue tinge in the nicely decorated bottle. When I saw my local store had a gift pack with an attractive, hand-painted glass, I decided to finally give it a try.

Magellan is made in France from wheat. It is triple distilled with juniper, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, grains of paradise, licorice, cinnamon, coriander, orange peel, cassia, and iris. According to Magellan’s web site, there is then a “fourth distillation,” which sounds more like an infusion, when additional iris root and iris flower are added to give Magellan … Continue Reading