Flip
#41
(Mar 18, 2018, 22:51 pm)Sid Wrote: A major influence for this work was the Periodic Table of Cocktails...
... I am assembling as I go in a spreadsheet based on that concept, but improved, which I might well share.

Systematic Approach to Pink Elephants Chemistry, unnabridged, by Sidmod Freud;
Hardcover, 120 pages, © 2018, The Sideline Bay Books, LLC.

- "New periodic group found and supposed to induce copyright misbehavior" - Copywrights' Network Nannies
- "A sure-fire guide to hot parties!" The Washington Pole
- "Flipsid shares his secrets!" El Troppo
- "..." Barfly Reviews

I'm not completely sold on you spreadsheeting while researching. Maybe should call the lady to lab assist.
But don't worry Sid, I'm sure people will swarm to your book. We'll torrent it!

[Image: e388cf3777c328524a243194e1bbdb7a917ac288...e?size=160]
Reply
#42
(Mar 19, 2018, 19:58 pm)Sid Wrote: discussion [on opiates] split to new thread /Admin
Reply
#43
Not sure if you are big chocolate fan but I did find a website after searching up how to die by eating chocolate.
Reply
#44
(Mar 19, 2018, 09:08 am)dueda Wrote: Systematic Approach to Pink Elephants Chemistry, unnabridged, by Sidmod Freud;
Hardcover, 120 pages, © 2018, The Sideline Bay Books, LLC.

Clever. Shy





Some information for y'all today. I've been looking into the subject of schnapps and have managed to get a handle on it. It's not as simple as you probably think.



Schnaps or Schnapps? One word with two slightly different spellings and two significantly different meanings.

Schnaps is a German word used by Europeans to describe a category of spirits made by fermenting fruit juices (or herbs) with the base liquor, producing a strong and often clear distilled spirit much like a lightly flavored vodka. Usually at least 32% ABV (64 proof). Apple, apricot, cherry, pear and plum are the most popular flavors. Jägermeister and Underberg are popular herbal varieties.

Americans added an extra "p" and use the word to describe a category of sweetened, mostly fruit-flavored liqueurs made by steeping ingrediets in alcohol AFTER fermentation. These spirits are usually drier than their sweet liqueur counterparts, e.g. peppermint schnapps is not as sweet as creme de menthe. The alcohol content ranges from 15 to 25% ABV (30 to 50 proof). Apple, butterscotch, cinnamon, peach and peppermint are the most popular flavors. 99, Arrow, DeKuyper, Dr. McGillicuddy and Hiram Walker are the most popular brands.

European schnaps are usually consumed as shots and rarely mixed. American schnapps are often used as mixers and most drinks that call for schnaps/schnapps refer to the American product. You can make your own e.g. Peppermint Schnaps = 250 ml Vodka, 125 ml Sugar, 125 ml Water & 5 ml Peppermint Extract. [I'm almost out of vodka atm but I'll give that recipipe and one or two others a try soon.] Or liqueurs of the same flavor can be used instead, but they are usually sweeter so adjustments to the recipe may be necessary.
Reply
#45
Oh dang, it's like an adults disneyland. Can someone pass me the olives?
Wich category the appletini goes in?
We seldom see the american stuff around here, don't know why. Rye too is generaly unknown. Pitty.

There's a tax over the spirits here, absurd 80% final price is government issue = 400% markup on retail. If it costs $20, will go for $100. Plus imports tax, etc.
On the other side, we're known for making the capirinha - Cachaça or vodka poured over a lemon and sugar crush with ice. Obviously, with cheap local products.

The european stuff is more mainstream, but some things like Campari Cordials (the framboise type, like Hemmingway favored) are mostly unheard of.

(Mar 19, 2018, 21:45 pm)contrail Wrote: Not sure if you are big chocolate fan but I did find a website after searching up how to die by eating chocolate.

Nice site, informative and styled; but that page was about how to make your life pleasantly miserable, and I hate you! Big Grin
Reply
#46
(Mar 20, 2018, 10:53 am)dueda Wrote: Wich category the appletini goes in?

There are no scientific or universally agreed upon definitions in the world of mixed drinks but, going with a scientific-ish approach,...

A Martini (i.e. the archetype of any '-ini' drink) is gin + vermouth; and a Vodka Martini, the most common variant, is vodka + vermouth.

Gin and vodka are spirits, generally around 40% ABV (80 proof). Vermouth is a fortified wine, generally around 20% ABV (40 proof).

So, to fit the pattern, an Appletini "should" be Vodka + apple schnaps or an apple liqueur of around 15-20% ABV. Perhaps with some lemon to balance out the sweetness.

But depending on who mixes your drink you could (legitimately) end up with something made with Vodka + apple juice (0% ABV), Vodka + calvados (40%) or anything in between. With additional components to tweak the flavor or just fancy it up.

So an appletini is (arguably most properly) a Martini variant (and a Martini is a "spirit forward" type of drink). An appletini made with apple juice would be a "highball". One made with calvados would be a "duo".

(Mar 20, 2018, 10:53 am)dueda Wrote: we're known for making the capirinha - Cachaça or vodka poured over a lemon and sugar crush with ice.

Oh, so you would consider vodka the most "legitimate" substitute? I would have guessed a white rum.
Reply
#47
(Mar 20, 2018, 18:31 pm)Sid Wrote: Oh, so you would consider vodka the most "legitimate" substitute? I would have guessed a white rum.

Depends on wehre you are and how much you're willing to pay. Vodka is more popular than rum, specially being "cleaner", specially amongst mid-class suv drivers.
It's called caipiroska ("russianization" for caipivodka, another common name); here vodka is much better than rum, and don't even think about the tequila.
Any way you make it, the proper mix requires practice - lemmon bitterness will tell a rushed out, careless drink.

Pour lotta sugar into mortar, slice lemmon and crush with pestle, put some arm to it. Take your time.
Add spirit and ice, stirr a bit with a cocktail stick, then serve on low, wide glass, with the stick.

Most people do the crunching on the glass itself but I think it is safer and easier to use a mortar.
The small pestle used here is made from wood. I suppose it slips (on the lemmon skin) less than a metallic or rocky one.
Reply
#48
(Mar 25, 2018, 22:51 pm)Sid Wrote:
(Mar 20, 2018, 10:53 am)dueda Wrote: Wich category the appletini goes in?

There are no scientific or universally agreed upon definitions in the world of mixed drinks but, going with a scientific-ish approach,...

A Martini (i.e. the archetype of any '-ini' drink) is gin + vermouth; and a Vodka Martini, the most common variant, is vodka + vermouth.

Gin and vodka are spirits, generally around 40% ABV (80 proof). Vermouth is a fortified wine, generally around 20% ABV (40 proof).

So, to fit the pattern, an Appletini "should" be Vodka + apple schnaps or an apple liqueur of around 15-20% ABV. Perhaps with some lemon to balance out the sweetness.

But depending on who mixes your drink you could (legitimately) end up with something made with Vodka + apple juice (0% ABV), Vodka + calvados (40%) or anything in between. With additional components to tweak the flavor or just fancy it up.

So an appletini is (arguably most properly) a Martini variant (and a Martini is a "spirit forward" type of drink). An appletini made with apple juice would be a "highball". One made with calvados would be a "duo".

Found something today:  Acquatini (and it has schnapps)  http://www.completecocktails.com/Drinks/Aquatini.aspx
Quoted

The Aquatini is a blue cocktail made form Pucker Island Punch schnapps, lemon vodka and sour mix, and served in a chilled cocktail glass.
Ingredients

    1 oz Pucker Island Punch Schnapps
    1 oz Citrus Vodka
    1 splash Sour Mix
    Glass: Cocktail Glass

Directions

    Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.
    Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

End quote
You can also check on the Azul Lemonade wich is a fizzer cousin.
Reply
#49
Cheers for that.

Been neglecting this thread but the project has been rolling along. Thought I would share a few bits of trivia I've picked up along the way

Firstly: most "cocktails" are not really cocktails.

The word "cocktail", like the word "hoover" is used as an umbrella term today but originally it meant something much more specific.

Back in the day, we're talking the 1600's, before cocktails had even been invented let alone named, people* drank punches. They drank other things as well, but it is those punches which are the ancestors of much of what we drink today. i.e. the "cocktail" you are drinking is probably a "punch".

There were many recipes for punches but they generally followed the same pattern: something sweet, something sour, some alcohol and some water. Often in a 1:2:3:4 ratio. The two key points about punches are that they not particularly strong alcohol-wise, and they were mixed in large quantities and then doled out to party goers, bar patrons, family members, etc. i.e. everyone drank the same thing.

Inventions spring from times and circumstances, and the "single-serving punch-to-go" appeared during the westward expansion across America, which started in the late 18th century. It fitted the individualistic spirit. With citrus not being readily available the new "in" pattern, which was termed a "sling" (as in you quickly sling together a drink) took the form of a spirit, sugar and water.

[Skipping some explanation for the sake of brevity] the end of the 19th century saw the emergence of "snake oil salesmen" peddling "patent medicines" which were mostly just bitter tasting herbal concoctions with few-if-any medicinal effects. At some point someone realized that adding the snake oil to a sling significantly improved the flavor and "bittered slings" became a thing. That thing was termed a cocktail (for reasons also omitted for brevity) i.e. a spirit, sweetener, bitters and water (which increasingly was taking the form of ice as ice became more readily and cheaply available).

So anything you drink which doesn't contains bitters (or which does contain a sour element e.g. lemon or lime) is not technically a cocktail, and would not have been called a cocktail prior to 1920 (which is when Prohibition in the US kick started the genericisation of the term).



* "people" in this context being for the most part western Europeans. Although, obviously, people all around the world have been drinking and mixing drinks for ever the modern international "cocktail" scene is mostly based on British and US traditions.
Reply
#50
The best drink ever is a dry martini. Shaken not stirred. Not a joke. It's the best drink ever.

James Bond knew what he was talking about.

I've had many mixed drinks and all of them are terrible except that one.
Reply




Users browsing this thread: 14 Guest(s)