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Agemegos

Agemegos

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My sister made lemon syrup for a lemon-and-poppyseed cake, and there was quite a bit left over, so this evening I shook up three shots of gin, one of lemon syrup, and two dashes of Angostura bitters with ice, and strained it into a couple of half-sized Martini glasses. It was very good, and turns out upon research being done to be basically a version of a cocktail known as a Fitzgerald.
 
I'm quite a fan of the Rum-and-Lime genre - Mojitos, Daiquiris etc. I've yet to try a Mint Julep.

Gonzo daiquiri with brown sugar
  • 2 shots rum, light or dark to taste. With the brown sugar, it also works with spiced rum.
  • Juice from half a lime
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar, dissolved in a little bit of water (you can make up sugar syrup with it).
  • Ice
  1. Put ice in a glass to taste (I like on the rocks with lots of ice, but it's subjective)
  2. Dissolve the sugar in a little bit of hot water.
  3. Add rum and lime juice.
  4. Pour into glass.
 
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Another cocktail I drank far too much of at one point - Stingers. These are made with two parts brandy and one part creme de menthe over crushed ice; you can also do it on the rocks. The effect is like a very alcoholic humbug and it's easy to drink far too many of these.
 
Nobby-W said:
I'm quite a fan of the Rum-and-Lime genre
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I've been in that area recently myself, owing to a glut of fruit on my lime tree. Also, I make a liqueur out of rum, sugar, and cumquats.

2 shots white rum​
1 shot Agemegos' homemade cumquat liqueur​
1 shot fresh lime juice​
— orange bitters​

Shake over ice, strain into cocktail glasses.

Also, I've been making a sort of gimlet:

2 shots dry gin​
½ fresh lime juice​
½ lime cordial​
— orange bitters​

Shake on ice with a large strip of lime peel. Strain, garnish with a slice of lime.

And a kind of bush margarita:

5 tequila​
2 Agemegos' cumquat liqueur​
2 fresh lime juice.​

Shake on ice until very cold, then strain into two margarita glasses with salted rims.
 
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Agemegos said:
I've been in that area recently myself, owing to a glut of fruit on my lime tree. Also, I make a liqueur out of rum, sugar, and cumquats.

2 shots white rum​
1 shot Agemegos' homemade cumquat liqueur​
1 shot fresh lime juice​
— orange bitters​

Shake over ice, strain into cocktail glasses.

Also, I've been making a sort of gimlet:

2 shots dry gin​
½ fresh lime juice​
½ lime cordial​
— orange bitters​

Shake on ice with a large strip of lime peel. Strain, garnish with a slice of lime.

And a kind of bush margarita:

5 tequila​
2 Agemegos' cumquat liqueur​
2 fresh lime juice.​

Shake on ice until very cold, then strain into two margarita glasses with salted rims.
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Once upon a time I had a Scottish cow-orker who had worked in America for some years and developed tastes for Baseball and Margaritas. I did try one once when out on the piss and I did like it, although I've never had one since.
 
SOmething I kind of stumbled into a couple years ago. Mix cold green tea, with a good gin. Super refreshing in the summer. Easy to get wrecked, drinking it all evening.
 
Oh and speaking of gin. Dont drink a weak and wrong tasting martini like Bond. Make it with gin and stir it. Gin is the proper liquor for a martini. Shaking it breaks the ice up. Putting to much water in the drink, diluting it.
 
Ronin said:
SOmething I kind of stumbled into a couple years ago. Mix cold green tea, with a good gin. Super refreshing in the summer. Easy to get wrecked, drinking it all evening.
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I'm also partial to a nice G&T. One nice thing about living in England is that the supermarkets have dozens of varieties of gin. I counted 48 at the M&S in Tunbridge Wells once.
 
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Ronin said:
Oh and speaking of gin. Dont drink a weak and wrong tasting martini like Bond. Make it with gin and stir it. Gin is the proper liquor for a martini. Shaking it breaks the ice up. Putting to much water in the drink, diluting it.
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After considerable, methodical experimentation, I have concluded that I like a little water in my martini. I have tried stirring them. I have tried keeping my gin in the freezer so that no ice need be used at all. I prefer them shaken.

I like an austere London dry gin such as Gordon's or Tanqueray, six-to-one ratio, shaken with a large strip of lemon rind, garnished with three pimento-stuffed olives that are well dipped in brine. And I don't really care whether anyone approves.
 
Agemegos said:
After considerable, methodical experimentation, I have concluded that I like a little water in my martini. I have tried stirring them. I have tried keeping my gin in the freezer so that no ice need be used at all. I prefer them shaken.

I like an austere London dry gin such as Gordon's or Tanqueray, six-to-one ratio, shaken with a large strip of lemon rind, garnished with three pimento-stuffed olives that are well dipped in brine. And I don't really care whether anyone approves.
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Not my jam but I can understand it. I do agree with your choices of gin. I'm a big fan of Tanqueray. What type of vermouth do you like? I've only ever used Martini & Rossi extra dry.
 
Ronin said:
Not my jam but I can understand it. I do agree with your choices of gin. I'm a big fan of Tanqueray. What type of vermouth do you like? I've only ever used Martini & Rossi extra dry.
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Back in the olden days, when I was first exploring martinis, I used to like an Australian dry vermouth called Marko, which was made at Renmark using traditional methods by an unpretentious immigrant family. It wasn't as clear as the top brands, but tasted excellent and was priced to quaff. I can't find Marko any more, and I have switched to Noilly Prat original dry.
 
Nobby-W said:
Once upon a time I had a Scottish cow-orker who had worked in America for some years and developed tastes for Baseball and Margaritas. I did try one once when out on the piss and I did like it, although I've never had one since.
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The first margarita I ever drank was at the only Mexican restaurant in Auckland run by actual Mexicans. I don't know if its was good or bad luck., because no margarita since has measured up to the first. Can't go back. That place is now a South African Braai restaurant.
 
When it is hot like it is right now sangria and margaritas are my go-tos.
 
Last night I made a margarita substituting rose liqueur for the orange liqueur. It was excellent, but I ought to have sugared rather than salted the rims of the glasses, and garnished with a rose-petal. I'm going to call that a "rosa".

Next I'm going to try a margarita with violet liqueur substituted for the orange liqueur. What's the Spanish for a violet?
 
Around here its cooling off. My thoughts drift away from margaritas and such. To the warm embrace of hot toddies, wassail, or just mulled cider with the addition of a nice bourbon.
 
Ronin said:
Around here its cooling off. My thoughts drift away from margaritas and such. To the warm embrace of hot toddies, wassail, or just mulled cider with the addition of a nice bourbon.
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I was convinced to try coffee with a splash of ouzo recently, and I was surprised by how good it is.
 
I like nice Gimlet from time to time. Made with a nice gin of course, not that vodka version nonsense from the 90's. Fresh lime juice and sugar or Rose's Lime Cordial work a treat.
 
Fenris-77 said:
If it's not neat it's not scotch. Change my mind. Ice cubes are the work of the devil.
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The only water that should get near Scotch is the palate cleaning water you drink right before the Scotch. If you want your Scotch cold, then use those fancy stones you can freeze, and toss one of those in your glass. Otherwise, ice in Scotch = Blasphemy!
 
While I agree ice in Scotch is the devils work. There is a greater evil that I have witnessed. Mixing a single malt with some sort of soda. Truly a crime against humanity.
 
Agemegos said:
After considerable, methodical experimentation, I have concluded that I like a little water in my martini. I have tried stirring them. I have tried keeping my gin in the freezer so that no ice need be used at all. I prefer them shaken.

I like an austere London dry gin such as Gordon's or Tanqueray, six-to-one ratio, shaken with a large strip of lemon rind, garnished with three pimento-stuffed olives that are well dipped in brine. And I don't really care whether anyone approves.
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My issue with Martinis is that they either (a) combine two relatively dry and very aromatic beverages (gin and dry vermouth) or (b) try to address the former by scaling back the vermouth, resulting in what amounts to pure gin.

That being said. I have seen some recipes that substitute vermouth for Fino sherry, and my interest was quite picked. And made me want to try a version with white port. I happen to have a bottle at hand and hope to try my hand at it soon.
Stumpydave said:
Scotch. Neat. Job done.
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Ditto. Less likely to subject oneself to the vagaries of mixology.
Fenris-77 said:
If it's not neat it's not scotch. Change my mind. Ice cubes are the work of the devil.
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Not against ice cubes as a matter of principle but I never use them.
bleys21 said:
The only water that should get near Scotch is the palate cleaning water you drink right before the Scotch. If you want your Scotch cold, then use those fancy stones you can freeze, and toss one of those in your glass. Otherwise, ice in Scotch = Blasphemy!
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Beg to differ. A few drops work wonders especially at higher ABVs.
Ronin said:
While I agree ice in Scotch is the devils work. There is a greater evil that I have witnessed. Mixing a single malt with some sort of soda. Truly a crime against humanity.
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Yeah, that’s fucking bullshit. Except if it’s cheap scotch and good soda, in which case highball away.
 
Fenris-77 said:
A few drops isn't ice cubes, just saying...
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Yep, forgot to mention the water drops thing, that's ok. No excommunication for that...

Speaking of Scotch, I really want to get my hands on an 18+ year old single, but my finances said ixnay to that, sadly :-(
 
My sister and I gave ourselves a set of new cocktail glasses for Christmas — my Krosno martini glasses were getting a bit shabby and we are down to four of them.

IMG_0751.jpeg

In the Thirties these would have been "small Martini" glasses, but since they were revived in the Eighties they have been known as "Nick and Nora" glasses. In the picture they contain dry Martinis: 6 parts Gordon's gin to 1 part Noilly Prat original dry vermouth, shaken with two large piece of very thin lemon peel until the condensation froze onto the outside of the shaker, then garnished with three cocktail olives well dipped in their brine. Après nous, le Déluge.
 
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The Butcher said:
My issue with Martinis is that they either (a) combine two relatively dry and very aromatic beverages (gin and dry vermouth) or (b) try to address the former by scaling back the vermouth, resulting in what amounts to pure gin.
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The first Martini recipes included a few dashes of orange bitters. I've tried it, it's good. I'm going to stick with putting lemon zest in the shaker, but you might like to try the bitters.

I also suggest the sweet Martini (two parts gin to one part sweet/Italian/red vermouth, with three dashes of orange bitters), or what I call the Queens' tipple (two parts gin to one part Dubonnet). Or if those are too sweet, perhaps the "perfect" Martini (which combines gin, dry vermouth, and sweet vermouth).

I have a silver-plated cocktail shaker that my aunt bought in New York in the Thirties and gave to me for my 21st birthday.
IMG_0752.jpeg
It has recipes on it, and its recipe for a dry Martini is "5/8 dry gin, 1/4 dry vermouth, 1/8 sweet vermouth, — Angostura bitters, ice". That's not at all what we call a dry Martini now, and I don't think it was when my aunt bought the shaker either. Perhaps it's worth trying.
 
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Ronin said:
While I agree ice in Scotch is the devils work. There is a greater evil that I have witnessed. Mixing a single malt with some sort of soda. Truly a crime against humanity.
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In China it is considered classy to drink Australian fine wines — with mixers. White wines are served with Sprite and red wines with Coca-Cola.
 
Had a good Negroni the other day and the experience made me want to try the Boulevardier — pretty much the same as the Negroni but subbing the gin for whiskey.

This one was made with Maker’s Mark, Cinzano 1757 and of course Campari. I love it when the drinks menu is upfront about their mixers.

I gotta say that as a whisky enthusiast I am much more inclined to enjoy the Boulevardier than the Negroni. I feel the sweetness of the whisky does a better job of balancing the bitterness of the Campari (along with the vermouth). In this sense I feel Maker’s Mark was a great choice.

And of course the Campari makes it feel like a leveled-up Manhattan adding a whole layer of round, aromatic bitterness.

I think I have a new favorite cocktail.
 
Agemegos said:
In China it is considered classy to drink Australian fine wines — with mixers. White wines are served with Sprite and red wines with Coca-Cola.
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I want to be mad about that. Then I remember that crap like this exists,
BFC_Seltzers_800_.jpg
 
Agemegos said:
My sister made lemon syrup for a lemon-and-poppyseed cake, and there was quite a bit left over, so this evening I shook up three shots of gin, one of lemon syrup, and two dashes of Angostura bitters with ice, and strained it into a couple of half-sized Martini glasses. It was very good, and turns out upon research being done to be basically a version of a cocktail known as a Fitzgerald.
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After further experimentation, including trying out an official IBA recipe or the original recipe or some such that I got off the Tubes, I have settled my own Fitzgerald recipe as
  • 2 gin
  • 1 lemon juice
  • ½ simple syrup
  • — Angostura bitters
Shake on ice and then strain into a Nick & Nora. Garnish with orange peel.

It's a gin sour, really.
 
Agemegos said:
In China it is considered classy to drink Australian fine wines — with mixers. White wines are served with Sprite and red wines with Coca-Cola.
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Thought better about this one and while I wouldn’t do it to high-class wines, there are worse dates for a drab earthy green bottom-shelf Carmenère than a kalimotxo.
 

Tequila Rosso

Something needed celebrating, but it wasn't clear what. I shook up
  • 2 tequila reposada
  • 1 Rosso Antico
  • —— orange bitters
on plenty of ice, strained it into Nick & Noras, and garnished with an orange wheel.

It was a good balance of sweet and bitter, but ought to have been garnished with a twist and not with a wheel.
 
I have been experimenting with Negronis ahead of an Italian-themed dinner next week. Striving to reduce the perception of bitterness I struck upon

  • ⅔ Campari
  • 1 London dry gin
  • 1⅓ Rosso Antico
  • ½ pinch of salt

Stir, strain over rocks. Garnish with an orange wedge.

Now I need a mocktail for my pre-teen great-nephews. I was thinking of shaking grenadine and lime juice on ice, straining over rocks, and topping up with cola. But I don't have any maraschino cherries, and don't think I can get them in time.
 
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