Shade Thrower

Posted: August 22, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

A “Shade Thrower” from Freddy Schwenk at @geistnashville.

The recipe calls for a half ounce of Averna, but I had to improvise with a 1/4 of Meletti and a 1/4 of Cynar instead. 🤷🏻‍♂️

2oz. bourbon
1/2oz. Averna (or 1/4 Cynar, 1/4 Meletti?)
1/2oz. Italian vermouth
1/4oz. Aperol
2d Angostura bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass and new ice. Garnish with an orange twist.

A Tribute to St. Louis CITY S.C.

Posted: August 22, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

I present “The Fortress”, named after Coach Carnell’s reference to City Park after the Sporting KC victory. St. Louis CITY SC is St. Louis’ MLS soccer club, and this drink was created and fine-tuned with other CITY supporters inside an online forum. One of the key aspects is its color… our attempt to mimic their signature color of “CITY Red”, with some garnishes to mimic their uniform’s secondary and tertiary colors.

“The Fortress”

2oz Hendrick’s Gin
3/4oz Aperol
1/2oz lemon
1/4oz Italian vermouth
~2 splashes of grenadine (for obtaining the City Red hue, or for added sweetness)

Shake with ice and then strain into a rocks-filled glass

Garnish with blueberries and a lemon twist

A couple of spectators for fans of tequila

Posted: July 23, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This variation of one my favorite cocktails I dreamed up, “The Spectator”, is just as good as the original I think. The “Spectator version 2” swaps out the blanco tequila with reposado tequila and swaps out the jalapeño syrup with regular simple syrup, providing a smooth, easy-drinking cocktail.

1 1/2oz reposado tequila
3/4oz maraschino liqueur
3/4oz lime
1/4oz simple syrup

Shake w/ ice and strain

For the original “Spectator” recipe from 2018, visit… https://scientistmcgee.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/the-spectator-a-smcg-original/

I like pommeau.

Posted: June 26, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: alcohol, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I had my first taste ever of pommeau last week and I’m in love.

Just outside of Traverse City, MI, I visited a cidery called Tandem Ciders. While there, my wife and I enjoyed a flight of ciders and they were great. But what I loved most was trying their pommeau they call “Pomona”…. a 5-year aged blend of brandy (distilled from a blend of their ciders) combined with actual hard cider. Basically calvados + hard cider… It’s delicious! It’s basically an aperitif or a dessert wine. It comes in a 17% alcohol content.

Tandem Ciders’ “Pomona” pommeau
A flight of cider and a pickled egg
Tandem Ciders in Suttons Bay, MI
Tandem Ciders’ Pomona

#cider #cidery #applebrandy #pommeau #michigan #suttonsbay #traversecity

Robert Treat Special w/ Dubonnet

Posted: June 10, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

A simple drink that I really love. I discovered this drink at an old restaurant that is no longer… Water Street in Maplewood, MO (a nice town just west of St. Louis).

Robert Treat Special

1.5oz cognac
1.5oz Dubonnet
1 dash of @angosturahouse orange
bitters


Stir w/ ice and garnish w/ a lemon
twist

Robert Treat Specials on the rocks are also nice. Here’s one with an orange twist.

#roberttreatspecial #brandy #dubonnet #cognac

Finally!

Posted: June 10, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

After having first tasted this delicious drink at Disney World, called a “Brandy Antigua” there, I had to have my own bottle of the crema de alba liqueur. The trouble is it’s really hard to find in stores and it can’t be shipped to the state of Missouri (where I live).

Fortunately a new location of The Wine and Cheese Place opened up near my house (Spirit Wine & Craft). Their my favorite place to buy alcoholic beverages in St. Louis because of their perfect selection, fair prices, and top notch customer service. An example of their stellar customer service is the fact that when I brought up this liqueur that had been so elusive to me, they recommended I check the Friar Tuck in Edwardsville, IL. I called that store the next day and sure enough they had it! The Wine & Cheese Place is THAT good! Even stuff they don’t have, they know exactly where you should check to find it! I had already, long before this, called many shops in Illinois thinking I might find some in our state next door. But I hadn’t called the one place that had it. The one place The Wine & Cheese Place recommended. Now after a 3-year hunt, I have my own bottle!

I immediately went to work mixing up that Brandy Antigua drink only with some nice Armagnac instead since I didn’t have any special brandy on hand at the moment. It lived up to my memory and was as good as I remembered. Yum!

Crema de Alba is a cream based liqueur made from aged Spanish brandy. It’s sort of like Irish cream but instead of being based on Irish whiskey, Spanish brandy. It’s very tasty and it’s only $18.

An Armagnac Antigua

1 1/2oz Armagnac
2d orange bitters
Set up a rocks glass with ice, and fill the rest with Gran Duque Crema de Alba liqueur.

Stir with ice and enjoy. (Good with plain cake donuts)

Armagnac Antigua

#brandy #granduque #cremadealba #spanishbrandy #creamliqueur #liqueur #brandyantigua #disney

The 9th edition of the “Scientist McGee Drinks Menu & Manual” is here!

Posted: September 3, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Now in its 9th year, the newly updated “Scientist McGee’s Drinks Menu & Manual” features 33 new drinks (pages 137-153)!

This printable book collects the drinks I’ve mixed up and enjoyed at home over the last 9 years, and the new additions include some wonderful classics such as the Dark & Stormy, The Hurricane, Aged Egg Nog, Whiskey Flip, Singapore Sling, as well as quite a few drinks you’ve probably not yet heard of (including a few of my own creations).

So kick back and enjoy the pages of this menu and manual, with a table of contents organized by base spirit as well as an all-inclusive, carefully cataloged index of all the supporting characters in each drink’s make-up.

Part 1 of 2: Scientist McGee’s Drink Menu and Manual – 9th Edition Sept. 2020 – FRONT COVER, TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 2 of 2: Scientist McGee’s Drink Menu and Manual – 9th Edition Sept. 2020 – RECIPES, INDEX

Blackjack

Posted: May 4, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Tonight’s quarantini happy hour is a “Blackjack” by Jacques Straub in 1914 and published in the 2011 @pdtnyc book… Made with 1 1/2oz brandy, 1/2oz kirschwasser, 1/2oz cold brew coffee, and 1/4oz Demerara syrup. Shake w/ ice, then strain into a coupe. Garnish w/ a cherry or three.

Blackjack

Quarantini Happy Hour

Posted: April 18, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: alcohol, Aperol, bitters, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, Drink recipe, drinks, mixed drinks, tequila, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

I turned to an old favorite of mine, a “501”, to celebrate the end of the remote-work week yesterday evening. After a long day, a happy hour tipple with my wife before dinner is always a special treat.

My wife doesn’t like her drinks to be as boozy as I do mine so I oftentimes modify the recipes to suit her taste. So instead of the original single recipe of 1 1/2oz blanco tequila, 3/4oz ginger liqueur, 1/2oz lemon, and 1/4oz Aperol, I made two drinks using the following amounts: 3oz blanco tequila, 2 1/4oz ginger liqueur (Big O brand), 1 1/2oz lemon, and 3/4oz Aperol. Basically I doubled the tequila for two drinks but tripled all the other less stiff ingredients.

It worked out well and was a very nice start to our quarantined weekend, cheers!

Smuggler’s Cove tiki drinks

Posted: July 10, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

I recently purchased Martín Cate’s book about his Smuggler’s Cove bar in San Francisco and tiki drinks, history and culture in general, and I’ve finally been officially drawn into the world of tiki. This book is perfect… Thoughtful, clear, beautiful photos, and most importantly one great drink recipe after another. I love this book and have loved every drink I’ve made out of it so far, as you can see from these 8 recent Instagram posts below. (You can even see that I’ve gotten the bug for tiki glassware, with more on their way in the mail as I type this.) I am officially intrigued by the world of rum, a world that’s never played in integral part of my cocktail life… until now.

A Halekulani Cocktail from my new book “Smuggler’s Cove”… 1 1/2oz #bourbon 1/2oz #lemon 1/2oz #orange 1/2oz #pineapple 1/2oz #grenadine 1/4oz #demerarasyrup 1d @angosturahouse #bitters * <shake w/ ice, then strain into a chilled coupe> *I didn’t have any edible orchids laying around for the prescribed garnish @smugglerscovesf #tiki #halekulani

My 2nd drink from my new @smugglerscovesf book is “Cosa Nostra #2”. The mrs. said she loved it, and I did too.

1 1/2oz @averna #amaro 1oz @still630 lightly aged #rum 3/4oz lemon 1d @angosturahouse #bitters Add everything into a glass of cracked ice, top with 2oz #gingerbeer and stir gently to mix. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Drink #3 from my @smugglerscovesf book now that I have passion fruit syrup… a “Demerara Dry Float”: 1 1/2oz aged rum, 1 1/2oz passion fruit syrup, 2oz lime juice, 1t lemon juice, 1/4oz maraschino liqueur, 1/4oz Demerara syrup *Shake with ice in a strainer but then open pour the mixed contents plus ice into a double rocks glass* Top with a float of 3/4oz black or really dark rum. •••••••••••••••••••••••

#tiki #demerara #rum @appletonestateja #myerssrum

Beachbum Berry’s “Mundo Perdido”… 1 1/2oz black rum 1/2oz #applebrandy 3/4oz #lemon 1/4oz #cinnamonsyrup 1/4oz #demerarasyrup *shake with ice, strain into a chilled coupe*

@latitude29nola

@smugglerscovesf

A “Suffering Bastard”: 1oz #brandy 1oz #londondrygin 1/2oz #lime 1/4oz #demerarasyrup 2d @angosturahouse bitters. <shake w/ ice and strain into a Collins glass> Add 4oz #gingerbeer, fill up with crushed ice and garnish with a #mintsprig

#tiki @smugglerscovesf @latitude29nola

“The Sexpert” of @smugglerscovesf – I have yet to make a drink out of their book that wasn’t fantastic. The hits just keep comin’! This one’s made with 1 1/2oz #pisco 1/2oz #gin 1/2oz #velvetfalernum 1/2oz #passionfruit syrup 1/2oz #lemon and 6d of @bittercube #trinitybitters <shake w/ ice, then strain> (Garnish w/ an edible flower, which I don’t have any)

Delicious!!! #tiki #sanfrancisco

“The Mastodon” w/ 1 1/2oz @still630 aged #rum 1 1/2oz @schnuckmarkets #bourbon 1/2oz #maraschinoliqueur 1/2oz @licor43usa 3oz #pineapple 1oz #passionfruit 1/2oz #lime 2d #peychaud’s #bitters <Add everything into a mixer, fill w/ 12oz crushed ice + 4 ice cubes, flash blend & open pour into glass>

This @smugglerscovesf book is on 🔥

#themastodon #tiki

“Merciless Virgin”… 1 1/2oz lightly aged #rum 1/2oz @cherryheering 1/2oz #velvetfalernum 1/2oz seltzer 1/4oz #drycuraçao 3/4oz lemon <Add 12oz crushed ice + 4 ice cubes, shake and open pour into glass> Garnish with cherries

@smugglerscovesf @pierreferrandpf @still630 #tiki

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