Booze.

[Abagadro]

Finally got my liquor cabinet (well, closet) put together in good order:

[Samwise]

 

I want to get one of these things to use as a liquor cabinet.  I think it'll be spiffy.

[stu]

I recently tried Johnny Walker and I like it.  Of Black, Red and Blue, I prefer Black.  Blue has some real charm but I'm not sure that charm is worth the price.  Did not try Green or Gold.

You might want to try this although it doesn't come with the Green:

http://www.beveragewarehouse.com/images/products/4102.jpg

4/200 ML for $100

[Salamok]

Finally got my liquor cabinet (well, closet) put together in good order:

All the scotches on the top shelf are full! 

[Abagadro]

Give me time. 

[Paelos]

Ok, here is a question for you all.

What is the worst alcohol you have ever tried? 

Not a mixed drink, just a single liquid.

I can not stand Cointreau. 

Homemade Arak, with a middle eastern family. It looks like semen, tastes like strong licorice.

[Sheepherder]

This is actually pretty good.  It has a pretty strong licorice taste, but doesn't look like semen.

[Paelos]

To be fair the actual Arak is clear. It looks like semen when you mix it with water.

[Sky]

Like Ouzo. I think I've outgrown my taste for the licorice liquors. My friend bought me a bottle of Ouzo a couple years ago and it's hardly touched, we used to go through freezer bottles of Jaeger like nothing. Now my empty bottle of Laphroaig mocks my lack of money.

For the money sunk into that closet, ditch the VSOP for XO :)

[K9]

I always thought those globe drink cabinets were rather nifty.

Ok, here is a question for you all.

What is the worst alcohol you have ever tried? 
Not a mixed drink, just a single liquid.

I can not stand Cointreau. 

Hard to say; I've had a lot of really cheap and nasty generic spirits as a kid/student. Stand-out examples of awful though are probably Latvian Balsam and Armenian Cognac. In all fairness to Armenian drinks makers, I hear there are some very good cognacs from the region; this particular example came in a bottle shaped like an AK-47, so go figure. The balsam was just vile, truly vile.

I guess if I had to stump for one drink I really do not enjoy it would have to be champagne.

[Paelos]

I refuse to drink Miller Light. I'll drink other shitty light beers, but Miller Light has something in it that makes me feel like shit. I've heard that other people have similar reactions to it.

[Abagadro]

I generally alternate between Corv VSOP, Remy VSOP, Hennesy VSOP and Delamaine XO in my purchasing of cognac.  I like the XO but the jump in price is hard to justify as I don't know that I see a huge difference in quality.

[Oban]

A shot of XO is great in a fine lager or ale.

I can not stand drinking cognac by itself, but I have found a few Armagnacs that I can drink neat.

[IainC]

Part of the deal when I go to visit my father-in-law is that I'll bring him some nice whiskey as he likes a nice drop but doesn't know much about it. I turned him onto the peatier whiskeys a few years ago and he's always pretty keen to see what I'll bring. Last time I brought across a 25 year old Port Ellen which went down very well indeed, this time he got a 26 year old MacDuff. Signs are good so far.

[Samwise]

NECRO!


My new booze cabinet, which was just assembled this weekend and stocked tonight.  This picture does not represent the entirety of my scotch collection; I keep a few bottles at work for the occasional quitting-time celebratory drink.

[Falwell]

I see no Bombay Sapphire in that cabinet and must consider it incomplete, and you a communist. Sorry Sammy.

[lamaros]

Is that Van Gough vodka any good? I see it about but can't recall having had any.

[Prospero]

Their plain vodka is solid, but their flavored vodkas are a bit overdone for my tastes. I tend towards Hangar One for vodka, partially because it is distilled a few miles from where I live. Yay distillery tastings! 

[Khaldun]

Back to the nasty question, btw: pulque is the worst I've had.

I should keep a fuller cabinet than I do, I suppose. Problem is that I keep drinking it, except for the stuff I have for friends that I never touch (sambuca, for example), the stuff I keep for mixing cocktails that goes really slowly, and the stuff I keep for cooking (madiera, etc.) . But basically I keep a good bourbon (Van Winkle's Special Reserve atm), a decent Irish whisky (usually Powers, which is fine), a good Scotch (usually Lagavulin), Bombay Sapphire or Plymouth, though I had a bottle of Old Tom Gin for a long time (interesting, but not really my bag), and a bottle of decent mid-range tequila. I sometimes keep an armagnac around; if I've got the spare cash, I might pick up a bottle of Delamain cognac which will last six months or so if I do, but I'm not wild about a lot of the other big brands. I don't generally keep a bottle of vodka in the house: I don't see the point to booze that's best when it has no taste at all.

I really like some of weird older stuff that Haus Alpenz has been importing, a few of the liqueurs are really interesting. The Scarlet Ibis rum that they distributed is also really great. I kept a bottle of Chartreuse around for years and years, but it's something that I might only drink once or twice a year and no one else I know likes it. 

[Lucas]

This is my baby girl:



I love it 

Try it out if you haven't, yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Comfort

At the disco, I usually go for a simple Rum & Coke or shots of Rum and Pear.

[Grimwell]

I drank SoCo in high school before I learned to savor a good beer. While I don't have any issues with anyone having great for SoCo... I have a hard time thinking of it as a fine spirit. It's a functional spirit, especially when you are a kid. 

[Prospero]

I can't handle SoCo straight, but it is awfully tasty in an Alabama Slammer.

[Mosesandstick]

Khaldun: What do you use the madeira for? I've never found anything to use it for other than tiramisu, and I usually try and use rum/khalua instead of wasting money on a bottle of spirits just for one dish.

I think SoCo tastes like medicine. I thought it would taste like bourbon the first time I had it. So damn wrong.

[Khaldun]

Madiera and marsala are occasionally good in sauces, usually as a short-cut to caramelizing something. I've made a chicken with wild mushrooms where I use a bit of madiera in a cream sauce. I have a really old (now 120 yr old) bottle of madiera that I'm reluctant to use for much of anything--it's not that great tasting, but I'm almost superstitious that as the bottle shrinks through incredibly slow evaporation, it has some relationship tp my own life span. Kind of Twilight Zone-ish.

[Rasix]

SoCo.. uggg.  No.  Bad memories. 

[Khaldun]

Yeah. Southern Comfort and Jagermeister are in my "OH FUCK NO DICK CHENEY, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME ANY LONGER" category of booze.

[Abagadro]

We used to do SoCo shots with a layer of NyQuil on top back in college.  Can't stand the stuff and didn't like it even then.

[Evildrider]

I have nightmares about SoCo.  Mainly because I chugged a full bottle of it on a dare when i was 17.  I don't remember that night... but I do remember the next day. 

Just the smell of it makes me nauseous.

[Lucas]

Umm, ok, well...Glad to have awoken some of the worst booze memories with my previous post, then 

[lac]

Michael Jackson has died.

LONDON, Sept. 2 (AP) — Michael Jackson, a leading beer critic who helped start a renaissance of interest in beer and breweries worldwide in the 1970s, was found dead on Thursday at his home in West London. He was 65.

You may know him from his television documentary “The Beer Hunter” or one of his many books. He was something of a pope to those who truly appreciate a decent brew.

[Murgos]

I'm on a bit of a martini kick lately.

For years and years whenever I tried a martini it was always a vodka martini, I mean, that's what Bond drinks and who was I just argue with Bond?  Except that I hated them, and never drank them.

Then a few months ago I tried a Gin martini (Beefeater's in honor of a Beefeater I had a conversation with).  Now, I know why people like martinis.  It's almost savory, like a good piece of meat.  Literally lip smacking good.

Also, I'd give up my single malt habit for a regular supply of Johnny Blue but the price is a bit steep for anything more than an occasional luxury at this point in my career arc.

[Teleku]

Michael Jackson has died.

LONDON, Sept. 2 (AP) — Michael Jackson, a leading beer critic who helped start a renaissance of interest in beer and breweries worldwide in the 1970s, was found dead on Thursday at his home in West London. He was 65.

You may know him from his television documentary “The Beer Hunter” or one of his many books. He was something of a pope to those who truly appreciate a decent brew.

[Sky]

Speaking of tv booze guys, I miss Zane Lamprey and his show Three Sheets. I used to watch it regularly, because it was surprisingly informative, I was just using something I learned there yesterday. In Demand dropped its MojoHD programming, bleh. Hope someone picks up the show.

[Prospero]

Isn't that on Food TV now? I swear I saw ads for it recently.

fake edit: It's on FLN now.

[Oban]

Then a few months ago I tried a Gin martini (Beefeater's in honor of a Beefeater I had a conversation with).  Now, I know why people like martinis.  It's almost savory, like a good piece of meat.  Literally lip smacking good.

Try one made with Hendrick's Gin, it is a sublime experience. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrick%27s_Gin

Also, I'd give up my single malt habit for a regular supply of Johnny Blue but the price is a bit steep for anything more than an occasional luxury at this point in my career arc.

Find someone who travels and beg them to buy a bottle for you, most duty free stores (and heck even on board duty free trolleys on the major airlines) have it for a reasonable price.