Paloma

Kosher salt
1/2 Lime
2 oz. El Tesoro Platinum
1/2 oz. Grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. Simple syrup
San Pellegrino Pompelmo Grapefruit soda
1 Lime wheel

Prep garnish - lime wheel.  Rim a highball glass with salt.  Squeeze the lime half into a shaker and drop it in.  Add the tequila, grapefruit juice, and simple syrup and shake.  Strain into a highball glass filled ice and top with grapefruit soda.  Add garnish & straw.

I had a Paloma for the first time last year at a steakhouse with my wife.  It was a very different version than this one because of the soda used.  They used Q Soda which I remember being drier and having more pink grapefruit flavor and color.  I liked that version a little bit better but this drink is still very enjoyable.  The San Pellegrino Grapefruit soda is a little hard to find, but I found it at the Spec's Downtown store in their grocery section.  You've got to make a couple of these in order to utilize the soda and grapefruit juice.  I'm usually always okay with that.

Simple Syrup

1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup water

Add to a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and without bringing to a boil, until the sugar is dissolved.

Diamondback

2 oz. Rittenhouse 100 Rye
1/2 oz. Laird's Bonded
1/2 oz. Yellow Chartreuse

Stir all the ingredients over ice, strain into a Nick & Nora glass.

I lied about the Daiquiri.  The Diamondback is probably the easiest drink in the world to make.  It's pretty overpowering when sipping this drink at the start, and I don't think I'm going to be a big Chartreuse fan.  But, the drink mellows out a bit after a while and I found myself finishing it pretty quick.  Only one drink tonight though; meetings in the morning.  Cheers

Daiquiri

2 oz. Flor de Cana Extra-Dry White Rum
1 oz. Lime juice
1/2 oz. Cane sugar syrup
1 Lime wedge

Prep garnish - lime wedge.  Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a coupe.  Add garnish.

This is probably the easiest drink in the world to make.  Three ingredients, shake, strain.  I've read somewhere that the Daiquiri is the drink bartenders judge other bartenders by.  I drank two just for good measure.

Fancy-Free

2 oz. Rittenhouse 100 Rye
1/2 oz. Luxardo Maraschino
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash House Orange bitters
1 Orange twist

Prep garnish - orange twist.  Stir all ingredients over ice, strain into a double rocks glass over 1 large ice cube.  Add garnish.

After a hectic day filled with arguing with assholes at work, I was looking for something boozy.  Honestly this really tastes like an Old Fashioned to me, but I guess if you focus you can taste some of that maraschino coming through.  Cheers assholes!

House Orange Bitters

1 part Fee Brothers West Indian Orange bitters
1 part Regans' Orange bitters
1 part Angostura Orange bitters

Combined equal parts into a bitters bottle I bought online.  I think I did like an ounce and a half of each.  Which is a lot of dashing.

Sidecar

2 oz. Pierre Ferrand 1840
1/2 oz. Cointreau
3/4 oz. Lemon juice
1/4 oz. Cane sugar syrup
1 Orange twist

Prep garnish - orange twist.  Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a coupe.  Add garnish.

For my first drink I went with the Sidecar.  A relative lay up, but highly drinkable to a certain degree if you can handle the acidity.  A classic and a drink I enjoy.

Cane Sugar Syrup

1 cup Organic cane sugar (evaporated cane juice)
1/2 cup Water

Add to a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and without bringing to a boil, until the sugar is dissolved.


Don't turn your back, this stuff will start boiling quick!

Getting Started

I've been wanting to give this a try for a while.  I consider myself somewhat of a goal-oriented person, so keeping a blog seemed like a good way to keep track of my progress.

I'm by no means a cocktail expert.  I've only been interested in cocktails for about a year.  So basically I have no idea what I'm doing.  I've learned basic techniques through some books (Death & Co. and Bar Book mainly) and built up a decent set of equipment & spirits.

I've never worked behind a bar, although the thought of being the regular bartender at the local dive does appeal to me.  I've never been to the real Death & Co. (maybe someday) nor do I attend a true cocktail bar regularly. (I've been to Anvil in Houston once - awesome spot)

Just wanting to really see if I can complete the list, learn to make some good drinks, and have a little fun.