Spring Tiki

Posted on March 16, 2014 by BoozeNerds

cargo-cult-closeIt’s spring in Seattle, which means it’s tiki time! The weather’s a bit dull, grey and rainy right now, so we’re turning to delicious tropical drinks to lighten our spirits. Come with us to the South Pacific 🙂 Read on to dream of warm sunny beaches and palm trees.

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Posted in allspice dram, guava puree, jamaican rum, licor 43, scotch | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Irish Coffee

Posted on March 9, 2014 by BoozeNerds

creamA couple weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to spend a few hours out with Saragh, our local Jameson whiskey rep, and got a chance to try some of their offerings we weren’t familiar with, like the Gold Reserve and the newer Black Barrel. They were very tasty, and served as a good reminder that, much like tequila, we often forget to consider Irish whiskey when we are mixing. We will have to remedy that in some future posts 🙂 In any case, with Irish whiskey on our minds and the impending arrival of St.Patrick’s Day, we thought we would try a few twists on classic Irish Coffee this week.

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Posted in amaro, barenjager, coffee, cream, grand mariner, irish whiskey | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Switchels & Shrubs

Posted on March 2, 2014 by BoozeNerds

switchel-and-shrubThis week we decided to take a look at shrubs – flavored, sweetened vinegar-based syrups – and switchels, which are the same thing only with the inclusion of ginger as a flavoring. The vinegar in them serves the same role as citrus to provide acidity, interest, and balance to a cocktail. Drinking vinegar sounds offbeat, right? But they’re actually very tasty and make it easy to whip up a nuanced drink with just a few ingredients.

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Posted in blackberry liqueur, gin, Original Cocktail, shrub, switchel, white rum | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Which Bitters?

Posted on February 23, 2014 by BoozeNerds

four-bittersIf you’re a regular reader here, you know that we’re fascinated by how different ingredients affect a drink. Some might even say we’re somewhat obsessed with it. 🙂 This week we decided to noodle around a bit with bitters. Bitters, in our minds, are one of those essential ingredients that can perfect a drink, but for the uninitiated they can be somewhat of a mystery. How can such a small amount of ingredient affect a drink in such a substantial way? We decided to try a Manhattan with four different bitters to see how this one ingredient affected the final drink. Read on to find out what we discovered.

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MxMo: Amaretto Sour Lemon vs. Lactart

Posted on February 16, 2014 by BoozeNerds

 It’s Mixology Monday time again! This month’s theme, Sours, comes from Andrea over at Ginhound. Taking Andrea’s suggestion, we decided to experiment with what souring agent we used. Awhile back, we picked up some Acid Phosphate and some Lactart. After tasting both, we decided to make an Amaretto Sour using Lactart and compare that against the original recipe using lemon to see how the choice affected the flavor. Things got complicated from there 😉 Read on to find out what we determined.

foam

Silver bat cocktail pick by Julia http://www.julialowther.com

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My Black and Bitter Heart

Posted on February 9, 2014 by BoozeNerds

MyBlackAndBitterHeartWe’re not big romantics here at Booze Nerds, but we still like to throw ourselves into the spirit of any holidays that come our way. Never decline a chance to celebrate, right? So we felt it was only right that we do a take on what we would consider to be a proper Valentine’s Day cocktail.

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Posted in campari, coffee liqueur, cognac, punt e mes, rye | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Chartreuse

Posted on February 2, 2014 by BoozeNerds

chartreuse-finalChartreuse is a French herbal liqueur that comes in both a green and a yellow formulation. You can find both varieties in many cocktails, where they add interest from their herbal flavors as well as sweetness. This week, we check out the difference between the two kinds, and see how they work in cocktails.

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Posted in cherry bitters, gin, green chartreuse, kirschwasser, maraschino, yellow chartreuse | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Maraschino Comparison

Posted on January 26, 2014 by BoozeNerds

maraschino-finalThis week we decided to do a comparison between the two maraschino liqueurs we currently have in the liquor cabinet. Maraschino is a cherry-almond liqueur used in many classic drinks, and we’re both fond of it for it’s complex, somewhat bitter fruit/nut flavors. Luxardo is an old stand by in our cabinet, and we picked up the Maraska not too long ago as well to give ourselves options. Which we’re all about :). We were curious how they compared, both straight and in cocktails. Read on to see what we discovered.

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Posted in maraschino, rum, saffron vodka, white rum | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

MxMo: Gone Courting & Ozaki

Posted on January 19, 2014 by BoozeNerds

It’s Mixology Monday time again. This month’s theme, highballs, comes from Joel at Southern Ash. From the announcement:

Highball – n. 1. a long iced drink consisting of a spirit base with water, soda water, etc

-Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition.

Challenging in it’s simplicity, and a great way to start the new year off. Read on to see what we came up with. Continue reading →

Posted in aged rum, black cherry soda, cocktail recipe, Mixology Monday, Original Cocktail, vodka | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

What to do with woody whiskey

Posted on January 12, 2014 by BoozeNerds

wood-finalThere are a lot of craft distillers out there now. We really love some of the interesting and high quality products they’re making. However, we don’t enjoy the micro barreled whiskeys that some of them are producing. We get it, as a small craft producer you don’t have the luxury to take a long time to get a product to market. Unfortunately it would appear that the only way to produce a good aged whiskey is to be patient. Otherwise you often end up with a really woody whiskey that’s not very pleasant to drink on it’s own. Unfortunately, we’ve made a number of impulse purchases of said woody whiskies, since we’re always looking to be supportive of our local distillers. So, now we have those whiskies in the liquor cabinet and we need to use them somehow. What to do? What to do?

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Posted in aperol, Original Cocktail, raspberry liqueur, Tasting Notes, whiskey | Tagged , , | 3 Comments