Mixed Drinks

[YankeeFan]

I'm not a huge drinker, but for entertainment purposes (ok, just for the hell of it, and because I could) I've built myself a pretty well stocked home bar.

My girlfriend and I have had some fun trying new and different mixed drinks. I especially like trying to recreate the "signature drinks" I've enjoyed at bars & restaurants. But, even with a good bar, unless you're willing to muddle your own blueberries or make your own bitters, recreating some of the drinks isn't really feasible.

So, what are your favorite mixed drinks to make at home. Bonus points for inventiveness and anything seasonal.

Here's one I made and enjoyed recently:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/12/01/dining/20091202-drinks-slideshow_15.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/fashion/30shake.html?scp=1&sq=shaken+stirred&st=nyt

 

[The Big Ragu]

Hey Sabu, can you make a bullshot?

 

[21]

I have posted this before, but worth repeating, you cannot go wrong with Fruit Vodka. Or Vodka Fruit. Whatever works.

--Get a big jug.
--Fill it 1/2 to 2/3 with any combination of: maraschino cherries (with the syrup), canned pineapple chunks, can/jar peach slices, mandarin oranges. Throw in all the juice.
--Fill the rest of the way with vodka. Nothing pricy, plain old Smirnoff is just fine.
--Soak. The longer the better.
--Serve in big cups: lots of ice, big scoop of fruit, fill the rest with the drink. Most people will grab a fork and eat the fruit.
--Note: You get mysteriously drunker as the fruit digests. Be careful. Your friends will hate you the next day.

 

[Rhody31]

Get a beach cooler. Clean it.
Get a ****-ton of fruit. Anything you like. Cut them all up.
Put fruit in beach cooler. Put in a good amount of ice. Pour two handles of vodka and one handle of Everclear. Fill with one container of Kool-Aid and the necessary sugar and water.
Good night.

 

[GB-Hack]

This one is really easy to make, especially as a pre-dinner cocktail.

The B.B.C.

2 measures of gin
1 measure of Blueberry vodka
3 measures of Cranberry juice
A squeezed lime wedge

Shake over ice, and serve in a martini glass.

You could also probably get a lot of mileage out of this: Esquire's drinks database.

http://www.esquire.com/drinks/

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Vodka Jello . . . I don't mean Jello shots . . . Jello, in a large bowl.

Only caveat is that you have to resist overdoing the vodka, or you'll encounter
some degree of jelling issues.
But with a moderate pouring hand, all should be well.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Many years ago, the old National Lampoon issued the following rule: No alcoholic beverage should have more than three ingredients -- and water counts.
Words to live by, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[STLIrish]

Two ingredients: Jameson. Ice cubes.

Three ingredients: The Cape Codder. Vodka. Cranberry juice. A healthy squirt of lime.

As for more than three, I'm with Gee.

 

[Drip]

Vodka mixes well with ANYTHING however, don't get the cheap rot gut ****. Treat yourself, don't cheat yourself and have fun.

 

[Huggy]

I'm strictly a beer drinker, so I don't have much to add here, but a friend of mine who, in the words of Dan Jenkins from (I think) Semi Tough, has drunk everything from dish water to polio vaccine, swears by this site:

http://www.webtender.com/

 

[cranberry]

Two ingredients: Jameson. Ice cubes.

Three ingredients: The Cape Codder. Vodka. Cranberry juice. A healthy squirt of lime.

As for more than three, I'm with Gee.

We could drink together. I also like a vodka and tonic w/lime twist in the summer months but that's as far as I go with "mixed" drinks. Most of the time two ice cubes will do the trick for almost anything.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Two ingredients: Jameson. Ice cubes.

Three ingredients: The Cape Codder. Vodka. Cranberry juice. A healthy squirt of lime.

As for more than three, I'm with Gee.

We could drink together. I also like a vodka and tonic w/lime twist in the summer months but that's as far as I go with "mixed" drinks. Most of the time two ice cubes will do the trick for almost anything.

I don't touch Vodka. Have never liked it. But that would mean more Jameson's for me when the three of us have a drink. I'll take it neat, though. No use watering down middling (but nicely drinkable) whiskey with melted ice.

 

[JackReacher]

Crown and Cherry Dr. Pepper.
Vodka and Red Bull
Every now and then, Captain and Coke.

Usually, just a Miller Lite.

 

[BRoth]

I'm strictly a beer drinker, so I don't have much to add here, but a friend of mine who, in the words of Dan Jenkins from (I think) Semi Tough, has drunk everything from dish water to polio vaccine, swears by this site:

http://www.webtender.com/

Same here. Got introduced to that a while back from a friend who set up a computer while he worked at a restaurant/bar so he could go wild.

Sidenote: I have never had all the ingredients for a bar. I've pretty much always stuck to beer and occasionally wine. What are some good staples to start with?

 

[mustangj17]

Tequilla Sunrise
Peppermint Schnapps and hot chocolate
7 and 7
Crown and coke... although the last two aren't really hard to make.

 

[JR]

If you're going to serve fruit and booze in the same glass, make sure you have a supply of drink umbrellas.

Johnny Walker, Jameson, or, if someone buys it for me, Laphroaig, my favourite single malt whiskey.

Other than that, martinis are good and a Bloody Caesar always hits the spot.

I gave up Canada's favourite mixed drink, rye & ginger ale about forty years ago. Total ****e

 

[Magic In The Night]

Put ice in glass. Take bottle of Tanqueray, pour until it looks like a good amount. Open bottle of tonic water. Don't use the diet, that stuff is nasty. Pour to top. Cut up limes. Use Key limes if you can find them at the store because they are little and cute and taste better. Put in at least two, first rubbing the limes around the top edge of the glass to add to the enjoyment. Sit back and think about beaches and oceans.

I can make other drinks but rarely do. The fiance has recently gotten into white Russians so he's been making those and I occasionally make them for him. We ran out of Kahlua so he's been using my random bottle of Tia Maria I had. Oh, and if you're making these, use heavy cream, it tastes better than half and half or milk, God forbid. It doesn't matter about the type of vodka you use as you have all this other stuff in there.

 

[JR]

Oh, and I don't know if this qualifies as a "mixed drink" or not but Irish Car Bombs: Christmas in a glass.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Oh, and I don't know if this qualifies as a "mixed drink" or not but Irish Car Bombs: Christmas in a glass.

We used to drink those in college and in my 20s. I haven't had one in a while, because I just get the feeling I am too old for ordering one of those in public, and going through the spectacle, but that is real goodness right there.

 

[JackReacher]

My buddy, still in his 20s, is addicted to ICBs. I drink one on St. Patty's Day usually, but I have no idea why. I don't like those ****ers. The drinks, I mean.