So I was wondering those of you who tend to imbibe, what are your favorite cocktails, and best places for them in Raleigh town?
Also what would you consider essential to know how to make?

1/10/2012 8:24:47 PM

had a couple newbies on the foundation menu...delicious

1/10/2012 8:28:28 PM

this drink at Neptune's right now is delicious:
Malteaser - Bacardi 8 yr dark rum, Duck Rabbit Milk Stout, malted allspice molasses, whole egg, whiskey barrel aged bitters, nutmeg

Foundation is always good, Fox if you like dropping $11 on a drink (no thanks). haven't had a cocktail at C. Grace yet but I like that place.

good old fashioneds at CC16

1/10/2012 8:33:13 PM

As a host, you should probably know how to make drinks like. . .

Whiskey sour
Long Island Iced Tea
Mojito
Gin & Tonic
Learn the art of the Martini
Bloody Mary
Margarita
White Russian
Mimosa
Sangria

1/10/2012 8:34:43 PM

PBR shaken in the basket of my fixie

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

1/10/2012 8:37:03 PM

I freaking love Mai Tai's.

Other than that I usually enjoy scotch on some rocks.

1/10/2012 8:39:10 PM

The borough makes delicious cocktails

My favorite is the coffee one, gentlemens club or something like that

1/10/2012 8:53:26 PM

Quote :

"this drink at Neptune's right now is delicious: Malteaser - Bacardi 8 yr dark rum, Duck Rabbit Milk Stout, malted allspice molasses, whole egg, whiskey barrel aged bitters, nutmeg"

This sounds strange but I kind of want to go to Neptune's and try it now.

1/10/2012 9:03:39 PM

half gallon mason jar
2 cups moonshine
1 cup sugar
6 lemons halved, squeeze the juice out and toss the halves in too
do the same thing with 2 limes
fill to top with sprite, 7up, sierra mist, etc.
refrigerate

call it "shaky baby" or "baby in a blanket"

1/10/2012 9:30:11 PM

sidecar is my personal favorite

both Fox and Foundation make good ones

1/10/2012 9:40:52 PM

Dive Bar: $2 shots on Tuesdays

Lucky B's has good well specials most days of the week if you don't mind douchebaggery

Sullivan's: $5 martinis on Thursdays/Sundays

1/10/2012 11:03:04 PM

I'm a fan of manhattans and martinis, and Vegas spoiled me for both of them.

I'm also a fan of mai tais, probably due to the copious amount of liquor that goes into one. They're my beach drink if I'm out somewhere and feeling more festive than bourbon on the rocks.

1/10/2012 11:11:58 PM

cum fart

1/10/2012 11:21:31 PM

Really the only cocktails I've ever ordered were Old Fashioneds and Manhattens. Been meaning to try the bacon Old Fashioned at Beasley's (I think?).

1/11/2012 12:22:18 AM

I've been digging the dark and stormy drinks lately.

Gosling's Black Seal Rum
Ginger Beer

Mix the two.

1/11/2012 12:48:21 AM

^

YES

I fell in love with these at Goslings sponsored regattas (free liquor tents)

1/11/2012 12:51:12 AM

1/11/2012 12:51:39 AM

I love free liquor tents!

1/11/2012 12:57:24 AM

I sometimes order an old fashioned or a rusty nail

1/11/2012 12:44:36 PM

though im not in raleigh, foundation has a pretty good menu in my experience

my favorites are (some are general recipes, some are proprietary):

gin mule (a general drink, a moscow mule w/ gin substituted for vodka)
- gin/ginger beer and lime juice

tarboro viking (proprietary to a restaurant up here in DC)
- bourbon, ginger syrup, lime juice, angostura Bitters and club soda

a STRONG sazerac with just the right amount of lemon zest from the garnish
- i use bulleit rye, and then the peychauds and herbsaint. im lucky to have a really great specialty liquor/wine store in my neighborhood where shit like that is not only available but usually stocked. i have tried fucking around with making my own simple syrup, but i usually just end up using the old school sugar cube and stirring it in

another proprietary, i found at a bar in San Diego called Quality Social and wrote down the ingredients and did some kitchen experimenting and i've gotten it pretty close, the "H" Cocktail
- Square One Cucumber Vodka, St. Germain, lime juice, club soda, fresh cracked pepper (stirred in) and a cucumber slice garnish. I actually prefer this one without the lime juice because i really enjoy the taste of St. Germain and it competes with the lime juice...

[Edited on January 11, 2012 at 1:01 PM. Reason : .]

1/11/2012 12:59:16 PM

Quote :

"Really the only cocktails I've ever ordered were Old Fashioneds and Manhattens. Been meaning to try the bacon Old Fashioned at Beasley's (I think?)."

that same bar in san diego i referenced above also had a bacon infused manhattan which I also tried and enjoyed. they infused bourbon with bacon for a few weeks in house, and then the garnish was fresh cooked bacon. it was pretty fantastic. tasted like caramel-coated bacon.

1/11/2012 1:09:45 PM

I don't do a lot of drinking at classy joints so I can't answer the "best places for them" question. But I tend to prefer gin martinis (a bit dirty), gin & tonic, manhattans, dark & stormy (by far the best when made with Blenheim spicy ginger ale. The bar at The Lantern in Chapel Hill does this.) Personally I'm also a big fan of the Negroni, which is equal parts campari, gin, and sweet vermouth. Technically considered an apertif I guess because of the campari, but I just like it as a cocktail in general.

1/11/2012 1:12:48 PM

it would only be an apertif if you drank it prior to a meal. Campari is a common one, but no specific booze is by nature an apertif.

Oh, almost forgot. While I was in Charleston last summer for a wedding, jbrick83 directed me to a spot on bay street that has a really excellent cocktail menu and i particularly enjoyed their sloe gin fizz. i love a properly made gin fizz as well as a pisco sour (~), but they are a pain in the ASS to make at home due to the whole "put an egg white in your drink" element. I'll get around to figuring it out one day but the barrier to concoction is high when you could just do a little pouring and make something equally tasty for less effort.

[Edited on January 11, 2012 at 1:28 PM. Reason : .]

1/11/2012 1:19:31 PM

^Good to know.

1/11/2012 1:23:19 PM

Awesome! Thanks for the feed back everyone!
^^ Agent0 if you're up in the DC area head over to Annapolis and try "Level" its a small plates lounge at 69 west street.
I had the Moscow Mule and Burbonapolis there, AMAZING. The Pisco Sour was also pretty good, but not mind blowing.
http://www.levelsmallplateslounge.com/pdf/cocktails.pdf

Also you can get this egg yolk strainer thing, looks like a wire cone that you an separate egg whites with pretty easily.

[Edited on January 11, 2012 at 1:35 PM. Reason : link!]

1/11/2012 1:34:13 PM

They use Blenheim at Neptunes.

1/11/2012 1:44:19 PM

Quote :

"Also you can get this egg yolk strainer thing, looks like a wire cone that you an separate egg whites with pretty easily"

haha i never actually bothered to look, but you are right. and it looks pretty easy. i suppose i will scoop one up.



sheiiiiiiiit i might fuck around and start making egg white omelettes too.

[Edited on January 11, 2012 at 2:30 PM. Reason : .]

1/11/2012 2:28:35 PM

Rye Manhattan

Foundation makes 'em best

1/11/2012 2:38:29 PM

the new bar on Glenwood is supposed to be awesome. "Grace"

Where the BassMent used to be.

1/11/2012 3:50:50 PM

.

[Edited on January 11, 2012 at 5:00 PM. Reason : fail]

1/11/2012 4:59:42 PM

An Old Fashioned is the only cocktail I've ordered in recent memory, and it's not a usual for me. Straight up whiskey usually does the trick. (I have come across more than a few bartenders that had never made one before, which is a little discouraging.)

1/11/2012 5:04:50 PM

If you know some of the basic drink ratios you can make anything. Like, a sour ratio is
2:1:1 spirit:sour:sweet

So a whiskey sour (in the traditional sense) is two parts whiskey, one part lemon juice, and one part simple syrup. A margarita is pretty much the same thing but it's two parts tequila, one part triple sec (sweet) and one part lime juice (sour). Daiquiris are essentially "rum sours".

Know how to make a Manhattan. Classy as shit. Also, rye.

Martinis. I do five parts gin to one part dry vermouth, stirred, and strained into a coupe with a lime twist.

Gonna echo C. Grace, Foundation, and Fox as "classic" cocktail places. Neptune's has consistently good cocktails.

[Edited on January 11, 2012 at 6:09 PM. Reason : there's some debate about a 5:1 or 6:1 ratio for gin martinis]

1/11/2012 6:08:03 PM

the only debate I ever have is whether or not to actually put vermouth in my martini. Usually I just splash it in the glass, swirl it around, pour it out, and then pour to the top with vodka and garnish with an olive.

1/11/2012 8:11:32 PM

Instead of just pouring it out, mist the glass.

1/11/2012 8:16:01 PM

Mint Julep

Never had a good one in a bar, though

1/12/2012 12:38:16 AM

went to fox for the first time this past weekend...the drinks were good, but damn at $11/each...i'm still too cheap for that

that said, penicillin is my go-to, but ginger is an acquired taste, IMO

1/12/2012 8:03:34 AM

bout to be homemade sazerac saturday up in this bitch

1/28/2012 5:06:10 PM

Old Fashioned. Sazerac. Done.

1/28/2012 5:14:41 PM

1/28/2012 5:17:48 PM

I'm Krallum and I approved this message

[Edited on January 28, 2012 at 5:26 PM. Reason : actually nvm. i wouldnt mind being on jury one day. ]

1/28/2012 5:24:36 PM

There's a bar called liqueur, and all they sell is liqueur, and they have special big ice cubes so they don't melt your drinks.

1/28/2012 5:33:56 PM

1/28/2012 6:15:13 PM

sazeracs and nostalgia/ultra. what ya life like? (c) beanie sigel

1/28/2012 7:12:01 PM

Do they sell the Bulleit Rye in Wake County? I've never been able to find it.

1/29/2012 10:30:10 AM

Yep.

1/29/2012 10:41:03 AM

That's news to me, i could never find it either. ABC store in Danville, VA has it though lol

1/29/2012 2:35:29 PM

Quote :

" Learn the art of the Martini"

I've never heard of that one before.

Bourbon in a glass [/thread]

1/29/2012 2:57:07 PM