Thanks, guys. More just curious than anything else. She's quite used to the Tanqueray, so it was a bit off for her at first, but she's warming to it.

And the worst liquor is Baijiu. Or, at least, I've never had any that wasn't less pleasant than just drinking straight alcohol.

I was trying to think if there was any entire category of liquor I dislike. I'm not a vodka fan, but that's because there's not anything there to dislike. Baijiu, on the other hand, I have tried several times on the theory that anything that a billion people get drunk off must have some quality, and I am growing convinced it's a prank. I don't mean it's a prank on idiot Westerners like myself who will try anything that's supposedly popular in China (which I realize seems unlikely and would require implausible coordination), but I'm guessing it was a prank pulled a millennium ago in China that somehow took on a life of its own, possibly ironically at first, then it grew until no one knew that it wasn't just a drink you have to get used to - I don't know. But there has to be a back story.

Gin is delicious. Fact. There's a reason so many of the classic cocktails are gin-based.

I've recently been making my girl Hendricks martinis instead of Tanqueray. What's the feeling over here on those two?

Hendricks makes for a much better martini than Tanqueray, but for best results, garnish with thin cucumber slices; avoid olives or a twist. Bombay Sapphire also makes for a good martini, but is best garnished with a twist. For G&T or any mixed highball style cocktail, Brueckelen Gin is fantastic; not ideal for martinis IMO though. If I had to pick one all-purpose gin though, I'd probably go with Hendricks.

I believe the point of the "beer before liquor" thing is this: if you are already drunk when you make the switch from one type of alcohol to the other, it's smarter to be switching to beer simply because the simple volume of liquid that you need to consume makes it more difficult to drink to excess. If you are already drunk and THEN you start knocking back shots, you can down them with insane speed. So I think it's a good guideline. "Beer before liquor" simply leads to drinking more alcohol than the opposite.

I am a barbarian but i make my martinis with tanq from the freezer, 4:1 vermouth and a few cocktail onions. Maybe with a 1/2 tsp of onion juice.

Oddly enough - there's usually (not always, but usually) a point of lucidity under those conditions....

Yes, the super-drunk lucidity thing. I know what you mean.

21-how old are you?

Old enough to know better...

Cry, baby, cry.

Znebitz - that's quite civilized. Usually I drink gin neat, at room temp. Occasionally I'll make a martini with a good amount of gin and the smallest possible amount of vermouth that can be called an amount of vermouth. I can't understand why you'd want more than that.

I'll make a martini with a good amount of gin and the smallest possible amount of vermouth that can be called an amount of vermouth.

That is not a martini. That is a glass of cold gin. A martini is a beautiful cocktail with a long history, and it includes vermouth in at least a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. The earliest recipes, from the early 20th century as dry vermouth started to steal people's palates away from sweet - the Manhattan precedes the Martini, historically, both were invented in New York City - are in the range of 1:1, it seems to have settled toward 2:1 or 3:1 around the period of prohibition. A 50:50 martini is an excellent drink if you have a high enough quality vermouth (I like Dolin).

Vermouth is, in essence, wine. Like wine, it goes bad quickly. If you have a refridgerated bottle of dry vermouth that's a month old, it's gone bad. If it's been at room temperature, it's bad once it's a week or two old. (Sweet vermouth can last a little longer, but also will go bad.) Vermouth, if it hasn't gone bad, has an aromatic and lightly sweet quality that perfectly complements the complex flavors in the gin. I like 1.5 oz of gin and .75 oz of dry vermouth, with a dash of orange bitters, stirred with ice and strained.

Getting back to baseball (sorry), does anyone remember that the "Idiots" being considered the anti-chemistry team? They were considered a team that was put together with spreadsheets and though they'd win some games, would ultimately fall short for a lack of chemistry?

The Red Sox, so long sabermetric slaves, shook off the objective analysis that said $39 million is too much for an aging Victorino, and a multiyear deal for Gomes is wrongheaded considering never before had the 32-year-old warranted more than one-year contracts.

Wouldn't sabermetric slaves want to sign the guy who's been putting up good WAR totals despite some ugly traditional numbers?

To some writers sabermetrics is simply whatever doesn't work. It's just a chance to take a shot.

Gin is delicious. Fact. There's a reason so many of the classic cocktails are gin-based.

Any tips as to a good cocktail with gin. I'm inspired by this thread and heading on vacation next week so it's a time to explore some new drinks.

Shane Victorino post up in ST...

Any tips as to a good cocktail with gin.

First, the classics. Get yourself a bottle of dry Vermouth (Dolin, preferably) and a bottle of sweet vermouth (there are a lot) - get the very smallest bottle of each that you can find. Get some orange bitters (Regan's is a good brand) and some old-fashioned bitters (Agnostura is the primary brand and is good, also like Fee's old-fashioned).

1.5 oz gin, .75 oz dry vermouth, dash orange bitters, stir with ice and strain. Martini. Switch in sweet vermouth for a Martinez.

Try a Bronx cocktail. Get a fresh orange, juice it. 1 oz gin, .5 oz sweet vermouth, .5 oz dry vermouth, .5 oz fresh orange juice, dash bitters (I like Agnostura or any "old-fashioned" bitters for this). Shake with ice and strain.

Two other classic gin cocktails are the Corpse Reviver #2 and the Last Word. These require a bit more liquor / liqueur purchasing or a more fully stocked bar. But they're both wonderful drinks.

Corpse Reviver #2: .75 oz gin, .75 oz cointreau, .75 oz Lillet Blanc, .75 oz fresh lemon, dash absinthe, shaken with ice and strained
Last Word: .75 oz gin, .75 oz green chartreuse, .75 oz maraschino, .75 oz fresh lime juice, shaken with ice and strained

Also the Aviation cocktail. I've found the primary recipes out there to be pretty sour for my palate, so I sweeten with some simple syrup. (1:1 water:sugar)

1.5 gin, .75 fresh lemon juice, .25 maraschino, .25 simple syrup, dash creme de violette, shake with ice, strain

Can be made without the creme de violette, though it's better with.

Sweet vermouth is awesome. I have no idea why you would ruin it with gin.

Whisky is my room temperature drink.

I have had hangovers twice, both times after drinking Southern Comfort. The second time I was doing a football broadcast the following day, in 35 degree temperatures from a partially open press box. I looked like Nanook of the North behind the mike trying to keep warm that afternoon.

-- MWE