Spirits
Spirits are beverages made by the process of distillation. The “Spirits” category is not commonly used at Drinkhacker because the vast majority of reviews we publish fall into this category. It is used only occasionally to help organize our category list (and mainly gets clicked by accident).
The idea for this cocktail came to me out of the blue. It’s indeed quite delicious. The St. Ignatius 1 oz. St. Germain liqueur 1 oz. white dessert wine (Sauternes, Tokaji, Moscato, or premium American botrytis-affected wine like Violetta) Shake with ice and strain into a coupe. I actually used Donnafugata’s Passito di Pantelleria Ben…
Try one of these if you’re a fan of bitter drinks like the Negroni. The Thorny Toad 2 oz. Irish whiskey 1 oz. Punt e Mes splash Absinthe 3 dashes Angostura bitters Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Adapted from the Blackthorn Cocktail, from the classic Savoy Cocktail Book.
If you read the Wall Street Journal, you’ve seen the ads for Tito’s Handmade Vodka. With a kind of scrappy, homemade look and feel (to both the ads and the bottle itself), Tito’s doesn’t look like much… but as with a book, don’t judge this liquor by its cover. I taste a lot of vodka…
Looking for a bourbon you can knock back — the better part of bottle, really — and never notice you were drinking it? Meet your match. Old Whiskey River is perhaps the quietest whiskey I’ve ever had to date. I was shocked to see it was 86 proof. It could have been iced tea for…
You’ll know it by the little horse and rider on the stopper and the grenade-shaped bottle. At $45 a bottle, you’ll often find this in the lockup at your local liquor store. As bourbons go, it’s unique: All bottles are single-barrel bottlings, which means that a glass will vary from state to state and…
From French brandy distillery Vinet-Ege comes a new entry into the “with wormwood/thujone” absinthe market, Le Tourment Vert. “The Torment,” when it arrives on our shores (any day now) will be the fourth such absinthe to hit the market here. It joins Lucid, Kubler, and St. George, all of which are slowly, tentatively finding their…
Here’s the official cocktail for my 2007 holiday party, inspired by the La Real at Solstice in San Francisco. The Joost Sparkler 1 oz. silver tequila 3/4 oz. pomegranate liqueur 3/4 oz. lychee liqueur 1/2 oz. triple sec Shake in a cocktail shaker with ice, strain into a champagne flute. Fill remainder with Champagne. I’m…
Finally got to sample Partida‘s new, full line of tequilas today. Color me impressed. No, seriously. Here’s how they shake out. Tequila Partida Blanco (2007) – This is a peppery but very clean silver tequila, perfect for mixing and even for sipping straight in a pinch. Among the best tequilas I’ve tried. A- / $40…
The name may sound like a gangsta rapper, but this premium gin isn’t something you’ll want to be mixing with OJ. Made in France and distilled from grapes, this is not your father’s Tanqueray. The juniper flavor, a requirement of all gins, is there, but it’s substantially mellowed in G’Vine. In fact it’s lemon peel…
Here we have another high-end, traditional potato vodka, straight outta Norway (note the neck of the bottle) and distilled six times, bottled at 80 proof. The makers in fact claim it to be the world’s first ultra-premium vodka, with a heritage dating to 1602. The flavor is indeed smooth, especially for a potato vodka, herbal…