About Me

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Happy and easy-going, I'm a glass 1/2 full kind of girl. I have ADD when it comes to hobbies and interests. At the moment I'm very much into Beachbum Berry's cocktail books. As you can see from the one of the blogs, I'm going through his entire collection...one drink at a time. I'm also keeping another blog of my crazy dreams.

May 31, 2010

Other Spirits, Liqueurs & Syrups

This is a listing of other spirits we have in our collection. I picked up the Pimento Liqueur. Bev Mo was the only place I could find it.

Liqueurs

Anise - Pastis 45 Prado - Licorice flavored apertif
Applefest Sour Apple - Apple (tart)
Bailey's Irish Crème - Crème/Coffee
Bananas 99
Benedictine
Blue Curacao - Laraha citrus / orange
Buttershots - Butterscotch
Cointreau - Orange "More delicate, refined that triple sec"
Crème de Banana
Crème de Cacao
Crème de Cassis - Black Current
Crème de Noyaux - Almond
DiSarno - Almond
Frangelico - Hazelnut
Grand Marnier - Orange "More delicate, refined that triple sec"
Island Pucker – Tropical
Falernum (John Taylor Velvet) - Ginger/Citrus
Kahlua - Coffee/Vanilla
Trader Vic’s Kona Coffee
Maraska Maraschino
Melon (Midori)
Orange Curacau - Marie Bizzard
Orange Curacau - Bols
Parfait d'Amour - Marie Brizard - Lavender
Pernod - Licorice flavored apertif
Sloe Gin - Sloe Berry flavored
Strawberry
Strawberry Passion Pucker - Strawberry (tart)
Triple Sec - Dekuyper
Triple Sec - Hiram Walker
Vanilla Schnapps - Dr. McGuillcutty's
Vermouth - Dry (Ponti)
Vermouth - Sweet (Gallo)
Barenjager Honey Liqueur
Galliano Liqueur – anise/vanilla with citrus undertones
Pimento Liqueur (St. Elizabeth) -Allspice


Vodka

42 Below Vodka
Absolute Vodka
Kettle One Vodka
Pearl Coconut Vodka
Pearl Vodka
Rain Organics Vodka
Sky Vodka

Brandy

Apple Jack (Laird’s)
Apricot Brandy - Dekuyper
Blackberry Brandy - Dekuyper
Peach Brandy - (Hiram Walker
Brandy (E&J)
Cherry Brandy

Gin

Tanqueray

Bourbon

Buffalo Trace Kentucky Bourbon
Knobb Creek Kentucky Straight Bourboun
Wild Turkey American Honey Bourbon
Maker's Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Scotch

Glenfiddich 12 Year
Glenlivit 12 Year

Syrups and Misc.


Alize Passionfruit Cognac
Angostura Bitters
Coco Lopez Coconut Crème
Rosie's Grenadine – Cherry
Stirrings Grenadine – Pomegranate
Sweet Sherry (Lustau Solera Reserve)
Torini Cinnamon Syrup
Trader Vic's Ko Ko Crème (Coconut Crème)
Trader Vic's Orgeat Syrup
Trader Vic's Passionfruit Syrup
Trader Vic's Rock Candy Syrup
Vedrienne Citrus

May 29, 2010

Rum Substitutions

Any recipe In the Grog Log calling for Light Puerto Rican Rum, we substituted either:

1) Flor de Cana Light Rum (Nicaragua)
2) Cruzan Light Rum (St. Croix)
3) Ron Matusalem Platinum (Guatemala)

Although these rums are not from Puerto Rico, we’d rather drink goat piss than drink Bacardi. A mixologist that I respect once called it “vodka.” We used these rums instead of Bacardi since we haven’t found a decent Light Puerto Rican Rum. There is Ron Rico, but that’s another rum we don’t use. Way back in the day, Ron Rico was supposedly a very good rum.

There are some recipes in the Grog Log that do call for Bacardi 151. So in honesty, we do have a 1/5 of Bacardi 151, but I’ve had this bottle for a very long time. As I mentioned, it’s a 1/5 and it’s still 3/4 full. I generally use it for drinks that call for *hit to be lit on fire.

May 27, 2010

Rum List

This is a listing of rums we currently have:

Admiral Nelson Vanilla Rum
Angostura 1919 Rum (West Indies – Trinidad)
Appleton Jamacian Rum (aged 12 year)
Appleton VSOP Jamaican Rum
Bacardi 151 (Puerto Rico)
Barbancourt Rhum (Haiti)(aged 4 years)
Barbancourt Rhum Reserve Speciale(Haiti) (aged 8 years)
Clement VSOP Rhum Vieux Agricole (Martinique)
Clement VSOP Rhum (Martinique)
Coruba Dark Jamacian Rum
Cruzan Aged White Rum (St. Croix)
Cruzan Coconut Rum (St. Croix)
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum (Argentina)
El Dorado Special Reserve Demerara Rum (Guyana)
English Harbour Antigua Rum (West Indies)
Flor de Cana Limon Rum (Nicaragua)
Flor de Cana 4 Year Exta Dry (Nicaragua)
Gosling Black Seal Bermuda Rum
Kracken Black Spiced Rum
Kuya Fusion Rum (Citrus Spiced Rum)
Lemon Hart Demerara Rum (Guyana)
Lemon Hart Demerara 151 (Guyana)
Meyer's Platinum White Rum (Jamaican)
Mocambo Rum (Mexico) (20 year-Cuban Styled)
Monte Cristo (12 year) (Guatemala)
Monte Cristo Spiced Blend (Guatemala)
Mount Gay Eclipse (Barbados)
Mount Gay Special Reserve (Barbados)
Mount Gay Vanilla Rum (Barbados)
Myers Dark Jamaican Rum
Oronoco - Fazenda Reserva (Brasil)
Plantation Jamaican Rum (Jamaican)
Pusser's Rum Blue Label (West Indies (Trinidad/Tobago)
Pyrat Pistol Rum (Anguilla, British West Indies)
Pyrat XO Reserve Rum (West Indies)
Red Rum (Tropical Flavor)
Ron Centenario XX Year Reserva Especial Rum (Costa Rica)
Ron Matusalem Classico (Dominican Republic)
Ron Matusalem Grand Reserva (15 year) (Dominican Republic)
Ron Matusalem Platinum (Dominican Republic)
Ron Viejo de Caldas - Carta de Oro Grand Reserva (Columbian)
Ron Zacapa Solera Grand Reserve Rum (Guatemala)
St. James Rhum - Exta Old(Martinique)
St. James Rhum - Amber (Martinique)
Stroh 80 Spiced Austrian Rum (Austrian)
Tommy Bahama Dark Rum
Tommy Bahama Light Rum
Trader Vic's Dark Rum
Trader Vic's Gold Rum
Vizcaya VXOP Case No. 21 Cuban Formula Rum (Dominican Republic)
VooDoo Rum (Spiced Rum)
Wray & Nephew Over Proof White Rum (Jamaican)
Zaya Rum (Trinidad)

May 26, 2010

Another Bottle of Rum on the Wall....

This is our favorite spirit, so it was only natural that we’ve tried to purchase or sample as many possible. With that said, I’ve compiled a list of rums we’ve purchased through the years. I keep a listing of most current price we’ve paid for each bottle as well.

It’s almost become a sickness; we can’t resist adding bottles rum we don’t have in our collection. We are adding rum “One Bottle at a Time.” This is helping us “fine tune” our home bar. It gives us a good idea of what we like to keep on buying. We’ve discovered that price doesn’t necessarily determine whether we like a rum or not.

I’ll use a recent tequila purchase as an example, we bought 7 Lenguas Anejo Tequila on 12/09 for $35.99. As 7 Lenguas is supposedly the original recipe for Patron. Somewhere down the line they sold their rights/recipe to Patron. So in other words it was the “OG” Patron so we decided to lay down our dough on this bottle. This tequila was a bit hot and harsh for our taste. On the other hand, Casadores Anejo which we purchased for $36.99 is damn smooth. So there you go, that’s why we keep track of what each bottle of rum cost.

May 25, 2010

Beachbum Berry: The Grog Log ~ One Cocktail at a Time

Since "Demon Rum" is our preferred spirt, it only made sense that rum based tropical drinks are our drink of choice. We therefore have quite a selection of rum, as well as just about every liqueur, juice and mixer.

We are also blessed to live in the San Fernando Valley where alongside so many alcoholic degenerates which has made the ability to find good alcohol easy, due to the high demand. Or maybe it’s just us two buying the inventory?

In any event, we are fortunate to have two liquor stores in the San Fernando Valley that stock a great selection of spirits.

The Green Jug located in West Hills their knowledge of spirits and wine as well as their customer service can't be beat. The Wine & Liquor Depot in Van Nuys has excellent prices and the rum, scotch and tequila selection is phenomenal. Seriously, check out their website.

Since not all tropical drinks are entirely rum based, so we also keep a standard stock spirits such as gin, bourbon and vodka.

With that said, we decided to give our livers a work-out by making and consuming each and every recipe in Beach Bum Berry’s Grog Log.

Why the Grog Log? Well, this book is somewhat of the bible of vintage tropical drinks. The drinks are in alphabetical order and at first we were going to start with the first recipe, the Ancient Mariner, however, this drink called for Pimento Liqueur. Ironically, the one liqueur we did not have. Something that will be remedied very shortly. We finally opted to make all the drinks, but the order wasn’t a priority.

The book has 20 “small rum drinks”, 30 “medium-sized rum drinks”; 17 large rum drinks; 3 bourbon drinks, 2 vodka drinks; 4 gin drinks, 2 hot drinks, 2 “party punches” and 2 non-alcoholic drinks. If I did my math right that's....82 drinks.

You’ll have to purchase the book if you’d like to make these cocktails, it just wouldn’t be cool to basically type out every cocktail recipe. So don’t e-mail me for the recipes. Buy the book you cheap-skate. (Beachbum Berry's Grog Log by Jeff Berry & Annene Kaye).

So here lies the challenge, to make and drink each and every cocktail.