Southern Belle

To make this drink pour 1.25 oz Tennessee Whiskey, .75 oz Triple Sex, 8 oz Pineapple Juice, and 2 oz Orange Juice over ice into a tall glass. Add a dash of Grenadine and stir once.

This beverage is absolutely delightful. The flavors interact very well with each other, but there is no one overly dominant flavor.

Shannon says it is her favorite drink so far. She does not even notice the taste of alcohol. In fact, she claims that she will actually finish this drink.

Red Raider

Also from Thursday:

The Red Raider consists of an ounce of bourbon, half an ounce of triple sec, an ounce of lemon juice and a dash of grenadine. Shake with ice and pour into a cocktail glass. This drink both looks and tastes like pink lemonade.

Shannon also likes it. It contains just enough lemon juice to contain the bitter burn of the bourbon.

Mike likes the drink, but disagrees with Shannon in that the lemon juice cuts the bourbon enough to make it palatable, but lets the taste of the bourbon shine through.

Red Hot Passion

From Thursday:

Take .5 oz bourbon, .5 oz amaretto, .5 oz Southern Comfort, .25 oz sloe gin and pour them into a hurricane glass full of ice. Top off with a dash of triple sec, a dash of orange juice, and a dash of pineapple juice.

I think this drink is delightful. It looks like red Gatorade and has a similar taste. Shannon also liked it a lot, even if it is a little syrupy. Far superior to bourbon and sugar. At least it has a nice finish.

Guest judge Mike also thinks a little syrupy, but is rather refreshing.

The Pen Dennis Toddy

Muddle one cube of sugar and a teaspoon of water. Add two ounces of bourbon.

Unsurprisingly, Chris says it tastes like sweetened bourbon. Which he seems to like.

Prediction for me: I will not like it. In fact: I hate it.

PS - Nancy Snyderman is telling me RIGHT NOW that even one drink a day could increase my chances for "certain types of cancer." Thanks.

The Nevins (extra-hold)

Mr. Boston says to take 1.5 ounces bourbon and add 1.5 teaspoons of apricot-flavored brandy, a tablespoon of grapefruit juice, 1.5 teaspoons of lemon juice and a dash of bitters.

Chris called the drink powerful, but enjoyed it nonetheless. He said it was very citrusy.

I found this drink to taste the way I imagine hairspray would. Breathtakingly acidic, but pleasant-smelling.

The Narragansett

To make the Narragansett, take an ounce and a half of bourbon and add an ounce and a half of sweet vermouth and a dash of anisette. Stir in an old-fashioned glass with ice cubes.

Chris says, "For a drink in which every element contains alcohol, this drinks tastes remarkably nonalcoholic." I think my palate will be the judge of that. "It has a nice, sweet taste," he says. "And I thought Narragansett was just a beer."

I agree that the drink tastes less alcoholic thann some of the others, and that it's surprisingly sweet. I'm sure it's the sweet vermouth saving me from total revulsion.

The Louisville Lady

To make this feminine cocktail, mix an ounce of bourbon with .75 ounces creme de cacao (white) and .75 ounces cream (for which we substituted half-and-half).

It is quite fitting that this is a Ms. drink, given that Chris can't get anywhere near lactose.

This drink looks like Baileys. Or some kind of kinder kahlua and cream or something. At first it tastes a bit like caramel, but at finish is unmistakably unpleasant. Again, I wonder how I would feel about this drink were we using higher-grade bourbon.

I'll finish this one, but it will take a bit of doing.

Meditation on mint juleps

Chris wrote the beginning of this post, re-pasted here, before the Internet wonked out:

Mr. Boston has two recipes for the Mint Julep, so we made both of them today. To make a Mint Julep muddle 4 sprigs mint, 1 tsp. powdered sugar, and 2 tsps. water in a collins glass. Fill the glass with crushed ice and then add 2.5 oz bourbon.

To make a Mint Julep (Southern Style) dissolve 1 tsp. powdered sugar into 2 tsp. water in a collins glass. Fill the glass with finely shaved ice and add 2.5 oz bourbon. Then stick 6 sprigs of mint in the glass. Serve with a short straw because the point is to smell the mint, not to taste it.

I liked both of these beverages. The traditional mint julep really tastes minty. In the southern style, the scent of mint almost fools you into tasting it.

Chris is doing some "law school" work right now, so I'm left to finish the posting for the evening. I also enjoyed both juleps, and am surprised to report that I actually prefer the southern style. Given my predilection for mojitos, I expected that I would favor the traditional julep. However, the southern style somehow had a sweeter taste and the scent of mint leaves produced a more pleasant aftertaste.

Like so many bourbon drinks before these, I think they would be fantastic in the warm sun.

The Louiville Cooler

To make the Louiville Cooler, I would first recommend not starting the drink at nearly 3 a.m. After that, take one and a half ounces of Bourbon, add an ounce of orange juice, an ounce of lime juice nad a teaspoon of powdered sugar.

Crooney just declared the verdict "heinous" but quickly added that he'd just brushed his teeth. Our friend Mike is spending the night on the couch, and he said his taste was exactly what he expected, based on the ingredients. His assessment was slightly more kind than Chris's.

I'll say this: it's really ugly and muddy looking, and it tastes like acidic bourbon with an aftertaste of strange powdered sugar. You can't be surprised to hear that I hate it. Hate. It.

Also. Why is this called the Louiville Cooler? Anyone?

The Limestone (aka, a bourbon collins)

Fill a collins glass with ice. Add an ounce and a half of bourbon. Fill with collins mix. Add lime juice to taste. Try to understand why this is called The Limestone rather than a bourbon collins. Fail.

For our purposes, Chris has decided that "to taste" shall be equivalent to "one squirt" from our trusty lime juice.

Speaking of fail, before purchasing our $6 bottle of collins mix from Superfresh, we tried to find a recipe online. Copious googling yielded a story from the BBC announcing that unless you're a member of the royal family, you won't be getting a fresh collins mix. Apparently the recipe is that well guarded. Luckily, Holland House has created a collins mix. For those of you interested in recreating it, you'll just need some high fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, sodium nitrate, natural flavors, sodium benzoate (preservative), gum acacia, polysorbate 60 and sodium metabisulfite (preservative). FYI: Holland House mixes are produced by Mott's! The more you know!

Chris has just yelled from the kitchen that this drink is very sweet. Indeed, I now have diabetes myself.

Might be (more) enjoyable on a very hot summer day. When there is nothing else available to drink.

Kentucky Cocktail

To make the Kentucky Cocktail take 1.5 oz bourbon, .75 oz pineapple juice, shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. It tastes pretty much how it sounds. Since I like pineapple juice and I like bourbon, I like this drink. I am, however, confused as to why it is called the Kentucky Cocktail. What does pineapple have to do with Kentucky?

Shannon had high hopes for this drink, but said it tastes like perfume must taste like if one were to drink it. I had to seek clarification that that was, in fact, a negative review.

Jocose Julep

Shannon and I did some food shopping today, so we are circling back to the Jocose Julep. This delightful concoction starts with 2.5 oz bourbon, 0.5 oz creme de menthe, 1 oz lime juice, 1 tsp sugar and 5 chopped mint leaves. Mix these ingredients in a blender, pour into a collins glass full of ice, and top it off with club soda.

I should say at the outset that I half-assed this drink. I neither chopped the mint, nor used the blender. The blender is difficult to get at and I just did not feel like chopping mint.

Anyway, the drink isn't bad. It is pretty minty, and I like mint. The club soda gives it smoothness, but you can still taste that sweet, sweet bourbon in the aftertaste. It is a great drink, but a pain to make.

Shannon also really likes it, but thinks it is really strange nonetheless. In spite of the popularity of the mint julep, she does not think bourbon and mint intuitively go together, but it works.

Kiss on the Lips

Tonight's first beverage is called the Kiss on the Lips. To make it simply pour two ounces of bourbon and six ounces of apricot nectar over ice into a collins glass. While it does have an eponymous taste, it isn't bad. However, having had no prior experience with apricot nectar, I cannot tell you how these tastes interact.

Shannon thinks it is offensive to look at, but it is not bad. She also thinks that she getting both used to and tired of bourbon. She could get used to this drink, muddy as it looks, because of the way it smooths out the bourbon.

You may note a little jumping around in the order in the next few days. That is because we have not yet had the chance to go get mint leaves, which are required for some drinks. Rest assured, we will get to all those juleps, just not tonight.

The Kentucky Blizzard

Mr. Boston says this drink requires an ounce and a half of bourbon, an ounce and a half of cranberry juice, half an ounce of lime juice, half an ounce of grenadine and a teaspoon of sugar.

Despite its rather appealing red color, Chris just declared, "It's awful!"

Kerry volunteered to taste this one and just as quickly announced that it was her favorite so far (not that it was difficult to beat the Creole Lady...).

I'm also a fan of this drink. It's a bit like Sour Patch Kids mixed with Hawaiian Punch. And bourbon.

We'll be back to alphabetical order tomorrow with The Jocose Julep (real talk: we were interested in doing a second drink tonight but didn't have the Julep's required mint leaves).

The Gentleman's Cocktail

Start with 1.5 oz bourbon, add 0.5 oz brandy, and 0.5 oz creme de menthe. Pour over ice into a highball glass and fill with club soda.

As a gentleman, I thought I would really enjoy this cocktail. However, I found it to be rather boring. The various tastes involved largely neutralized each other. The only recognizable taste is the creme de menthe and it is rather weak. It does have a delightful green color, however.

Shannon thinks it is just this blandness that appeals to her. The club soda and creme de menthe minimize the bite of the bourbon, which by now you should realize I do not enjoy. The part of this drink she enjoys the most is the color as well.

This drink also marks a milestone for the project. Today we started our second bottle of bourbon, marking the first bottle of booze completely consumed by the project.

The Dixie Whiskey Cocktail

Back to Mr. B. after a big weekend....

Take 2 oz. bourbon, 1 dash bitters, .25 tsp triple sec, .5 tsp. creme de menthe (white), and .5 tsp. powdered sugar. Mix with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

I like this cocktail. You still taste the bourbon, but the powdered sugar and creme de menthe make it minty and sweet. Shannon, however, thinks it is especially foul.

Once again we substituted an ingredient. Since we had green creme de menthe on hand we used that instead. Wikipedia assured us that the only difference is color. The bilious look of the finished product made me understand why the clear version is the preferred one.

This recipe also confused me a little. According to the conversion chart at the beginning of Mr. Boston, 1 dash is .25 teaspoon. Why one item would be listed as one dash and one as .25 tsp. in the same recipe is beyond me.

The Dixie Julep

This drink requires one teaspoon of powdered sugar and two and a half ounces of bourbon. Apparently you mix the drinks in a Collins glass, and then fill with crushed ice. Then stir, until the glass frosts.

For our purposes, this involved Chris banging some ice until we got a hint of frosting. Fine, I say. Not enough frosting in the world to make this drink sound appealing anyway.

Chris has already let me know I will probably not enjoy this drink. Shocker! His review was somewhat uncommittal: It tastes like slightly sweeter bourbon.

Slightly sweeter bourbon is still not really my idea of a decent drink, sadly. Vom.

Simpleton syrup

Several of the drinks to come require some quantity of simple syrup, so we thought it might be worth a separate entry here.

To mix up your own simple syrup at home, warm 13 ounces of water in a saucepan. Gradually mix in 16 ounces of granulated sugar. Do not allow the water to come to a boil, as too much will burn off. Just warm the water enough to dissolve the sugar.

Daisy Dueller

For this Mr. Boston specialty, mix one and a half ounces of Tennessee whiskey (Jack Daniels), one and a half teaspoons of lemon juice, one and a half teaspoons of simple syrup and several drops of Cointreau. Mix them together, then pour into a highball glass over ice. Fill the glass with club soda.

Chris tried this drink first and declared immediately that perhaps he'd mixed in too much club soda. Upon further consideration, "it's actually rather delightful," he reported.

Despite its unappealing hue, I would concur that the drink is rather tasty (or that I'm tired of bourbon and welcomed the Jack respite).

We should also note here that we did not, in fact, use proper Cointreau. Instead, the Internet told us that Cointreau is really just triple sec. So we used the triple sec in my bar. Middling as it may be.

Creole Lady (Miss Creole Lady if ya nasty)

Let me be honest: this lady is a bitch.

I don't know if it's the madeira (our only new ingredient), or what, but this drink has a very ... distinctive aftertaste. At first, the Creole tastes like your average bitter bourbon drink. But about five or six seconds after you sip, there is an overwhelming aftertaste. An aftertaste Chris did not recognize ... but that I did.

To be sure that I was tasting what I thought I was tasting, I sacrificed myself to the tune of two more sips (cleansing my palate with an antiseptic Shirley Temple). And to be extra sure, I convinced my roommate Kerry to sip as well. She confirmed my ugly suspicions.

Ladies (and gentlemen): avoid at all costs.

There is definitely a hippo in store for me later.

Creole Lady

This beverage is made up of 1.5 oz bourbon, 1.5 oz madeira, and 1 tsp grenadine. Stir with ice and pour into a cocktail glass. Mr. Boston suggests garnishing with one red and one green cherry, but we declined. All I can say is that this drink was not nearly as bad as I was expecting, but still pretty bad.

I like coffee

I was anticipating a big cup of gross here (Sanka! with bitters!), but was very pleasantly surprised. As Chris said, this essentially tastes like alcoholic iced coffee (decaffeinated instant and all). I'm left wondering what this would taste like with something creamy added in -- I don't usually drink my coffee black.

Well done, Mr. B.

The Coffee Old Fashioned

This is an interesting drink. Start with 1.5 tsp. instant coffee mix. (We used Sanka- close enough). Dissolve this in half a cup of water. Add 2 tsp. powdered sugar, 2 dashes bitters, 1 oz bourbon, and 2 oz club soda. Then pour into an old fashioned glass full of ice.

I really liked this drink. It tastes like iced coffee with a hint of bourbon. I probably won't keep instant coffee on hand so I can enjoy it, but it's not bad.

Chapel Hill

The Chapel Hill is similar to the Basin Street, but the proportions are slightly different. The Chapel Hill contains 1.5 oz bourbon, 0.5 oz triple sec, and one tablespoon of lemon juice. The taste, however, is not that different. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about. Shannon would refer the reader to her review of the Basin Street.

Skipping

Our goal in this project was to go through the guide in order. Unfortunately this is not possible. For those of you following at home, you may realize that we skipped the Brighton Punch. This is because obtaining Benedictine liqueur in Pennsylvania is prohibitively expensive. We do intend, before this project is finished, to obtain these hard to find bottles and make these drinks. But we can't go quite in order.

For those of you who are wondering, my birthday is June 25.

Bull and Bear It

The Bull and Bear requires an ounce and a half of bourbon, three quarters of an ounce of orange curacao, a tablespoon of grenadine and the juice of a half of a lime (which the Internet has told us is equivalent to one tablespoon). When we realized how impossible it would be to find orange curacao in Pennsylvania (boo), the Internet also helpfully informed us that orange and blue curacao are the same,. Crazy, but true. So for our purposes, this drink looks a lot like ink.

It tastes remarkably better. Maybe it was the amethyst coloring, but I can't help but think of Dimetapp with a bite. You can still taste a hint of the bourbon, but it is masked well by the curacao and grenadine.

Three quotes from Chris:

I really think triple sec and curacao make everything taste better.

You can go ahead and say that I concurr with your post. I see no reason to publish twice on this.

I've always thought Dimetapp tasted the best of all the medicines.

My Buddy (Wherever you go, I'm not going)

I assumed this drink was going to taste like your standard cocktail dregs -- a taste of alchohol with a lot of melted ice. Unfortunately, what this managed to still taste like was bourbon. There was just enough water so that this drink wasn't biting, but not enough to make me forget what I was drinking.

I'd like to do a shout-out here to Kinder Happy Hippos, the most delicious candy on Earth. When I have an especially gross drink ahead of me, I like to reward myself with a Happy Hippo afterward. Highly recommended. Unlike My Buddy.

Buddy's Favorite

Buddy's Favorite is a twist on bourbon and water. It is 1.5 oz of bourbon and 6 oz. of cold water. Mix and serve. No ice. I did not notice an appreciable difference between Buddy's Favorite and Bourbon and Water.

Bourbon on Barack(s)

As Chris has already referenced, there is a certain similarity between the presidential press conference tonight and this drink.

That is to say, I knew both were coming, and I figured neither would be especially pleasant.

Though I am hardly a bourbon afficianado, I can't help but wonder if my revulsion here would be tempered by something a little higher grade than Evan Williams. I don't know how to describe the taste of bourbon on the rocks, other than to say that it is liquified, artifically sweet smoke that numbs the tongue. Evan is not my friend.

Bourbon on the Rocks

It is what it sounds like. Either you like the taste of bourbon or not. Bourbon is not my favorite of the brown liquors. Canadian, Irish, or Scotch whiskey are more my speed. So you won't see me drinking bourbon on the rocks very much. But I probably like it more than Shannon.

On a side note, this drink just seems appropriate to be drinking during the current presidential news conference.

Good Luck Chuck

Maybe I'm getting used to the taste of bourbon, but I enjoyed both of these drinks. They seem more appropriate for the summer, but that's not stopping me from enjoying the remnants of this highball (ginger ale) right now. Still not looking forward to bourbon on the rocks, though.

I've been looking for a grown-up drink to order at weddings and the club soda version seems just the thing. It's smooth enough that you can have several without wincing, but dry enough to still feel somewhat sophisticated. This is especially apropros since we have between five and six weddings to look forward to between now and my birthday. The ginger ale version tastes more like a bar drink and makes me wish I was sitting on someone's porch.

Bourbon Highball

Mr. Boston has two recipes for a bourbon highball. Both involve 2 oz. of bourbon, ice, and a highball glass. The only difference is in one you fill up the glass with club soda and in the other you fill up the glass with ginger ale. So we made one of each.

I liked both drinks. The club soda highball is a great cocktail. You drink it at a nicer bar when you want to drink alcohol. The taste of the bourbon comes through. The ginger ale highball is a drink. It masks the taste of the bourbon much more and goes farther to quench your thirst. Whether I would make one recipe or the other would depend on my mood at the time.

Gross.

Either I can't get past the taste of the bourbon, or this cold is worse than I originally thought, because I can't really sense a huge difference among most of these drinks.

That said, my initial yell of disgust at the Bourbon Cobbler was genuine. This tastes like lemony bourbon. Which is to say -- to me -- not good.

Bourbon Cobbler

Two drinks today since we were out last night. The Bourbon Cobbler consists of 2.5 oz of bourbon, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, 2 tsp. grapefruit juice, and 1.5 tsp. almond extract. Mix the ingredients in a "mixing glass" then pour over ice into a highball glass.

Out of all the drinks consumed thus far, this one masks the taste of the bourbon better than any. I'm interested to see what Shannon thinks, but it is too sweet for me. I also think it is just weird to have almond extract in a drink.

Bourbon and Water

That's right, there is an actual entry in Mr. Boston for bourbon and water. According to Mr. B., a true bourbon and water is 2 oz. bourbon and 4 oz. water, pour them into a collins glass and then add ice.

Shannon says this was the drink she feared the most in this chapter. However, it's not as vile as she anticipated. She wonders if it would be less abrasive with better quality bourbon, but maybe that is just what bourbon is supposed to taste like.

Personally, I don't see a point to bourbon and water. Bourbon on the rocks is more my drink. Either you like the taste of bourbon or not. And I do.

Not enough creme

Contrary to what Chris says, I think the ValC tastes rather like alcohol. Which is saying something, considering that I've had some sangria just before embarking on this paricular Mr. B tasting.

Like the rest of these beverages, I started out by being repulsed and then took a few more careful sips before realizing that it wasn't unimbibable. Just pretty strong.

I miss the Americana.

Bourbon a la Creme

This delightful concoction consists of two ounces of bourbon, an ounce of creme de cacao (brown) and 1-2 vanilla beans. Mix the ingredients together with ice and then refrigerate for one hour.

I really like this drink as well. You can still taste the bourbon, but the cocoa and vanilla flavors also add to the palate. Every liquid ingredient is alcoholic, yet it does not have the overpowering alcohol taste of straight alcohol.

On a side note, this was my first experience with vanilla beans. They are about 6 inches long and really hard to find. I had to go to a specialty spice shop in Reading Terminal Market to find them and they cost $4.00 each. That makes this drink, by far the most expensive.

If you decide to try this one at home, leaving the drink in the fridge for an hour is really important. It takes a while for the vanilla flavor to permeate, if you drink it right away you will have wasted your expenditure on the vanilla beans. Also, even in the fridge some of the ice will melt. This helps if you are using low-grade bourbon.

Skulking Down Basin Street

As Shannon alluded to in her post, this is my favorite drink yet. Triple sec and lemon juice is a great way to take the edge off harsher alcohols.

For those of you who were wondering why there was no entry yesterday, it's because we were on a Boston project of a different kind, watching the Celtics beat the Sixers 100-99 on a 3 point shot from Ray Allen with 0.5 seconds left. Needless to say, I was more pleased with this outcome than Shannon.

The Basin Street

Chris has just finished mixing up The Basin Street, and is already declaring it his favorite so far.

This concoction required two ounces of bourbon, an ounce of triple sec, and an ounce of lemon juice. From afar, it looks somewhat like iced tea.

Upon tasting, the similarity to iced tea isn't too far off. A lot stronger than your average iced tea, but the lemon juice makes it rather tasty. I'd say this is a success.

I'm a patriot

Despite Chris's warnings about "too much champagne," I am going to go out on a limb and say this will be my favorite drink in the bourbon chapter. This is mainly because my world does not involve the phrase "too much champagne."

Big fan.

Bitters

Before reading Mr. Boston I had no idea what bitters were. It is a fairly potent (90-100 proof) liqueur used in small quantities (a dash or two) in a variety of old-school drinks. Being in Pennsylvania, all the liquor stores are owned by the state. Our local liquor store does not carry bitters, so I had to journey into center city today to obtain my bottle of bitters. Maybe some day I'll be able to tell the difference between a drink with a dash of bitters and a drink without, but that day is not here yet.

Americana

Today's drink is the Americana. Take 1/4 ounce (2 tsp) of tennessee whiskey, 1/2 tsp of sugar, and 1-2 dashes (1/4 tsp-1/2 tsp) of bitters. Mix in a collins glass until sugar is dissolved, then fill with chilled champagne.

I enjoyed this drink thoroughly, however, I must add one caveat. Since we do not have any collins glasses I made this drink in a pint glass. I estimated how much to fill based on my nearly non-existent knowledge of collins glasses. So it is possible that I added too much champagne.

Anyway, I thought the drink was delightful. It tasted like champagne with a hint of caramel in it.

Diving into the Allegheny

Alcohol without mixers -- or, alcohol as was originally intended, according to The New Yorker -- is going to take some getting used to.

Despite my intial reaction, which was to yell in disgust (not entirely rare for me), the drink is not terrible. Though I will stand by my theory that the blackberry brandy is contributing to a somewhat unpleasant medicinal aftertaste.

That said, I am watching the Super Bowl under blankets and with the beginning stages of a cold. So maybe bourbon and the Boss will prove to be helpful.

The Allegheny

It's halftime at the Super Bowl and Pittsburgh is playing. What better way to start the Mr. Boston Project than with the Allegheny. Mr. Boston says to mix one ounce bourbon, one ounce dry vermouth, 1.5 teaspoons blackberry flavored brandy, and 1.5 teaspoons of lemon juice. Serve in a cocktail glass (also known as a martini glass).

I made this drink at 1.5 times the suggested amounts due to Shannon's anticipated negative reaction. As she told me before her first sip "the difference is you like alcohol, I like getting drunk."

As suspected, I think the drink is ok, in spite of the relatively low-grade bourbon employed (Evan Williams). It tastes a little like alcoholic apple juice.