Alexandra wrote: 
I went somewhere very special, very hush-hush, you have to know someone to get inside. It's called home :)

Two cups pineapple mango juice, 4 oz mango flavored rum, 1/3 frozen champagne mango in pieces, maybe some ice, blend until smooth.

 Jacksonstat wrote: 
Where did you go today, with all the feasting and drinking?

Well, it wasn't a drink, per se, but I just enjoyed my new favorite thing... a Manhattan Ice Cream Float. Oh. My. Goodness.

 JrzyTmata wrote: 
um, kinda yeah.  but with booze.

 oldslabsides wrote: 
like a Yoo Hoo?

this is weird, but verreh yummeh

 hobiejoe wrote: 
ooh. ow.
 
anyway:

Vodka fans think it's good. I like the austrian potato vodka Monopolova better than most so maybe there's something to the potato thing but I doubt it. 

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Funnily enough, some chaps were busy making moonshine just yesterday over here. Didn't end well.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Well, we sell both boozy and soft versions of Crabbies, and I'd think they would be keen to be multinational. Otherwise, you could make your own......(I haven't, but apparently it's not hard)

 Businessgypsy wrote: 
Yeah I was trying not to have high school flashbacks. Good tho.

It's Meyer's dark and hobiejoe mentioned the ginger beer too. 

 dmax wrote: 
They make some potato vodka over in Idaho that's pretty nice. With GRAVY!

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Like oil. The coldest vodka I ever had was from the freezer of a Beiruti millionaires' yacht back in '91. It was moored stern to, in the heart of St Tropez. The beautiful people gazed upon us. While on board, drinking his ice-cold vodka, the owner, Mr B***ul told us of how the kidnappers of his father had failed to show sufficient respect when returning his father, and that after six months "they no longer lived".
 
True story. How my mate and I got to be sailing on the boat is slightly more prosaic than how Mr B came to own it, but good times.
 
 

*edit* edited to be a tadge more comprehensible

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:Excellent! That's a great drink - and one of first cocktails many of us encountered. Getting back to the start of distilled spirits. With the Meyer's (was it añejo or dark?), might I suggest Ginger ale, or if you can find it Ginger beer? The less sweet, crisper and more herbal profile really lets the rum shine. With the añejo (Flor de Caña is an inexpensive and excellent Nicaraguan brand), a cube and some water really brings out the flavor. Takes me back, as I was employed at Celebration Distillation in New Orleans once upon a time making single batch pot still barrel aged rum.

 dmax wrote: 

• Industry standard for tasting is to dilute to 40 proof. At this level the flavors can be distinguished and the effect of alcohol on the trans geminal nerves are reduced. Make note: this is for evaluation, NOT for enjoyment. The dilution allows you to see all of the nuances and at 40 proof there is still enough alcohol to carry the nose.
• The drink isn't sweeter or any chemical reaction, the pain goes away and you can taste better.
• Alcohol is a direct stimulator of the trans geminal nerve. So are CO2, capsaicin, ammonia(smelling salts) and others. The first sensation when drinking is pain and annoyance on this nerve. Alcohol itself is said to have no flavor or odor just a trans geminal reaction. When this nerve is stimulated repeatedly it becomes accustomed to the feeling and turns it to a pleasurable sense, requiring stronger stimulation to receive that feeling. Hence as some on this board say they want higher and higher proofs as they get deeper into spirits. You also see this effect with hot sauces and hot wings, hotter and hotter becomes the quest to stimulate this nerve. The stimulation becomes key vs flavor enjoyment.
• Ever hear at a college party" I can't taste the alcohol in this punch, this is great" means that the trans geminal nerve isn't being stimulated.

source

 dmax wrote: 


Some are good. Most of the Grey Goose flavored vodkas are very good (I especially like the pear and the lemon), but even Grey Goose couldn't make a good vanilla.

 winter wrote: 
I've never found the flavored vodkas to be palatable. I got some Vanilla stuff once and it was a chore to finish it off.

And I damn sure wasn't going to not finish it off. 

A few years ago I bought a bottle of Skyy berry vodka. It tasted like cough syrup, so it went to the back of the cabinet. Tonight I thought, "maybe if I put it in some ginger ale it will be okay."

I was wrong. Still awful.

 hobiejoe wrote: 
Ginger beer's a rare novelty around here but lately I have seen some. On my list for tomorrow... whether it's good or not, who knows?

 hobiejoe wrote: 
In college, someone mentioned Appleton Rum and apple juice. That combo got me through a lot of parties, and into lots of trouble.

Graduated on disciplinary probation, actually.