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’Net Junkie Shawn "Speedy" Lopes |
Crossing over to
the girly-drink sideSo you say you don't know the difference between a Black Russian and a Blue Blazer, or a Singapore Sling and a Georgia Julep? Nor can you explain why James Bond prefers his favorite elixir "shaken, not stirred"? If asked, you probably couldn't produce a dry martini or even a simple, no-frills margarita, am I right? Well, welcome to the club. While I might be able to rattle off a dozen or so of my favorite brew brands straight off the top of my head (Spaten, Lowenbrau, Kirin, Carlsberg, to name a few), I can't say I'm nearly as adept at identifying cocktails. I suppose I'm just not a girl-drink kind of guy. The truth is, I'd like to be.
What I mean is, I'd like to at least learn a little more about those cutesy drinks and sophisticated potions. That's why I've been consulting www.knowyourcocktails.com lately. It's an informative Web site which details all manner of distilled drink, from the Abbey (made with gin, orange juice, maraschino liqueur, dry vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters) to the Zombie (lemon juice, grenadine, orange juice, apricot brandy, Morgan's Spiced Rum, Myers's Rum and guava, mango or other "exotic" juice). It's a veritable Encyclopedia Alcoholica.
You'll find several interesting bits on the seven classic botanicals found in Plymouth Gin, a report from a highly regarded cocktail bar in South Africa and, yes, even a small piece on girly drinks. Click on "Love Martinis?" to find recipes for variations on the classic martini theme, including the Cowboy Martini (gin, mint leaves, lemon juice and sugar syrup), Dirty Martini (gin, dry vermouth and olive brine), French Martini (vodka, pineapple juice and Chambord) and Sake Martini (vodka, sake, gin).
Of course, a martini isn't a martini without one of those classy martini cocktail glasses. Likewise, a drink on-the-rocks wouldn't be the same without a short, stout, palm-fitting tumbler. A coupette may not make a margarita taste any more like a margarita than a champagne flute makes champagne taste like champagne, but drinking any other type of spirit from one seems almost unthinkable.
I must say, knowyourcocktail.com's already inspired me to try a few crazy concoctions. Just don't ask me to drink anything with a miniature parasol in it. At least not in public.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
’Net Junkie drops every Monday.
Contact Shawn "Speedy" Lopes at slopes@starbulletin.com.
Note: Web sites mentioned in this column were active at time of publication. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin neither endorses nor is responsible for their contents.
