cocktails

The 8 Best Tasting Alcoholic Drinks For First-Timers

November 15, 2016 By Toby Isaacson Leave a Comment

Someone taking a sip from an alcoholic drink for the first time may be turned off by the strength or bitterness of said drink. Usually, it’s not a pretty experience. This is why we should get rid of it by only recommending the best tasting alcoholic drinks.

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Whiskey, wine, beer, or vodka aren’t exactly the most recommended alcoholic beverages to experiment with for the first time around. Anyone who’s ever tried alcohol knows that the burning sensation down the throat can definitely turn someone away. Let’s not even mention the relatively dry and morose taste. So, what’s there to be done? Blow a mind away by offering them some drinks with a stellar taste. No one will ever be able to say that alcohol tastes dull. Here are what we believe to be the best tasting alcoholic drinks.

#1 Baileys

Yes, we did say that whiskey is one of the drinks we strongly recommend against for first-time drinkers. But this is Baileys, an Irish cream kind of whiskey with a velvety and sweet taste like no other. The beverage can even act out as a desert, which is why some might not even believe it’s actually alcohol.

#2 Appletini

Generally speaking, cocktails are definitely recommended. You don’t just get the rawness of alcohol in its pure form. You get a delicious blend with fruity, perfumed, and sweet flavors. This Martini hybrid is no different. It’s easier on first-time drinkers than a regular Martini thanks to the infusion with apple liquor.

#3 Radler Beer

Beer can be pretty bitter and unpleasant tasting. So, if you want to take your first sip and fear getting turned away before you get the chance to get used to it, try Radler. It kicked off a trend of lemonade-mixed beer and, let us tell you, it definitely cuts off the typical taste of beer.

#4 Sangria

Sangria is a beloved Spanish-originated beverage and one of the best tasting alcoholic drinks in the world (in our humble opinion). The best part, however, doesn’t come from the taste of the liquor itself but from the incredible combination it makes with fruits. People serve sangria with apples, grapes, oranges, peaches, and others.

#5 Apple Cider

There may not be a better way of stepping into the world of alcoholic beverages. Apple cider is mild, perfumed, and flavorful. You won’t even know it’s alcohol that you’re drinking. What’s more, this drink also has variety. You can find still and sparkling versions and if you end up disliking the boozy part of it, you can opt for a non-alcoholic version.

#6 Amaretto Sours

These Amaretto Sours are particularly popular with ladies, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hit up the bartender and order some if you’re a gentleman. They’re extremely flavorful, but also happen to pack a considerable alcohol level. Just don’t let the taste carry you away because you’ll end up downing one Amaretto after another and this is all bound to end with a throbbing headache.

#7 Shnapps

Okay, so Shnapps may not exactly be extremely welcoming to the throats of first-time drinkers. This beverage contains approximately 42% alcohol levels so its strength might be a bit of a turn off. However, it wholly makes up for it with its incredible fruity flavor. Shnapps may be strong, but it’s one of the best tasting alcoholic drinks in the world. You can find them in flavors such as cherry, apple, orange, and peach.

#8 Pimm’s

Pimm’s is very similar to sangria, in the sense that it’s a beverage best served with a side of flavorful fruits. The main difference is that it’s a gin-based brown nectar. Also just like sangria, it tastes wonderfully on its own, so no matter how you serve it, you’ll love it.

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What we’ve learned today is that skeptics may be swayed into really enjoying their first boozy sip as long as they try one of the best tasting alcoholic drinks in the world. And we’ll let in on a secret: people who are long time drinkers will enjoy them too.

5 Unusual Cocktails to Try

June 20, 2014 By Fred Mitchell Leave a Comment

We recently presented to you a list of the world’s strangest coffees which you should try at least once, at least if you’re the kind of person adventurous enough about these things. We certainly are; heck, trying out new and perhaps unusual things is definitely something fun and worth doing. At least if we’re not talking about highly exotic things like fried bugs and such, where a certain degree of reluctance is by all means understandable (and perhaps healthy). Well, today we’re moving on to cocktails – the spirit of summer is here and everything smells of vacation, so now would be the perfect time to talk about summery drinks. Here’s a list of 5 unusual cocktails which may be unfamiliar to you but which could be worth trying.

1. Gunpowder plot

“Remember, remember the 5^th of November…” The famous Gunpowder plot instrumented by Guy Fawkes served as inspiration for many things, among which the V for Vendetta movie and now also a cocktail. This smoky (literally, as you can see) concoction really deserved the opening spot within the list of unusual cocktails. It was created by Grant Collins, a creative bartender from Sydney, Australia, and its main flavor is the gunpowder blend of green tea. But that’s not what makes the drink so intriguing and special, the jaw-dropping component is definitely the smoke tucked in the foam on top. The cocktail contains gin infused with gunpowder, spicy gunpowder syrup and some herbal bitters, while the top comes adorned with smoke-infused froth, and the drink itself is served amidst a pile of twigs and oak-scented fog. Pretty special, right?

2. Camel milk cocktail

Abu Dhabi is known as a place of luxury, and now its catering-to-any-need-possible approach was enriched with a special non-alcoholic milk cocktail specially designed for Muslims observing Ramadan. But what makes this drink worthy of making it to a list of unusual cocktails is the fact that it’s based on camel milk instead of cow’s milk. Apparently, camel milk is more nutritious and high in protein and iron than its cow counterpart, and then of course there’s also the exotic and novelty element added to the bunch. A whole range of camel milk cocktails can be found at Mijana, the Arabic restaurant of the Carl-Ritz hotel in Abu Dhabi.

3. Earl Grey Caviar Martini

If you ever pass through Hong Kong and you have a penchant for unusual cocktails, make sure you pass by the Quinary Cocktail Bar and order this one. The drink is infused with caviar molecules that impart great flavor to the whole liquid, and it’s topped with an Earl Grey infused foam. The airy texture of the whole thing is amazing, connoisseurs say.

4. Es Pokat (Indonesian Avocado and Chocolate Shake)

This is another non-alcoholic cocktail – more similar to a smoothie actually, at least in consistency, which can be sampled directly in Indonesia, or can easily be made at home. But what makes this drink pretty unusual is its high content of avocado pulp – it’s basically blended avocado and ripe sugar, with only a bit of condensed milk and chocolate syrup on top. Its taste may be very strange to our Western tastes, but once you get used to it, you’ll find it pretty addictive. It’s exotic, obviously very healthy, and surprisingly refreshing for how rich it is. Cool off this summer with an unusual drink and make it for all your friends – they’ll definitely be impressed!

5. The Sourtoe cocktail

On our list of unusual cocktails, we saved the best for last. Or should we say perhaps that we saved the most freaky and WTF cocktail for last? Anyway, ladies and gents, behold: the Sourtoe cocktail served by the Sourdough Saloon in Dawson City; this cocktail can be any drink, but it must always contain a real preserved amputated toe dropped into the glass. No one really knows the origin of this – some may say – incredibly gross drink, but it first appeared around 1973 it seems. There’s only one rule about the drink: “you can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but the lips have to touch the toe”. Very encouraging, right?

Well, that was our list of unusual cocktails, at least for now. We’re sorry if the last one kind of ruined your appetite for summer drinks, but we really do encourage you to try out the other ones. Have fun on vacation wherever you decide to go, and sample some local drinks!

5 Cocktails by Cody We Would Love to Try

March 25, 2014 By This Blog Rules Guest Leave a Comment

This isn’t a commercial and not even an endorsement of some sort, but we happened to find out about the bartender mixologist Disney fan in Spokane, WA and we also happened to like what he’s coming with in the realm of cocktails. This guy was struck by the muse and designed with new cocktail combinations inspired by Disney characters. You’d say this isn’t much, as there are a lot of things out there inspired by Disney characters, including designer outfits that make female celebrities look like (at least vaguely) some famous princesses and characters, but you can’t neglect a man’s passion for making some sort of art in a field that seems to not leave room for any more art than it is already. The Disney inspired cocktails by Cody not only that look in some metaphorical way with the characters they are inspired from, but borrow a little of their personalities too and if you take a look over the Internet, you will see people actually receiving these creations with a hint of joy and respect for the bartender. Not to mention that some of the cocktails sound truly delicious (and to some extent, inebriating to the point of seeing the world as a colored, vivid animation movie). We took a look into the menu and picked 5 cocktails by Cody we would love to try in the immediate future. While watching the old and the new Disney movies and famous characters.

5. The Bayou Beauty

The recipe displayed says this “swamp – inspired” cocktail contains white rum, ginger liqueur and cucumber. In the great world of cocktails, you might think that only fruits are good to be mixed with all sorts of alcohol and sweet blends of chocolate and sugary mixes and spices, but when we heard about ginger and cucumber our imagination went through the roof. How on Earth does THAT taste, especially mixed with white rum? If you get to try it, let us know!

4. No Worries, Lion King!

Just as Cody himself admits, it is hard to inspire a cocktail out of the Lion King African landscape, where everything looks dry and earthy and the brown colors and tones aren’t at all appetizing to see them blended in your cocktail glass. But then Cody saw the exotic jungle, fruits, colors and atmosphere and came up with the No Worries, a cocktail combining peach vodka, Amaretto, orange juice and mango and it is safe to assume this is a summery cocktail that makes you dream about lush beaches in exotic resorts.

3. Coldfront

Now imagine where this is coming from! This cocktail inspires some winter cold and even a blizzard, but don’t let it fool you: this is an interesting blend of white chocolate liqueur, peppermint schnapps, Malibu and milk. So if you still feel your soul freezing in the beginning of this season, this cocktail might warm you up inside and give you a good reason to check out the new movies and animations in town.

2. Glass Slipper

This one doesn’t just look amazingly eerie and soft, but also sounds delicious. And also strong, if you take into account the blueberry vodka and the whip cream vodka, all mixed with a tad of cream. So it’s a bluish cream – based cocktail that will send you one – way ticket to the fairytale land.

1. Maleficent

Oh yes! Among all the cocktails by Cody we would love to try and we looked at, this one is the most promising, a bit terrifying and definitely one of the tastiest (or so we think). Not to mention that the upcoming Maleficent movie starring the queen of all darkness and the ruler of some of the most powerful female characters on the silver screen Angelina Jolie is a reason enough to try this cocktail: black vodka, grape schnapps and apple pucker. Is this maleficent or what?

The cocktails by Cody we would love to try include many other creations and surprising combinations, but these are our top five favorites. You can look for Cody on the internet, as he became some sort of a legend on entertainment sites and pick your own poison too.