Yes we can! Or, at least it is in the process of being fixed. The powers that be ARE working on this as we speak. Turns out, years of dick jokes in the backlog really inflate the size of a website. Who knew?
Anyway, hopefully you are reading this, and I implore you to stick around. Repairs and improvements are underway. I promise.
On to this week’s drink! This week I’m going back to the Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails book for a gin & sherry based cocktail that intrigued me: the Barbara West.
I’ve like the sherry based drinks I’ve featured here before. So I wanted to see if this one is just as good as the others. Let’s find out shall we?
Barbara West
2 oz. Gin
1 oz. Sherry
.5 oz. Fresh lemon juice
1 small dash Angostura bitters
Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
This has a very bright and citrusy nose to start. It is amazing how half an ounce of fresh lemon and a twist can really take over the aroma of a drink. Especially a gin based one. No small feat here!
The sip is smoother than I thought it would be. I get a lemon/sherry combination up front that lingers all the way through the sip itself. The gin comes through a little bit underneath, but not a whole lot. After a few more sips, the lemon seems to fade away faster, or the sherry takes over more, but the balance seems to skew more towards the sherry the more times I keep going back. The finish is slightly sour/ tangy. There is a little bit of a lingering sherry aftertaste at the end of each sip as well.
I don’t hate this, but this one isn’t doing it for me. I suspect the choice of sherry is to blame here. The sherry is not exactly…top shelf. I most recently used it to cook with. While it isn’t a “cooking” sherry per se, I think this wine is to be relegated to cooking only status. Perhaps if I obtain a bottle of Lustau or something of that caliber, I’ll give this one another go. For now, I’ll go with a different gin/lemon based drink.
(Banner image found here)
Hey my avatar finally updated…its been like 2 years. Lol
I am buying a virtual round of these, or whatever else you prefer, because I got my first shot today! I bawled in the parking lot like a big nerd, but it is such a relief.
Very happy for you and very jealous. Will be a few months before I’m able to get mine up here
The #NuAIDS era has taught me patience. Like Redshirt noted, as long as we are Bob the Built by draft weekend, is cool.
“Oh please, like anyone prepares for draft weekend.” — NY Jets
Well Goodell does have to find his earbuds that change boos into cheers of acclaim.
“Sorry, I forgot to return those after the last Stanley Cup presentation.” — Gary Bettman
I almost used this for the banner image:
Reminds me of a great movie scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFfTludf0SU
After these last few days I’ll take anything with alcohol.
Here, have a glass of scotch with cum in it. Funny story!
The Speaker does not recognize the Representative from Florida.
What kind of Sherry did it call for? Fino would be citrusy and light however if you used Oloroso it is way sweeter and heavier. (there are 8 types that are wildly different)
/slinks away with glass of wine
This was my first question, because i only have shitty sherry as well
The recipe didn’t specify, but in the notes the author mentions using amontillado.
I have a cask of that. Right behind this brick wall. Go ahead and look.
“Why are we all wearing this masques?”
That is right in the middle. Sherry is an interesting wine/spirit. The solera method is pretty neat should you want to delve into it. I had a buddy who was a Master of Wine and worked for the Sherry institute of Espana and I got some killer bottles as promos from them.
“I enjoy a lingering Sherrie aftertaste.” — Steve Perry