#THEY'RE DRINKING FERNET !!

[sreegs]

Do you know much about ciders? I'm somewhat new to drinking and I find I much prefer them to beer (all the beers I try just feel really bitter to me?)

Haven't really tried many spirits or cocktails either tbh. I live near a pretty nice store so sourcing isn't an issue so much as paying for the stuff. Anything simple and relatively cheap you might recommend to an amateur drink mixer? Maybe on the sweeter end like fruity/minty?

I tried to get into ciders, I honestly can't say I learned much but I do like to drink them seasonally. I don't know good national brands off the top of my head because cider never caught on here in America during the beer resurgence. I know that cider is much more popular in the UK for example, so if you're there and not here, then you have more options.

I do like a local cider though. Since I live in NYC I'm in apple country. Farmers markets have them and there's cideries not too far outside the city (if anyone here is an NYC resident, go check out Penning's near Warwick).

Cider is usually graded along the dry/sweet axis much like wine. There can also be sour ciders as well. This heavily depends on the type of apple and the aging and oxidation that occurs. Additionally it's not unusual to have ciders with added honey that are weird cider/mead hybrids. Those will also be sweet.

Sweet ciders are straightforward: they'll have a profile closer to non-alcoholic cider. Bright and fruity. Dry ciders are called as such because they're, well, not sweet. It's the absence of sweetness. They're not bitter, they may also be described as "tangy" but not always. Really dry ciders make your mouth feel dry after sipping. I've enjoyed ciders up and down the sweet/dry axis, can't say I have a favorite.

Sour ciders are similar to sour beers. They range from "that's a little funky" to "is this komboucha?". I find sours are a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing so if you find one and you're unsure, buy the smallest amount possible.

Fun fact: cider was once the most popular alcohol in western Europe and more coveted than champagne. Colonial Americans were drinking cider when they weren't stealing land from the natives and committing genocide. Cider and rum, mostly. And beer. Please note this was not cider's fault.

Simple, sweet, fruity, minty. A couple options depending on what you consider easy. I'll give you a couple "proper" recipes as well as the easy way to make them. Oh actually, three. Let's start with the really simple one. Fernet and cola. Don't cringe, it's great. Start with 1 oz of fernet to 8 oz of cola (or 1.5oz to 12 oz if you're using a whole can of coke). serve with lots of ice and a lemon slice. If you like it, increase the Fernet. A proper pour is 5 oz of fernet with a enough cola added to top off the glass. Use bottled cane sugar cola if you can get it. Oh, and make sure it's Fernet Branca. Don't be tempted by Branca Menta, you'll be over-minted.

Try a Mojito. The making of a mojito requires muddling but it needs to be done with finesse as to not pulverize the leaves. Muddle 3-5 mint leaves at the bottom of a shaker with 1/2 oz of simple syrup. Add 2 oz of white rum and 3/4 oz of lime juice. Pour in the ice, shake gently, serve on the rocks topped with club soda/seltzer and a fresh mint sprig.

If you're new to muddling, don't muddle this drink. Muddling too hard will break the leaves make the drink bitter. Grab a sprig or two of mint leaves in one hand and slap the leaves against your other wrist a few times. This will bruise the leaves and express the oils enough without having to muddle. Pluck the leaves and toss them in the shaker with the simple syrup and the rest of the ingredients. Make the same way as above.

Now, if it's the middle of the summer and you just want a drink that's practically whiskey mint snow cone, make a Mint Julep. This is best made in an "old fashioned" style glass (wide, squat glass that holds 8-12 oz) if you don't have the traditional metal cups. Same techniques for the mint as above for the start except you're muddling the mint alone (or doing the wrist slap + pluck the leaves trick). Bruised/muddled mint in the bottom of the glass. Cover with lots of crushed or pebble ice, like a snowcone basically. Pour in 2 ounces of bourbon. Pour over, slowly, one ounce of simple syrup. Let it sit for a minute, garnish with more mint, drink with a straw, stirring as needed.

If you don't have crushed ice, take regular ice cubes and crush them in a clean cotton cloth with something heavy. If you don't even want to bother, just stir for 30 seconds before serving. The trick is, since the crushed ice has more surface area, it melts faster than whole cubes and helps meld the flavors together. This is definitely the hardest of the three drinks to make and it's the most that's "best if done right". But a little elbow grease is enough to make this a great drink.

[bilingualpelotuda]

*hands her a tissue to dry spilled drink*

well i...i make good fernets?

oh you shut up, you draw facial expressions i would kill for. honest. they're so anatomically correct and so good. as for photoshop, there are some amazing video tutorials and I can share a thing or two with ya! just let me know.

You're right, she's sorta our girl ❤ we shall cherish.

i'm proud of you, too!

look I drew a thing with a pen and colored it in photoshop after a year or so of not coloring digitally and it turned out ok?

@winxrus ya know who the girl is and again thank you so much for your support. you is kind, you is smart, you is important 

[sreegs]

Since people seem interested I'm going to post a recipe from memory. This is definitely one of those "make it the way you like it" things but I feel the proportions are important to the end result.

I'm going to do this in 3:1:1:1 parts, which will get you a cocktail or a whole batch depending on the volume you use. Also, for the bitters, try to balance them with flavors that work together.

At the end, there's leeway for additional splashes of flavor. Up to you. By this point it comes down to personal taste.

3 parts black strap rum

Black strap rum brings a molasses profile and dark color you need to achieve the effect. I would consider this the most important part, but you prefer spiced rums rather than black strap (or you can't find it), be sure to pick a dark one, and/or make sure the rest of your ingredients are dark.

1 part Fernet or Fernet substitute

Fernet is the go-to dark, bitter, black liqueur here to contribute to the color and provide a bitter base. I'm wary that Fernet Menta will be a bit over the top so stick with bog-standard Fernet Branca. However, if the rest of your ingredients play well with mint, go nuts.

There's definitely a plethora of Fernet-like substitutes out there. If you choose to go with Jäegermeister, balance the anise with the next few parts. Whatever you use here, dark and very bitter is the suggested route.

1 part herbal, singularly flavored liqueur

I used Zirbenz, but it's not exactly an easy to find liqueur. At least in the states. It tastes like a pine tree. I would not recommend gin because Zirbenz is way more distinctly pine flavored than juniper. You can be flexible here, like Koval offers a line of drinks like this like their rose hip liqueur. It should be "herbal", and darker colors are better.

1 part fruity bitters

So to kind of brighten things up a bit, you're gonna want a bit of something citrusy or fruity depending on what else you put in. China China is ubiquitous enough and provides some nice citrus notes that plays well with just about anything. Ramazotti is a good cherry bitters too. Maraschino might work, but it's clear, so if color is important to you, use something else.

Fruit brandies work here too, as long as they're aged well. This includes things like Calvados, but it's borderline. Avoid anything that's predominantly sweet, though, like grand mariner or curaçao or schnapps.

Bonus splashes

I found that a lil' bit of Allspice Dram was a perfect way to round out the drink. Try flavors here that are not really present in your other ingredients. Especially really strong ones. Like if you wanna do Pernod or absinthe for that delicious anise flavor. Add a little bit at a time and taste test when you do this.

Hope this works for you! Have fun with it and experiment! After all, that's the point of mixing drinks with Star Trek

time for a lil nip of kanar