Layover in Narita

1/2 oz. lemon juice

1/2 oz. lime juice

1/2 orgeat

1 teaspoon pomegranate juice

1.5 oz soju

Good, but I think I'll try upping the pomegranate juice

edit - tried with 2 teaspoons pomegranate and 2 oz. soju. Much better

Laird Abernathy's Punch

I've made this differently each time so I'm putting this one down to remember the ingredients:

1 bottle Hardy V.S. Red Corner Cognac

4 oz Courvoisier V.S. Cognac

16 oz Gosling's Black Seal Rum

4 oz Kirsch Grande Reserve Cherry Brandy

Demerara syrup (1 cup demerara sugar, 32 oz water)

8 oz fresh lemon juice

Ginger Pomegranate Rum

750 ml Mount Gay Eclipse Silver

Infuse a large handful sliced ginger for ~4 days

Infuse all the seeds of a pomegranate for ~1 week

British West Indies

1.5 oz rhubarb infused white rum

.25 oz lime

barspoon demerara syrup

orange bitters

Hansen's The Grove

I'm glad that I had three cans of The Grove. Each one was a different experience for me.

I found the first can to be too syrupy for my taste, almost a chemical flavor. The second can I used for mixed drinks (go figure), and found this recipe to my liking:

1.5 oz silver tequila (I used 1800)

.25 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Liqueur

in an old fashioned glass over ice

stir and add about 1.5 oz The Grove.

This recipe is pretty heavy and probably not something you'd want many of, but I think it's good for either an after dinner drink or sitting around the fire pretending that you're the kind of person who would actually go riding in a one horse open sleigh. If you were really that kind of person you'd be drinking something hot.

The third can I split with my boys. Malcolm (6) drew a picture to illustrate that it was first good, then ok, then, when it hit his gums, it hurt a little (he doesn't like fizzy drinks). Gabriel (9) likes the flavor a lot, but feels the aftertaste is not as good. I liked this can better than the first; not sure why. My impression is much like Gabriel's; it starts out good and the after-taste is not bad, but not up to the initial flavor. I still felt it was a little syrupy, but not the same as my first impression.

MxMo Brown, Bitter & Stirred

I didn't get a chance to do this on time, but I have a tasty brown & bitter but not stirred drink recipe. Just not for MxMo:

Shake:

1 oz Maker's 46

1/4 oz Cointreau

1/4 oz Maraschino

Rinse cocktail glass with:

Herbsaint

Pour liquor into rinsed glass & add a few dashes:

Angostura

Hansen's Cola

Hansen's Natural Sodas sent me some of their new The Grove soda to taste test. In the box they also included a can of their Original Cola and one of their Cherry Vanilla Creme. I'm tired this evening and just want to relax with a drink of the boozy kind so I thought I'd try a rum & coke. I'd prefer a Cuba Libre, but don't want to go get limes.

I first tasted the cola solo. It's very good, with a medium bite and sweet taste, but not overpowering like most colas. The overall flavor is light when compared to the better known competition; that's a good thing, at least in my mind.

Now to mix - I used 1.5 oz of 10 Cane Rum, over ice, and about the same amount of cola. I don't have any other rums in the house right now. 10 Can has a strong flavor and overpowers the cola. At this point I can't recommend mixing Hansen's Original Cola with rum, but it might work better if you try a lighter flavored rum. This tastes pretty much like rum with a little something tossed in to cut the alcohol.