Cocktail Secrets

The Webtender, which you can find at www.webtender.com has been online for 12 years now, going all the way back to 1995. It’s a huge database, featuring over 6000 cocktail recipes from nearly 4000 contributors!

On the positive side there are a lot of recipes to choose from and you can search or browse in many different ways. For example you can browse by name of the cocktail or by an ingredient in the cocktail or by category or even by the glass the cocktail is served in. You can also search directly for specific cocktail or ingredient. But perhaps the best way to find cocktails you can make is to use the “In My Bar” feature to tell Webtender what ingredients you have on hand and it’ll give you a list of cocktail you can make.

You’ll also find resources on how to become a bartender, a forum to ask questions and interact with the bartending community as well as fun little items like a drinking games.

On the negative side, as I mentioned Webtender went online in 1995 and it still looks very much the as it did a decade ago. You’ll find an unattractive gray background and a no frills experience. Pop-ups and banner ads still assault the eyes. But somewhat more problematic than the ugliness is that the database doesn’t have any quality controls. Anyone can submit a cocktail and it might be correct and it might not be. Often you’ll find multiple versions of many recipes and it’s left to you to decide which one to try.

While it does have it’s flaws, the Webtender is still a valuable resource and can help you find cocktails to mix. The “In My Bar” feature is quite useful, but you’ll have to wade through over 400 ingredients and maintain your list as you add new ones and use up old ones.

I’ve had more bad Long Island Ice Teas than I’ve had good ones. And that’s somewhat understandable. The Long Island Ice Tea is a very challenging cocktail to mix correctly. With 5 different liquors (rum, vodka, gin, tequila and triple sec) and a host of different manufacturers for each liquor there’s 9,757,237,539 different combinations of Long Island Iced Tea possible!

Given all of this, I wasn’t expecting too much from Desert Island’s pre made cocktail mix. It’s just too easy to screw up a Long Island Iced Tea. But when expectations are low, that’s when you get the most surprises. And you guessed it - Desert Island is quite decent. So much so that many of the bars where I’ve ordered a Long Island Iced Tea should quietly pick up a bottle of Desert Island and stop embarrassing themselves.

In addition to the bottle of Desert Island, you’ll need to pick up some Sweet & Sour mix and some Coke. The recommended recipe is 2 oz of Desert Island Long Island Iced Tea Mix, 4 oz of Sweet & Sour mix and 2 oz of Coke. It’s a decent starting point, but do experiment. I personally found 3 oz of Desert Island, 3 oz of Sweet & Sour and 1 oz of Coke to better suit my tastes. Your milage may very, but feel free to experiment.

Feel free to try Desert Island Long Island Iced Tea Mix by itself over ice. It’s actually quite good all on it’s own. With summer time fun just around the corner, this is one cocktail mix you should have in your cabinet. The cocktails are quick to make and have an enjoyable taste and pack a respectable bit of alcoholic punch.

This fine tequila anejo is aged in oak barrels. The result not only looks like a fine brandy but also shares many of the qualities of a good brandy. The aroma is sweet and smoky with a hint of tequila. When enjoyed straight up or over ice, you’re treated to a rich, warm, full body flavor that’ll remind you more of scotch or brandy than it will of tequila. Don’t get me wrong there is an element of tequila but it’s quite understated.

You can use Black Medallion anywhere you’d normally use brandy, but you’ll probably get the most enjoyment out of simply having it neat or over ice. I tried mixing it with Coke but didn’t feel they went well together. I suspect Pepsi would prove to me more compatible. In fact something like:

1oz Jose Cuervo Black Medallion, 1 oz Kahlua, 4 oz Pepsi will likely be fantastic! I think I’ll give that a try…
Jose Cuervo Black Medallion (80 proof) by the numbers:

20 out of 30 - Overall Flavor (smoky & rich)
7 out of 10 - Taste Cycle (nice transition throughout)
7 out of 10 - Aftertaste (tequila burn has been aged away)
7 out of 10 - Aroma (smell me again and again)
5 out of 10 - Character (brandy-tequial hybrid)
5 out of 15 - Usability (you’ll have to get a little creative)
7 out of 15 - Presentation & Packaging (it’s a bottle with a label)
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58 out of 100 - Total Rating

This charcoal-colored liquor is presented in a rather ordinary bottle, though I like the design of the label. I get the feeling that this is one of those types of liquor that a person will either love or hate. If you’re familiar with the somewhat mildly spiced rum flavor of regular Captain Morgan you’ll be surprised at the potency of the spices in Tattoo.

They hit your pallet with a medley of strong spices, not all that different than allspice. It’s unmistakably the rough and tumble biker bar fist fight version of Captain Morgan. If you made Captain Morgan do five years of hard time, this is what he’d be like.

This will appeal to folks who like bold and spicy foods, who like to try something different and who like to project a tough guy (or tough gal!) image. As such a bold liquor, its uses are somewhat limited. It’s good on the rocks. It’s good in Coke - though I prefer a regular Captain Coke, which is a terrific drink - I can also see this spicing up holiday drinks, perhaps to add a spicy kick to a Thanksgiving punch, or maybe to give an extra spicy feel to eggnog or a spicy version of hot buttered rum!

Captain Morgan Tattoo by the numbers:

15 out of 30 - Overall Flavor (you’ll either love it or hate it)
6 out of 10 - Taste Cycle (like a punch in the face)
5 out of 10 - Aftertaste (why does my throat hurt?)
7 out of 10 - Aroma (mmmmm, spicy!)
9 out of 10 - Character (what’d you say, fool?)
3 out of 15 - Usability (speciality use only)
8 out of 15 - Presentation & Packaging (very fitting to the contents)
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53 out of 100 - Total Rating

Have you tried it? Post your thoughts!