Wet Bar Wednesday – Failure

Mixing drinks is part art and part science.  It favors the creative streak in us, but doesn’t always reward that streak with a drink we’d repeat.  

Or even finish.

Don’t stress out about the occasional failure when trying a new drink.  If you think it was a problem with the recipe, try tweaking it.  If you just don’t like the results, get over it.  You can pour it out (or hand it off to a friend!) and start over again.  The more you experiment, the more you’ll get a feel for the type of drinks and types of liquors you like, and you can reduce the number of bad drinks you try.

Last night I tried a new recipe.  It was called a Baltic Murder Mystery, because whoever created it liked the color of the drink for a Baltic-themed party he was having.  I don’t like the name, but that’s OK because I don’t really care for the drink either, and probably won’t be making it again.  It’s very, very, very sweet.  If that’s your thing, then give this a shot.

• 1 part creme de cassis
• 1 part vodka
• Top 7-Up or Sprite

Mix the creme de cassis and vodka and pour over ice in a tall glass.  Fill the remainder of the glass with 7-Up or Sprite and serve.  You can stir before you serve if you like, but there is a separation of the darker and lighter colors if you don’t.  Your guests will undoubtedly stir it themselves after you give it to them, so save yourself a few seconds and don’t stir.

Creme do cassis is a liquor made from black currants.  It isn’t creamy – much more syrupy in fact.  It is delicious, but intensely sweet.  The vodka contributes very little taste but ups the alcohol potency of the drink, and the 7-Up or Sprite just adds to the sweetness.

To try and offset the sweetness, I squeezed a bit of lemon juice in and mixed it up.  That tempered the sweetness somewhat.  I could have added more lemon juice but I was lazy and just drank it as is.  It’s a pretty drink to look at, and would work well as a dessert substitute!