28 November 2021

From the bartender’s corner – The Swiss Martinez

Continuing to experiment with Mount Rigi liqueur, I took the original Martinez recipe and switched up the gin with Mount Rigi. The cocktail further haas Maraschino liqueur, Sweet Vermouth and Orange Bitters. This should be stirred vigorously instead of shaking hard.

Somehow, I liked this more than the traditional Martinez. I even gave it a name – The Swiss Martinez!

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28 November 2021

Give me confusion or give me something else!!

My problem was that I was trying to follow the instructions. How much ever, I tried, the “other” door would not open. That was because it was not meant to. Those two door panels are the same door (sliding door panels). Somebody messed up with the arrow. It was the door on the other side that was working – you can even see it to be open in the picture.

This was in Atlanta airport…

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27 November 2021

From the bartender’s corner – Rigitonic

Well, that is a made up name. Recently, I saw this bottle in a liquor shop and I did what I would normally do if I did not recognize a bottle – I bought it! I had never heard of this liqueur – or for that matter any other liqueur from Switzerland, save the kirsch.

After some research, I found that this is a relatively new liqueur. Started in 2015 by two brothers who moved back to Switzerland from America, the inspiration of the liqueur is kirsch. The base is fermented cherries. But then it is distilled in copper pots with various berries native to Switzerland. And then proofed down to 20% with water. (The distillery claims Swiss Alps pristine lake water). Mount Riga in central Switzerland is surrounded by three beautiful Alpine lakes.

The drink closest to this is gin, as I could reckon. So, I had the first one with tonic water.

The nose is very floral and soft. Reminded my of elderflower and lichee. The palate alternated between the sweet of the liqueur and the bitter from the tonic water. The length was moderate.

I will give it a thumbs up. Nice to sip thru the evening. Plus you can have more since it is only half ABV that of gin!

(I made up the name – do not try to Google it)

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24 November 2021

Come again?

Met up with Amitesh after a long time. First he was down with cold and then I was traveling too much. I think we had skipped our weekly meetings by over a couple of months. In any case, we were determined to meet up today.

After Hannah took our picture in Abbot’s Bar and Grill, I showed him the picture and commented “We got the traffic light colors covered – green, red and orange”. Not sure whether he was too tired after all the driving to the airport and back or half a glass of wine had already hit the sweet spot for him – his response was “Blue is missing.”

And I was like – “You are confusing traffic lights with the cops that pull you over!” 🙂

Anyways, we then moved on to more serious topics like how James Bond completely messed up the martini cocktail!

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