MxMO LXXXI Highball Roundup

mxmologoThanks to everyone for taking part in this month’s Mixology Monday! Working with our theme of “Highballs,” this month saw a great series of submissions that I am humbled to now offer for the round up of MxMO LXXXI.

 

The DIY Chronicles

This segment of submissions could also be subtitled “A nod to Jeffrey Morganthaler’s work” as many DIYers this month pulled out recipes from his previous work and experiments.

DiPippa and Tonic ComponentsI put out a “DiPippa& Tonic” by cold compounding my own gin starting from a recipe previously published by Jeffrey Morganthaler.  A nice personal touch the my favorite highball and standby order which gave me an excuse to wax poetic about the long arm of cocktail explorations.

 

Stir and strain southeastasiantonic-gin-1Fear not, Elana at Stir & Strain went in the other direction making homemade tonic water to compliment the gin.  This beautiful creation shows how the Gin and Tonic may be the most versatile of highballs with the homemade Southeast Asian Style Tonic water.

 

One Martini gin-and-tonicAlso playing around with the homemade tonic water is Jessica at One Martini at a Time! She went with homemade tonic water (based on Jeffrey Morganthaler’s recipe) to make us the “Best Gin and Tonic.”

 

The Booze Nerds teamed up to give us Gone Courting and Ozaki. Using Black Cherry Booze Nerds gone-courting-finalsoda (thBooze Nerds ozaki-finalat they made because none of the megamart options were up to snuff), the Gone Courting marries the black cherry flavor with chocolate vodka while the Ozaki used Aged Rum to give the berries some heft.

 

Stacy Markow Whisky GingerMeanwhile, Stacy showed off a Whiskey and Spicy Ginger combination of rye or bourbon with homemade ginger beer, and not to be outdone homemade candied ginger garnish! Rye is always welcome in these parts.

 

Bartending notes h2o

Bartending Notes takes a look at H20 cocktails, especially when you start making your own flavored water. Water is the easiest mixer, but why not bring a little more to the drink? Here we can see a vodka and strawberry hibiscus water cocktail beckoning you with refreshment.

 

Regional Specialties

We got some fun descriptions here and there for regional specialties:

Ginhound flyversjus ny The Danish contribution is a Flyversjus or “pilot’s highball” from Andrea at Ginhound. This highball manages to squeeze in akwavit, bergamot orange juice, yellow chartreuse, and simple syrup before being topped with soda water.  A bit complex for the theme, but that picture is so pretty!

 

Cocktail virgin moxieFred, our torch bearing ringleader of Mixology Monday at Cocktail Virgin Slut added an Improved Toxic Moxie with Fernet Branca and Maine’s Moxie Original Elixir (with a shot of the 100 proof rye for heft). I think I mentioned before that here at Southern Ash, we never turn our nose up on the addition of rye.

 

Sass and Gin Buccaneer BoostThe Buccaneer Boost from Sass & Gin gives us a little history of Mountain Dew, and it’s little brother Dr. Enuf which joins with Anejo rum and a squeeze of lime in this paen to the local mascot!

 

Improved Highballs

Intrepid Mixology Monday-ers took the highball formula and tried to find the right matches to bring out the best in these drinks.

Putney Farm anejo5

Stewart at Putney Farm went the Buck route (a favorite in Southern Ash territory during the summer) for The Other Anejo Highball. This deceptively fruity drink has anejo tequila, lime juice, and agave nectar before the ginger ale comes in.  And bitters for good measure.

 

Nihil Utopia JWray and TingDagreb over at Nihil Utopia prepares a simple JWray rum and Ting highball.  Ting?

 

 

Landers Tiger Woods

Mike Landers gave us a Tiger Woods highball, inspired from playing video games in the dead of winter with Black tea infused bourbon and one of my personal favorite mixers – San Pellegrino Limonata soda!

 

DJ Hawaiian Shirt at Spirited Remix gave it a whirl and came up with a trio of club worthy cocktails to take you outside your comfort zone.

 Spirited Remix Tequila and CokeSpirited Remix Citrus VOdka and tonic

Spirited Remix Bourbon and Pepsi

MoD PinkyCarruthers_zps922c2e73The Muse of Doom Pinky Carruthers comes in with obscure ingredients and a wonder twins reference! Comic book references are always welcome here, on top of the Buckaroo Banzai nod. Monkey Shoulder blended scotch and guava soda are combined with a bitters kicker for this beautiful drink.

 

Chartreuse Twins

The complex flavor profile of Green Chartreuse came out to play in two distinctly different ways this month.

 

Straight Up chartreuse-and-tonic-2Venturing outside the norm, the rich herbalness of Charteuse was cut with Tonic water by Nick at Drinks Straight Up for this beautiful looking highball. One day, maybe, I’ll get my drink pictures to look that good.

 

 

 

A Bar Above Ch FloatChris from A Bar Above may have one of the most brilliant moments this month – A Chartreuse Float.  Chartreuse, Root Beer, and garnished with a blood orange peel and a scoop of ice cream.  Tell me you you aren’t thinking about trying that yourself right now, I dare you! Tell me you aren’t thinking about running to the store for vanilla ice cream right now…

 

Classics

A classic mixture is classic for a reason.  We had several members of this motley crew take a look at classic highballs to liven the day, or night.

 

Tartines Japanese Whisky HighballElise at Tartines to Tikis showed off the Japanese Whisky Highball.  This stunningly simple combination of Japanese Whisky and soda water showcases the precision of each step embodied by Japanese bartending. Perfect ice.  A perfect pour.  Perfect ratios.

The history of the Gin and Tonic contributed by BarFly SF with a look at the Gin Tonica from Spain, arguably the most developed gin & tonic destination in the world, by way of Jose Andres restaurants.

 

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Drinksburgh Cuba LibreMike Basista at DrinksBurgh revisits the classic Cuba Libra and the near perfection of the ones he had in Cuba. Havana Club plus cane sugar (aka Mexican) Coke sounds delicious even in the middle of the polar vortex inspired winter blast.

 Swizzlestick Scotch & GingerSwizzlestick went straight to Big Papa Hemingway to remind us that the Scotch & Ginger Ale highball is a classic for good reason.

Thanks to everyone for taking part in the first Mixology Monday of 2014 and cheers!

P.S. – If I missed someone from the round up, let me know A.S.A.P. so my horrible oversight can be remedied.

  • Chris at A Bar Above

    Thanks again for hosting, and what a great turn out this month.

  • http://feu-de-vie.blogspot.com/ K(ate) Muse

    Snazzy work, everyone! And thanks for hosting, Joel!

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some root beer…

  • swizzzlestick

    Such a wonderful collection of highballs, thank you!!

  • BartendingNotes

    This was funny to do!
    Thanks again

  • http://stayathomecocktails.blogspot.com/ Stay at Home Cocktails

    Wow. I guess I will have to stop knocking the highball…