I always liked the word "champagne," enough that I went to undergrad in a city that sounds like "champagne" (little did I know that the word come from a wine region in the northeast of France. I was reading through all the cocktails (a cocktail encyclopedia, if you will, because it's one of the areas I consistently know nothing about) and thinking of all these drinks that people come up with fancy names for: a screwdriver, a rusty nail, a lightning bolt, monkey wrench (I guess a lot of tool names for some reason, maybe has to do with the type of people who drank them), bloody mary, Cosmpolitan, and marveled at the levels of drunkenness people must get after having a Long Island Ice Tea (just look up the ingredients). A lot of them is just adding a sugary soft drink with some sort of liquor, with the main liquers usually being vodka, gin, cognac, whiskey, tequila, brandy, rum. Those seem to be the main ones, but never champagne for some reason, because I guess sparking wine is a type of wine, not hard liquor. Perfect for me as a lightweight who doesn't want to get drunk, champagne is sweet enough on its own and doesn't gross me out, plus it works well into what I consider a good starter cocktail, the mimosa. (known to brunchgoers everywhere due to the "bottomless mimosa" adds outside of seemingly every brunch place. Mimosas, just orange juice, nothing fancy, no bitters or capers or any additions needed, just some of the easiest ingredients you can have, no need to go to bartending school for that. I always wondered what it's like to be a bar tender, doing the cool shaking move with the shakers to mix the drinks and putting it in front of you. I have recently learned that Moet& Chandon is like the trusted brand of champagnes, always a good reputation, and hopefully something I can enjoy after I do something noteworthy one of these days; the last "accomplishment" I've secured might be winning my fantasy baseball league, or finishing a long case at work, or when Nividia quadrupled in price from when I bought it; all those are very superficial accomplishments, I've waiting for a really big occasion to pop the bubbly, and I'm eagerly awaiting popping the bubbly.
Only recently did I learn that "straight up" meant without the ice, which gives you more flavor of the alcohol, but doesn't give you a "second drink" that "on the rocks" would do by adding ice and letting the ice melt and dilute the drink for a different substance. Never thought of that; I always just drank my "one the rocks drinks quickly, and sucked on the ice cubes. Wow how many bartenders probably realized I was a novice level drinker right away. Out of all the other liquors other than champagne, I'd probably go with vodka as the one I like the best..... I never really get the taste of gin in gin and tonics (apparently the representative summer drink, although I think most drinks are best in summer), and whiskey has too distinctive of a taste that really just overpowers everything, like in Manhattans. Rum is good, but usually comes with rum and coke, which is too sweet (I don't do sodas) and keeps me up, and I'm still wondering what cognac tastes like, and probably brandy too. I can't say I've had a bad experience with tequilas since margaritas are always delicious with all the lime juice and sweet stuff and usually I'm having chips and salsa and all the Mexican food to go with it; I'm still waiting for the Tequila Sunrise; I guess I just like orange juice. I know one drink that is a safe, good for all-occasions, don't worry too much about getting drunk: Moscow mule. The Russians love vodka for a reason, and the Moscow mule is the most common, because it kinda tastes good. At least a well-done one does.
Cheers! Salut! Kanpai! Ganbei! Slainte! Prost!
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