Message 25829 of 39188 in General Discussion

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Yes it might be an old can but this time it is served with a LIIT next to it. 

I say that a LIIT is as good or as bad as a Manhattan. The manhattan and the 
martini, plain mixtures of a spirit and a wine, are supposed to be among the 
best of all cocktails. But there is not something intrinsicly good about 
mixing a spirit with vermouth. Some people call it blending or marying the 
herbs with the flavour of the whiskey or gin. I think it is more something 
like adjusting a flavour to a personal preference. For a martini for instance 
there are soo many varations and soo many disputes about which is best. Or 
people call it bringing out the flavours or a way to showcase a certain aspect 
of the bourbon or gin. If they would see this as equal to creating a better 
flavour than they actually mean that their personal taste doesn't likes the 
straight product over it being mixed.

I didn't want to open up an old can but I just wanted to use the worms to show 
that a LIIT has some resemblence with some of the icons of cocktails. Those 
icons are not examples of drinks which are fabulous from a culinary point of 
view. If I believe the stories here they are even made really bad in most 
cases. Still they are very popular.


<controversial on>
Some people tell that a rum and coke is better than a LIIT (I used to do as 
well) but I would like to see some proof. 

Being able to taste the rum? Is that an argument for making it better? Why 
should it help that you can taste the rum. What makes rum a nice drink?

The answer might be simple. All the tasting notes, fruity, oak, etc. is what 
we like. We like to be able to taste the certain aspects of the rum. This 
answer sounds to easy to me. 

Now I like to hypothise that this is not true and that it is something we've 
learned from our environment. We believe that we like the certain rum 
flavours. We are thought to like the flavours. We are thought to like singles 
above blends.
I think that in reality people like something else. Something we aren't 
conscious about.

People have preferences, preferences which depend on past experiences. Past 
experiences determine how we perceive certain flavours as good or as bad. This 
might explain why people have different preferences for certain spirits. It is 
because of different past experiences.
Preference for a certain flavour. For instance rum with a banana flavour is 
thought. Banana flavour in rum is not something intrinsicly nice to a rum. So 
are things like the fungus flavours of sherry or the "cat pee" smell of 
sauvignon blanc.

I think that this whole flavour profile is something we learned to appreciate. 
The reason that most people appreciate rum above a mixture of rum, vodka, gin 
and tequila is because we are learned to do so. The reason that whiskey or 
cognac are preferred spirits might be due to cultural influences instead due 
to intrinsic properties. Is for instance, preference for the rancio flavour in 
Cognac something we learn or something which we are "programmed" to prefer?

And if it is due to intrinsic properties of cognac. Things we don't need to 
learn to appreciate Is it something general or something specific? Do we like 
a ginger flavour because of we learn to like it or because it is a refreshing 
flavour which we are "programmed" to like. Do we like a specific property like 
ginger or a general property like refreshing.

Whatever the answers may be I think they will always be partly true. At least 
to some extent people learn to appreciate certain flavours and to some extent 
people are sensitive to general properties.

A LIIT relies on those two points. I think that it doesn't matter much Cuba 
Libre vs. Long Island Iced Tea. Like Cola vs. lemon lime soda the most 
important for both being liked is the fact that both have a lot of sugar and 
acids the rest of the flavour is less important. The LIIT has the same general 
properties as a Cuba Libre. The difference is that a Cuba Libre has an "idea", 
in a cuba libre you can taste what is in it, a cuba libre has a recognisable 
taste.

Having a recognisable taste or being able to taste every ingredient in it, if 
that would be important than what about the many blends in Cognac or other 
spirits?
<contorversial off> (this stuff might be better to be discussed in a quite 
place in bar with a bottle of whiskey)

There is hardly any knowledge about the way, how and why people prefer certain 
food products. Maybe we are using our own preferences to much when calling 
things good or bad and tasty or not tasty.
The LIIT doesn't seem to lack popularity. Who am I, who are we, to call it a 
bad drink?