Message 25972 of 39188 in General Discussion

Share on Facebook |  Save to del.icio.us

> anti posters??

Fine. "Posters who are making points against the merits of the Long Island Ice 
Tea as a cocktail"
Sorry if you couldn't understand what I meant by that term in context.


> could you please explain to me what exactly the vodka adds to the 
> drink?

Granted that you agree the rest of the ingredients do modify the drink 
somewhat (and make it something different from a vodka & coke) I will grant 
that the vodka is there to make it *strong*, and aesthetically round off the 
idea of having one of everything from the rail. :-B
That too is a part of its charm, as with many cocktails that have a little 
gimmick or style! Using lots of bottles has a presentational benefit, I think. 
And this adds to the value (or even just percieved value) of the experience.


> > This one did, and its staying power DOES say something about its 
> > inherant worth as a recipe,
>
> drinks 
> can become popular or 'classics' just because of a catchy name, 
> interesting story, tv shows,  mass marketing, ignorance etc and not 
> just because of the quality of the recipe.

If it was truly crap, as most other (brown) variations on this theme are, it 
would have truly died. They can indeed become popular through promotion, but 
I'd argue that they need to have some extra merit to remain on lists around 
the world for decades.

No matter how catchy the name (it does nothing for me) if people found it 
undrinkable, they'd stop asking for it.
The legend helps, sure. but the martini has a big aura too. It doesn't 
directly follow that the only reason the martini has survived is due to 
marketing.

(although frankly sometimes I do wonder)

> If anything it allows me the chance to amplify 
> their knowledge and guide them towards different (not necessarily 
> better) ways of enjoying cocktails/spirits and let them develop their 
> own palates should they wish to.

To use it as a springboard into extending their palette as you describe is 
fantastic, sure.
I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness (Bippo is over in the desert there 
somewhere also) Saying
"It's not really worth all the hate against a decent recipe!"


> calculating enough that the common recipe is EQUAL parts of 4 spirits 
> and triple sec? i guess this was for optimal balance. 

Have you tried it with significantly different proportions? Less nice IMO. So 
it happens that equal parts is optimal. It's not inconcieveable.

.dan.