/lounge/ - sushi social

This is probably only of interest to very few, but there's at least one other scandi sushi so heck it.
Tried some Rosita (not to be confused with the cocktail) the other day, and had the luck to be able to compare it to campari as they're both bitter aperitifs.
To keep it short it's like if you had mixed campari maybe 50/50 with white wine. I find campari too sweet and syrupy, so I much prefer the Rosita. Which is lucky for me since it's also only about 40% of the cost. Very nice pre dinner drink.

>>???
Caught your reply with tips on cocktails and cooking with brandy just in time before the prior drinking thread imploded. Appreciate it!
Never got further into cocktails than watching a bunch of vids about it, not in my budget to actually go for exploring myself. But as it happens I actually do have a bottle of pastis. And while I don't have any bitters I do have a tiny bottle of bäska droppar, which is a bäsk, which translates to bitter. So I could actually make a fucked up substitute version of a sazerac.

At least the other brandy I've tried goes very well in tea, there's even songs about it, embed related.

Did grab a can of ginger beer at the store, along with some apple & cinnamon tea, for the last of the Lauders. Will report back with results.

I've been trying to make raisin wine but I really messed up the measurements and it tastes too sweet. The recipe is for making a whole jar full of the darn stuff and I want a smaller amount, otherwise its pretty simple. I added honey to sweeten it but the book doesn't give too many details so I left it for couple days. I wonder if I can dilute it with water?

Drank my first Asahi beer (brewed in Italy) earlier! Actually really good. Very full flavoured while still crisp and clean. Drank a Kirin Ichiban (brewed in Germany) the other week and didn't care for it. Makes sense that you see Asahi much more often than Kirin featured in art.

Also noticed, there's actually no pictures at all of the current bottle design of Rosita online that I can find. Attached pic might be a sushi exclusive on the entire interwebs! The round thing on the label is more pink than red in person though.

>>21651
Fun with homemade stuff! Only made alcoholic ginger beer once myself. If the fermentation hasn't died off you could just leave it a couple days more to let the yeast eat more sugar. As long as it tastes good to you I can see no problem with diluting it though, as long as you dilute when serving, not in the bottle you keep it.

>>21653
I didn't add yeast. The recipie doesn't call for it. Just raisins and honey.

Ginger beer was the best so far for the Lauders. As long as you don't overdo it with the pour it's actually better than the ginger beer on its own. Success!

Did make that "sazerac" with pastis, brandy and bäska droppar. Not horrible. Not good.
Mixing some bäska droppar into the Lauders makes it tastes like some kind of paint remover. An interesting experience.
Supposedly bäska droppar is the same type of liquor as Jeppsons Malört, but more intense, maybe not the best substitute for cocktail bitters.

Had an idea to make a poor mans negroni with the Rosita, since it already tastes like wine and Campari, just add some gin. Picked up some of the cheapest available, first time I buy liquor in a plastic bottle. Surprisingly decent stuff. Kind of works, I think? Never had an actual negroni except for a non-alcoholic one from a can.

Found pic related while on the Rosita bottle search earlier. Either a funny coincidence or the one in charge to name the product really hates Rosita. Both are made in the same country. Literal drain pour.

>>21654
Is it even wine if it's not fermented? I remember something about grapes having yeast on their skin, allowing natural fermentation without adding any. Maybe it's supposed to work with natural yeast, if it's still viable after the raisinification?
Seems to be lots of raisin wine video recipes on youtube if the book is a bit too vague and you wanna have another go.

Made some orgeat, for the purpose of making mauresques. Just the simplest possible, equal parts unsweetened almond milk and sugar heated until dissolved. Never had orgeat before so I have no idea if it tastes like it should, but it is tasty.

A mauresque really is a step up from plain pastis and water, adds some body and depth of flavour. Hopefully I can get ahold of some orange blossom water and almond extract to make a fancier orgeat next batch.

Finally got to cooking with that brandy as well. Fried some mushrooms and onions, deglazed with it, added cream and reduced a bit. Ate with some pasta. Actually the best mushroom dish I've ever had. Really happy that I took the gamble on an unfamiliar bottle, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to eat something so delicious.

Was lucky! My usual store had orange blossom water.
Tbh orgeat isn't really better with it included, just different. Does okay in a mauresque but also makes it so you don't really want to have more than one. Something you'd have to be in the mood for, would probably prefer the plain version most of the time. Might be a better idea to mix in when you're making the drink rather than having it in the orgeat itself.

Actually really tasty to mix in just a lil bit in orange juice though. Might make for an interesting screwdriver variation.

Also have a lil something in the works.

So uh, I tried lotsa different booze & mixer combos, 29 according to my notes. For science. First time I've had so many different kinds of spirits at once, had to seize the opportunity.

Booze: Light rum, pastis, akvavit, gin, (bad blended) whiskey for some.
Then for mixers: lemon soda, ginger beer, cola, Dr Pepper, sparkling lemonade (one tangerine, one blood orange)

Both blood orange lemonade and Dr Pepper made for bad mixers, only worked with the pastis. Which actually was the only booze that worked with every option, such a strong flavour that it overpowers everything though. Best mixer for the pastis was probably the lemon soda.

Best option for the ginger beer was actually the gin, somehow made the ginger even more gingery and complex. Might be even better with both whiskey and gin, add some barrel notes in there. Only the akvavit didn't fit very well, still not bad at all though. The light rum gets a bit lost in it, needs a dark one with more oomph I guess.
The tangerine lemonade worked with everything, versatile mixer. Best with gin IIRC.
Best booze for the cola was actually the akvavit, surprisingly. Shared second place for the rum and whiskey. Not good with gin, tastes like floor cleaner.
Lemon soda also worked with everything. Best option of mixer for the rum, really highlighting the best parts without getting in the way.

Favourite combo of them all was actually akvavit and lemon soda, just really pleasant and refreshing.