Category: cocktails

Green River Brewing & Taproom – Best Cocktail in Yolo County

Whiskey Sour
Whiskey Sour, Green River Brewing & Taproom, 2019

Green River Brewing & Taproom – The Review

Taste (3/10) – Could smell some whiskey but that was about it. The drink tastes like sour mix.

Presentation (1/5) – A cloudy, strawish yellow. Sort of looks like grapefruit juice. Lots of ice.

Balance (1/5) – Lemon juice with a hint of sugar. A real lip-pucker!

Correctness (1/5) – No egg, no garnishes, not shaken. Can’t tell if using pre-mix or made their own sour syrup.

Delivery (1/x) – Nothing.

Total (7/25) – Another disappointing cocktail from a really cool place.

Green River has an excellent space right next to Putah Creek outside of Winters. The whole thing is clearly a labor of love. There is music space, a park with seating, cornhole, and horseshoes. Even outdoor grills and taps!? The food is simple but delicious. But this cocktail, it is so bad! This cocktail is supposed to taste good! When you make it according to the recipe it tastes great! But no, all we got was some whiskey splashed with bad sour mix.

Good thing they had plenty of great beer on tap.

Links

Green River Brewery & Taproom
The Project
The Criteria
The Bars

Mojo’s Lounge – Best Cocktail in Yolo County

Whiskey Sour, Mojo’s Lounge, May 2019

Here we are again, wherein I go to a bar in cocktail in the hopes that they can make a cocktail and then rate it against the actual cocktail and my own amatuer attempt at the drink!

So, how does Mojo’s Lounge in Woodland do? Unfortunately not well. Let’s get into it.

Mojo’s Lounge – The Review

Taste (2/10) – It tastes so bad. Bad lemon taste and bad whiskey taste

Presentation (1/5) – This is way to bright. It almost looks like Mountain Dew. Unnaturally yellow.

Balance (1/5) – It’s a mess. Bad tasting from beginning to end.

Correctness (1/5) – Just wrong. No orange, no egg, not shaken, I’m pretty sure they bartender used a pre-made sour mix?!

Delivery (2/x) – Friendly, no flash, seemed slightly confused. Quick.

Total (7/15) – No bueno.

What a disappointment. Mojo’s is such a cool place right off of Main Street in Woodland. The food is good and it was bust on a Thursday evening! I really wish they had got this right. Which I know they can do, because…

New York Sour, Mojo’s Lounge, May 2019

On Mojo’s speciality cocktail menu for Spring 2019 is a “New York Sour” which is a Whiskey Sour with Rye whiskey and a float of Cabernet. After drinking the Whiskey Sour I ordered this drink sans Cabernet. And it was just a Whiskey Sour!? Even the cherry garnish was better! Egg white? Yes. Fresh lemon juice? Yes. Simply Syrup? Yes. All it was missing was the orange slice. If they had made this for me when I ordered the Whiskey Sour, hands down, it would be winning this competition. By a large margin.

Just makes me sad. Why serve this trash cocktail when you clearly know how to make it correct?

Links

Mojo’s Lounge
The Project
The Criteria
The Bars

Bistro 33 – Best Cocktail in Yolo County

Bistro 33
Whiskey Sour, Bistro 33, May 2019

This was a rough week, with lots of bad personal new in my life. I was hoping that a nice Whiskey Sour might cheer me up. Alas, it was not to be.

Bistro 33 – The Review

Taste (3/10) – So sour! It’s overwhelming. This tastes like bad lemonade. Can barely taste sweet. No whiskey at all.

Presentation (2/5) – Half a garnish. A little darker than previous ones. Large glass

Balance (2/5) – No balance. Sour on the tip of the tongue and the back. Maybe a hint of sweet on the way back. Very little if any alcohol.

Correctness (1/5) – There is a maraschino cherry. That’s it. No orange, no egg white, not shaken. Added soda water?!

Delivery (1/x) – No flourish. No interaction.

Total (9/25) – What a mess. This is barely what I would call an actual whiskey sour. This is lemonade with liquor.

Gin Refresher, Bistro 33, May 2019

Links

Bistro 33
The Project
The Criteria
The Bars

de Vere’s Irish Pub- Best Cocktail in Yolo County

Finished Whiskey Sour, de Vere’s Irish Pub, April 2019

de Vere’s is perhaps my favorite restaurant in Davis. The location is nice, the space is beautiful (the bar was built in Ireland, taken apart, and then shipped to the USA.), and the food is really good (One of the best burgers in town.) How were their Whiskey Sours though?

de Vere’s Irish Pub – The Review

Taste (5/10) – Not bad. Can taste the lemon juice and the simple syrup. Not much of a hint of whiskey. A little boring

Presentation (3/5) – Pale, half of a garnish. Very well shaken. Fizz on top made me think, at first, that there was egg white in the drink.

Balance (3/5) – Good balance. Can’t tell if smooth whiskey or none? Very hard to tell.

Correctness (3/5) – No egg white, half a correct garnish (cherry.) The juice was pre-squeezed. House-made syrup. Not a lot to say.

Delivery (1/x) – No flourish. Shaken very vigorously though. Asked what whiskey I wanted (Well is Evan Williams.)

Total (15/25) – This wasn’t a bad drink but I don’t know if it was a good drink either… Very run of the mill.

In what is now very much a trend the signature cocktail I ordered, Pall Mall, tasted better than the Whiskey Sour. I had high hopes for de Vere’s, I was hoping their bartenders would pay as much attention and detail when making drinks as their cooks do when preparing meals. I guess not…

Pall Mall, de Vere’s Irish Pub, April 2019

Links

de Vere’s Irish Pub
The Project
The Criteria
The Bars

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