On 2003-11-18, Adam Schwartz > wrote:
>
> Seagrams Extra Dry Gin
> E&J Brandy
> Bacardi Gold Rum
> Southern Comfort
>
> What are the best ways to enjoy these beverages? What cocktails can be made
> from them. I have limes and some frozen fruit juice I can use as well.

Damn! ...how'd I miss this thread?

OK, gin first. Gin is a real gag-fest for biginners. A good starter
is a (1) Salty Dog: 3 parts grapefruit juice - 1 part gin - in a glass
with a salted rim, ala magarita. (2) Gin and Tonic: classic limey
cocktail that makes you feel like you're sweating bullets in the
steamy jungles of Burma. The drink that smells like summer!! 1 part
gin - 2 parts Schwepp's tonic water (accept no substitutes!) - a slice
(or eigth) of lime squeezed and tossed in. If you leave any one
ingredient out, it's swill! (3) Martini: Don't let anyone jerk your
chain. Anything but a gin martini is blasphemy! 3 parts gin - 1 part
dry Vermouth (Martine & Rossi rules!) - shaken or stirred, it's all
good - olive or onion or lemon twist. James Bond was a pussy!

E&J Brandy. Brandy & water. OK, I would've never believed it, but...
Me and an old buddy used to sit around and play the blues. He always
broke out a bottle of E&J. Initially, I raised a cynical eye-brow.
He always served it with a touch of water on the rocks. Me like!
After awhile, I became quite fond of ol' E&J. I discovered it goes
very well with Perrier, undoubtedly because the saltiness of Perrier
counteroints perfectly the sweetness of E&J.

Bacardi Gold RuM: What can I say? Rum and coke!! Coke if you can't
do better, Jolt Cola if you can (all the sugar - twice the caffeine!).
If it's a really good rum, sip it straight. If not, do any obscene,
unimaginable, thing you can think of ...orange-juice and ginger-ale,
cranberry and Pepto-Bismol ...whatever. [shrug]

Southern Comfort: Either toss it in the trash or save for use in the
wasp traps next summer.

cheers
nb