Are there any online guides to ordering mixed drinks/explanations of drinks?!
Answers: I'm 22 but never drank before I was 21 and I'm not a big drinker now. However, when I go out with friends, I always stick to ordering something like a margarita or a daiquiri because I know there won't be any surprises. I don't know how to order other drinks...for example, there are all these terms such as "on the rocks" that I don't understand (I guess that one means "with ice," but I wish you could just say "with ice!") People talk about drinks being dry, sour, etc, and I don't understand any of that, nor do I have an appreciation of how one kind of alcohol (like vodka) differs from another kind (like gin). I tried googling drink guides but couldn't find anything. Can anyone help me out? Ordering drinks is like speaking another language!
Dry = not sweet. Sweetness hides the taste of alcohol. Any drink with liqueurs or cremes is usually sweet. Liqueurs aren't always called "liqueurs". For example, Triple Sec, Blue Curacao, and Apple Puckers are just a few of them. Fruit juice also adds sweetness, but not as much. If you dislike the taste of raw alcohol, you will enjoy sweeter cocktails.
"On the rocks" and stuff like that is B.S. "With ice" is perfectly acceptable, and as far as any other cocktail variations, you'll probably never have to use them. It's a stereotype, mostly perpetuated in comedy. Most variations of cocktails get their own name, nowadays.
Different kinds of liquor:
Vodka is made to be tasteless. Clear rum is also very light tasting (just tastes sweet). Vodka and rum go with just about everything.
The rest all have unique flavors, which means they have specific flavors they mix well with. I'll try to list them in order of light to strong.
*Gin
*Canadian Whiskey
*Brandy
*Cognac
*Whiskey
*Scotch
Just trying the most popular drinks will give you an idea of what you like.
http://www.google.com/search?q=popular+c...
Once you find what ingredients you like, you can use cocktail search engines, like http://www.drinksmixer.com to find similar cocktails.
If you want to make cocktails at home, it can be difficult. Liqueurs are what give cocktails their "oomph", but each bottle of liqueur costs just as much as liquor. What I suggest is that you experiment with different flavored rums or flavored vodkas. You only need to buy one bottle of liquor, which is only about $12-18. You can buy 2 or 3 different mixers (soda, juice) to go with it, and usually whatever you make ends up tasting pretty good.
Try these
http://www.webtender.com/
http://www.bartendersguide.com/
One site that did teach a few important things was: http://totallyfreebartending.com/
You can kinda skip their daily process thing and just adjust the number in the url:
http://www.totallyfreebartending.com/les...
(just change the number, the lessons go up to 16)
I hope this helps.
www.drinksmixer.com .... the best ....... pictures, instructions, a section with a list ... if you liked this .... you might like these.