Comments on: Spirits in the night

By: CJM

CJM — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:26:51 +0000

When I get home from a shift I usually enjoy a High Life. However, the other night I was out of the old reliable, so I threw together some Pimm’s, Yellow Chartreuse, ginger, squeeze of lemon, and a dash of Fee’s bitters…it was delicious…a perfect nightcap.

By: Purg

Purg — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:26:28 +0000

I second Ryan’s comment about Sambuca and water. A great nightcap!

By: Arnold

Arnold — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:18:05 +0000

You can find it at both the Blanchard’s in Allston and the Sav-Mor Discount Liquors on McGrath Highway (where I bought a bottle of Strega for a good price–random selection at that store).

Deep Ellum has it and Max will make a great Toronto variant using it instead of Fernet (which I like to call the Riga). I’ve heard No. 9 Park has it as well.

By: MC Slim JB

MC Slim JB — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:25:26 +0000

Wow, I’d never heard of, let alone seen, Rigas Black Balsam: looks like fierce Latvian bitters. Has anyone ever seen it retailed in MA?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:42:07 +0000

Ouzo or sambuca with enough water to turn them cloudy, or if I can’t stomach the anise taste on a particular night, ginger ale with a few dashes of angostura bitters.

By: Steven

Steven — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:18:56 +0000

Ice cream and whatever I can find: Creme de Menthe, Fernet Branca’s not bad, whiskey, Guinness… At that point in the night, it’s probably better for me to be scooping my liquor up with a spoon anyway.

By: Arnold

Arnold — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:16:53 +0000

Adam and MC: just to be a homer (or at least representing my ethnic heritage…), if you like Unicum get on the Melnais Balsams (or Riga Black Balzams) bandwagon.

My nightcap tends to be either an Irish whiskey or a Manhattan. For some reason I always regret the Manhattan as nightcap the next day…

By: robmarais

robmarais — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:29:43 +0000

Oh Gawd, I’m so uncreative when it comes to nightcaps. Either I’ve come home with an overfull tum, or I’ve had my snootful and I’m anticipating a hangover the next day. In the former case, it’s occasionally Fernet or now more usually Cynar, sometimes straight and sometimes mixed with rye or gold rum in a short glass. Occasionally it will be port, solo. In the latter, lots of water and an ibuprofen, especially if it’s a school night…no use making a night’s buzz problematic later.

By: David

David — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:42:22 +0000

At home, my nightcaps tend to be a straight dark spirit, a beer, or the sloppily combined remnants of whatever the evening’s featured cocktail may have been, with questionable substitutions as needed.

I also like Campari (or similar) and soda with a little gin on top. Requesting or serving a drink “with a gin floater” is usually good for a laugh, and always good for deliciousness, ease, and strength.

Slightly off-topic but important: At those pivotal moments in the night when I want to push the bender forward when I should really just call it quits, nothing beats a Fernet Branca and Coca-Cola. What a great over-time drink.

By: ljclark

ljclark — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:38:31 +0000

Dang, Slim, can we be Unicum brand ambassadors or something? Amanda, I would say that if you want to induce vomiting, that would be the perfect cocktail. To settle your stomach, try Fernet Branca. Mattfish, sounds like a solid forumula. Adam, you’re just too darn sensible!