Bummer - oops I don't know if we're allowed to put that word here... but it is a plop cos Pimms is nice and judging by what you guys are writing rum is nice too - oh well gin and slim line tonic it is then and all the other nice and low carby things written here on this thread....

You may note something that won't work for you in some of these recipes. Substitute to your hearts content.

Bullshot
1 1/2 ounces vodka
3 ounces beef bouillon (I use canned beef broth)
1 to 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Dash A-1 sauce * (optional - may be carby)
Dash Tabasco
Dash Angostura bitters
Celery salt

Shake ingredients with cracked ice; strain into either a tumbler filled with ice or a cocktail glass without ice. Garnish with a lemon twist. Variation: Substitute pepper-flavored vodka for regular vodka. Dust the rim of the glass with celery salt. To make a Bloody Bull, add a hefty splash of tomato juice. To mix a Barnacle Bull, add a splash of Clamato juice.

Lo-carb Lemon Drop
1 1/2 ounces citron vodka
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon splenda

Shake ingredients with cracked ice. Strain into a frosted cocktail glass; garnish with a lemon wheel. (when you're not lo-carbing, use half a teaspoon of splenda and half a teaspoon of cointreau)

Caesar (or bloody Caesar)
1 ounce vodka
4 ounces tomato-clam juice (aka Clamato juice)
Pinch of salt and pepper
Dash Worcestershire sauce
2 to 3 dashes horseradish
Celery salt
Celery stalk

Stir ingredients with cracked ice in a chilled highball or delmonico glass. Stir in Worcestershire and salt and pepper. Coat the glass's rim with celery salt. Garnish with a celery stalk and a lemon wedge.
Variation: Use V8 or Snappy Tom tomato juice cocktail instead of Clamato for a Bloody Mary

Lo-carb Moscow Mule
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce lime juice
4 ounces diet ginger ale

Use vodka that has been stored in a freezer. The ginger ale/beer and fruit should have been stored in a refrigerator. Stir vodka and juice together well in a chilled Collins glass. Add fresh cracked ice and a swizzle stick; top with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Variation: substitute rye whiskey or Canadian whiskey for Vodka, subtract the lime juice and you have a Rye & Ginger. With good rye and Stewarts Ginger Beer, this is one of my favorite cocktails.

Sazerac Cocktail
2 ounces rye
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
splash Pernod or Herbsaint

Coat inside of thoroughly chilled large old-fashioned glass with Pernod/Herbsaint, turning the glass to coat it evenly and thoroughly. Shake rye and bitters with cracked ice until very cold; strain into prepared old-fashioned glass; twist lemon peel into drink. Varation: Sub black rum (Myers, Gosling Black Seal, Bacardi Select) for rye; garnish with orange twist.

Daiquiri
1 1/2 ounces rum
3/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 teaspoon splenda
6 ounces cracked ice

Blend in electric mixer; strain into large chilled cocktail glass.

Nationale Cocktail
2 ounces light rum
1 ounce apricot brandy
1 ounce lime juice

Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass.

Lo Carb Mojito
2-3 ounces light rum
1 lime
2 teaspoons splenda
Fresh Mint
ice and soda water

Place splenda & a large pinch (small handful) of mint, and splash of soda water in a pint glass. Use handle of a wooden spoon or 'muddler' to lightly press mint and dissolve splenda until it smells of spearmint gum. Squeeze both halves of lime into the glass, leaving one hull in the mixture. Add rum, stir, and fill with ice. Top with soda water, garnish with mint sprig and serve.

Hi texascarl- ummmm sounds delightful - certainly gonna be trying the moscow mule.... do you think that Bacardi will do for the rum in these drinks? if so then I can do it cos I have some somewhere..... oh and the ceasar also sounds good..... - aaahhh nearly weekend.
x

Hi texascarl- ummmm sounds delightful - certainly gonna be trying the moscow mule.... do you think that Bacardi will do for the rum in these drinks? if so then I can do it cos I have some somewhere..... oh and the ceasar also sounds good..... - aaahhh nearly weekend.
x

twice!? golly you'd think that I had already had a few trials on these drinks

Do I think Bacardi will do for the rum in these? Certainly, one variety or another of Bacardi would be fine. Light Bacardi rum works well for Mojitos & Daquiris. A well made Mojito or Daquiri is a wonderful thing.

Sidebar: I find that after going without carbs for a while, the natural sweetness of my favorite liquors (really good bourbon, cognac, old rye and 'sipping' quality rum) is plenty of flavour for me. The flavour of these liquors may be too intense for most cocktails/mixed drinks at other times...but they taste GOOD after you haven't had anything 'sweet' for a while. This is a good thing.

Tho' I enjoy Manhattans and Sazeracs at home, and I'm happy to mix other cocktails up for guests, I seldom order mixed drinks or cocktails when I'm out. I 'call for'/ask the bartender for some specific 'best quality' liquor, sometimes with a twist of lemon. I always ask for icewater to use as a 'chaser' in between sips. I order dry wine when I'm dining out, sometimes with a glass of cognac/bourbon/rum for dessert.
I find that I can monitor my intake of alcohol quite precisely this way, which can be important. Mixed drinks can fool the unwary, there may be 1.5 ounces or 4.5 ounces of alcohol in the glass, unless you made it yourself you won't know. If you're 'allowing' yourself 2 or 3 drinks on your diet, you may actually have reached your limit with the first glass. Something to be aware of.

I enjoy myself but this way I never have a 'sugar hangover' from too much fruit juice or stomach issues from 'gassy' mixers. YMMV, of course, but this has worked well for me.

Thanks texascarl - you are a mine of information - do come and fix me a cocktail if you're ever my way they sound so gorgeous
I asked about the rum cos I have only noticed Barcardi and then the dark rums (I don't usually drink rum you see, I'm a wine, champagne and coctail drinker, with a few gin and slimline tonics thrown in now and again....)
I'm glad that this has worked well for you but what has? what is YMMV?

I gave my hubby a cocktail shaker, some mixes and a cocktail book for Xmas and we so haven't looked back tee hee

YMMV = Your Milage May Vary

'This has worked well for me'...drinking 'call' liquor with a water back has worked well for me while low-carbing.

Good luck!

thanks and good luck to you too
xx

Sorry I've been away...just stepped out for a drink .

Texascarl - what is in a Manhattan?

Going out with a friend, later...not sure Michelob Ultra will be available. Learned my lesson with vodka martinis (you're a better man than I am, Cpt.Kirk).

If all else fails I'll stick to rum and diet coke.

A Manhattan is a 'martini' for bourbon/rye drinkers. Liquor flavoured with vermouth.

Manhattan
2 oz bourbon or rye whiskey
1/4 to 1/2 oz 'sweet' vermouth
dash bitters
Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass.

Going out with a friend, later...not sure Michelob Ultra will be available.

If Michelob Ultra isn't available, Miller Lite has just a fraction of a carb more than Ultra.

I used to be quite a fan of Jack Daniels in my day - maybe a Manhattan is right up my alley. I don't make drinks at home I hope I can safely assume they are always mixed the same, wherever I go.

Miller Lite is good, too.

Thanks!

Hi Guys
Texascarl enjoy your night out and don't forget your water in between.... we get michelob and miller but not the michelob ultra nor miller lite... not that I've seen it and I have looked since this thread started up tee hee
oh and is bitters = Angastora bitters?

Iowagirl hope you enjoyed your drinkiepoos, my dh wants to say that a Whiskey sling is yummy for those that like whiskey/bourbon/rye....

Whiskey Sling
1 measure of lemon juice and 1 tsp water and stir till 1 tsp sugar substitue is dissolved (or omit this step totally)
Pour 2 measures American blended whiskey, stir to mix with the lemon and water. Half fill a small, chilled tumber with the cracked ice and strain the cocktail over it ....
He swears by this - Enjoy!

Gin Sling
1 measure lemon juice and 1 tsp water till the sugar substitute is dissolved (if using sugar subs - I quite like it without) Pour 2 measures of gin and stir. Half fill a small, chilled tumber with the cracked ice and strain the cocktail over it ....
Right now it's Friday and boy oh boy do I need that drink... I have now got in my hand - oh ok on the table next to me a Diet Red Bull mixed with Vodka! only 1g per 100ml therefore 2.5g's YAY!
Have fab weekends all and I'll check in later to see if there are any more posts on alcoholism...

oh and is bitters = Angastora bitters?

Yes.

I always keep Peychaud's bitters as well, they're very good in a Sazerac. Orange bitters are sometimes called for as well, you can get orange bitters here in the States from Fee Brothers - 716-544-9530. Peychaud's and Angostura bitters should be available everywhere spirits are sold.
When you read 'bitters' in a cocktail recipe it's safe to assume they mean Angostura bitters. Otherwise the writer will specify Peychaud's or Orange bitters, etc...

Just to illustrate the difference that bitters/cordials can make, here's an example from the Esquire Drink Database regarding Manhattans:

2 oz good rye (in case of emergency--you need a Manhattan and you're passing a bar of the "Rye? Nah." variety--Canadian Club will do; it's got lots of rye in it)
1 oz Italian vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Strain into in chilled cocktail glass and garnish with twist or, of course, Maraschino cherry (which is subject to the same challenge re: purity as adding an olive to a Martini).

Of course, human beings, being human beings, can never leave well enough alone. Here, then, are the obligatory variants.

First, a few you can make by monkeying around with the bitters: lose the Angostura and pitch in a splash of Amer Picon and it's a Monahan; a splash of anisette and it's a Naragansett; two dashes of cherry brandy and a dash of absinthe and you've got a McKinley's Delight. Leave a dash of the Angostura in, add a dash of orange bitters and three dashes of absinthe: a Sherman.
Or you can tinker with the vermouth. Replace half the Italian vermouth with French for a so-called Perfect Manhattan. Equal parts of rye, French vermouth and Italian vermouth: a Jumbo. Make that with bourbon: a Honolulu (no bitters at all in those last two). Cut the Italian vermouth entirely and make it half bourbon and half French vermouth: a Rosemary. To turn that into a Brown University, just add a couple dashes orange bitters. Coming almost full circle, if you make your classic two-to-one Manhattan with French vermouth instead of Italian and a dash of Amer Picon and one of Maraschino, you're in Brooklyn. And there are more--the Rob Roy, for one, but we gotta stop somewhere.

If you don't know what Amer Picon is, or the difference between French Vermouth and Italian Vermouth or why it's important...or if you just wish to learn any number of interesting things regarding the cocktail, here are a few good places to delve for answers. Have fun, kids.

Hoy Hoy!

Esquire Food and Drink database

Hotwired Cocktail

Hmmm...I'm in Iowa at an Irish restaurant with a Mexican friend and I order a Manhattan. What are the odds it will contain anything Italian or French?

I took a sip and realized I needed to eat my steak first. I think they just gave me bourbon on the rocks. Not that that is a bad thing, just wasn't prepared for it.

It just so happens the other establishments we went to had Michelob Ultra. Not bad.