Alright so yesterday I got this wild idea after wasting way too much money at the bar. New Amsterdam stuff tastes decent but come on, those prices? Screw that. Figured I could probably whip up something similar in my own kitchen without selling a kidney. Grabbed my trusty old notebook – yeah, the one covered in coffee stains – and decided it was DIY cocktail time.
First Thing: The Vodka Hunt
Knew I needed vodka, obviously. Popped open the cabinet. Hmm. Half-empty bottle of some cheap store brand stared back at me. “You’ll do,” I mumbled. Couldn’t find my usual measuring jigger, of course. Typical. Ended up using an old shot glass from that Vegas trip ages ago. Close enough, right? Just dumped some vodka into my shaker tin. Fingers got sticky immediately. Great start.
Messing With Flavors: The Pineapple Fiasco
Okay, New Amsterdam Pineapple tastes like summer. Thought fresh pineapple juice would be the golden ticket. Wrong. Chopped up half a pineapple, got juice everywhere – seriously, the counter looked sticky. Poured it in with the vodka. Gave it a good shake. Took a sip… and nearly choked. Tasted like cough syrup mixed with regret. Way too strong and kinda bitter. Ugh. Dumped it down the sink. Realized maybe canned pineapple juice isn’t the devil after all. Found a dusty can in the back of the pantry. Added a splash of that instead. Huge difference. Sweet, punchy, way more drinkable. Lesson learned: fresh ain’t always best for lazy mixing.
Pineapple Fix Summary:
- Fresh pineapple = sticky mess & bad taste
- Canned juice = easy win
- Much happier now
Tackling That Gin Thing
Their Hemp and Botanical Gin sounded fancy. I had… well, regular gin. Grabbed my bottle. Smelled it – sharp, juniper-y. Figured I could doctor it up. Remembered seeing cucumber in fancy gin drinks sometimes. Sliced a few thin rounds. Tossed ’em into a glass and mashed them up real good with the back of a spoon. Mashed ’em good. Added gin. Stirred it around for ages. Let it sit for a few minutes while I cleaned up my pineapple mess. Then took a sip. Hey! Not bad. That cucumber mellowed out the gin a bit, made it smoother. Added a squeeze of lemon? Boom. Actually kinda refreshing. Simple swap worked surprisingly well.
Finished both experiments, sipped them in my awful stained apron. Kitchen was still a bit sticky. Notebook now had suspicious wet patches – probably gin. But you know what? Tasted pretty damn close to the real deal for pennies on the dollar. Total win. Definitely doing this again. Maybe try some other flavors next weekend… if I can find my other measuring jigger.