Adios Amigos

We have all had bad liquor at some point in our lives. When you were young what was the first booze you tasted? Peach schnapps? Communion wine? In college you didn’t go out and buy Jewel of Russia vodka or Bambu rum to make jungle juice. No you went and bought whatever was the cheapest. Kamchatka? Ron Rico? All of those were probably an option. This is what I think about when I think bathtub gin. Maybe we should start making our prohibition-style cocktails with lower grade liquor to really get the full effect? On second thought, NO. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think all prohibition cocktails were horrible—just some of them were.

The ADIOS AMIGOS is a drink that could fall under this category. A drink that is 77 percent booze and 23 percent lime juice sounds like an odd ratio and it is. This is also the only drink that I was able to find some history on. In Jigger, Beaker, and Glass: Drinking Around the World by Charles Henry Baker, he writes, “Adios Amigos, One from the Army-Navy Club in Manila, & One to be Watched SEÑORS!”

ADIOS AMIGOS
1 oz. Bacardi light rum
.5 oz. Dry vermouth (Dolin)
.5 oz. Brandy (Hennessy)
.5 oz. Gin (Beefeater)
.75 oz. Lime juice

Shake with ice cubes and pour.

The Cocktail Quest blog had our same suspicions about all that lime juice. This drink seems to be all citric acid. I cannot tell what else is in the drink other than lime juice. The Adios Amigos is ¡SOUR!

SCORES: Eric 2, Brian 2

Having done the research on this drink we did not feel right letting this be it for the Adios, so we make the modification from the Cocktail Quest blog.

SO LONG, SUCKERS (The ADIOS AMIGOS as adapted by Cocktail Quest, renamed by us)
1 oz. Rum (Bacardi Light) 
.5 oz. Dry vermouth (Dolin)
.5 oz. Gin (Beefeater)
.5 oz Brandy (Hennessy) 
.25 oz. Lime juice 
.25 oz. Simple syrup

Shake ingredient in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into a cocktail glass. 

This is way, way better. Still a little sour but the simple syrup adds that little bit of sweet to level out the sour. I like this drink but I think that it still needs something more to make it pop. Some sort of garnish. Maybe a sugared rim?

SCORES: Eric strong 6 upgraded to a 7 upgraded again to a 7.5, Brian mid 6