cobright
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2013
- Messages
- 2,761
Just back from a great 5 day adult's only trip. Wife and I celebrating 21 years together by neglecting our children to their grandparent's care for the week. Ran into a few surprises (good and not so great).
The Edison
Dropped in here Monday night figuring we would have a cocktail or two and a couple apps between us. We were seated close to the stage where a very competent pianist played and sung adult contemporary music that I hated. But that's okay, I'm easy. It was remarked upon by our waiter that we had visited about the same time last year (the computers know things), to which we explained that we were celebrating out 20th at that time and thus our 21st anniversary on this occasion. Then we ordered calamari and a serving of swine and cheese mac n cheese, both of which were very good, and these drinks…
Domaine Chandon Brut Classic - A better than average basic ‘Champaign’. The house gave us a pair of flutes as an anniversary gift. Pixie dust comes from all sorts of places.
French 75 - One of my favorite cocktails and The Edison does it right. A generous portion of Nolet’s Gin, which is such an excellent choice for this drink. Nolet’s is a Dutch style gin and carries more of a floral flavor with it than English gins. A great production of a classic. Mixed strong, the sparkling wine is there to garnish not dilute.
Not a Ramos Gin Fizz - The Edison prides itself on their mixologists and offers their service in creating a custom cocktail just for you … so I through them a request and framed it as inspiration. A Ramos Gin Fizz is a rare treat. The ingredients are exotic and the preparation complex. So, when our waiter returned with the news that Courtney would tackle the drink so long as I knew she would be improvising past their lack of egg white and orange flower water I was stoked. What I got was an excellent cocktail that was not a RGF, but was exactly what I was looking for. A bit sweeter, using orange peel instead of the flower water, but balanced with a more astringent (but botanical heavy) Botanist’s Gin. Plenty of spirit while also easy to drink.
Drinkerbell’s Tray of Pixie Potions - Okay, I’m not going to go in to too much depth on the actual potions. The green one had an absinthe base and tasted of black licorice. The anise flavor was very mild but it was the primary flavor. The other two options tasted about the same to me. None of them were very strong. The real value here was the fun of chatting up a fallen pixie. My wife encouraged her that the follies of youth build character and personal strength and that no sight, not even Pixie Hollow, is too high for her.
Trader Sam's Grog Grotto
So at some point on Monday (the 14th) someone texted me to tell me that the Hatbox Ghost tiki mug would be dropping on the 15th. I was a couple weeks late to get it last year so I figured I would make a point to get up early. We roll in to the Tiki Terrace about 8:50 AM and, sure enough, there's a line. No sweat. I do the arithmetic looking at the mass of humanity ahead of us and taking a guess at how many they would probably hand out and ... carry the four ... we decide to stick it out. 100 minutes later I'm about 6 feet from the wristband guy when they stop the line for an announcement. They only have 9 wristbands left ... plus the 4 the guy putting them on still had in his hand. By the time wife and I got ours, they had 3 left. We thread the needle and lived to tell the tail.
Fast forward to 3:00 PM and I was expecting a madhouse of people redeeming their wristbands but no. It was pretty empty inside with plenty of open seating. Was kinda bummed I would have to drink two cocktails if I was to buy two mugs but ... needs must when the devil drives, as they say.
Grim Grinning Grog - It was tasty enough. Like most WDW cocktails, it seemed light on the actual spirit but the flavors and flavorings were of good quality. The juice flavor came through without tasting like a melted Popsicle. The bitters sharpened the drink without distracting from it (my main complaint with TSGG's overuse of Falernum). It did seem to be mostly ice, but that wasn't a shock. Overall, not a great value as a beverage but it's all about the tiki mug so L'Chaim!
Jock Lindsey’s Hanger Bar
We’ve dropped in here 4 or 5 times and I always seem to enjoy the Hanger Bar less than I want to. Maybe we go in with the wrong expectations. So, the last two times have stood out as unexpected winners for us. We didn’t go in for food of any sort (burnt my fingers on that one already) and I had already collected the full line of souvenir glasses (my guilty pleasure). This last trip, all we wanted was a nightcap to take the edge off the bus ride back to POR. I found a review for a couple cocktails offered on their seasonal list back in February that looked likely to fit the bill. It was a mixed bag but I’m still glad we dropped in.
French 75 - Ummm… It was just okay. Firstly, because this is really supposed to be a gin drink, and Jock decided to flip the switch and use vodka. Fine. But it’s also supposed to be a simple cocktail with clean lines of flavor, and Jock felt he needed to snazzy it up a bit and throw in some St. Germain. I felt it crossed the line into a new drink altogether. It was, however, a strong drink.
Jock’s Old Fashion - A fabulous Old Fashioned. It begins with a very bold bourbon, Knob Creek Disney Select 120 Proof Bourbon, and you never lose sight of that base. The addition of Cointreau is not traditional but as an adjunct flavor it works much better here than the St. Germain did in the French 75. A good strong cocktail that never forgets it’s a whiskey drink.
The Edison
Dropped in here Monday night figuring we would have a cocktail or two and a couple apps between us. We were seated close to the stage where a very competent pianist played and sung adult contemporary music that I hated. But that's okay, I'm easy. It was remarked upon by our waiter that we had visited about the same time last year (the computers know things), to which we explained that we were celebrating out 20th at that time and thus our 21st anniversary on this occasion. Then we ordered calamari and a serving of swine and cheese mac n cheese, both of which were very good, and these drinks…
Domaine Chandon Brut Classic - A better than average basic ‘Champaign’. The house gave us a pair of flutes as an anniversary gift. Pixie dust comes from all sorts of places.
French 75 - One of my favorite cocktails and The Edison does it right. A generous portion of Nolet’s Gin, which is such an excellent choice for this drink. Nolet’s is a Dutch style gin and carries more of a floral flavor with it than English gins. A great production of a classic. Mixed strong, the sparkling wine is there to garnish not dilute.
Not a Ramos Gin Fizz - The Edison prides itself on their mixologists and offers their service in creating a custom cocktail just for you … so I through them a request and framed it as inspiration. A Ramos Gin Fizz is a rare treat. The ingredients are exotic and the preparation complex. So, when our waiter returned with the news that Courtney would tackle the drink so long as I knew she would be improvising past their lack of egg white and orange flower water I was stoked. What I got was an excellent cocktail that was not a RGF, but was exactly what I was looking for. A bit sweeter, using orange peel instead of the flower water, but balanced with a more astringent (but botanical heavy) Botanist’s Gin. Plenty of spirit while also easy to drink.
Drinkerbell’s Tray of Pixie Potions - Okay, I’m not going to go in to too much depth on the actual potions. The green one had an absinthe base and tasted of black licorice. The anise flavor was very mild but it was the primary flavor. The other two options tasted about the same to me. None of them were very strong. The real value here was the fun of chatting up a fallen pixie. My wife encouraged her that the follies of youth build character and personal strength and that no sight, not even Pixie Hollow, is too high for her.
Trader Sam's Grog Grotto
So at some point on Monday (the 14th) someone texted me to tell me that the Hatbox Ghost tiki mug would be dropping on the 15th. I was a couple weeks late to get it last year so I figured I would make a point to get up early. We roll in to the Tiki Terrace about 8:50 AM and, sure enough, there's a line. No sweat. I do the arithmetic looking at the mass of humanity ahead of us and taking a guess at how many they would probably hand out and ... carry the four ... we decide to stick it out. 100 minutes later I'm about 6 feet from the wristband guy when they stop the line for an announcement. They only have 9 wristbands left ... plus the 4 the guy putting them on still had in his hand. By the time wife and I got ours, they had 3 left. We thread the needle and lived to tell the tail.
Fast forward to 3:00 PM and I was expecting a madhouse of people redeeming their wristbands but no. It was pretty empty inside with plenty of open seating. Was kinda bummed I would have to drink two cocktails if I was to buy two mugs but ... needs must when the devil drives, as they say.
Grim Grinning Grog - It was tasty enough. Like most WDW cocktails, it seemed light on the actual spirit but the flavors and flavorings were of good quality. The juice flavor came through without tasting like a melted Popsicle. The bitters sharpened the drink without distracting from it (my main complaint with TSGG's overuse of Falernum). It did seem to be mostly ice, but that wasn't a shock. Overall, not a great value as a beverage but it's all about the tiki mug so L'Chaim!
Jock Lindsey’s Hanger Bar
We’ve dropped in here 4 or 5 times and I always seem to enjoy the Hanger Bar less than I want to. Maybe we go in with the wrong expectations. So, the last two times have stood out as unexpected winners for us. We didn’t go in for food of any sort (burnt my fingers on that one already) and I had already collected the full line of souvenir glasses (my guilty pleasure). This last trip, all we wanted was a nightcap to take the edge off the bus ride back to POR. I found a review for a couple cocktails offered on their seasonal list back in February that looked likely to fit the bill. It was a mixed bag but I’m still glad we dropped in.
French 75 - Ummm… It was just okay. Firstly, because this is really supposed to be a gin drink, and Jock decided to flip the switch and use vodka. Fine. But it’s also supposed to be a simple cocktail with clean lines of flavor, and Jock felt he needed to snazzy it up a bit and throw in some St. Germain. I felt it crossed the line into a new drink altogether. It was, however, a strong drink.
Jock’s Old Fashion - A fabulous Old Fashioned. It begins with a very bold bourbon, Knob Creek Disney Select 120 Proof Bourbon, and you never lose sight of that base. The addition of Cointreau is not traditional but as an adjunct flavor it works much better here than the St. Germain did in the French 75. A good strong cocktail that never forgets it’s a whiskey drink.
