1 Star Shots

...now browsing by category

 

Epitaph

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Epitaph

1 oz.        Bailey’s Irish cream
1 oz.        Parfait Amour liqueur 

Combine both ingredients in a shot glass. Enjoy !

Today we give you a recipe stripped down to its bare simplicity.

I have no idea what that really means, but this is a very simple, two-ingredient shot that calls for a liqueur that we have never used before at ShareMyShot.com

And there is good reason for this. We had to special-order this bottle of liqueur on-line just to get it. It’s not available at the liquor store down the street, nor a half-dozen other liquor outlets in the immediate vicinity. Our office lackey Keith trudged back into the office a few weeks back completely defeated and disappointed in himself that he was not able to procure a bottle of Parfait Amour anywhere in town.

While this promising young kid always aims to please, it’s not a mystery as to why he had trouble.

This liqueur is in limited distribution and has been phased out already in a number of major cities. It had been on the market for a couple of decades, but has limited popularity and market share. As a result, it is often pulled from those outlets that sometimes carry it.

Parfait Amour is purple in color and is often employed in drinks simply due to its color. The taste is grape candy-ish and the liqueur is often based on a rose petal or violet profile. Marie Brizard offers a label called Parfait Amour, but that is not 100% exactly the original formula/blend. If you can find the Marie Brizard option, it will run you $28-35 . However, it is one thing to find a liquor store that carries Marie Brizard at all, let alone their offering of Parfait Amour.

The real deal is primarily sold in France and the Netherlands. Sometimes in can be readily found in Sweden, Finland, and Norway.

The name of this shot, Epitaph, seems just a touch off. As hard as Parfait Amour is to find, it is not exactly a ball-buster of a liqueur. It is in fact, rather tame. Like we said, it tastes like grape candy or a sweet bottle of grape schnapps. Nothing overtly extravagant. Or brutal.

When I kick it, I want my epitaph to be something direct—-like ” Here lies Mr. X……pardon me for not getting up”

Or something famous like Mel Blanc’s “ That’s allll folks !! ”

or

perhaps George Carlin’s  “ Hey !! He was just here a minute ago !! “

Those would be cool. But I’m not so sure this shot deservedly should be called Epitaph. It’s not all that deadly. Or lethal. Or even dangerous. It’s actually pretty weak. I mean, we’re talking grape candy liqueur and Bailey’s for God’s sake.

The panel at ShareMyShot.com could only give this shot a 1 on a scale of 5. It doesn’t have a whole hell of a lot of kick. And it’s only two ingredients….so it’s not exactly creative or special. The taste is very pedestrian and so-so. Nothing memorable at all. The only reason we didn’t give it a ZERO is because it does call for a somewhat hard-to-find liqueur that has a purple color and so is just barely unique.

Maybe the epitaph for this shot should be borrowed from the sea…….” Thar she blows !!! ”

Cheers !!

Posted in 1 Star Shots, Bailey's Irish Cream, Marie Brizard Parfait Amour, Parfait Amour, flavored liqueurs, flavored schnapps, grape liqueur, grape schnapps, hangover remedies, liqueurs | 1 Response »

Jimmy Conway

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Jimmy Conway

1 oz.         Jim Beam bourbon whiskey
1 oz.         Seagram’s 7 whisky
1 oz.         Romana black sambuca 

Combine all ingredients together in a large shot glass. Stir and serve. Enjoy !

After one of the ladies on our panel brought in her Tarheel Shot recipe that was shared yesterday, one of the other guys on the team brought one in for today. It’s a trend we see often at ShareMyShot. When one person gets one of their contributions posted, then we have a string of suggestions from other people who don’t want to be left out. But that’s a good thing. Management doesn’t care where the recipes come from; we just want to share ideas with the rest of the shot drinking public.

So today Paul brought in a recipe called Jimmy Conway. 

This caught my attention right away just out of irony. While we were on the flight to New Orleans to enjoy the corporate trip to the Super Bowl, I read the Nicholas Pileggi book Wise Guy again. For those who don’t know, this is the book that spawned the movie Goodfellas with Ray Liotta as mobster-wannabe Henry Hill and Robert De Niro as hoodlum Jimmy Conway. 

I am a bit of a student on mob history and have read the book a few times and watched the movie four or five times. Jimmy Conway was actually known as Jimmy Burke to his associates. Although even he didn’t know many details of his birth and actual parents, he was born to a woman with the last name Conway. He bounced around from foster family to foster family (and prison at a pretty young age). By the time he was an adult in the Paul Vario crew, he was going by the moniker Jimmy Burke. But in the movie, they just went with Jimmy Conway.

Because the character was played by the world’s greatest actor in De Niro, the character was quite memorable and quirky. As was the real Jimmy Conway. He was a mean and dangerous SOB for sure. So it’s not out of the ordinary to hear that there is a shot named after him. I don’t know if this is what he drank in the film or not—-or how this concoction is directly attributed to him—–but I was curious to give it a try.

I drink a ton of Jim Beam as it is. So that component was not intimidating. The shot then calls for Seagrams 7 and Romana sambuca. This triple play seemed an interesting combination and the group dove right in. We also replaced the Jim Beam with Jack Daniels whiskey on the third round to see if it had a marked effect on the taste of the shot. We even used Jim Beam and Jack Daniels together in place of the Seagrams.

The reason we did this is because the shot didn’t go over very well with the taste panel. As I’ve stated before, I am not a huge fan of black licorice flavoring. But we couldn’t remove or replace the Romana black sambuca as it is a key ingredient in the recipe and not too flexible. So we thought we would try to switch out the whiskey element. Neither the Jim Beam nor the Jack Daniels was enough to snuff out the licorice flavor to the point of real enjoyment.

There was a suggestion to try a few other labels of whiskey to replace the Seagrams. But the consensus was that the sambuca would dominate the shot no matter what whiskey blend we tried. And there is a corporate policy that no taste session is to surpass five rounds. So we ran out of options in that regard too. The best we could give this shot was a 1 on a scale of 5. And that was only for the punch it delivered.

Like the real Jimmy (Burke) Conway, the shooter was just a little bit harsh. It was the type of shot that left a few of the panel members making a face after forcing it down. The aftertaste wasn’t that savory either.

While downing a shot of Jimmy Conway is definately better than getting on the wrong side of the gangster Jimmy Conway, personally I’d rather do neither. 

Your health will be worse for wear either way.

Cheers !!

Posted in 1 Star Shots, Black Sambuca, Canadian whisky, Evan Williams whiskey, Goodfellas, Irish whiskey, Jack Daniels, Jameson Irish whiskey, Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Romana Sambuca, Sambuca, Seagrams 7, whiskey | No Responses »

Absolut Suicide

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Absolut Suicide

1/4 oz.       DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker schnapps
1/4 oz.       DeKuyper Watermelon Pucker schnapps
1/4 oz.       DeKuyper Island Blue Pucker schnapps
1/4 oz.       Absolut vodka 

Chill each ingredient. Pour into a shot glass in equal parts, and serve.

There’s a ton of shots out there that incorporate the brand name Absolut into their monikers because, as any moron could deduce, they have an Absolut component to them. In the past, we shared the Absolut Train Wreck with you. It put three blends of Absolut vodka to work. I actually get a kick out of this one simply because it too has such a dangerous sounding name. And then only 25% of the shot is comprised of Absolut vodka—to the tune of 1/4  fluid ounces. I’m thinking this should have a more lovey-dovey name like Pucker Up or something. But today we are “proud” to share the recipe for Absolut Suicide.

Once again, we’ll see if the shooter lives up to its deadly designation. Often times, we are disappointed, as in the case of the Panty Dropper.

Anyone who enjoys throwing down shots and shooters should be pretty familiar with the Pucker family of flavors from DeKuyper. While often viewed as weak schnapps by tough-guy men and sometimes even women, I will admit that there are one or two flavors that are pretty tolerable. I myself can put up with the watermelon mix. To me, it tastes like a liquid watermelon jolly rancher hard candy. Now when the Pucker line was first introduced and Apple Pucker was a short fad, you often heard the same thing. As Colonel Potter used to say on MASH…..”Mule muffins ! ”

But I like the watermelon in small doses and the other members of the taste team could all identify at least one flavor that they find tolerable every now and again.

The Absolut Suicide shot employs three Pucker flavors from the family: Sour Apple, Watermelon, and Island Blue. And then there is the small measure of the Absolut vodka itself. Obviously if you want to have a true Absolut Suicide, you can’t use another brand of vodka. So strictly adhere to the ingredients as listed to have yourself a genuine Absolut Suicide.

And who doesn’t like to play around with something as playfully named as that?

The taste test team at ShareMyShot.com ——-that’s who.

It was unanimous among the group that the Absolut was the best part of this lifeless libation. A few people on the team wanted to double the quantity of the vodka component and eliminate the Pucker flavor that they liked the least. But that would be cheating on the recipe. It’s either good, bad, or ugly just as it is.

This one was rather ugly. For starters, it ends up being an odd color. In art class as a kid, you learned how mixing certain primary colors result in a whole new color. The same applies to a lot of mixed drinks and shots. But this light blue hue mixed with dark green and the not-exactly-red color of watermelon came out kind of unbalanced. The taste of this concoction was pretty queer too. We felt you could make a better mixture of multiple Puckers by perhaps using Strawberry Pucker with the Watermelon flavor. Or some other combination.

ShareMyShot had no choice but to give this lethal liquid a 1 on a scale of 5. And it’s only considered lethal because one team member threatened to jump out the window of our high-rise office if we made her do a third round.

You’re better off ordering that poisonous Chinese blowfish (fugu) if you want out that bad.

Cheers !!

Posted in 1 Star Shots, Absolut, Apple Pucker, DeKuyper Island Blue Pucker, DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker, DeKuyper Watermelon Pucker, Island Blue Pucker, Watermelon Pucker, flavored schnapps, schnapps | No Responses »

Pain in the Ass

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Pain in the Ass

1 oz.           Midori melon liqueur
1/2 oz.        Bacardi 151 rum
1 oz.           Malibu coconut rum
1/2 oz.        DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker schnapps
2 oz.           Dole pineapple juice
2 oz.           7-Up soda 

Pour the Midori melon liqueur, the Bacardi 151, the Sour Apple Pucker, and the Malibu Rum into a large double shot glass or a highball glass. Top it off with equal parts pineapple juice and 7-Up. Stir and serve.

We wanted to share a daring shot with you for the first recipe of 2010. And it doesn’t get more daring than the Pain in the Ass. Here’ s a shot that calls for a half-dozen different ingredients and is a 7 oz. shooter / drink. Just making it was a bit of a pain in the ass according to our corporate bartender.

Sometimes we do offer up a recipe that could be argued to be more of a ‘drink’ rather than a shot.

But we look at it this way: a typical “bomb” shot is usually at least 4-6 oz. I have a buddy who makes Jagerbombs with about 1/3 of a highball glass of Jagermeister and then a good 1/2 glass of Red Bull. When you drink it, it requires 3-4 swallows to get it down. So if a recipe calls for a highball glass or upwards of 6-7  fluid oz. we just look at it as a “bomb” shot.

Sometimes you just have to quaff down a big ol’ shot in the name of corporate research, ya know? Nobody ever said this job was easy. If the shot is a big one and tastes like balls, the luster of being on the ShareMyShot taste team wears off just a little bit. Not all of them are 5 star shots.

And the Pain in the Ass is certainly no 5 star shot.

We think there is just a little too much at work here. We reward creativity and an unusual blend of ingredients. But in this case, there was too much competition for dominance. The melon liqueur and the coconut rum are a nice combination. We’ve seen it before in other recipes for fruity, tropical, Carribean-type shots. And even adding in the Bacardi 151 doesn’t interfere with those flavors. The 151 rum is actually welcomed to add a little punch to the shot.

The pineapple juice is another tolerable ingredient to add to those first three components. But then when you add in the Apple Pucker and then 7-Up soda too………that made it a bit much.

I haven’t had a ton of shots that call for 7-Up soda or even Sierra Mist, Sprite, etc. And in this case, it contributed a fizzy, carbonated element that we felt interfered somewhat with the fruitier flavors. And the Apple Pucker seemed misplaced in this recipe.

ShareMyShot.com gives this elaborate mix a 1 on a scale of 5. It may have scored higher without the Apple Pucker and the soda in there.

But there’s always one or two ingredients that just have to be a royal pain in the ass.

And in this case, they kind of ruined the Pain in the Ass.

Cheers !!

Posted in 1 Star Shots, Apple Pucker, BOMBS, Bacardi 151, Caribbean, Malibu Rum, Midori melon liqueur, Seven Up soda, coconut rum, flavored liqueurs, fruit juices, liqueurs, melon liqueurs, pineapple juice, rum, schnapps, tropical fruit shots | No Responses »

Elephant Man

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Elephant Man

1/3 oz.   Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey
1/3 oz.   1800 Tequila
1/3 oz.   Bacardi 151 rum 

Pour the Jack Daniels whiskey, the 1800 tequila, and the Bacardi 151 rum into a shot glass in that order. Ignite the 151 rum (use extreme caution), and shoot. {Use a straw if necessary to avoid burning}

This shot packs a punch, that’s for sure. Lately we’ve shared a number of shots that used flavored liqueurs or schnapps. Today we wanted to get back to a manly, ballsy shot. This one certainly fits the bill. It tastes like balls (so I’ve heard).

Combining three of the more potent libations out there, and then setting it aflame, this shot will not only put hair on your chest……it may burn it off if you’re not very careful. You can subtitute the Jack Daniels whiskey for your favorite, but do not deviate from the 1800 tequila or the Bacardi 151.

I was a bit suspect about trying this one to be honest. I was already respectful of the ingredients in this bad boy. But I’ve never been too keen myself on playing with fire. However, in the name of presenting our audience with as comprehensive of a shot menu as possible, I took the plunge.

Elephant Man, my ass. It tasted like elephant shit.

First off, I’m not the smoothest guy or the most motor-skilled. You drink as many shots as we do at ShareMyShot and you’re probably not going to solve Rubik’s Cube, bowl a 300 game, or anything like that. Brushing my teeth effectively is a real triumph. So when you ask me to do a flaming shot, you’re asking Corky from Life Goes On to paint a masterpiece.

I managed not to burn myself, but I did leave about 1/3 of the shot in my goatee. The instructions suggest that you may even want to use a straw(!). Another staffer in the office tried it that way. He was worried the straw would melt a little into the shot while he was drinking it. That did not happen, but he did get a tiny little black wisp of burned-plastic smoke up his nose. I found it humorous; he didn’t.

The shot itself was hot—–not as in the fire, but as in a burny, high-alcohol content hot. It tasted like I just went down on Bea Arthur. It tasted like I just french-kissed Flavor Flav (so I’ve heard). It tasted like I just had the signature dish of the worst cook on Hell’s Kitchen.

My colleague tended to agree. He said it tasted like licking one of the hand poles on a New York subway train. Or the rim of a urinal at a Mexican bus station.

We just didn’t like the combination of whiskey, tequila, and rum. At the same time, we are huge fans of all of those liquors by themselves. Or in an appropriate combination. Many shots combine two of those elements with something else. But usually the additional ingredient helps to temper the blast of the shot and provide some sort of alluring flavor. That doesn’t happen here.

We even tried the shot without lighting it so that we could give the mixture an honest assessment. Obviously, it was much easier to shoot and we both got the full effect/flavor of the drink. But it was still not enough to score up there with most of the shots we drink.

ShareMyShot gives this elephant dung a 1 on a scale of 5. If you’re one of those guys who has to prove how tough he is or that he “can drink anything”, give this one a try. But if you want a pleasant tasting, soothing, enjoyable shot…….try something else.

Cheers !!!!

Posted in 1 Star Shots, Bacardi 151, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Tequila 1800, rum, tequila, whiskey | No Responses »