Here is the much anticipated round up post from this months Mixology Monday: Superior Twists. Thankyou to all who took part, generally folks liked to twist Manhattans, maybe because it’s a good place to start… or maybe because it needs twisting?

Coincidentally, we have below two cocktails that use a combination of Tequila and Rhubarb Bitters, and two cocktails titled The Black Manhattan.

Just before we begin, you may remember me asking for you favourite songs to dance the twist to? Well thanks to all who included a song, I have collated them into a Spotify playlist for you all to listen to whilst you check out the drinks below! Apologies if your song isn’t on the playlist (only one or two), but Spotify isn’t great at servicing folks with such *cough* eclectic tastes as yourselves…

Let’s begin:

Boring though it is, i’ll start with myself and get it out of the way. I wrote about my twist on a Mojito: Apple & Vanilla Mojito, a drink which I genuinely prefer to a classic Mojito. It has more fruit, depth, finish and balance, if you need to know more, check out the link.

Favourite song to dance the twist to: Sam Cooke – Twistin’ The Night Away.

Next up and quick of the blocks, was Paystyle from Unamimart with a twist on a Clover Leaf, which is in turn a twist on a Clover Club, yes that’s right folks Paystyle is one out of control twister. The twist involves a berry syrup in place of grenadine and the inclusion of Fee Bros. Mint Bitters…. yum!

Great work Paystyle, but tone down the twisting or you’ll wind up injuring someone!

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: Twisted Sister – We’re Not Gonna’ Take It

Next up is a MxMo first timer in the form of  Sascha from Cocktails Old Fashioned. Sascha has twisted a Margarita into a drink called Agave & Basil. Sascha has replaced Cointreau with St Germain, then added a handful of basil and some  Agave syrup. The name negates ‘Margarita’ from being in the title due to the fairly extreme piece of twisting, but that sure don’t make it any less tasty!

Sascha told me in Email:

Mhh… my favorite twist song… i really don’t know that many Chubby Checker is all right, i think.

Well let me alleviate any doubts Sascha, CC is a twist master!

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: Chubby Checker – Let’s Twist Again

Frederic from Cocktail Virgin submits what sounds like an awesome variation on Blood & Sand, known mysteriously as Sand & Blood. The reason behind the title becomes apparent when you find out that Fred has, Dr Frankenstein style, messed with the fruit identities in the drink by changing cherry liqueur to cherry juice, and orange juice to orange liqueur. Fred, that’s some pretty gnarly twisting, but those fruits will grow up to be very confused souls…

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: The Cramps – Goo Goo Muck (Fits in nicely with the drink too)

Tiare from A Mountain of Crushed Ice is up next with not one, but two twists! First a twist on the Saratoga cocktail called Lady in Red, which used Metaxa, honeymix and creme de cassis. Tiare’s second twist is called Bitter Vanilla, it’s a twist on a Whisky Daisy, that includes Bob’s Vanilla Bitters and Campari… now that really does sound like a Superior Twist!

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: Fat Boys – Wipeout (I’m assuming?)

J.T. Centonze writes as the elusive ‘Raven’ on Quaff The Raven. In his inaugural blog post he twists a Moscow Mule into a Havana Mule… see where he’s going here?!

JT Uses a lower ratio of Cock & Bull ginger beer in comparison to the original mule, with Morgan’s Spiced providing much of the sweetness. Is a Havana Mule better than a Moscow Mule? Give it a go yourself!

Over at Scofflaw’s Den, SeanMike and Marshall are clearly having some kind of private twisting competition, with a great number of awesome sounding drinks being suggested, here are a couple: SeanMike twists an Old Fashioned into a Bols Genever Old Fashioned, a drink that I will certainly be trying myself. Did you use the Oulde style SeanMike?

Meanwhile Marshall is franticly twisting over in the corner, spurting out cocktail recipes like a crazy man. My favourite is the Chichicapa Margarita, Marshall’s very own twist on a Margarita, which simply replaces Tequila with Mescal, giving the drink a distinctive baked agave flavour… another one that I will be trying this week.

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: GWAR – Sex Cow (!!)

Christian writes from Cocktailweltern and let me tell you, It seems that twisting is well and truly alive in Germany. Christian reliably informs me that he has twisted not one, but five cocktails! I’ll have to take his word for it, because I can’t read German. However (for US readers), four of Christian’s twists involve removing the Whisky from a Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Julep and Sazerac…

Christian eventually settles on a Mojito that uses Champagne instead of soda as the most superior of his superiors.

Cori from Misohungry submits a simple variation on a Lemon Drop, that she titles Plan C. By adding the mint to a classic Lemon Drop  she finds a wonderful spring freshness in a drink that can be served long, short or straight up. Cori’s first ever MxMo and a fine effort in my opinion!

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop

Paul at Ganymeda gives us The Dubliner. Actually a brilliant piece of twist choreography by Gary Regan, but none the less an excellent variation on a Manhattan that uses Irish Whiskey and Grand Marnier… yet another one that needs to be tasted to be appreciated I reckon.

Paul doesn’t dance, he tells me that the only time he twists is whilst avoiding the desperate grabs of fellow twisters when escaping the dance floor.

Reese from Cocktail Hacker has come up with a spicy Daiquiri twist known only as the Fire Island Daiquiri. It has to be said that Reese has a slight advantage in this months MxMo, since he is of the opinion that anything tastes better with chile added to it… Martini with chile anyone? Negroni?

The Fire Island Daiquiri uses Hell Fire bitters and a touch of grenadine on top of the normal recipe, take a look at that thing… my eyes are burning!

• Favourite band to dance the twist to: Prodigy (Firestarter I guess!)

Steve and Paul over at Cocktailbuzz present what sounds like it could be a genuinely superior twist on a Manhattan. The Black Manhattan uses Averna in place of vermouth. According to the boys Averna is a bitter/sweet Sicilian amaro, with notes of caramel, cocoa and coffee. They also use Fee Bros Whisky Barrel aged bitters in place of Angostura, not tried the Fee Bros myself, but I need to.

Clearly the guys were on a roll, Steve then came up with a further twist using Averna, titled Il Bravo.

Favourite song to dance the twist to: Chubby Checker – The Twist

Amelia Sauter aka Felicia from Felicicas Speakeasy, has come up with a superior twist on the Old Fashioned. It’s called the Rosemary-Grapefruit Old Fashioned and guess what’s in it?? Yup, rosemary and grapefruit, as well as Booker’s Bourbon, Lime and Grand Marnier. Looks like it might be a serious contender to the summer Old Fashioned category.

Apparently they don’t dance the twist at Felicias Speakeasy, but some other dance known as the ‘Frug’. Sounds like fun so let’s go with it…

• Favourite song to dance the Frug to: Mohammed Rafi - Jaan Pehechaan Ho

Jacob Grier submits the Mexican Martinez, a twist on the classic gin drink that uses (unsurprisingly) a Reposado Tequila. What is a little more surprising is the inclusion of Fee Bros Rhubarb Bitters, a combination that crops up twice in this months MxMo! Jacob also specifies Dolin Blanc vermouth as a particularly great match with Tequila.

Surely it should be called a Martian though, no?!

Not a keen dancer, but when backed into a corner Jacob has been known to pop some moves to: Chubby Checker – The Twist

Time for another MxMo first timer, in the form of Kyle, from Paradise on the rocks. Kyle has also had a go at improving upon the Manhattan, his drink is called The Doctored Manhattan. Kyle opted to replace the vermouth with St Germain and coupled that with peach bitters. Kyle remarks (and I agree) that this is an excellent warm weather alternative to the original.

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: Twisted Sister – We’re Not gonna’ Make it

Yet another first time MxMo entrant graces our pages next, Dave aka Captain McBoozy. Dave has twisted one of my favourite drinks, the Mai Tai. Dave’s twist is called the Mai Thai (spot the ‘h’) as it takes a lot of Thai influence from his homemade lemongrass and birds eye bitters, in place of the usual Angostura. The drink is based around Mekhong Thai Gin instead of rum and the result sounds rather intriguing, so it looks like we’re all going to have to start knocking together some bitters to give it a try out! Nice picture too, with the Kaffir Lime leaf garnish.

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: Danzig – Twist of Cain

Who’s next? Well it’s Michael from A Dash of Bitters of course! Just like Jacob, but in a different kind of way, Michael has twisted a Margarita using Rhubarb Bitters, Cynar (Bitter artichoke liqueur – new to me too) and orange flower water.

The drink is called Ruirita and i’m thinking, bitter vegetal, floral, candy sweet. Yup, sounds good to me.

What is a bit odd though is Michael’s choice of twist dancing music: Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue - Where the Wild Roses Grow – great song, but the twist ?!

Keeping with the Michael theme, may I introduce Michael from My Aching Head. Michael has also gone down the Manhattan twist (a common theme) this time with Mount Gay XO, Michael also references this blog’s caviar recipe, a method he uses to deconstruct and reconstruct the cherry, garnishing with a maraschino caviar. Good work! Check out the tiny cherries in the picture.

Michael states that he shakes this cocktail, but more importantly… to the sounds of: Whitesnake – Here I go Again. Not sure if that was intended as a twist song, but it’s going on the playlist!

Fellow Brit Jay from Oh Gosh! is up next. Jay twists the Last Word cocktail, a drink that by Jay’s own admission breaks all the rules of combing powerful flavours together. In Jay’s superior twist, which is titled Final Word (credit to Phil Ward of Death & Co.), he replaces the Gin with Rye whisky. So, even more powerful flavours, but it apparently works and will definitely be a drink i’ll try once i’ve got some fresh lemons in the house! Thanks Jay! Picture coming soon.

Chris over at Blueprint Cocktail (first time MxMo entrant) has completed an awesome display of twisting. Firstly, the title of Chris’ Pisco Sour twist is You Never Can Tell, named after his favourite song to do the twist to! Top marks Chris, take note everyone else!

Chris’ twist uses a homemade geranium syrup, orange bitters and blood orange juice. But most importantly he has selected Capel Reservado as a great Pisco to stand up to and match the other flavours of the drink.

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: Chuck Berry – You Never Can Tell

Stevi from Two At The Most is up next, with her twist on the Negroni. As she says, this is an easy drink to twist by changing the Campari for another amaro, but Stevi thinks that she has come up with a better solution in the form of the Rumgroni. ‘Nuff said really, but for a greater insight check out Stevi’s post, she uses Mount Gay XO in place of the gin…

And guess what?

I’m drinking one right now. Tasty – Yes. Superior – Pretty bloody close!

Jake the Drinks Snob has given us one almighty twist on a Collins with his drink, Dr. Collins. Essentially we are talking about a Rye and Aquavit Collins with a touch of muddled celery. Sounds pretty intriguing, right? I thought so too. Jake has doubts about this drinks supremacy over it’s predecessor however, no wonder when taking on the titanic anti-twisting might of the Collins!

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: Frightened Rabbit – The Twist (Just listening to their album, really good!)

Introducing next, the Godfather of MxMo – Paul from The Cocktail Chronicles. Alas, Paul is unwell at the moment, but not even a crippling bout of stomach sickness would stop this drinks master from twisting his heart out. Paul gives us the Jerry Thomas Manhattan, a twist on a Manhattan that uses twice as much sweet vermouth to cask strength whisky, plus a dash of Absinthe, Marischino liqueur and some Repeal Day Bitters.

The only twisting Paul will be doing this week will unfortunately be in his bed rather than on the dance floor. Get well soon!

Nat Harry aka Alpha Cook has served up a twist on the Old Fashioned, called… The Twisted Old Fashioned. Nat swaps Bourbon for Vanilla Cognac and Angostura for Fee Bros. Orange. The ensemble is completed with a nifty home made brandy cherry (recipe in the link). Sounds like Nat considers this drink to be perhaps not superior, but certainly not inferior to the foregoing cocktail.

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: The Trashmen – Surfin’ Bird – and I quote:

because, you know, the bird is the word.

*ahem*

Colonel Tiki or Craig, as he is sometimes known, has given us yet another twist on a Manhattan. The Black Manhattan has only the simplest of twists, but more often than not they are all that is required in order to qualify as superior. Why stray too far from tried and tested formulae?

Craig has used Punt E Mes (A favourite ingredient of mine) in place of sweet vermouth, and his Bourbon of choice is none other than Bulleit (another favourite of mine), a great alternative to Rye given it’s high rye content.

• Favourite song to dance the twist to: Queens of The Stone Age – Monsters in the Parasol

Jonas over at Drink of The Week has, like me, twisted the Mojito. Jonas’ drink uses Basil and Strawberries in place of Mint, which is a combination that I have also often used in mules – Great minds ‘n all that. Anyway, Drink of The Week suggest that the Strawberry & Basil Mojito is a great accompaniment to a BBQ, plus it’s seasonal – strawberries are just coming in over here.

Apologies for the late posting of the entry by Kevin from Beer in The Shower, I must confess to twisting so hard that I knocked myself out and only just regained consciousness!

Kevin has twisted the legendary Blue Blazer cocktail into a drink that he calls the Booker’s Blazer. It uses (yep, you got it) Booker’s Bourbon in place of Scotch and could just be a superior twist on the classic. Despite being British I would have to say that the Bourbon version sounds nicer, but i’ve only personally tried a BB on one occasion and can’t remember much about it… I wonder why?!

And finally… Chuck over at Gumbopages has submitted The Delmarva Cocktail No. 2 (original by Ted Haigh, variation by Gary Regan). I would strongly urge you to follow the link, if only to read about why it is called the Delmarva (genius). The drink consists of Rye, Dry Vermouth, Lemon and Creme de Cacao, the Delmarva No. 1 used Creme de Menthe in place of the Cacao.

Chuck rarely dances the twist, but when he does… it’s a spectacle to behold: Little Bob and the Lollipops – I Got Loaded

I think that i’ve covered everyone, but if I have missed you – apologies and make sure you leave me a comment. Also, if you’re a little late posting or forgot to let me know, drop me a line.

Thanks for being wonderful guests, until next month!

Cheers!

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