Category: writing

Mikuni – Best Cocktail in Yolo County

If I wasn’t doing this for SCIENCE, I wouldn’t have kept drinking. Also, if it wasn’t for the Server being up front with me about the drink this would have been tied for the worst cocktail

Whiskey Sour, Mikuni, Davis, CA, Spring 2022

Mikuni – The Review

Taste (3/10) – Tastes like bad lemon juice. The Server said it was going to be made with sour mix, but they didn’t warn me it was the cheap stuff. Just a hint of the whiskey on the back of the throat.

Presentation (1/5) – No garnish. Correct glass. Looks like dirty bath water. Not a lot to say because there wasn’t a lot to look at.

Balance (2/5) – Mostly the sour mix as I said in Taste. There is an aftertaste of whiskey, or maybe just the alcohol once you’ve swallowed. Hard to tell. Very weak.

Correctness (1/5) –Not correct, except for the glass. No garnish, no egg white, not lemon juice. I didn’t even see them make it so for all I know there’s no whiskey in there either!

Delivery (4/x) – The Server was up front with me when I ordered this drink. They said this was not going to be a craft cocktail, “no fresh juice, or egg white.” He wasn’t lying! I’m going to give them some credit for that. Every other poorly reviewed cocktail in this has just been presented without comment as if it WAS correct!

Total (11/25) – If I wasn’t doing this for SCIENCE, I wouldn’t have kept drinking. Also, if it wasn’t for the Server being up front with me about the drink this would have been tied for the worst cocktail.

Absolut Lychee Shock, Mikuni, Davis, CA, Spring 2022

Thoughts – I paid over $10.00 for this Whiskey Sour, and that’s using their “well” liquor, that’s wild! It also tasted terrible. As I usually do now, I ordered one of the signature cocktails off their menu, an Absolut Lychee Shock. This drink was better, if a little too sweet. It was revolves around more around a gimmick rather than the cocktail itself.

Mikuni has great sushi, but maybe just stick to the Asahi or sake if you’re eating there. Ordering anything else is liable to spoil the rest of your meal.

Links

Mikuni
The Project
The Criteria
The Bars

Cheers Bar – Best Cocktail in Yolo County

Whiskey Sour – Cheers – West Sacramento, CA – 2021

It’s been awhile hasn’t it? If I look over the archives it tells me that the last time I updated the blog was in May of last year, Madeiran Scops Owl, for It Was Very Good my recollection of all the macrofauna that the World has lost. A project that was so depressing that I doubt if I’ll ever be able to finish it…

The last cocktail review was in the middle of last January, if you can recall that far back we were starting to hear things about “some sort of flu” that was going on in China. That “some sort of flu,” as we all know, was COVID-19 and it shortly made its way to America’s shores and everything went sideways. In the last few months of THIS year America had begun to right itself (though that seems a temporary development now.) and, I began thinking about reviving this project. I missed exploring new places in my community, meeting new people, and making friends. I missed inviting my friends and readers out to these places. T and I are both vaccinated and so taking a few precautions we planned at trip out to West Sacramento to try the drinks at Cheers. I made a post on Facebook and invited everyone I know out to join me. On the last day of July we met up at the bar and ordered some Whiskey Sours.

Scores and thoughts below.

The Review

Taste (5/10) – Not bad. Not great either. But, for using premade sour mix it could be worse. Pretty smooth. Whiskey doesn’t burn

Presentation (2/5) – No garnish. Incorrect class. Color is okay.

Balance (3/5) – I can taste the alcohol, I can taste some lemon. It’s sweet but not cloying so.

Correctness (1/5) – This is not a real Whiskey Sour sadly. No garnishes, used premix, no egg white, no bitters. Not shaken.

Delivery (2/x) – Asked what whiskey I wanted (I only recognized Jake Daniel behind the bar.) Not IBA. Didn’t ask about egg white or small chat. Some eye contact. No flourish. This was during the late afternoon, early evening. Our party was about half of the patrons of the bar.

Total – 13/25 This was hard. Not just because its been a year plus since we’ve gone out and enjoyed dining and drinking. It’s hard not to think about how thinks aren’t normal yet, how they probably won’t ever be normal again.

But, besides those existential thoughts and feelings. It’s been nearly two years since I did this last. I didn’t remember the criteria I had created. I don’t really remember the other whiskey sours I’ve had or the bars. I have this blog and my notes but those are poor substitutes for fresh recollections and memories.

My expectations for Cheers were low. The bar is located in an industrial/commercial row in West Sacramento, It is not a location bar, but rather a neighborhood spot. Despite those low expectations I was pleasantly surprised. Cheers won’t be knocking Broderick’s out of its current Best of West Sacramento spot, but I could see myself enjoying a beer here again.

Links

Father Paddy’s Pub – Best Cocktail in Yolo

Father Paddy's Pub Whiskey Sour
Whiskey Sour, Father Paddy’s Pub, Woodland, CA, 2020

Father Paddy’s Pub- The Review

Taste (5/10) – Watery. Too much ice. Not bad though. You can really taste the whiskey. Has a harsh aftertaste

Presentation (3/5) – Half garnished. Nice straw color, though tending towards green.

Balance (3/5) – More sour than anything. They use fresh lime and lemon juice in their sour mix… I can taste that. The whiskey helps, but then so does the water.

Correctness (3/5) – No egg white, no orange slice, and they use limes in their sour mix.

Delivery (x/x) – N/A, I wasn’t able to sit at the bar or watch the bartender at work.

Total (14/25) – Average. It might have been a few points higher if I had been able to interact with the bartender. Not a bad whiskey sour, not a good whiskey sour. About what I’ve come to expect from most bars here in Yolo.

“Traditional” Whiskey Sour, Father Paddy’s Pub, Woodland, CA, 2020

Thoughts – As you can see from the picture above, Father Paddy’s cocktail menu has an actual Whiskey Sour on it! One that includes egg whites! If you’re going to have a Whiskey Sour at Paddy’s this would be the one to order. The whiskey in it is a little higher quality and they throw some bitters on the top. It’s tasty! The egg white though will cost you about $6.50. Or maybe that’s the better whiskey. Wish places would just make corrects drinks when you order them!

Links

Father Paddy’s
The Project
The Criteria
The Bars

D Street Steakhouse – Best Cocktail in Yolo County

D Street Steakhouse Whiskey Sour
Whiskey Sour, D Street Steakhouse, Davis, 2019

D Street Steakhouse – The Review

Taste (4/10) –Inoffensive. Watery. Hints of sour at the end. Strange aftertaste? Don’t know if it is the whiskey or the lemon juice. Offputting.

Presentation (3/5) – Half garnished. Not much color.

Balance (2/5) – Not a lot to say here. There are some whiskey highlights and then some lemon highlights. But it’s all mild and washed down/out.

Correctness (2/5) – No egg white. No orange slice. Bartender offered to add a lime wedge? Drink was neither shaken or stirred.

Delivery (0/x) – Made half the drink. Did something else. Came back to it. Seemed distracted.

Total (12/25) – Not the worst I’ve had. Not the best. Aggressively mediocre. Instantly forgettable.

Floradora, D Street Steakhouse
Floradora, D Street Steakhouse, Davis, 2019

The Floradora cocktail was good. I’ve never had it before though so, I don’t have a comparison. It was more drinkable and enjoyable than the Whiskey Sour!

Links

D Street Steakhouse
The Project
The Criteria
The Bars

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