Caipirinhas and bad bartenders.

My family and I went to TGI Fridays to celebrate my coming home for the holidays.  Their menu reads like an encyclopedia, and after Volume 1 I was already done/bored.  The drink menu read like this: Take the name of a basic drink (Long Island Iced Tea, Mudslide, Mojito...etc) and add ULTIMATE to it.  I was unimpressed in the long run.  But something did stand out: Caipirinhas.  

I had never had one.  I'd heard of them to be sure, but I was intruged.  After wading through the various ways Friday's offers to muss it up, I came across the Caipirinhas Tradicional, which I quickly ordered.

Caipirinhas

• 1.75 oz of Cachaca
• 1/2 a fresh lime cut into 4 wedges
• 2 teaspoons of superfine sugar

1. Cut the lime into 4 wedges and place at the bottom of a rocks glass.
2. Add the two teaspoons of sugar, and muddle heartily!
3. Add ice.
4. Add the Cachaca, and shake.
5. Serve!

It was refreshing and fine, super sweet.  The lime flavor was almost sweet too, serving to balance out the flavors (I would have preferred even a little more lime maybe).  It was fantastic.  My mother, who doesn't like hard alcohol, enjoyed it immensely.  I compared it to a mojito, for it's balance of a biting flavor (mojito's mint to the Caipirinhas' lime) with a lot of sugar.  It's also easy as pie to make, and muddling always looks impressive.  I enjoyed the Caipirinha very much.

Later that night, my dogg Stu and I went to a bar in South City St. Louis...that I forget the name of.  Probably a good thing.

It was a good scene.  Smoking inside (WOOT), vintage pinball machines, some kickin live music.  But the bar...damn.  Here's where the night got really iffy.

First off, I tried Bell's Cherry Stout.  I found it quite disgusting.  It tasted like Robitussin cough syrup, so I powered through my glass like a madman insane.  Stu loved it, I couldn't handle it.  It was bitter, and the cherry flavor was so strong and foul I made faces all through it.  Geh.  

Second drink was called a Tennesee Walking, and it was a house cocktail.  Jim Beam Black, Lime Juice, Orange Juice and simple syrup.  Well it started good and well but as I watched the bartender prepare the drink, he left out the lime juice.  Served it anyways!  Why not!  There was so much OJ I may as well not have been drinking anything at all.

Bottom line: I need to drink better while I'm in town.  Let's get to making that happen.