[mike]

I am having a cocktail party this weekend, and as I was buying some of the supplies from the liquor shop it made me think that cocktail making seemed similar to chemistry. I had a bunch of cool bottles filled with different coloured  liquids and am going to mix them together in different amounts to make great drinks.

I think my favourite cocktail is Singapore Sling (ever since tasting one at the Raffles Hotel) it is made from gin, cherry brandy, cointreau and juices (although there seem to be lots of variations).

So, anyone have some tips for putting on a succesful cocktail party? about 25-30 people coming. What about peoples favourite drinks (maybe with quick recipes if you can remember them).

So I know this is not strictly chemistry, although it is similar, and most chemists I know enjoy a drink or three

mike

[constant thinker]

My aunt taught me how to make a cocktail. I think it was a cocktail atleast. She was "loosened" when she taught my if you know what I mean. I can't even legally drink. It went like this though.

1 Cup of Apple juice
3 Shots of your preffered liquer (tequila or vodka)
1/4 of a lime squeezed

I don't know if this is a cocktail. I used tequila. I never got to drink it, but I gave it to my cousin (who's over 21) and I don't know if she drank it.

[mike]

1 Cup of Apple juice
3 Shots of your preffered liquer (tequila or vodka)
1/4 of a lime squeezed

Sounds great. You know, if it a new cocktail you should probably give it a cool name what do you reckon? what about "Eve's Temptation"? you know in refernce to Adam and Eve in the garden of eden, tempting adam with an apple (apple juice etc etc) haha

[constant thinker]

That is a great name.

[limpet chicken]

I rarely drink, but one I came up with myself, (anyone care to help me name it?)

Rabbit Hole maybe, for a name? as in "further down the" due to the dissociative effect of Et2O.

2 shot of matured gold tequila.

Half that volume of fresh lime juice.

2 shot, equal in volume to the tequila, of diethyl ether.

10ml diisopropyl ether

Served with a slice of fresh ginger root impaled, on a cocktail stick, removed before drinking, and chewed and eaten afterwards.

(never use peroxidation-inhibited ethers, I wouldn't like to ingest the shite they put in to stabilise it)

If the drinker doesn't like to use diisopropyl ether, due to stability issues, it can be ommitted, and all ether MUST be new and free of peroxides.




Green dragon is a favourite of mine, made by finely dusting up a half oz of best skunk, and mixing in with a fine quality vodka, let it stew for a while, (and with my own version, 2-3 sloe berries, with holes pricked in them (fruit of the blackthorn tree)

Let the green dragon sit for 2-3 months, then filter out all the dusted up ganja and sloes, chill ice cold before serving, the sloes lend color, and a slight astringency to the vodka, and the weed gives a bright green color, and firey ,warming flavour all the way down the esophagus, of course, be careful not to drink more than a few shots of this, as the THC content is very high, or at least, should be, but the drink is absolutely delicious, perfect on a freezing cold winters day, when the snow threatenes to freeze one's family jewels off, a shot or two of green dragon will cheer the heart, warm you up, and get you nicely stoned out of your tree .


Sea Buckthorn berries, (not related to the purgative Rhamnus species), has orange, very tart berries, that are edible and quite tasty, and extremely high in vitamin C.

Squish a generous handful or two of berries up, and add them to a bottle of vodka, with enough brown sugar, or honey, let sit in a warm place for a week or two, then strain, rebottle, chill and serve.



Tequila, lime juice and tonic water/soda water is another nice one.


Hehehe, with the ether based cocktails, I even managed to throw some chemistry in there
Lovely dissociative feel to it afterwards too, although be careful not to belch with your head near an open flame .

[mike]

Rabbit Hole maybe, for a name? as in "further down the"

I like it! Rabbit Hole

Wow, limpet I think these might be a little too chemical for my crowd

My aim is to simply get slaughtered on expensive grog

Lovely dissociative feel to it afterwards too, although be careful not to belch with your head near an open flame

haha I love it!!!

[limpet chicken]

I'l bet none of my friends will have tried it before, thats for sure, I like both the novelty and the head-trip it produces, its actually pretty similar to that produced by a glutamate-modulated NMDA antagonist such as ketamine, but far milder.

One of my biggest problems, in chemistry, is whenever I work with diethyl ether, I ALWAYS get tempted to inhale a little, and have for a year or two, been drinking it instead of alcohol, of which I drink but a one or two beers a month.

To me, Et2O tastes absolutely wonderful, diluted with just a little vodka to stop it burning.


One other drink I would heartily reccomend, is neat absinthe, tastes SO nice, warms all the way down, and BOY does it get you pissed out of your face fast

[mike]

Yes I have been meaning to buy a bottle of absinthe, I haven't had it before. I have heard that it is supposed to served poured over sugar and diluted with water.

I also heard that it was banned in a few countries for a while, cool. I think Pernod is supposed to be similar also.

I wouldn't advocate the drinking of ether, it is more toxic than ethanol, not to mention hazardous to handle. Although historically it has been used recreationaly as a "medicinal" beverage.

[limpet chicken]

Absinthe was banned in some countries due to th thujone content, thujone is a hepatotoxic terpenoid derived from Artemesia Absinthum, or Wormwood (I have two plants growing in my garden of entheogenic herbs and plant myself actually, smells lovely, very attractive plants)

Modern absinthe available in the shops contains a shitload of alcohol, but there are legal limits on thujone content.

Only times I have had it, I downed it neat, tastes of aniseed, very very tasty, and very very potent

As for ether, I am very used to handling it, ether, and DCM/chloroform are my two most favoured nonpolar solvents for use in my home lab, being a drug user myself, I have tried inhaling pure analytical grade ether, and absolutely love it by inhalation (legal too), and as for drinking it, I would think its less toxic than filthy alcohol, as it isn't metabolised to acetaldehyde in the liver.

[mike]

Absinthe has always seemed a "romantic" drink to me. I have seen a couple of paintings depicting absinthe drinking by Monet and the like. I can imagine artists, poets and the bourgouis drinking it in the past

and as for drinking it, I would think its less toxic than filthy alcohol, as it isn't metabolised to acetaldehyde in the liver.

I am only going on the LDLO data from the MSDS for diethyl ether compared to ethanol:

diethyl ether: LDLO (human): 260mg/kg

cw

ethanol: LDLO (human): 1400mg/kg

As for ether, I am very used to handling it,

Yes, I meant more for the less experienced chemists who may read this thread (ie ether being highly flammable, anaesthetic properties etc) didn't mean any disrespect

[AgG]

i've never heard of drinking ether... whats the tolerance like relative to alcohol?

[limpet chicken]

I got the idea at first (already being an avid consumer of inhaled Et2O), by reading of, I believe it was either the Irish, or the Americans in times of prohibition, EtOH was illegal, or distilling was, but ether wasn't, so they pissheads drank that instead.

Personally, I pretty much hate getting pissed, and drink at most, a few units of alcohol a month, but diethyl ether acts far less like alcohol, more like ketamine, as a dissociative, although I don't believe it actually acts at glutamate modulated NMDA receptors like ketamine.

Mike, yeah, it is true the LDLO is lower for ether than ethanol, but, and it is a big but, the key is responsibility, I would no more chug a liter of the stuff, than I would drink a whole bottle of vodka (scratch that last one, I am guilty after all )

Same with human use of gamma-butyrolactone, a prodrug, which is ring opened by plasma esterases in vivo to gammabutyric acid (GHB), it has an extremely steep dose-response curve, a dose of 1ml too much can be the difference between nausea, a good time, or passing out, actual dosages are measured at a couple of milliliters, yet I have gone through a good few liters in my lifetime (used to be addicted to the stuff),  never put myself into a coma though


AgG, I am not sure as tolerance to ether develops, multiple-times daily, several hour long binges on it produced no tolerance,( again, I USED to abuse it, now I am somewhat older, at 19 I have the braincells to use things more sensibly ), when inhaled, I cannot speculate too much about oral administration, as I have never ingested it more than periodically, inhalation is my own usual route of taking ether.

Mmmm..that smell, makes me drool every time I think about it

[constant thinker]

Wow... Limpet Chicken I don't think I've ever met a more well versed drug user. Maybe the people who design such drugs (the synthetic ones) and other people in the fields that involve drug prescribing are well versed in the mechanics of the different drugs. I have not met anybody in those fields though who is a drug user.

I'm very impressed. I'm hoping you know about what some scientists have speculated about MDMA. Also hope  that you haven't tried.

[limpet chicken]

About MDMA? I do indeed know the theoretics of synthesis, by several different routes, I have not, however, actually attempted to synthesize MDMA.

I am aware of its likely neurotoxicity at high dosage levels, if pre- and post-treatment for a few days with 5-hydroxytryptophan and L-tyrosine to prevent serotonin and dopamine deficiency for the first few days, and to stay adequately hydrated and maintain normal body temperature while rolling.

Chelated magnesium supplement, or at worst, a sub-laxative dose of MgSO4 will attenuate serotonergic stimulation of the trigeminal nerve in the jaw, which would otherwise lead to potentially damaging bruxism, via a knock-on (I believe) effect of glutamate-modulated NMDA antagonism.

That is the only thing about MDMA I dislike, the gods-damned bruxism, (and I have a fulminating disrespect and hatred for the propaganda-distributing proponents of drug prohibition, but then again, those bastards can never win the WOD, it cannot be done, by them at least)

MDMA itself, I have only experienced once, where I was gifted some by a good friend, unfortunately OD'ed on amphetamine freebase not very long after the end of the party, but MDMA had an immenesely positive effect (once I recovered from my amp overdose and resultant temporary phet psychosis ) on my life, helped enable me to be a lot more sociable, get away from the glassware for a few hours, make new friends, and gave me a better understanding of people in general.


Constant Thinker, which scientists in particular would you "bee" referring to? if it is the NIDA or governenment sponsored variety, they can shove their "research" right back into the transverse colon they likely pulled the results out of those bastards recieve funding to discover the "right" results, a lot of the time. Why hope I haven't tried it? I am no worse off, and in fact, feel quite significantly the better for my experience with MDMA, and its hardly likely, done once in a blue moon (for I am usually the responsible type ) to do any significant damage, I believe if any is done, it is my own choice, and the benefits, if I choose to continue the activity in question outweigh the negatives, that, and I have tried a pretty large number of tryptamines, phenethylamines, amphetamines, opioids, and various other odds and ends, and I don't intend to stop now

 </drug-induced ranting>


One thing I did find amusing was your calling me a well versed drug user, (Versed being the brand name for Midazolam, a very strong, injectable benzodiazepine), and the fact that I am currently on a benzo (nitrazepam) as I type this, don't worry people, 'tis legal *spits in T.Bliar's eye*, I have chronic insomnia.

Peace.
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Limpet (stoned, legally nodding on dihydrocodeine, morphine and nitrazepam and very happy about it he is too )
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[mike]

Ok, so the cocktail party was a great success. The most popular cocktail on the evening seemed to be the pina colada (light rum, pineapple juice, coconut cream) yum!! Also popular were margaritas (tequila, triple sec and lime juice) and cosmopolitans (vodka, cranberry juice, triple sec).