Rickeys, Vol. 2

I've gotten way behind on reporting my adventures with Rickey (not Martin).

All of these use roughly 2 to 1 spirits to lime juice, with a lime shell and soda water on ice to fill roughly a 10 oz glass. For 1 1/2 oz of liquor, 1/2 oz instead of 3/4 oz of lime juice works better for me. The lime starts to overpower the spirit if you use more.  I found that in my early rickeys I was pouring too much soda (I gotta get decent glassware), and that was responsible for their slightly watered down taste.

The first one is an Irish Rickey: Irish whiskey (I used Jameson's 12 year) and lime.  This one just tasted like watered-down whiskey, and with this whiskey, that's a shame.

No. 2 is  a Whiskey Rickey; I used Jim Beam Distiller's Series, but you could also use rye.  Here's an example of where 3/4 oz lime juice to 1 1/2 liquor is too much: I couldn't taste the bourbon through the lime. As with the Jameson's, with this liquor, you want to taste it (and paid to taste it).

Next we come to a Scotch Rickey, here using Jimmie Walker black.  Not bad if you keep the lime at 1/2 oz.  I could taste the Scotch, and it made for a nice summertime drink.

Going south of the border, a Tequila Rickey, using a reposado.  Not bad, not great.  With salt on the rim of your glass you could call it a Margarita Rickey.

Last, a Mezcal Rickey: This was my favorite of the batch. I prefer mezcal's stronger flavors to tequila generally, and the smokiness of it appealed to me with the lime, sort of like grilled fish.

We've still got a few weeks of summer left, so I'll report on one more batch of rickeys between my looks at Sauvignon Blancs.