EWW coconut!  Seriously, that’s all I could think of when I drank this.  I just don’t like coconut or coconut flavored things.  But for the challenge at http://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahcgregg/whats-your-home-states-signature-cocktail I had to drink the Mai Tai anyway.  I returned to the APL to try this concoction.

Recipe : 1 shot each of spiced rum and coconut rum, grenadine, pineapple juice, orange juice

Seriously, I just hated this drink.  I drank all of it, for the sake of my blog, but it tasted awful to me.

Taste:             2     People who like coconut might score this higher.  But it is my blog, my rules

Difficulty:     8    My bartender was familiar with this drink, but was used to making it a little differently.

Lushiness:    6     This drink was not that strong, despite the 3oz of booze, it was watered down by the juices

Overall Score : 5.33

In other news, I officially own the URL http://www.lushofhonor.com.  This lush is moving up in the world!!

This is the first drink I made myself.  APL did not have mandarin or orange vodka, so I purchased a small bottle.  I already had the Triple Sec and Red Bull on hand.

Recipe: 1  & 1/2 oz mandarin vodka, 3/4 oz Triple Sec, mix over ice and top with Red Bull

This was my favorite drink so far, it’s the closest to my normal drink of Diet Coke and Cherry Vodka, or my second favorite drink, a cherry bomb on the rocks.  The oranginess was a nice touch.

Taste:             8     Delicious, but I would have been happier without the Triple Sec.  I plan on drinking the rest of the orange vodka with Sprite or Red Bull.

Difficulty:     6    Had to buy the mandarin vodka, but making the actual drink was easy

Lushiness:   5    I think I would need 4 of these to be lightly drunk

Overall Score : 6.33

I went back to the APL for the Arkansas Razorback.  My bartender had never heard of it, but was happy to make it for me.

Recipe : 1/2 shot each of rum, vodka, amaretto, Kahlua

My coworker, Brad and I tried this in shot form.  It went down okay, I could really taste the amaretto, it was somewhat overpowering.  He was not a fan of the drink.

Taste:             5     This kind of burned on the way down.  I doubt I could drink more than a couple due to the sweetness, and I don’t plan on ordering this in the future.

Difficulty:     8    My bartender had no trouble making this with ingredients on hand

Lushiness:    7     This shot would get you drunk pretty quickly, considering it’s basically a double shot.

Overall Score : 6.67

My first drink in the challenge!  I figured it would be easiest to work my way through the alphabet as much as possible.  Unfortunately I will have to skip some drinks, such as Alaska, for now.  I can’t find any place that has smoked salmon vodka in stock.

I went to my favorite dive bar (APL) with the recipe in hand.  I’m on a first name basis with most of the bartenders there, so I had no problem giving Cindy the recipe from Buzzfeed.

Recipe: Orange juice and 1/2 oz each of sloe gin, Southern Comfort, amaretto, and vodka, pour over ice

Cindy had heard of the Alabama Slammer before, but her version had Sprite and was a shot that was “slammed” on the counter before being dropped into the mixers.  Sounds more exciting, but I wanted to stay true to the article.

I typically only drink vodka and flavored vodkas, so I was pleasantly surprised by the drink.  I could barely taste the gin, and it was sweet, but not too sweet.  It wasn’t as fruity as I would have expected giving the ingredients.

All drinks will be rated on a scale of 1-10 in the following categories; taste, difficulty, lushiness.  For Taste, 1 is awful, 10 is delicious.  For Difficulty, 1 is super hard, 10 is a breeze.  Lushiness is how I will describe how drunk you will get from the drink.  Us lushes tend to enjoy the buzz, and don’t want to drink 8 drinks before feeling it.  So the higher the score, the better the buzz.

Taste:           8     I really enjoyed this one, and ordered a second.  I could see myself ordering it in the future.  My amazing sister was with me and also liked the drink and ordered one of her own.

Difficulty:     8    My bartender had no trouble making this with ingredients on hand

Lushiness:   4     After two drinks in 20 minutes I felt a light buzz.  One would think with 2oz of liquor in each I would have more than a light buzz, but no such luck for this lush.

Overall Score : 6.67

All in all, a good first experience of the challenge!  1 down, 49 to go!