Monday, June 8, 2009

Mulley's

Courtney gives this margarita 5 out of 10 lime (not lemon) wedges.


I'm beginning to see a recurring theme with pubs and margaritas...they do not go hand in hand. Shocking, I know. Mulley's did have a couple things working in it's favor- mostly a generous portion and a quiet courtyard with strings of lights overhead that felt very appropriate while enjoying a margarita (this definitely gave them an extra point in my book- these were the only things Phoebe's was lacking!). Taste was lacking...from the start it tasted like the bottom of a drink when all the ice had melted. That being said, it wasn't bad, just not that good either. There was no salt, and as you know this is a grave sin in my book. Finally, it was garnished with a lemon wedge. We snooped a bit in our state of shock, and saw the cut limes that the bartender passed to use a lemon- who does that?!

Angela gives this margarita 4 out of 10 lime wedges.

After a few hours strolling through the Taste of Syracuse event downtown, and rockin' to an 80's cover band of old men with long hair, tight clothes, and missing teeth, what could top the evening off better than a nice, cold margarita at Mulley's Irish Pub? That's exactly what you where thinking too, I'm sure. I find Mulley's outdoor courtyard its most attractive feature, much more than the Mulley's margarita. First, the technicalities. Salt was not an option. Frozen was also not an option, but I give no demerits for that. And the garnish - a LEMON wedge. Can anyone explain this to me? And the LIME wedges were right next to the lemon wedges. After a breif moment of paralysis, we took a huge glass of something that had the color of maragrita to the courtyard. The taste was flat and boring, not one to savor, but I can't say it was terrible either. It was not too sweet or too sour, but just too weak and uninteresting. It reminded me of drinking a lemon-lime gatorade.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Phoebe's

Courtney gives this margarita 8.5 out of 10 lime wedges.

What an unexpectedly great margarita! This was by far the best margarita I have tried since starting the mission. The salt was perfect, the lime girthy, and the drink itself had a wonderful flavor and was very well-balanced. The yin and yang of sweet and sour was perfectly rounded out by the hint of nice tequila not overpowering the citrus flavor. I did have to deduct points for the glass, since it was served in a rocks glass better suited for a gimlet or Manhattan. If this margarita had been served in a proper glass in a more tropical setting, it would have gotten 10 out of 10 wedges and a bonus shot of tequila!

Angela gives Phoebe's margarita 8.5 out of 10 lime wedges.

I still prefer the taste of the Genessee margarita best, but considering this margarita also hit the sweet and sour balance, PLUS had no technical missteps (other than the rocks glass), fairness calls for a slightly higher score. The tequila flavor did not percolate through the cocktail so much, which I appreciate. Do you? Should we poll the audience on this question? For me, just a few eye drops more of tequila and a stem on the glass and this margarita would come close to a Mary Lou Retton score.

Redfield's

Courtney gives this margarita 1 out of 10 lime wedges.


This was a bad margarita experience from the moment the drink was delivered until the bill came. There are only two positive things I can comment on: there was a large selection of tequila options and the sour mix was homemade. We decided to try one traditional margarita and one made with Grand Marnier instead of triple sec (bad decision- this resulted in a margarita that was tooooooooo sweet and tasted like orange cold medicine). First, the glass was rimmed in table salt. Yes, table salt. And while it wasn't completely bad at first, it kept tasting worse and worse as we were drinking. Finally, my brilliant cohort Angie figured it out....if you let the drink sit in your mouth a minute, it tasted like the ocean. Apparently the salt had gotten into the glass and since it was table salt had dissolved very quickly, and by the time we got to the bottom of the glass it was practically straight saline. Completely disappointed in this experience we asked for the check, and discovered these two subpar margaritas were the most expensive we have tried thus far- $8 and $11. Paying $21 for two bad margaritas was just (ahem) pouring salt on the wound.

Angela gives the Redfield's classic margarita a 3 out of 10 lime wedges, and the Grand Marnier margarita 2 out of 10 limes wedges.

These margaritas had a lot of potential: quality ingredients, lovely stemware and garnish. While the table salted rim sparkled and looked quite nice, it single-handedly spoiled the taste. The first few sips of the classic margarita were pretty good, but something tasted funny. I just couldn't peg it down. Half-way through the drink, the culprit was screaming. The table salt! Imagine a margarita with a teaspoon of table salt IN it. That's the Redfield's margarita. No doubt, they use table salt for the looks. I'm sure the kind bartenders are completely in the dark of the full effects of this immense error. I now regret that I didn't object, not so much to get our $$$ back, even though the cost was so outragous that it "shocks the conscious" (economic crisis mean anything to you, pal??!) and the error was so disastrous that is warranted restitution, but simple courtsey called for it. I pity the next person that orders a margarita from Redfield's, wishing to escape to a sandy place but ends up eating the sand.

The Grand Manier margarita had the same unforgiving error, although less pronounced. They don't call Grand Manier "grand" for nothing. I little goes a long way, and too much makes this potentially delightful margarita too sweet for an additional $3 more. Too much sand, too much "grand" and too much coin make Redfield's margaritas a loser. P.S. If you think of another word for money and rhymes with sand let me know!

The Genesee Grande

Courtney gives this margarita 7 out of 10 lime wedges.


We walked into the bar at the Genesee Grande, parched from our long trek down from the law school. It was dark, full of rich woods and richer business people enjoying an after work cocktail. We went to the bar, shocking the bartender by ordering margaritas instead of scotch or bourbon. The bartender wiped the dust off the bottle of tequila at this classy bar and proceeded to pour it, followed by triple sec and sours. Shockingly, there was no shaking or stirring of any kind, although a lime wedge was thrown in for good measure. For the first time in the mission, the margarita came packaged in some much appreciated stemware, although the salt we asked for was missing. It was a little too strong for my liking, but it was a nice tequila so I didn't mind. The taste was very nice, although in my opinion missed the traditional margarita flavor, probably because no lime juice was added (squeezing the garnish helped in this regard, and I would suggest to that in the future one ask for two limes). Because I found it to be lacking that classic lime flavor, while I enjoyed the drink I thought it resembled more a tequila sour (if such a thing exists) than a margarita. As was the feel of the bar itself, this cocktail was more a wingtip pounding pavement than a flip-flop in the sand.

Angela gives the Genesse margarita 8 out of 10 limes wedges.

High fives to beautiful friend Bridget who joined our mission. So far, the Genesee margarita is my personal favorite. Customarilly, we orderd the margaritas "mission style," that is, on the rocks with salt, but alas, a few (arguably negligible) factors were faulty. Despite our request, there was no salt. There was no shaking of the cocktail, not even a stir. The lime was carelessly pitched into the drink that just cost me $6.50. Oh dear. With so many misses (even before a sip!), how, do you ask, does this attempt at a margarita deserve praise? The taste, baby (and the stemware, but above all the taste). The balance of sweet and sour was near perfection, and mmmmmm... te te tequila! Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I like tequila. While hitting the sweet and sour balance, this mixture also allowed the lushious tequila flavor to tickle your tongue. It brought a slow grin to my face as my shoulders dropped in relaxation, but woe is me, not on the beach. This is an excellent night-time, take the edge off, margarita. It is not a drink-all-day on the beach, in the sun margarita, hence the less than perfect score.

Help!

We're looking for suggestions as we plan our next few outings...comment below and tell us where we should go!

Monday, June 1, 2009

The mission continues...

Tuesday, June 2, around 5ish we're continuing the mission. Get in touch with one of us if you want to join and we can give you details. Viva la margarita!