Drinks at Carousel Bar - shockingly sweet!

[skinny]

My boyfriend and I stopped in the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone last night for a nightcap. We weren't lucky enough to get a set at the incredible rotating bar, unfortunately. The cocktail menu read like it was straight out of 1950. Excellent omen!

He ordered an Old Fashioned. I had the Gin Fizz. Both were way, way over the line sugary. Mine was like a milkshake it had so much cream in it. You couldn't taste the lemon/lime at all. Ick! Perhaps they've altered the recipes for the palates of tourists?

The waiter came over and asked how thing were so I told him our drinks were too sweet. He didn't offer to replace them. They were so bad I really didn't even want to pay for them. I'm hoping it was just an off night with a bad bartender, but we won't be going back to find out.

Five stars for the room. One star for the drinks.

Any cocktail purists out there care to chime in on the best bars?

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Carousel Bar
214 Royal St, New Orleans, LA

[skinny]

Dear BF and I went to Sazerac last night. THAT is what a gin fizz is supposed to taste like! BF's basil julep went down dangerously well.

Our bartender, Tim, was the utter definition of the perfect bartender. He had just the right amount of banter and made a damn fine drink. If you ever want to try my idea of what a drink should taste like, he can set you up.

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The Sazerac Restaurant-Roosevelt Hotel-New Orleans
123 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA 70112

[collardman]

I've never thought of a Ramos Gin Fizz as being sweet, but I've only had them for breakfast/brunch when sweet may be a little more acceptable. But sweet certainly is subjective and my wife tastes sweetness where I don't. She only tolerates a few German/Alsatian whites while I find many going well with a number of dishes.

But she will go for the sweeter after dinner drinks like B&B and we both like Calvados, which is often sweetish.

But, the server should not have brushed you off. The fault may not have been in the drink but it certainly was in the service

[edible complex]

Napoleon House, French 75, Hermes, Touche' are a few in the Qtr.
I prefer restaurants, so I'll add Boucherie, Iris, and Coquette.
cheers!

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Napoleon House Bar & Cafe
500 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Boucherie
8115 Jeannette St, New Orleans, LA 70118

[uptownlibrarian]

Did you have a Ramos gin fizz or a regular old gin fizz? Ramos GF will be much creamier and frothier than a regular one. No excuse for the sweetness, but it might depend on the bartender. I'd give them another chance though. It would be a shame to write off the Monteleone for life because of one bad drink.

In the Quarter, check out the bar at Iris and Bar Tonique for all the cocktail purists you can handle.

[skinny]

It was just a regular old gin fizz, I believe. I ordered off the page of their house special cocktails. Perhaps palates are just different. I do a good bit of drinking cocktails back home in Portland and on lots of trips. Those were by far the sweetest old fashioned and gin fizz either of us has ever been served.

We're not residents, just here for a month on sabbatical. So, writing it off isn't as severe as it sounds. I really did love the room.

I guess I'm just miffed that the waiter didn't offer anything when I said the drinks were off. Even if he'd brought out a couple lime wedges I could've corrected the sugar a bit.

[edible complex]

did you ask for them to be replaced or ask for lime wedges?

[skinny]

I scarcely had the chance to ask. His response was essentially "that's the way they're supposed to be" and then he dashed off. I expect servers to be a bit more solicitous, especially in a place as high rent as that.

By the time he checked on us again we were more than ready to get the check and depart.

[hazelhurst]

You'll see the to-and-fro on sweetness in cocktails over the years in any discussion of American Drink-ery. Look at those drinks at Pat O's...practically marzipan in many cases. The places I go know that my martini is dry and my Sazerac is less-than-usually-sweet. I tried the House Version at the Sazerac when I first went and it was OK and would probably win awards but it was too sweet for me and the young man did damn near perfect on round 2. I was instructing a bartender on Sazeracs just last week and he took the one I made and added simple syrup to it for his tastes. More people went for his than for mine. Times change I guess.