Here’s the thing, this is primarily a cocktail blog - if you’re a regular reader at some point you will probably find yourself in a bar. What do you do when the girl of your dreams walks in? Do you suddenly get all Beta (boo!) or handle the situation like an Alpha(yay!)?

Roosh V has dropped another classic excerpt from his debut novel Bang (I still have my autographed copy - whassamater, you don’t like freebies? I will re-package it as part of other goodies to be given away at a later date) on the 7 things a Guy can do to Improve his game right now.

The first three things he touched on:

1. Stop Leaning In
2. Stop asking for Permission
3. Memorize one excellent, breezy story

See these and the rest of the list in detail at his site here. Above all remember this, Leaning In is Creepy. Stop it already.

Unlike other tequilas which barely, but legally pass for tequila (51% agave based, the rest 49% sugarcane), Partida Tequila uses 100% pure blue agave - tequila does not get any more authentic and purer than this. Plus, if the accolades that Partida has been racking up recently is any indication, we’re not the only ones who think so.

The Partida estate, deep in the heart of Mexico’s historic Tequila region, produces four distinctive tequilas: Blanco, Reposado, Anejo and Elegante.

Blanco (Not Aged)

Clear and brilliant with a silvery hue. Clean and crisp, this one packs a punch, peppery with a lingering aftertaste. Excellent for use in margaritas.

Reposado (Aged 6 months)

Light amber color, smooth, rich taste with a hint of sweetness.  Full bodied with a very light aftertaste, pleasant finish. Excellent for use in cocktails.

Anejo (Aged 18 months)

This is the one folks. Very smooth, in fact it was hard to believe I was still drinking tequila. This is fine cognac or single malt whiskey territory. Hardly any aftertaste whatsoever. Very smooth, rich. Enjoy neat, but the Anejo will make a very good Reposado tequila cocktail even better.

Elegante (Aged 36 months)

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to sample the Elegante, the good people at Partida only sent the Blanco, Reposado, Anejo & Agave nectar for review. If the excellence of the Anejo is anything to go by, I’m sure the Elegante will be a knockout. This is the best spirit in their stable and I hear a bottle retails somewhere around $350.

Partida Tequila was rated higher than any other leading Tequila brand in a recent taste test conducted by the Academy of Tequila, the official tasting board of Mexico. At the 2006 San Francisco World Spirits competition, Partida won double gold for its Reposado, Gold for its Blanco and Silver for its Anejo (that should have been another gold in my opinion).

Ok, so by now we all know that Partida makes excellent tequila and deserves a serious consider - how does it hold up in a cocktail?

Drumroll please ….. I present to you a brand new cocktail from A Grandiose Blog:

The Lagosian

2 oz Partida Anejo Tequila

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1/2 oz cointreau

1/4 oz Partida Agave Nectar (or you may substitute simple syrup - but Partida’s agave nectar works so much better) 

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a lime wheel.

I’d go into detail about taste but sorry I’m whipping up another one right now. Have one for yourself and come back and comment about it.

The next time you fancy some tequila, give Partida a serious consider. They have created a premium product in a reasonable price range. For such a young company that’s a serious accomplishment. Partida Tequila may very well be the best value tequila brand out there right now.

then head on over to eBay. Show the Joneses next door one up by parking your private jet from Eclipse Aviation in your driveway. Or if you’re enterprising enough you could probably give FedEx a run for their money - don’t you just hate it when they always show up when you’re never at home? We do. Either way, it’s going to cost you at least $1,719,942.60. We’ll chip in the $0.60, pay us back with a ride to Tales of the Cocktail next year.  
At Least $1,719,942.60. Bid on it here.

I didn’t quite know what to make of the puppies (industry slang for mini-bottles) when they arrived. They surrounded me - all three of them, with their squat, broad shoulders and studded collars. The smokey grey/purple bottle made it somewhat difficult to see what these pups were made of and only seemed to add to the mystery. Hands down these are some really handsome puppies.

Bulldog Gin is an ultra-premium, quadruple distilled London dry gin, infused with exotic botanicals such as Poppy and Dragon Eye - a native Chinese fruit that’s used to increase sexual stamina and skin vitality.

I poured some neat at room temperature and was surprised by the soft, delicate aromas. I was in for an even bigger surprise when I tasted it - is this gin? Where’s the strong aftertaste, that heavy juniper presence, the burn on the way down … then I remembered that this is quadruple distilled to an Ultra-premium state - this gin is so smooth ….

$29.99, www.bulldoggin.com

… in fact it’s almost like, vodka! Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is gin the new vodka? Why did they have to quadruple distill this product anyway - which had such a fine start with all the exotic botanicals (dragon eye, poppy, lotus leaves, lemon, almond, cassia, lavender, orris, liquorice, angelica, coriander & juniper)? It’s almost as if that fourth distillation stripped away a lot of that promising character - even Tanqueray stops at three. All gins technically start out as vodka anyway (neutral spirit) and it seems here as if the makers went through all the trouble to make a gin and then revert it back to a vodka like state.

Bless them for doing so. More on this later.

Now I needed to try the gin in a cocktail, in something really simple with as few ingredients as possible. I remembered seeing a cocktail recipe that combined gin with fresh lemon juice and honey somewhere …. ah! Jeffrey Morgenthaler!

The Bees Knees

2 0z gin
1 oz fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz honey syrup (make your own by mixing equal parts honey with warm water, allow to chill)

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

Again, the Bulldog gin was definitely there in the background - but not as pronounced as say the Tanqueray that I used to make the next one. And to me, dear reader is the beauty and genius of Bulldog Gin.

This is a gin for anyone and everyone who thinks they don’t like gin. Why?

Well because primarily because it’s smooth, doesn’t have that”ginny” burn going down, and doesn’t leave a strong aftertaste. As a matter of fact, you could switch out the vodka in say, a Cosmopolitan and all but the most discerning drinker would be none the wiser.

See your traditional gin drinking crowd is usually a little older, say mid 30s and up - and todays generation is one raised that’s been raised on vodka. Well I’ve got news people, this might be the gin to change all that - and that to me is what I see as part of the genius of this product. Plus this gin was launched by two guys who very much know what they are doing - a former JP Morgan Investment Banker and an industry veteran from Skyy Vodka.

This gin will definitely provide great balance in your cocktails, when you want something subtler than a traditional London dry gin. If only we had Bulldog gin when James Bond ordered his first martini ….

Is Gin the New Vodka? What are your thoughts? Comment below.

Okay so by now you already know The Top 10 ways to beat the Casino and you’re ready to let ‘em have it … but first let’s master a couple of additional basics …

Did you know that the game of craps originated in France? If the first toss of the dice resulted in a 7 or 11 (a natural) - you won, but a lost if a 2,3 or 12 (craps) was rolled. If any other number came up, that number (the point) must be repeated before a 7 shows up. Note how the 7 changes from a natural win on the first roll to a loser on all subsequent rolls.

In a casino, the player with the dice throws the first roll - the”come out roll”. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 on the first roll, the house loses and anyone with money on the “pass line” wins. If the player rolls craps, the house wins and players with money on the pass line lose. The player continues to shoot any number apart from a 7 or 11. After a point (this will be the only number on the table marked with a puck) is made, any player can also bet “come” or “don’t come”. Come means that the bettor is hoping you’ll make the point before crapping out.

A don’t come bettor is betting against you and is hoping that you’ll crap out before you make the point. The next toss of the dice is treated as the start of a new roll and it’s not uncommon to see more than a dozen side bets going on at once. It’s enough to make your head spin and you’ve got to stay focused on what you’re doing in order to prevent being distracted.

On a pass line bet, the house has a 1.4% edge. Taking full odds cuts this edge down to zero. Yes that’s right, zero. The more money you place on the odds portion of your bet, the more you cut into that 1.4% edge against you.

So once you’ve figured out how much money you want to play with, place the table minimum on the pass line, with the rest on odds. Next time we’ll take a closer look at how to place your bets on the craps table.

What do you feel about flair bartending? The first time I experienced this was sometime last year at Bed Supperclub, Bangkok (those guys were really good I must admit) and more recently a few weeks ago at a bar in Baltimore. The bartender actually spilled more liquor on the floor than in the drinks he made, and he kept splashing liqour all over the patrons at the bar. That’s when it went from mildly amusing to quite annoying.

Just pour my damn drink already.

If this is your sort of thing, or you know someone who’s really good at it - you’ll definitely want to check out the Nations Flair Challenge this July 29-31 in Vegas.

What are your thoughts on flair bartending? Hit or Miss? Comment about it below.

Here’s a video of some flair bartenders in action from across the pond ….