Three infusions were made.
They all have their pros and cons, though the gin infusion is possibly too strange to be practical.
Tonight's cocktail is simple and enlightening: a Rickey made with mango, mint and cucumber infused vodka. It's very nice and heading towards a finale. The next drink should have a small amount of simple syrup (1/2 teaspoon) to enhance the mango flavor, slices of mango and cucumber, and mint sprigs for garnish.
It was surprising how much the lime juice really brought the drink together. Whereas the lime seemed to force out the mango in the Mojango, in this drink it helps settle it in. We'll see what happens when the simple syrup and garnish come into play.
So we have not so bad, and we have bad. Tonight we had a bit of both and none of the definitely good. I sip upon a mango, chartreuse, vodka cocktail. Of note, color matters: green and yellow are not fine bedfellows, and my browinsh, baby shit colored cocktail tastes intriguing and looks repulsive.
When the juicer was whipped out, I knew bad things were in store. But desire for experimentation outweighed theories of chemical concentrations. Mint was juiced into a substance similar to wheat grass. It was a combination of minty and chlorophyll. Mango was juiced into a sludge reminiscent of "juiced" banana. The mixture was colorfully offensive and the flavor a sad attempt at being creative.
The Mojango was closer to something worth building. New theory: the mango is such a specific flavor, it would be best infused into a clean alcohol like vodka and honored in a subtle way. This means I need to look into the Chartreuse and vodka drinks, because I'd really like to find the combination of Chartreuese and mango to swoon my favorite bartender. I'm wary of a mango gin because of the strong personalities, but some experimentation will lend insight.
Nothing is so bad as that which is not so bad.
-- The Scarlet Pimpernel
Tonight was the first experiment towards a mango & mint cocktail. With only enough light rum for a single drink, the Mojito was chosen as the basis to build upon: fresh mango was muddled with mint, lime, and simple syrup. The lime made me uneasy, but since I'm still feeling very lost and new at the art of cocktail creation, I am in a serious data collection role. Learning what flavors mismatch is as interesting as learning which flavors match.
The Mojango was a failure as a "mango & mint cocktail". Although, not so bad, it literally tasted like someone had thrown some mango into a Mojito: there was little sense of a marriage between the mango and the rest of the flavors. The current theory is the problem lies with the lime. The lime brings together the Mojito so well, I'm not sure there is room for the mango. Hence, experiment #2: Mango Rum Smash.
What happens when you run out of ice and your guests are asking for more alcohol? You aim for whatever you got refridgerated. In this case, there was a bottle of sweetened cranberry juice in the fridge.
These are rough estimates of what probably happened.
In mixing glass, no ice:
Pour above into cocktail glass:
While I was building this, I had an idea for a mango-mint drink. Something on the order of a mango mojito, the mojango. Experiment to come.