195 replies to this topic

[KD1191]

I heard a rumbling that something might be up, and upon visiting the Rogue Cocktails blog this morning, I see:

"Due to a trademark infringement claim by Oregon Brewing Company (Rogue Ales and Rogue Spirits), rogue cocktails is no longer available for purchase through blurb.com."

That is sad. Are there any IP attorneys in the eGullet community?

[Alcuin]

That's a shame-I haven't had the chance to buy the copy I wanted to buy yet. Maybe they'll change the name and still be able to sell the book--here's hoping.

[thirtyoneknots]

The wording makes it sound as if it may still be available at their bar. Anybody know?

[bmdaniel]

I got lucky - my copy just arrived last night. Although, I was a bit surprised in that it's closer to what I would call a pamphlet than a book.

[bmdaniel]

Enjoying an 8th and Collins right now - a surprisingly good drink. Despite the small proportion, this is a holland gin drink. A really nice showcase for the Genvieve.

[Chris Amirault]

Made a Cleirmeil tonight:

1 1/2 oz rum (Inner Circle green)
3/4 oz green Chartreuse
3/4 oz lime
1/2 oz maple syrup
1/8 oz pimento dram (homemade, not the St. Elizabeth's called for)

Another lobster drink: looks horrifying, but is luscious.

[vice]

Has anyone tried A Moment of Silence yet? I can't recommend it enough.

1.5 oz rye whiskey
1 oz marie brizard apry (I used R&W)
0.5 oz averna
0.5 oz angostura bitters
0.25 oz laird’s bonded

Rinse a rocks glass with campari. Stir and strain over fresh ice into rinsed glass and garnish with an orange twist.

[erha2]

is there any way to get this book online now or anywhere in nyc? i saw there were the trademark issues but i don't know if anything has been resolved.

[KD1191]

Has anyone tried A Moment of Silence yet? I can't recommend it enough.

Enjoying one right now. I used Marie Brizard and Rittenhouse 100 for the rye. A fantastic cocktail, and one I'd completely glossed over when I first read the book.

[vice]

Working my way through the Twin Peaks box set tonight and in need of a nice nightcap to go with. I turned to the Racketeer:

1 oz rye (rittenhouse bonded)
1 oz mezcal (los danzantes joven)
1/2 oz benedictine
1/2 oz carpano antica (1:1 m&r and punt e mes)
1/4 oz yellow chartreuse
3 dashes peychaud's
laphroaig rinse

a Vieux Carre sent back from another world. Fantastic.

Edited by vice, 24 October 2009 - 10:54 PM.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks to our wonderful, litigious culture, the folks at Rogue Cocktails had to pull the plug on that name and come up with a new one: enter beta cocktails. Lots of good stuff already: the Scotch Sling looks very tasty indeed.

As one of the 277 owners of a rogue cocktails book, I can attest to the joy that book gave me; I've made more than 2/3rds of the recipes and enjoyed most of those. To that end, I was trying to find a way to use the Matusalem Clasico and spied the Cynar Julep, a great drink I'd made before -- but I was lacking mint. In beta fashion, I concocted this:



No Mint Bittered Cynar Julep

1 1/2 oz Matusalem Clasico
1 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Branca Menta
-1/2 oz demerara syrup
dash Angostura
lime (Ti Punch slice)

Stir with ice and strain over fresh ice. Squeeze lime slice over drink -- like it's a twist, not a wedge, with skin out -- and drop it in.

Bitter haters, beware. Bitter lovers, I offer you love & happiness.

[thirtyoneknots]

No Mint Bittered Cynar Julep

Classically, wouldn't that make this a Cynar Cock-tail? (Julep - mint = sling + bitters = cock-tail).

[Chris Amirault]

Yeah, but what with persnickety categorization anxieties, I wasn't sure about the Menta & lime. It's a freakish, if tasty, Cuba Libre if you splash in some Mexican Coke.

[thirtyoneknots]

Yeah, but what with persnickety categorization anxieties, I wasn't sure about the Menta & lime. It's a freakish, if tasty, Cuba Libre if you splash in some Mexican Coke.

Yeah I was kind of kidding, these kinds of drinks defy categorization in the 19th century paradigm. I've only seen Branca Menta for sale once in TX and when I went back it wasn't there, otherwise I'd be giving that one a try. Looks like a Stinger for some evil supervillain.

[slkinsey]

I've only seen Branca Menta for sale once in TX and when I went back it wasn't there, otherwise I'd be giving that one a try. Looks like a Stinger for some evil supervillain.

Just to show how the old is new again, Audrey Saunders has a drink I love called "Goodnight Irene" dating from some years ago. It's 2 parts bourbon and 1 part Branca Menta on crushed ice. Definitely related to the Stinger -- but way, way better.

[thirtyoneknots]

I've only seen Branca Menta for sale once in TX and when I went back it wasn't there, otherwise I'd be giving that one a try. Looks like a Stinger for some evil supervillain.

Just to show how the old is new again, Audrey Saunders has a drink I love called "Goodnight Irene" dating from some years ago. It's 2 parts bourbon and 1 part Branca Menta on crushed ice. Definitely related to the Stinger -- but way, way better.

Yeah that drink was what initially called my attention to the product and why I was seeking it out. Unfortunately at least 12 other people were, too, and I wasn't quick enough.

[campus five]

I thought the Good Night Irene was equal parts...hmmm.

[Tolovana]

is there any way to get this book online now or anywhere in nyc? i saw there were the trademark issues but i don't know if anything has been resolved.

This is what I found: http://betacocktails.com/

Here's the quote from the site:

"beta cocktails is the successor to rogue cocktails, a now-defunct cocktail guide that featured 40 unique and unusual recipes published in July of 2009. rogue cocktails is no longer available for purchase. beta cocktails will be released in the Summer of 2010."

Tolovana

[Chris Amirault]

Just made the 2 to 2:



1.5 Aperol, 1 Lucid (I used Kubler) 1 lemon, 1/4 simple (I used gum syrup), orange bitters (Angostura). I also added an egg white. Mouthfeel is great, and the drink is very "rogue": I love the bitterness competing with the absinthe, but if you've hated the other weird ones for being too bitter, you'll definitely hate this one.

[Chris Amirault]

Along the same lines, tonight's libation was The Warning Label, a crazy-ass quilt with Cynar, Lemon Hart 151, Punt e Mes, Bittermen's grapefruit bitters, Campari, Regan's orange bitters...

Just lovely.

I think that these Piles of Bitter are the book's real forté, either to its credit (says me) or debit (says others). "This one needs to cook a little longer than you'd expect," says Maks. Uh... yeah.

[plattetude]

Along the same lines, tonight's libation was The Warning Label, a crazy-ass quilt with Cynar, Lemon Hart 151, Punt e Mes, Bittermen's grapefruit bitters, Campari, Regan's orange bitters...

That.
Sounds.

AWESOME.

Christopher

[Chris Amirault]

It was. I keep thinking about it. If you've just gotten a Yarai Japanese mixing glass and like 'em bitter, try to find this book somewhere: it's no end of fun.

[TAPrice]

Today I stopped into Octavia books in New Orleans, which handled book sales at last year's Tales. They had 3 or 4 copies of Rogue Cocktails on display. I'm pretty certain they would ship a copy.

I did a short item for the Times-Picayune, the daily here, on Beta Cocktails' trends for the new year. It include a few notes about their plans for a Beta Cocktail book.

[EvergreenDan]

Thanks for the Octavia Books tip; they have one fewer now. $25 shipped. Reading the vile recipes quoted above, my selfrestraint failed. I'm sure this collector's edition will sell for thousands of dollars a century from now.

[EvergreenDan]

The Red Danube

2.0 oz Zwack
1.0 oz Punt e Mes
.50 oz Campari
3 big dash Regan’s Orange Bitters

Stir, Coupe, Lots of Orange Oil.

I feel like I did something wrong. I'm using the US version, "Zwack Liqueur" in the round dark bottle. Without any acid, this is a very sweet drink, as all three ingredients include sugar. Adding a half oz of Lime balanced it for me, and made for a delightful drink. Was the drink intended to use the non-liqueur version (which I don't see in the US, but I could be wrong)?

[EvergreenDan]

I got my copy of the booklet, and after getting over the disappointment of its brevity, have to say that every drink I've made has been right up my alley. What's more impressive to me is that my wife has loved most of them too -- this a woman who liked nothing more challenging than Batida until about a year ago.

Last night I mixed up The Search for Delicious, which starts with 2 oz of Cynar, then "softens" it with Punt e Mes. I expected to be drinking that one, but she wouldn't give it back. 2 to 2, Warning Label, Moment of Silence, Cleirmeil, Art of Choke, Gunshop Fizz -- all great.

I found the Broken Shoe Shiner a little candy-like. I thought it needed less pineapple and pernod and more lemon, and maybe skip the egg white. I did substitute Creme de Violette for the rose water, though, and Absinthe for the Pernod.

In the Gunshop Fizz, I substituted Campari and soda for the hard-to-find Sanbitter, and I thought it was great, plus bumped the alcohol a bit. The drink might benefit from a high-proof spirit to slow down your consumption. I'm reveling in the bitter aftertaste now. Simply great.

I can't speak for the manifesto or the professional scene, but I consider myself a thoughtful drinker and a fairly serious home drink-maker. This recipes and ideas in this book pamphlet are provocative, interesting, and stimulating.

Edited by EvergreenDan, 28 February 2010 - 02:22 PM.

[kathryn]

Any word on Beta Cocktails?

[TAPrice]

Any word on Beta Cocktails?

The second hand word I got from a bartender at Cure is that it's coming but not in time for Tales

[EvergreenDan]

No Mint Bittered Cynar Julep

1 1/2 oz Matusalem Clasico
1 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Branca Menta
-1/2 oz demerara syrup
dash Angostura
lime (Ti Punch slice)

Made this tonight. Great drink. I have to admit that I omitted the syrup and added 1/4 oz lime, plus a squeezed end slice of a lime. I'm not sure what a Ti Punch slice is, and wikipedia didn't clarify it.

This is the kind of complex cocktail that I love. The flavors linger and evolve on the tongue. The Menta comes through at the end, for example, after the sour and rum funk have faded.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks -- glad you liked it.

A "Ti Punch slice" is an oval cut from the side of the lime running from stem to stern. It had a large proportion of skin to flesh, providing a tasty dose of lime oil to the drink.