597 replies to this topic

[Behemoth]

In "Vintage Spirits...", Ted Haigh suggests a more film noir way to ask for it at the bar is as a "Bronx with Bitters".

:-)

That was my first thought but whenever I've asked for a Bronx at a bar lately I've been met with blank looks.

Okay guys, help me out. What do I do with Cynar?

[Alchemist]

Think of it as bitters big bottle. Mess about with Manhattans, Rob Roys, maybe a whisper in an Income Tax? It may have enough sweetness to make it's way into a holiday burbon or rye punch, in small measures.

[slkinsey]

Okay guys, help me out. What do I do with Cynar?

Try Audrey's "Little Italy" cocktail:

2 oz : Rittenhouse bonded rye
0.5 oz : Cynar
0.75 oz : Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth
Stir with ice, strain and garnish with Luxardo cherries

[lostmyshape]

i can vouch for the Little Italy. had it at Pegu Club and had to go out and get a bottle of Cynar to do them at home.

i think of Cynar as similar to Campari and have substituted one for the other in a couple drinks. they're distictive, Cynar seems sweeter to me, but both pack a bitter punch.

is it odd that cocktaildb.com doesn't have a listing for cynar?

[Behemoth]

Thanks. Will have to try that, or some variations thereof (I'm reluctant to buy any new stuff for the time being.)

[M.X.Hassett]

I was reading the underwhelming Food and Wine cocktail issue and I came across the Don't Give Up the Ship (Ben Dougherty: Zig Zag Seattle) cocktail. I had everything on hand so I gave it a go, not bad.
Fill shaker with ice
(forgive me for measure's I pulled this from F&W)
3 tablespoons gin
1 tablespoon Dubonnet Rouge
1/2 tablespoon Gran Marnier
1/2 tablespoon Fernet Branca
stir: 30 count
strain

Edited by M.X.Hassett, 14 December 2005 - 06:25 PM.

[JAZ]

Okay guys, help me out. What do I do with Cynar?

On our older but still great thread, It's Friday, it's after 5:00, and I'm going to mix a . . ., we were investigating the possibilities of Boodles and Cynar. I came up with the Boodle's Baby Drop, the name of which you'll understand if you scroll back a little from my post.

It was a first try, and I never went back to experiment or improve it, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to mention them here, or there.

[Behemoth]

It was a first try, and I never went back to experiment or improve it, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to mention them here, or there.

Oh goodie, I have all those ingredients. (Well, not boodles, but bombay original) I'll do some experimental drinking tomorrow night, and report back.

[lancastermike]

Got a bottle of Torani Amer and mixed up a Brooklyn using Old Overholt last night. This was outstanding, used receipe from Dr. Cocktail's book. We have been trying drinks from his book and I think this is my favorite.

2oz rye
3/4 oz dry vermouth
2 teaspoons Amer
2 teaspoons Luxardo maraschino

Shaken hard for a good while. It was cold and very good.

[Alchemist]

Does Dr. cocktail say to shake this cocktail? Because I would stir this cocktail. The Stinger is the The only cocktail with no fruit juice that is shaken that I know of. Why this is the exeption to the rule I know not. Maybe the creme de menth can absorb the effervesence with aplomb.

I had a riff on a New Nork flip last night and it was so perfect for a chilly night.R

2 Oz. Cuban style rum (Methuselem is a favorite)
.75 Oz Port
1.0 Oz. Demerra syrup
1.0 Oz. Heavy Cream
1 whole egg
nutmeg

Combine everything but the nutmeg in a shaker. Shake hard and long with large, dry, cold ice. Strain into a large chilled goblet. Grate nutmeg on top.

[phlip]

dr cocktail shakes every drink

[Ktepi]

1 ounce Galliano
4 ounces cold Coca-Cola
large amount of both Angostura and Gary Regan's orange bitters (~20 drops each)

It's a sweet drink, and I'd like it more if it were a bit less so -- maybe I should try adding rye or something to it. But it has transformed the bottle of Galliano from "something I'm drinking to make room in the cabinet" to "something I'll have to buy more of when I run out." (I like the taste of Galliano but haven't found many drinks I like it in.)

[lancastermike]

Got a bottle of Torani Amer and mixed up a Brooklyn using Old Overholt last night. This was outstanding, used receipe from Dr. Cocktail's book.  We have been trying drinks from his book and I think this is my favorite. 

2oz rye
3/4 oz dry vermouth
2 teaspoons Amer
2 teaspoons Luxardo maraschino

Shaken hard for a good while.  It was cold and very good.

Whoops, my bad. Ted does indeed say a Brooklyn should be stirred. Do not want anyone to think ill of Dr. Cocktail due to my mistake

[eje]

I was reading the underwhelming Food and Wine cocktail issue...

Wow, is the Food and Wine feature ever underwhelming. Don't usually read this magazine, so not sure if this is par for the course.

It's the cover, yet there is almost no type in the magazine dedicated to cocktails. I was about 3/4 of the way through the magazine and wondering where they were. Then all they have is a photo spread of 6 (or so?) bartenders, with a very short blurb and recipe each. (OK, there was a glassware feature, and a few cocktails in the article about the Latin American chef.)

Plus, in addition to using cups instead of ounces in the recipes, they seem to have made no attempt to standardize the size of the cocktails. I think one cocktail amounted to 3 TBSP of liquor and flavoring and another was nearly a cup.

[Alchemist]

dr cocktail shakes every drink

Duane Reed?

[lancastermike]

Last night had a Bijou for the first time. A very interesting drink. Lots of different tastes. A little bit of pucker from the vermouth to start, but the finish was much smoother with the orange bitters really shining through. A fine example of an old style cocktail. I think this is an example of the orange bitters being essential for the drink to work

[Ajl92]

I had a great dinner at a local upscale Italian restuarant with family and a friend who had come into town for the holiday and ended the meal with a snifter of Grand Marnier Centcinquantenaire (150) and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it almost as much as the duck breast with fig and port reduction and walnut risotto that came before it.

[eje]

Driving back to CA from AZ, we stopped at Andersen's for the obligatory cup of pea soup. Figured an old school restaurant would be a fine place to for an old school cocktail and ordered the "Old Fashion" on the back of the desser card.

In execution, it was a fairly good old-fashioned of the non-muddled type. Just sugar and bitters garnished with cherry and lemon peel.

Sadly, for some reason the bartender chose vodka for the base spirit.



When will this "white whiskey" madness end?

[eje]

Got a bottle of Torani Amer and mixed up a Brooklyn using Old Overholt last night.

The Mother-In-Law cocktail is a similar and very tasty cocktail from "Vintage Spirits..." based on bourbon. Made a double batch to take to a friend's holiday party. Sadly, its name did not endear it to the party goers. Every one went for a "Satan's Whiskers" instead.



Fortuntely, I got to take the leftovers home, so may be toasting in the New Year with them. I wonder if it would be good topped off with a little dry champagne?

[JAZ]

I made this Bee's Knees Variation from the CocktailDB site, using blood orange juice.



It was good -- more complex than I expected. I also tried it with gin, and preferred that to rum.

[eje]

My wife has an amusing story where after tasting virgin pina coladas on vacation with her family, she and a group of her peers skipped school to head out ask for them at a bar in Wausau, WI.

I don't think I've ever had a Pina Colada, so since hearing the story, (and reading about them in the first issue of Mixologist,) I've been itching to give them a try.

One of my perennial problems is an inability to completely follow a recipe, I had no fresh pineapple juice, (who does?,) was making thai chicken soup, and I still had some Brazilian Daiquiri left, so I went at it thusly.

2 oz Brazilian Daiquiri
1 oz Coconut Milk
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a glass.

My wife said it smelled like a Pina Colada; but, she remembered them being blended.



Very tasty, though.

PS. Consuming "girly" drinks like this may result in eGullet posts using words like "yummy". If you are at all concerned about the appearance of masculity in your eGullet persona, you might want to stay away from the computer while under the influence.



PPS. After making this it occurred to me that a Ramos Gin Fizz made with Coconut Milk instead of cream might be a very fine thing.

edited for grammar.

Edited by eje, 06 January 2006 - 01:40 PM.

[lostmyshape]

just recently did Gary Regan's Delmarva No.2. sort of a 20th century with bourbon or rye... well, and dry vermouth instead of lillet, but same difference.

it was something like:
2 oz rye or bourbon
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz creme de cacao

i forget what the garnish prescribed was... i just used a lemon twist.

result: BEST DRINK EVER. seriously, my new favorite. unlike the 12th century, the creme de cacao doesn't really come off as chocolate. it's just this earthiness floating at the bottom of the flavor of this spectacular drink.

just blown away.

and eje: ugh on the old fashioned with vodka. why would anyone do that?

[eje]

Tried Regan and Terrell's Thai Lady this evening.

As is, the formulation is pretty sweet for me. This is about the 3rd cocktail from his column that I've made and had this response. I guess I should just realize he likes his cocktails sweeter than I do, and adjust before making them.

Aside from being a little sweet, it is an amazingly aromatic cocktail.

[johnder]

We had a few of Audrey's Velvet Harvest to start, I would have liked a second one, but ran out of egg whites.

We ended up just having a sidecar after that.

Very tasty.

[eje]

This is much better for the flannestad household:

Thai Lady Revised

(for two)

4 oz Plymouth Gin
2 oz fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz Lemon Grass infused Simple Syrup
3/4 oz Cointreau

Chill well and strain into two cocktail glasses.

[slkinsey]

We had a few of Audrey's Velvet Harvest to start....

Just for the sake of accuracy, the Velvet Harvest on the menu at Pegu Club was created by Chad Solomon -- a talented young bartender shaking at Pegu Club and elsewhere.

[Nathan P.]

This is much better for the flannestad household:

Thai Lady Revised

(for two)

4 oz Plymouth Gin
2 oz fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz Lemon Grass infused Simple Syrup
3/4 oz Cointreau

Chill well and strain into two cocktail glasses.

I was thinking about trying this after reading his last column but it seemed like the next step was to try palm sugar for the simple syrup. Anyone tried to make a syrup with palm sugar?

[johnder]

Ah you are correct. I actually knew that and was referring to it more of from the sense of where I last had it, as opposed to the creator. You can find the recipe here.

Good catch Sam. Sorry Audrey/Chad. :-)

We had a few of Audrey's Velvet Harvest to start....

Just for the sake of accuracy, the Velvet Harvest on the menu at Pegu Club was created by Chad Solomon -- a talented young bartender shaking at Pegu Club and elsewhere.

[Jason Perlow]

Today I made myself a simple Irish Coffee, using a dark roasted Arabica blend using my single serve coffee machine and a nice shot of Baileys.

I really need to make those more often.

[lancastermike]

Last night we had a couple of old standbys. I had a Ward 8 and Maggie an Aviation. Both were very nice.

We use the Sam Kinsey method for our Aviations

2oz gin {Gordons}
1/2 oz maraschino {Luxardo}
1/2 oz lemon juice.

Maggie loves these.

I used the Cocktail DB receipe for my Ward 8, with my own made grenedine.