limewine

Woohoo! Slipping in just under the deadline, here's my entry: Dizzy Dairy. I prepared two cocktails for the event: the first, an ill-conceived amaro-based take on that old holiday classic: Ferneggnog And the second, a more successful revamping of that emerald-green piece of cocktail frippery, the Grown-up Grasshopper. Thanks to Chris for offering to host, and to everyone who took the time to participate.

Ten01 Bistro with Kelley Swenson behind the bar is pretty good. Heard good things about 50 Plates, though they were too mobbed the last time I was in town and I didn't get a chance to visit the bar. Jeffrey Morgenthaler just started working at Clyde Common, which already had a decent bar. And best of all, these are all within a few blocks of each other (and of Teardrop).

Jamie Boudreau was serving some nice raspberry & blackberry shrub cocktails at Vessel in Seattle last fall. My favorite, which I'm proud to say bears my name (given my fondness for the ingredients), was the Clarke's Conundrum, made with the shrub, Rittenhouse rye and Pedro Ximenez. Good lord, those were nice. Here's Jamie's writeup: Berry Shrub

Washington state keeps jiggling with Benedictine's availability, but when I was in the Capitol Hill store at 12th & Pine this weekend, I saw plenty on the shelf without the "closeout" tag, so maybe cooler heads have prevailed. Anyway, it's around in Seattle for now.

Spirited Dinner tickets & info will be available May 1, I'm told. Previews of Tales sessions, events and goings-on are being featured at Blogging Tales of the Cocktail: 2008, a new group blog produced by around 30 cocktail-lovin' bloggers, including eGullet's very own eje. In July, the blog will feature frequent live updates from New Orleans. And since johnder is too modest to mention it, I'll note that he and eje will be joining me and Jamie Boudreau in presenting a session entitled "Making Your Own Cocktail Ingredients," on Saturday afternoon. edited to correct one of those devilish details

'Course, this whole "making your own" point may be moot come February, when Haus Alpenz rolls out their St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram in New York & Massachusetts.

How is this different (or is it) from a damson gin?

I haven't tried Chad & Christy's recipe, but I have done side-by-side comparisons between Chuck Taggart's recipe and the Wray & Nephew. The commercial version is a little smoother in flavor, with more edge taken off the spice, and it has a thicker mouthfeel (glycerin?). Mixing, though, I like the homemade -- the more ragged allspice flavor carries through in the cocktail better, IMHO. Also, I recently dug out a bottle of the Taggart formula that had been aging for two years (read: I found a bottle I'd forgotten about at the back of the liquor cabinet). It does mellow more over time, and thicker mouthfeel aside, I think flavorwise it's almost indistinguishable from the W&N. Of course, I'm now waiting anxiously to see how the Alpenz allspice dram works out. Tasted a prototype in July, and it was pretty good, much spicier and more "alive" than the W&N.

Oh, I downsized the recipe -- considering the look my wife gave me when I proposed the idea, and the general squeamishness of the extended family, it sounds like I'm drinking this myself -- so I'm only gambling about a cup of bourbon, plus an ounce or two of rum and cognac. Plus, y'know, my health.

I put up a batch of the aged eggnog from CHOW last night; if I wait the suggested three-week minimum, that means it'll be ready to dip into on Christmas Eve. After reading old food & drink manuals in which our ancestors related eating and drinking much, much dodgier-sounding concoctions (Cock Ale, anyone?), I figured I'd take a stab at the eggnog, keeping a wary eye on it throughout the aging process and prepared to bail out at the faintest whiff of something gone awry.

I need to try mixing up the bitters like that. Typically I'll have the drink as you describe, but use 2 dashes of The Bitter Truth aromatic bitters, which seem to work exceptionally well with the Antica. Oh, and the dash of absinthe -- this has become de rigueur for my Manhattan mixing lately. Just a dab, but oh, what it does for the drink.

Jamie Boudreau at Vessel makes several types of bitters, and would be a good source. At Zig Zag Cafe, co-owner Kacy Fitch has also done some experimentation with bitters. Licorous, on Capitol Hill, had some house-made bitters when I was there last, but I'm not sure who's doing their bar program right now. It may also be worthwhile to check in with the folks at Sambar, in Ballard.

You're not blowin' smoke there -- I just made up one of these to your specs, and it's a keeper. Not having any Apry on hand, I couldn't tackle the Flatiron original, but the R&W works just as you say -- plenty of apricot flavor, but not cloying. Thanks for putting up this recipe.

The Rothman & Winter creme de violette debuted in New York in July; last I heard, it was supposed to be available in California beginning this month. Details on distributors & other products available from Haus Alpenz.

Yes, of course -- sorry to muddy the waters. Carry on.

I think you're blending two things together: * Okanagan Spirits is working on an absinthe, which Jamie kindly gave me a taste of several weeks ago. I don't know how or where this will be marketed, but for an early batch, it seemed promising. * Marteau Verte Classique is a different creature. It is designed by Gwydion Stone from the Wormwood Society, and will be made in Switzerland based on Gwydion's recipe. It should be available for online sales this fall, and if all goes well it may be available in the US by next spring. This is the absinthe that was served during the Lost Ingredients session at Tales of the Cocktail (and at assorted other events, public and private), and in my opinion (as well as those of many folks over at the WS) it's a wonderful absinthe. So, combine that with St. George, and that makes three North American designed or manufactured absinthes. Happy days!

Oh, you shoulda been at the Lost Ingredients session-- Not only are they restarting, they had samples. (And not only of the current remake using the vintage recipe -- Rob Cooper gave out samples from a 1940's bottle that he'd meant to bring just for visual presentation, but the cork cracked in transit, and, well ... it was enjoyed by a happy audience. For a brief moment I had three different types of creme de violette in front of me -- two Yvettes and a recent one from Haus Alpenz. Oh, the beauty of it all.......) And Katie, I'm so sorry I didn't have a chance to meet you at Tales -- I'd been looking forward to that. I hope you make it back next year.

The recipe for the falernum I meant to serve at the session (before the box of bottles was misplaced in the Monteleone storage room) is in the current issue of Imbibe; it's a slight variation on a recipe I posted last year. Please note that this is modeled on the Stansfeld-Sazerac family of falernum (used primarily in mid-century tiki drinks, and the model for Fee Brothers falernum), so it is much tarter and more citrusy than the John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum most people are accustomed to. Though, with the recipe, you could easily tweak it to the Velvet style, by reducing or eliminating the lime juice and very slightly increasing the amount of cloves. The recipe for Chuck Taggart's pimento dram is on his site, The Gumbo Pages; we didn't have room for it in the Imbibe story, but the recipe is also listed on my site and on Imbibe's blog, so the bases are covered. An item I mentioned at the Lost Ingredients panel but we didn't serve was a classic Amer Picon replica crafted by Jamie Boudreau (recipe for which is also in the current Imbibe). In my presentation, I said I hadn't had a chance to taste the replica side-by-side with the classic Picon from pre-reformulation, only the current version, which the replica dwarfed in vibrance and flavor; immediately after the panel, though, Lenell Smothers approached with a flask of the original, and since Jamie was in the crowd, we were able to taste the classic and the replica next to each other. The matchup was almost perfect -- Ted Haigh remarked the replica is just ever-so-slightly sweeter than the classic. From what I understand, Jamie is addressing this with his next batch.

I agree fully with this one--although I think I dial back the Heering a little bit, and when using absinthe I relegate it to just a couple of dashes (I also tend to go with Rittenhouse for the rye), so you wind up with a souped-up Manhattan. An underrated drink, in my opinion.

Yes, and yes. Mr. Wondrich refines and updates the Esquire approach to drinks, but the 1956 version is very worthwhile, with more recipes than the more recent version, along with extensive spirits notes and a wonderful style that really evokes its era. A steal at $10, or twice that.

I made up a batch a while back, with very positive results (details are here). I used plain white sugar in mine, as I only wanted sweetness for this batch, with no molasses flavor. It was quite good, and gave cocktails an excellent silky texture. I keep meaning to make more, but the only place in Seattle where I've found gum arabic is completely on the other side of town, and they always seem to be closed when I'm in the neighborhood. But Robert's post puts me in the mood for Pisco Punch, so maybe soon...

I'm a card-carrying rickeyaphile in the summer, and I take mine with no sugar. Though, I came across a recipe a couple of years back (can't recall where, sorry) that called for a dash or two of maraschino, which makes a not unpleasant version.

If I recall correctly, I've seen this recipe referred to simply as a "Floridita" [sans daiquiri], while the rum/lime/maraschino/sugar version has the daiquiri tag appended. I'm not at home right now so I can't back this up with a trip to the bookcase, but that's the pattern I believe emerged when I was comparing recipes, back when I became inordinately fond of both drinks.

I'm actually something of a fan of the Bronx Terrace, though I can see that it's flavor isn't for everyone. It's very dry, with a spare, suave undercurrent that is appealing when I'm not really in the mood for anything else. I save this cocktail for the occasional jaded palate moment, when I just need something different, but a drink that's quiet in the glass and free from the mixological razzle-dazzle that I usually look for in a recipe. I did a writeup on the Bronx Terrace about a year ago, over here.

Sounds like "What to Drink with What You Eat," from Andrew Dornenberg and Karen Page, is exactly what you're looking for. Fairly new, it's a comprehensive review of different foods and dishes, and different drinks (ranging from tea to wine to spirits & cocktails) that match the flavors. It's a pretty exhaustive exploration of flavor pairing. I wrote up a more detailed review a while back on my site.