drcocktail

Right. Go back to vodka (which you love) add a dash of Rose's, a couple dashes of lime, and soda...or not. All the soda does is make it a lighter drink. You have the basic drink before the addition of the fizzy. You can also delete the Roses and try the thing with plain ole sugar (or simple syrup). Then again, maybe tomorrow. Take two Advils and call me in the morning. --Doc.

Creme de violette, so named is no more. The U.S. version, Creme Yvette ceased production in the late 60s - which was quite sad...it was by far the best. Contact Chas Jacquin et Cie to beg and complain. The current French version, Liqueur de Violette is made by a small and old liqueur company named Benoit Serres. They are just beginning to get an inkling of international interest in this product. I do not believe they are yet set up to sell it directly to the consumer, though if you are fluent in French you can certainly try. They have a website but I suggest speaking to them for the assurance of a reply. Liqueur de Violette CAN be ordered from here. Bless the web! And Trillium, even the real product is photo sensitive, though when it fades in light it turns more of an ash grey to my eyes. It's really true of almost all flower petal-colored spirits. I made some Boker's Bitters last year with Malva flowers, a beautiful purple color liquid resulted - brown/amber within a couple weeks of filtered light. Such is nature. --Doc.

Not very Scotchy eh? Are you using equal parts? My preferred recipe is 1 ounce Scotch 1 ounce orange juice 3/4 ounce cherry-flavored brandy (Cherry Heering or Cherry Marnier are best.) 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth This both dries it up a bit and allows the Scotch to stand a bit taller. --Doc.

Mardee, do you actually HAVE glasses colored, I mean like after the fact? If so, that DOES sound cool! --Doc.

I think we were down for a bit? Anyone else notice this? --Doc.

Hi Mardee! It's almost cocktail hour in Cornwall isn't it? Envy. --Doc.

I need to mention a few things here. 1) Scotch takes age longer than Bourbon. 2) Among Bourbons & ryes, it is very brand/proof dependent. 3) Crap in, crap out: age a poor whiskey and a poor (old) whiskey comes out. 4) 20 years IS what most experts say for American whiskey. 5) I've have bonded 100 proof Bourbon distilled 1916, bottled 1938 - excellent, still. 6) There is a form of mildew that can live in 100 proof whiskey. It'll look like tiny, tiny fish roe in the bottom of the bottle. You can still drink the whiskey, no problem, but DON'T SHAKE THE BOTTLE. If you do it'll all taste like liquid mildew, turn the color and opacity of a Yoo Hoo and NEVER go back. 7) I've never seen whiskey mildew in any bottle less than 40 years old and it is reasonably rare. 8) Though not about whiskey, I've always loved the way Andre Simon described an over-aged brandy: "A crusty old bachelor past his prime." --Doc

Aw shucks m'am ah don' know much...

Grouse is FABULOUS in a Blood & Sand. --Doc.

Steven, same deal applies. Taste the rums, use which you prefer, taste the other stuff (yup, again) and mix, brother! --Doc. Edit: Oh, the other point is, I BET had I been there that -I- would've liked your gin drink. I posit that you just learned to make a drink your friends WON'T make fun of!

ROFLMAO! You could be right about the gin. I have learn to have these reverent tastebuds I can bring into play any time I sip something I want to understand and want to like. Like anticipating a great meal. For me, this works. I've ended up liking and appreciating most liquors. Of course with this drink, you CAN make it with the vodka too. I remeber the first time I drank room-temperature gin. I was in a bar many years ago, and I correctly answered a bar trivia question. The prize was a shot of gin. I was proud of myself and I sipped it with reverence. In that way, I actually liked it! It was peppery and piney with a zing. I've learn to do this will all spirits - though I'll never love bubblegum schnapps. --Doc.

I meant to mention that very thing when I read it: Cherry FLAVORED brandy LIQUEUR is what is meant. Even the domestic brands work well in this drink. Lately I have noted that Cherry Heering -under the name Peter Heering- can again be ordered from High Times Cellars out here in California. Hi Times Cherry Heering link --Doc.

Ask Gary the story about watching ME get wasted in real time.

Honest, it doesn't matter because you will TASTE the gin, and the other ingredients will go in to balance it based on YOUR tastebuds. It'll work! It's zen! --Doc.

Okey dokey! Let's try a cross between a gin Gimlet and a gin rickey! Taste the gin, warm, by itself. Taste a squeeze of lime juice. Rinse your mouth and taste some Rose's. Now -I- think you can make this! Double rock glass. Rocks, not too many. Pour in some gin, it is your base. Based on the flavors and strengths you encountered from it, the lime juice and the Rose's, add what feels right to the gin. Swizzle! Add a jolt of soda water. Swizzle more! Add a lime wedge. I think it'll be good. Edit: Add more ice if need be. --Doc.

Got limes? Got lemons? Got oranges?

My faves are the ones all the great old bars in NOLA now use. I mean they ALL use them. They look fastastically original, but are new, new, new. I have to suspect Libbey - those silica daredevils to whom I turn for all my fancy (not second hand) glassware needs! Wish I had a pic...call Tujaques! --Doc.

Ah, I understand, but Riedel compliments aside, my glass is of Libbey extraction - something they abortively attempted for a wine glass. I saw the value and bought tons of them (they'd discounted them) and have been very pleased. As for stem breakage -- my dear, you are so passionate! We all have so much we work into who we are, there can never be a "correct" glass. You've found what's right for you, and by the sound of you, you'll make it perfectly regal. --Doc.

I love stems. There is an anti-utilitarian grace to them and, if held with care the drink may stay just that much colder a few seconds longer. Mainly it's the looks. There is no reason nice stemware can't be designed with dishwashers in mind, either. This also brings to mind Gary's cautionary tale about overfilling leading to a Champagne tulip. I've got a gigantic glassware collection. If an antique bar guide calls for some arcane vessel, the hunt is on! In the collecting I have stemware that work admirably in the dishwasher as well as glasses that seem not to invite filling to the brim. If I can grasp the system for doing so, I'll post them here with a familiar bottle for scale: The one on the left is my default cocktail glass. It corrects Gary's problem because, unlike most, it is well balanced, isn't topheavy and doesn't slosh so easily. With the more steeply angled sides of the glass, it also feels easier not to yearn to top it off. The glass on the right works in just about any drinkwasher, still holds a reasonable volume, and retains that lovely sweep of line I love so much. Folks who approach cocktails with trepidation seem also to find this glass a bit more comforting. I have stemless cocktailware as well, and for certain drinks I use it for a specific effect, but for me, stems will always rule! --Doc.

I'm going to allow myself to be swayed to blanco for a bit to see my reaction over time. I've always loved cheap Mexican reposado - like 3 Magueyes - myself. As to blanco, I have a bottle of Patron Silver which ought to do the trick. Candidly, the whole Tequila trend is a little toward the end of my historical interests, so I am guilty of not giving it the study I have most other spirits. The only other liquor about which I know less is vodka. --Doc.

My fave -utter fave- was transcribed by one Charles Baker in 1939 from a 1937 recipe. I repeat it verbaitim: "Tequila por Mi Amante; Mexico City, 1937 This is a prepared beverage requiring patience and from three to four weeks. Tequila, 1 pint Ripe strawberries, 1 qt., cut in halves Wash and stem the berries, put into an airtight jar or bottle, pour on enough tequila to cover. Shut tightly and stand for at least 21 days. Strain... This berry process extracts some of the raw taste, adds a rosy dawn touch. Our Mexican drinks it straight always. We opine that handled in the same way as sloe gin, discoveries would be made...." I'm with the Mexican, here. It is just so unexpectedly delicious, I haven't been able to get past sipping it straight. Food & drink lover Chuck Taggart brought this gem to my attention. --Doc.

It must be the time zone difference. It's only 7am here in Los Angeles. Really, I wouldn't feel right mixing anything stronger than my gin and coffee, here. --Doc.

Actually, I restrained myself from answering last night so Gary would dispense what I consider to be the silver bullet and golden fleece answer to your question, but he didn't say it! I think he's trying to undermine you. Here is the answer Gary came up with that I consider genius: Taste the ingredients. Don't WORRY about proportions or recipes, just taste the ingredients you want to use and then make a drink with them. It work with almost anything. Knowing the flavors guides your hand. --Doc.

Beans hit it on head for me. They don't flush the lines like on the beer. I named some problem areas, but it's really all about the lines for me. I do agree about the ratio issues, though. I would think between the manufacturers and the municipalities none of these issues would be hard problems to correct. --Doc.

Whoops, sorry thought you were talking about the Tanqueray Malacca. Hendrick's is a product of Scottish distiller William Grant & Sons who produces whiskies under brands such as Grant's, Glenfiddich and Balvenie. That company WAS founded in 1887. I do not believe the Hendricks gin we both love to be old, though, (like maybe since 2000) and the quirky ad campaign? Pretty slick for a hoary old Scottish gin distiller, eh? Note their website is quite coy about any real history too. I love it, but old? Nah. --Doc.