Chris Amirault

A few Society members have attended the Liquid Lab, a long day of mad mixological research and development hosted by Junior and Heidi Merino. (Website here; Facebook page here; short Serious Eats piece here.) I'll be attending this Sunday's session and hope to share notes about it here. First off, though: who's been? What happened? Do tell.

I humbly offer the eG Forums Spirits and Cocktails forum for consideration. In addition, there are quite a few bloggers who have excellent drinks databases. I often check Paul Clarke's at Cocktail Chronicles, for example.

I've been a fan of Suntory Yamazaki 12 for a while now; bought my dad a bottle a few years ago and squirreled away a tasty bottle for myself in the process. Now in Tokyo, I've been pretty happy with the cheap supermarket-available Kirin 100 proof whisky (~$10 for 600 ml) for splashing over these killer Japanese rocks with some water, mizuwari-style. However, this Nikka Yoichi whisky (~$12 for 500 ml at, yes, the supermarket) is killer: funky, rich, and aromatic, I'd stock it at home instead of Dewar's White Label, Famous Grouse, or even Asyla as a quality base "scotch." Butterscotch toffee, seaweed, blue cheese: what's not to love? These dips of the toe into Japanese whisk(e)y suggest that something's afoot concerning distilling, quality, and price points around here. I'm thinking of bringing back a few liters of this Yoichi stuff for friends and family. Surely there are other great options out there, yes?

Anyone else (besides Matt Kayahara) have experience with the Alberta Springs rye? I had it in a Manhattan at Tender Bar in Tokyo and I'm wondering what it's like straight. The reviews I've read here and there suggest a sweeter, less spicy rye than the US bottles, which my tasting of Tender's cocktail would bear out. ETA Matt, please weigh in as well!

Just found a bottle of Suze in Tokyo; it'll be heading back with me to the states next week. Any more cocktail ideas? Specifically, does anyone have that Petit Mort recipe? Tx in advance.

Convenience store ice in Tokyo is hard as rocks and clear as crystal. Ditto at Tsukiji fish market -- where the ice is the size of a 12 oz can. It's unreal. Can anyone explain this?

Agree with Matthew and Florida: I spent an enjoyable hour with it at the bookstore a few months ago but didn't buy it. Anyone cook anything from it?

Bumping this up as my family (including two girls, 12 & 5) will be staying a few doors down from a Royal Host in the Nakano section of Tokyo. Does anyone have any more to say about this place? If you have a sense of dependable fare, Japanese or otherwise, please share.

Lard how?

I've kept mine for a month or two in the fridge -- but I always make sure there's a cap of solidified fat across the top from whatever meat I cooked in it. That fat makes for a great cooking medium, and it seems to keep the lu just fine. As Nick said, a firm boil is necessary too.

It took a while -- and combining Father's Day and birthday gifts from all comers -- but I've ordered my SVS just now. Note that the BLAIS coupon for $25 off still works, and standard shipping is free. Very eager to jump in and will report back when I've got something to report.

Interesting. Who presented this seminar? And does anyone else have corroborating information? Google searches on "pig skin toxins" are confusing, disturbing, or both, but shed no light.

Most times when I grill, I make a basic zucchini or summer squash dish as follows. I look for 1-2" diameter fruit -- nothing too big -- and split them lengthwise; then I score the cut side diagonally so that the flesh has diamond-shaped cuts into which I rub a bit of olive oil and onto which I sprinkle salt. After grilling them over very hot coals to pick up some char and cook them through, I cut them into 1" chunks and then add a pepper, a fresh herb, and an acid of some sort. Successful recent versions include: black pepper, mint, lime Aleppo pepper, oregano, sherry vinegar white pepper, thyme, lemon Eating the last for lunch right now, in fact.

Say more.

Can anyone explain the z/s difference? In exchange, I offer something I created for the work menu; careful with the lemon balm syrup, which loses its pop more quickly than you'd think. Apologies for the cheap moniker: I cannot believe that the name isn't out in googleland already. Mezcal Sunset 1 1/2 oz Chichicapa or Minero mezcal 3/4 lime -3/4 lemon balm syrup -1/2 green Chartreuse dash Angostura Shake; strain into a coupe. Lower 1/2 t of Luxardo Maraschino syrup to the bottom of the glass with your barspoon.

I finally grabbed a copy of this book a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to join in the chorus of approval here. What strikes me as most admirable is the book's ability to serve both new-comers (for whom this would be the ideal first cocktail book) and enthusiasts. Along with the Rogue book, it's my favorite recent cocktail read, brimming with interesting ideas.

In this case, they were very easy to handle. Here's the data on whatever variables I noticed: -- About an 18 hour soak in the lime water. -- Rinsed very well, during which most of the loose coating on the corn came off (and stuck to my wire-mesh colander...). -- I definitely ground the masa more finely than in the past. -- After grinding, I wrapped the masa and let it sit at room temperature for a couple of hours before rolling out the little golf balls.

No worries. I think that I needed to make a moister masa than I thought previously. Oh, and for the Ultra Pride users out there, if you sprinkle in 5-10 pieces of corn at the start of a cycle, let them get crushed, and then add the rest slowly, you can avoid the pre-grinding in a mortar.

See what I mean? Flawed. I think that someone wanted that one on there for large format punches, as opposed to single-serving sours.

I made a batch of tortillas for the in-laws using the UltraPride last weekend and turned to this topic as they were the best batch yet. I think it is because I was less worried about adding water to the grinding bin than I have been in the past. Steve, in the video, you seem to say (around 1:30) that you "add a little..." -- and then get cut off. Are you adding water, too? I probably used well less than 1 c total for at least five pounds of masa (from two pounds dried corn), but it significantly helped with the grinding.

Sorry. We use Lunazul blanco at work as the well tequila and I like it just fine. But I was talking about the Milagro blanco.

I've been building a google cocktail db for our work recipes and have been using the following idiosyncratic list for categories: * Sour * Old Fashioned * Martinez/Manhattan * Martini * Fizz/Tonic/Soda * Champagne * Flip/Nogg/Milk Punch * Punch (non-Milk) * Hot Drink * Syrups/Infusions * Mocktail * Misfit As with most taxonomies, it's deeply flawed; I personally wish that I could use more than one category in the google db (that's why there's no "Tiki," for example, since most are more or less sours). We also have description (for the menu blurb), ingredients, glass, method, garnish, bartender and notes for each recipe.

It's quite good. The in-laws particularly liked its round character -- no sharp edges. Me, I am pining for that Chinaco blanco I ran out of the other day....

I'm going to have dinner and a drink at Beaker & Flask tonight before Thatch. Hadn't seen Ten01 before -- thanks.

Interesting that this should pop up. In packing up the kitchen, I'm realizing that I almost never use this knife now. Truth be told, the grip in the end just doesn't quite work for my hand....