Chris Amirault

That'll be an early test run, to be sure. I think that the trick there will be knowing when to stop the grind....

It is a great drink. If it pleases the court, I'll simply call it "The Surf Room Not Really a Mai Tai."

Because it doesn't adhere to the authentic original but uses its name?

Try Sam's small batch version.

I would rather die than serve the Monin, and we've got some simple, killer orgeat receipts over here.

And here are several more participants! Shawn at rejiggeredcocktails.com is featuring Ice Cream Shots and a Fall Fizz. Craig at coloneltiki.com is pouring Leche Libres. Dennis at rockandrye.com is featuring the Rubus Fizz -- which, I have to say, blows my mind.

If I'm going with a Mai Tai, I'm making a Surf Room Mai Tai from Intoxica!, which I believe is the ne plus ultra of Mai Tais: 1 oz light PR rum 1 oz dark Jamaican rum 1 oz demerara rum 1/4 oz curacao 1/4 oz simple 1/4 oz orgeat 1/4 oz lemon 1/2 oz lime 1 oz pineapple 1 oz orange Damn, I gotta make some orgeat....

Interesting, Tony. Can you share with us your algorithm so that we understand how you've designed this tool?

From Jonas at drinkoftheweek.com -- CA Having just completed the Bar Smarts course, I wanted to use some of my knowledge. I wanted to take a classic and modify it slightly and I chose the classic martini of 1/2 Gin, 1/2 Vermouth and a dash of Orange bitters. I also decided to take this martini from before dinner to after. Chocolate Milk Martini

That white/pink grapefruit pointer applies to just about everything, imo, especially stuff that dates back to the 1950s and 1960s. So here's a question for the tiki crowd: you are teaching a course on cocktails and you are planning to make one tiki drink (not sure about the other two drinks, but leaning Daiquiri for one and something with arrack/Swedish punsch for the other). What drink do you make?

For the last year or so, I've arrived at the conclusion that I simply need no more kitchen gadgets. I'm not fully tricked out by any means, but I can make do with the collection of vintage, quality, and McGyver-esque rigs I've got set up. However, during my brief, busy stint as a South Indian sous chef, I saw and fell in love with this Ultra Pride + 1.25 liter wet/dry grinder. The thing is a beast, with two conical granite grinders that blast through just about anything you hand it. My mind danced with thoughts of fresh dosa batter but also homemade masa, spice mixes, rice noodles, tofu, chocolate.... Later I got on the plane, faced financial reality, and forgot about it. Sort of. Then, this weekend, as I headed into the last quarter-hour of mortar and pestle action on a Khmer samla paste that included a wrist-busting 1 1/2 cups of lemon grass, and thought, "Enough is enough." I placed the order just now at perfectpeninsula.com -- it's out of stock at many locations -- and had a good customer service experience talking through a few things with them as well. Arrives in 5-7 days; will report back!

What a night! Thanks to Matt Jennings at La Laiterie, Mike Lester of MS Walker, Liz Moniz-Steely of Campus Fine Wines, inestimable barback Sarah Gray, and a host of fantastic participants, we had a great 2 1/2 hours last night. Some of the highlights included: handing them a terrific Sidecar upon arrival -- made me scramble but, boy, did they love them. the old vs new lemon juice and old vs new vermouth tastings. Blew people away. making a base Manhattan (2 oz Rittenhouse, 1 oz M&R rosso, 2 Angostura) that everyone tried and then making adjustments to suit tastes. the mint exercise: smell a non-rubbed leaf (nothing), smell a rubbed leaf (lovely), smell and taste a roughed-up leaf (awful). lining up tastes of all components of a French Pearl (gin, simple, lime, mint, Pernod) and then making the drinks for them afterward to notice balance and the alchemy of a good drink. I thought I'd also report on dos and don'ts. Deep breath: Do get there 90 minutes early. After discovering only nine glasses on the rack (for 36-40 drinks) we spent half of the prep time tracking down "the rest of the cocktail glasses," which turned out not to be "the rest" but "five more." Good thing that I had brought some from home, and good thing that Sarah had her hips rebuilt six months ago, as she ended up doing a lot more dishwashing than I had anticipated. Don't forget your citrus juicer (check my list above), or else you'll have to run down the street and pay Whole Foods prices for something you have four of at home. Do bring more little plastic cups and straws for tasting than you think you'll need. Don't wait until you're tasting something to hand out the straws and cups: give everyone a couple dozen straws and a few cups at the outset. Do prepare brief, legible index cards with all the main points you want to make, but... Don't expect you'll go through all of those points in the arranged order; just go with the flow. Do wipe down the bar every five seconds as you spill stuff all over the workspace of the guy sitting over there. Don't try out your new BarSmarts tools for the first time in front of 15 spectators, or else you may dump the barspoon onto the floor as you strain your first Manhattan. Do bring your own ice. Lots and lots and lots of your own ice. Don't diss vodka -- it'll come back to bite you. Do expect several dozen "Mad Men" references. Don't underestimate the power of a single, terrific spiced, brandied cherry. Do share lots of cocktail history and lore as you shake, stir, and strain, as participants love it. Don't crap on flare bartenders and then pull out a flamed orange garnish, especially if there's a wiseacre at the end of the bar. Do grab bottles from the bar behind you so that people can smell and/or taste, say, Luxardo Maraschino when you're talking about Aviations, or St. Germain and Bols Genever when you're talking about new product introductions. I'm still going over my notes and preparing ideas for session two, and will chime in here as I do.

Forrest over at, appropriately, A Drink with Forrest sends this -- CA i made this drink up a couple of weeks ago; i had some mini's of Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine and i was wondering what to do with them-- then my lover asked me for a 'creamy chocolate sort of drink' and i whipped this up... It was a hit. So here is the recipe (makes 2-- of course): The CCC (Creamy Chocolate Catdaddy) 3 1/2 Oz Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine 2 Oz TMD Chocolate Liqueur (or Sub) 3-4 Tbsp of Chocolate Yogurt depending on how creamy you want your drink-- i used 3) Stir, dry shake, add ice and shake till chilled Strain into Chilled Glass, Garnish with 2 Brandied Cherries (as symbols of your love) Add 3-4 Dashes Fee's Aztec Chocolate Bitters

Daniel over at Gin Not Vodka send this -- CA I love dairy. The beautiful textures and creamy flavours that you can give your drinks with dairy can't really be matched any other way. For my drink this month, I was inspired by an odd combination: tea and coffee. This may well sound absurd to those not familiar with it, but I assure you that it's delicious. I call my drink the Taiji Blur: 1oz Patron XO 1oz coffee liqueur 1oz early grey infused gin 0.5oz cream 2 dashes Bitter Truth aromatic bitters 99% cocoa chocolate, for garnish Shake all with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Grate the chocolate over the top for garnish. I hope you enjoy the drink! For more detail, pictures and many more drinks please have a look at my blog!

Thomas Keller has a new cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home, arriving in stores in time for the winter gift season. The amazon page doesn't include a "Look Inside!" feature, so there's not a lot of information there, but the book is focused on US home cooking, comfort foods in particular, as served at the Yountville restaurant of the same name. Definitely worth checking out. Does anyone have any advance peeks to share?

From Jessamyn at Food on the Brain -- CA Not having much experience with dairy-based drinks, my husband and I did some serious experimentation. You can see our hits and misses on my blog, Food on the Brain. Eventually, I came full circle and settled on Irish Coffee for my submission. Sweet, hot, creamy and caffeinated, what's not to like? Irish Coffee Pour 1-2 ounces of Irish whiskey (I like Jameson’s) into a mug or Irish Coffee glass. Pour in hot coffee, leaving some room at the top. Add sugar to taste. Top with sweetened whipped cream. Wrap yourself up in a blanket by the fire, invite a cat up to sit, and enjoy.

On with the wrap-up! Sonja Kassebaum over at Thinking of Drinking wrote in with the following -- CA In working on a cocktail to pair with a dessert course for a recent pairing dinner, I came up with the Jasmine Orchid. It's really a variation on a Ramos Gin Fizz, with both egg and cream, but with vanilla vodka and jasmine instead of gin and orange flower water. Delicious and desserty, it went very well with the apple pie. Recipe, photo and details here!

I would think that this is God's gift to the college bar mixologist. Stock up on Bacardi, Jack Daniels, and Absolut and you're all set.

From Ross O'Connell representing for The Cocktail Kumite -- CA I had planned to make a drink with coconut milk, since I thought that would be fully in keeping with the theme, then realized that coconut water and coconut milk are different. And that making coconut milk would be more work than getting the water out of the coconut. But surely there's a dairy case somewhere with coconut water in it, right? Anyway, I don't know if this adheres well enough to the theme, but here's the: Nuinuino (click for picture!) 3/4 oz Dark Rum 1/2 oz Coconut Water 1/4 oz Creme de Violette 1/4 oz Lime Juice More discussion on a blog I write with some friends, The Cocktail Kumite Thanks, Ross

Jake over at Liquor is Quicker shares this entry; link here -- CA Since I'm allergic to cow's milk, my dairy repertoire is somewhat limited. My drink is a variation on a classic Thunder Cocktail, from the Savoy Cocktail book, which uses sweetened egg yolk, liquor, and cayenne pepper to make a quick, dirty, and spicy Eggnog rip-off. Delicious! I mix it up by switching in Jamaican rum and some spice-based liqueurs to complicate things, and add in a couple of snobbish comments about Domaine de Canton just to keep in character.

I use it on rubs, fry coatings, chip seasoning, and so on, but I always pound the Penzey's grains to dust in a mortar before adding. Makes absorption on meat or tongue easier, and the flavor of the garlic blends more effectively.

I got some remarkable fresh turmeric this weekend and was struck by how complex, potent, and beautiful it was; the stuff I had used before paled in comparison, and powders? Forget about it. The weekend of cooking (more on that in another topic) produced a tip and a warning. As with many things, a microplane is an outstanding tool for getting extremely small bits ready for pounding in the mortar and pestle. However, the fresh turmeric left a coating of tarry resin on the microplane. I tried to wash it off but it just transferred to the rag without breaking down at all; I eventually just grated some galangal over it, and that got up most of it. I'm curious about this resin, as there's nothing really like it in other root products like ginger or horseradish, at least as far as I know.

The Urbane (Not Cosmopolitan) Chris Weigert sends us this -- CA Despite my previous experiment with milk-based cocktails not going quite as well as I'd hoped (mopping up gin and milk is something of a nuisance) I gamely plunged into this month's challenge with a big, strong, and rich concoction from the annals of mixology lore: one of the many variants of Tiger's Milk, as recorded in Charles H. Baker Jr.'s seminal 1946 drink guide, "The Gentleman's Companion: Being an Exotic Drinking Book, or Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask." It's a good drink, but I think it'll be even better if...well, read on to find out.

What cut do you use? And do you braise it until it is tender? Or just before? Or...?

Always use large unless I've been able to swing by the egg farm and grab some smalls for cocktails. Are chickens bred to lay a particular size of egg? I know that, back in the old days, the eggs were smaller, along with most things poultry.