Chris Amirault

Grabbed a bottle of the Genevieve at LeNell's -- thanks to the NY crowd for leaving a few for us slowpokes from up north -- and made an Improved Holland Cock-Tail with 2 oz Genevieve 1 tsp simple 1 tsp maraschino dash Regan's #6 bitters dash Fee's orange bitters dash Pernod There are a few cocktails that I immediately think, "I have to make this for my friends." Then there are the smaller number that cause me to scheme, "This one's just for me." What a fantastic spirit, and what a fantastic cocktail. If this is what Jerry Thomas had in mind, he truly was a genius. Thanks, Jerry, and thanks, Dave.

It is pretty unsweet, though not dry -- and it's a lot less floral than I'd expected. I added 1 tsp of St. Germain to a 3/4 oz equal parts Silver Lily, and that perked it up quite a bit.

Rittenhouse has been out of hooch for months, and several of us have been waiting for the new shipment. S'all.

Grabbed a bottle of R&W CdV yesterday and I'm wondering about this drink. Is it truly an equal parts drink? That seems damned sweet.

Nah. I'm not sure exactly what the classification "Americano" denotes but Carpano Antica is nowhere near as bitter as Cocchi Americano, Vergano Americano, or any of the chinatos (chinati?) I've tried. Even Punt e Mes is significantly more bitter. At least to me. It just a nice, flavorful Sweet Vermouth. ← in my own mind i demoted vya sweet to an americano. its not that "americanos" are exactly bitter but they more simplistic. they don't even play by the same rules of intensity either... ← I had the sweet Vya yesterday at LeNell's and left a big bottle of Carpano Antica on the shelf because I'm really happy with Punt e Mes in most drinks. The CA is great, but, I have to say, I was underwhelmed by the Vya. It was tasty enough, but, I guess I don't quite get it.

racheld and cdh: great points about cinema and bitters. Surely la dolce vita requires Campari.... Dave, what a rotten time to run out of cranberry juice. And I think that the Anne Bancroft is a much better name than the Kramer.

LeNell's has gotten some of the new Rittenhouse BIB. I haven't tried it yet so no report on its state, but I was glad to see it at $18.

Stopped by LeNell's yesterday on a day trip to Coney Island with my daughter. Among many other goodies was a much larger selection of bitters including some Bitter Truth stuff, what seems like the full line of Fee's (including some of the whiskey-barrel aged elixir), Regan's, and a few others. I tried to get her to crack open a bottle of the rhubarb stuff to try it but no dice.

I'm sorry, Rachel. Come again?

Found a new bottle much cheaper than the past bottles ($29 instead of $35-37 elsewhere), and started thinking about another drink. Having just gotten this piece out the door, I was wondering about Negroni options, and saw this: I was also thinking about those equal parts drinks, and thought, what the hell. Quatroni 3/4 oz Tanqueray 3/4 oz Punt e Mes 3/4 oz Campari 3/4 oz St. Germain It really shouldn't work. It should just suck. But, well, it's actually pretty damned great.

What we might call comparison drinks are a good idea. I had been thinking along the same basic sour lines as you but in re an up Margarita with a properly salted rim, which more patrons are likely to have had elsewhere in its crappy form. A formally dressed bartender wouldn't work in this context, I don't believe.

That's a great start, TVC. So what are those interesting and somewhat elaborate cocktails that you used to showcase the mad skillz and impress the tongue? I'm lucky to have an owner/chef friend who is already excited about the idea and is responding to this interest as a result. And I'm convinced that, with some thoughtful ideas like yours, this can be win:win. After all, for me (like you at the dive bar) it'd also be a labor of love.

Over many a beer-and-shot, I had the great privilege to pick the brain of Toby Maloney, our own Alchemist and the ingenious mixologist behind the Violet Hour, among others. I was complaining about the dearth of good Providence cocktail bars, and it got us to talking about the strategies one might use to create a workable real-world cocktail menu in a fine city like my own. We bounced around design concepts (accepting that one's friends or dates need entry cocktails and a few classic tipples made well), prep issues (what can and cannot be bottled), training (not everyone has been behind the stick at Death & Co. or Absinthe), and the like. I can't report too many details, because I want to respect both Toby's great ideas and the fog through which I'm trying to remember them. A few months later, I have been invited to be part of a discussion here about this very issue. An established joint wants to add a cocktail menu that's not too ambitious out of the box and reflects their approach to food and drink (high quality, artisanal when possible, neighborhood). It got me thinking about my conversation with Toby and prompted me to start this topic here. How would you approach this discussion? What are the other issues at stake? What sorts of up-front investments would you make (or not make)? If you're starting small, what does "small" look like? How can you balance the needs of the cocktailian diner and the diner's X-A-Tini date? And so on.

Barbara Lynch (Boston's No. 9 Park chef), working with the Anthropologie people, has created something along those lines. The NYT Magazine did a brief bit on it in May, and you can get one at Stir, their shop/cooking education center.

Another update. I have a batch of jerk bitters steeping, and I took advantage of some ripe pineapples to infuse some rum in the fruit. When those are ready I'll filter them and take notes. Meanwhile, I noticed that the house bitters I've been building based on Robert Hess's formula got cloudy, and as Avery (BittermensAG) suggested no amount of filtering cleared them up. I'm letting them settle in hopes of pouring off the top. However, if anyone has suggestions for something I can do with this gadget to address the problem, I'm all ears.

I generally agree: rye for most things but bourbon for a few specific drinks. I'd add Crustas and Juleps to that bourbon list of Erik's, and will grab bourbon for a Sour or an Old Fashioned -- especially if I'm going for the cherry & orange hoohah. Also, I think bourbon plays pretty well with others, especially ginger-based drinks like the Gingered Gentleman that's a regular part of our summer rotation. When I look at the list, I can see that a drink with citrus fruit tends to make me pull the bourbon and that I grab the rye otherwise (when the fruit is a brandy-soused cherry). I also think that rye really benefits from a bitter cocktail. So what makes other people choose one over the other?

I think it's strictly cocktails -- so what's your favorite Moutai tipple?

What it looked like coming out of the Bradley: I took it out a bit later than I'd have liked (it was at 150F), and because it wasn't shoulder it did dry out a little bit. But the smoke, sauce, thyme, and lamb were a great combination. I think next time I'd grab it at 130F or 135F -- or try to find a shoulder around here. The final plating: Clockwise from 12, the lamb, a nectarine and ginger compote, fried plantains, rice and peas (black beans -- daughter's favorite), and the hot sauce. Had it all with a tall Gingered Gentleman to drink.

Did you save the skin? It's fantastic for making beans, collards, etc.

Ann wrote back:

These delectable potatoes were made by elfin. =R= ← How were they made?

Just put this up to age. I was following Avery's advice about proof and tried to get it well above 100, but I couldn't resist having some of the demerara in there too. If my math is correct, it's at about 107 proof. I didn't cook the lime bc I wanted to have that fresh, but I did steep everything else. I crushed the dry stuff before steeping it. Apricot Jerk Bitters Combine in a saucepan: 350 ml Wray & Nephew overproof rum (126 proof) 250 ml Lemon Hart demerara rum (80 proof) 25 g orange peel 125 g dried apricot, diced 7 g thyme leaves and tender stems 7 g dried gentian 8 g allspice 3 g cloves 2 g star anise 2 g black pepper 3 g cinnamon 2 g green cardamom 2 g nutmeg 30 g scotch bonnets (about 5, stemmed and seeded) 3g dried habaneros (about 3, stemmed) 25 g ginger, julienned Heat to 140F or so and then take off the heat to let cool. Add 200 g diced lime (about 2) I'll shake & age, then strain and steep the solids a bit, add some color and sweetness with molasses.

Got a new bottle today, and the rubber nose is gone. Back to happy here.

Are you looking for jammy or trying to avoid it? ← I... I... I don't know.

Boned leg of lamb was on sale this week, and I've been wondering what would happen if you tried to prepare a jerk lamb leg the way you'd prepare pulled pork: smoked then finished low and slow. Lamb leg lacks the internal fat of a pork shoulder, of course, but I think that I could get a pretty good, if inauthentic, result nonetheless. I didn't have much time this morning to prepare a paste, so I used this Inner Beauty hot sauce knock-off, which has a jerk base though adds mustard and lacks thyme. The mustard seemed a good idea with the lamb, and I could easily supply thyme. Finally, since I was going to let this sit in the fridge overnight, I didn't want to add any additional uncooked acid, so no lime. The lamb leg butterflied so that the marinade could get in deep: Lots of thyme laid out: IB sauce poured over and massaged in: Roughly rolled pre-wrap: Rolled in plastic wrap: Tomorrow I'll tie it, smoke it in the Bradley until 140F or so, and then bring it inside to finish. Pics to come.