Chris Amirault

Troy, what's your ETA? I've got some tweaked Hess house bitters, eje's clementine bitters, and johnder's grapefruit bitters on hand.

Try the Corktown Cocktail, Chris. It'll sway you. Or make you sway, at any rate. You are so, so mean. Don't you think that the eGullet Society membership need to do some test marketing for you?

Grabbed some of those Nalgene squeezers and amber droppers from The Container Store, which are meeting the need.

If you don't want color and heft, this won't work, but I usually deeply brown a lot of mirepoix, toss in some roasted garlic and/or onion confit, and make sure there's a good deal of mushrooms in the stock base whenever I make vegetarian stock.

Going to a party tonight and needed two bottled cocktails as contributions. Made a bottle of Jack Roses but wanted also to use some of the pimento dram. Since I had found some good juice oranges (a rarity here), I fiddled and came up with this cocktail, which I've named (with some trepidation) the Kingston Winter Cocktail: 2 oz rye (Rittenhouse) 3/4 oz pimento dram 3/4 oz orange juice dash clementine bitters

Welcome, Taylor! I wouldn't want to say that it's identical, but I don't think you'd be able to choose one over the other in a blind taste test. I also think that, in the world of hot sauces, better is in the tongue of the taster, and you'd have to fiddle around a bit to get it just to your liking. Having said all of that, the palm vinegar idea sounds like a very good one.

I sense the need for side-by-side trials.

I think that Sam's right. I found some big bags at my local Chinese market, which worked out fine when I made Erik's clementine bitters. ETA: Welcome, Troy!

Just concocted and submitted another swell one, a variation on the Manhattan that takes full advantage of the nutty tones of Averna, Maraschino, and rye. Arthur Avenue Cocktail 1/2 oz Averna 1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino 2 oz Rittenhouse Rye Stir with cracked ice, cook for one minute, strain, orange twist over glass and on rim.

Got just the thing in this here topic. I again repeat my appreciation for The Bairn.

Yep: thrift stores, antique shops, garage sales, and the like are all fine sources. A lot of people want to get rid of those lousy small glasses from the 1950s and 1960s and replace them with 18 ounce martini glasses and margarita 40s.

Put a Twinkie and a croissant in your bread box and take 'em both out in thirty years and you'll do the same. Has anyone ever actually been happy to be called a "foodie"?

"Foodie" hater here. I use the cumbersome but refreshingly unclever "person who likes food."

Welcome, TVC! Unless you're Beachbum Berry, whose tiki books (Sippin' Safari, Intoxica!, and Grog Log) have certainly changed the sorts of cocktails I and many folks have been drinking lately.

We'll still have to agree to disagree. Fenugreek, ginger... there are many things to which this condition applies.

Thanks, Helen. It sounds like the different fresh turmeric root I've seen are different varieties, not ages. And just to pile on: turmeric does indeed a flavor, and not one that is unnice or too strong. Like most intensely flavored spices, roots, and the like, it requires a careful hand and thoughtful blending. If it ruins a dish, don't blame the ugly little root: too much clove, garlic, salt, or just about anything can ruin a dish.

It tasted like a train wreck: didn't blend into anything coherent, just a jumble of flavors dominated by the Bowmore's peat.

Wait until you start making the damned stuff. But to the exact question, yes, I think that I can't drink any cocktails outside of my house in my hometown any more, save for one drink (a Gingered Gentleman) in one restaurant (The Red Fez). Out of town, I hunt down places like PDT and the Violet Hour as a matter of course.

I just snooped through my books and can't find any confirmation, but it seems to me that smaller, younger roots are more orange than the larger, older ones.

They've certainly changed my spending habits.

Went to Gracie's last night and had another fine meal. Highlights included the celeriac soup, great sweetbreads, and perfect gnocchi. Joe Hafner was kind enough to comp us on a trio of sorbets (cherry, raspberry, pineapple) and a new buffalo carpaccio to try, both of which were great.

Been working on this at our pizza-friendly house (one toddler, one 10-year-old, often kid guests), and can confirm much of what's already here. Tonight I took out a bag of dough that had been in the fridge for 15 days and it was the best store-bought dough we've ever had, and much better than most pizza dough you can get around town at pizzerias. The texture, air holes, thinness, and flavor are all great.

It's a grand winter drink as well. I floated a few drops of Angostura, which was a nice addition.

I think that the idea is to prevent the threads from the lemon grass from splintering off and staying behind in the sauce. Having said that, I agree that it's not necessary. I also can't figure out how exactly to tie the damned things.

Bumping this up because I just had a god-awful Rob Roy using Bowmore, Carpano Antica, and Peychaud's. Made me wish I had some Asyla in the house. What are people's favorite Rob Roy combos?