Chris Amirault

Not as a substitute for lime juice, I'm afraid....

Mint and lime are notoriously bad ingredients for bottling drinks in this manner, I'm afraid! I'd strongly urge you to choose a different drink, as the Mojito really demands a la minute preparation and fresh ingredients. Drinks with largely shelf-stable ingredients -- Old Fashioneds, Manhattans, Negronis, Martinis, etc. -- can all be bottled to splendid effect; if you're insistent on something fizzy, you could make a base and add soda to it. And if citrus is required, lean lemon instead of lime, which goes south within hours.

Thanks, everyone. If you didn't already, can you say why you drink what you do, and what your parents drank growing up? I've been waiting for this one! Ashen, why coffee? I've got a friend in her 70s who always has coffee at lunch and I'm mystified by it.

My wife and I had a discussion about the disappearance of milk from US dinner tables yesterday: when did it happen? why did it happen? And is our little sample of the world accurate? It prompts me to ask: what do you think with dinner? Water? Milk? Coffee? Soda? Wine? Why that? For how long? We're typically drinking water at our place with dinner, save for special occasions when we'll crack a beer or open a bottle of wine. You?

Metropole tonight: 1 1/2 oz Fundador brandy 1 1/2 oz Dolin dry 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters 1 dash half-n-half (Fee's & Regan's) orange bitters Stir; strain; cherry. A great drink, drier than (an) El Presidente but similarly taking advantage of a swell dry vermouth.

Dry, not blanc -- brain fart last night.

Back at it: 2 oz Henry McKenna bourbon 1/2 oz Punt e Mes 1/2 oz Dolin blanc dash Jerry Thomas Decanter bitters dash half-n-half orange bitters (half Regan's, half Fee's) Just terrific. I'm ready to eat my words in the OP.

Surely someone is making straight-up Daiquiris tonight. Ratios? Rum? I'll be shaking a 2:1:1 in a bit....

I just did the item-by-item cleanse the other day for the umpteenth time. The culprit is always the item you ignored for months, and physical inspection and removal is the only thing that has worked for me. This time around, the problem was a rarely used box of Cream of Wheat. Buh-bye.

They are often available at Southeast Asian markets here in the Rhode Island area, but the quality varies extremely widely. you have to avoid them when Brown and limp, but when green and crisp, there is nothing like them on earth.

Bump. Now that Tanqueray has chosen once again to bless us with Malacca, I find myself making 2:1 Martinis with Dolin blanc, Regan's #6 orange bitters, and a lemon twist. After running a four-hour cocktail workshop last weekend, with who knows how many options available, that's what I made. And it killed, I tell you.

I would think that you would want to avoid having anything too flavorful given the project. Hence the recommendation of simple nuts.

Nuts, candied if you like. I think walnuts and hazelnuts are perfect with Manhattans, in particular.

A bit late with this one, but, what the heck: five pitted cherries 2 oz Barsol pisco 1/2 oz Luxardo maraschino 1/2 oz Marie Brizard triple sec 1 oz lemon juice 2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl bitters Reed's Extra Ginger Brew ginger beer Muddle the cherries in the pisco; add all remaining ingredients save the ginger beer. Shake; strain over rocks in a highball glass; top with the ginger beer. Garnish with an additional pitted cherry.

Intrigued, and enjoying a birthday, I sought out the Right Hand, with gratitude to the good folks at Bittermens (tx Janet and Avery!) and appreciation for the last few ounces of the Inner Circle Green I've been hoarding: 1.5 oz aged rum (IC Green) 3/4 oz Carpano Antica (I used Punt e Mes) 3/4 oz Campari 2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters Stir; strain; up. No garnish. Not that it would matter: this IC Green has a nose like an state trooper chasing down speeders on the freeway.

Now you got me thinking.... 2 oz Broker's gin 2 oz Dolin blanc barspoon Benedictine 3 dashes Bittermens hopped grapefruit bitters Stir; strain; lemon twist. Lovely.

FrogPrincesse, thanks for introducing me to this great tipple. Very tasty with Punt e Mes.

Most quality cocktail bartenders of which I'm aware use either a peeler, for speed, or a knife, for flexibility and precision. I lean knife: sometimes you just want that citrus oil for flighty first impressions, and sometimes you want pith for slow, steady commitment. Having said that, behind the stick, I'm slow..... You can't get pith with most peelers, and I understand that, in a busy environment, you want the flashy intro. But if the night is languorous, a knife is the way to go. (Please push any Dexter references from your mind.)

Matt, I seem to remember a transfer across a APdC table of a certain mezcal bottle in 2012.... Perhaps that would aid your case....

I've got a few of these in the file... Bitter Yak 1 oz rye 1 oz cognac 1/4 oz Fernet Branca 1/2 oz Benedictine -1/4 oz demerara Stir; strain over new rocks; fat orange twist. That one's mine; this one's from Mayahuel. Jacko's End 1 oz Laird's BIB apple brandy 1 oz Minero mezcal ½ ounce Benedictine 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters Stir; strain; pear slice garnish.

The Sazerac 18 and Handy ryes are both terrific.

Welcome, heichmanron! Our standing leftover-cleanout dishes aren't on your list, namely, fried rice and nachos. Half onions, a handful of leftover peas, a knob of cheese, almost dead cilantro, two eggs, grilled vegetables, shredded chicken or pork: if you have the base ingredient (rice or nachos), nearly everything in the world can be dumped into/onto that ingredient for a quick, easy meal that has little or no added cost beyond what you'll throw away in four days.

Two from me, both with Heering. No pix, I'm afraid. Tommy Appleseed (tx to Dave the Cook for the name) 1 oz Ransom Old Tom gin 1 oz Laird's BIB apple brandy -1/2 oz demerara syrup 1/4 oz Cherry Heering 1/2 t Ardbeg 10 scotch 5 drops Regan's orange bitters Stir; strain; coupe; no garnish. Cachaca Sling 3 oz cachaca 1 oz lime 1 oz simple 1/2 oz Cherry Heering 2 dashes Angostura Shake; strain over ice in highball glass; top with soda; lime wheel garnish.

Agreed: I made this twice, once with Malacca and once with Ransom, producing two very different and very good drinks.

I get the 3 mil, 6x12" and 10x13" VacMaster pouches from Amazon. I have Prime so it's easy to order and shipping is fast and free. The 8x12" just didn't seem to be the right size for my uses (home stuff mostly). And, yes, your steaks should be very happy in their new homes.