TAPrice

Right, but there is a difference between including service and refusing to take a tip.

I feel like I've seen no tipping signs at either corporate fast food restaurants or coffee shops, although I can't remember specific examples. Outside of the US, I was once perplexed by the no tipping policy at a sherry bar I favored in Madrid. If you gave a tip (and in Spain, tips are much smaller than in the US), they would return it and say "No Tips." No idea why they had that policy, since small tips are the norm in that culture. Perhaps something cultural I didn't understand.

Yes, Sara seems to have a light hand with the dashes. "Shaking"?! ← I'm not sure there was a bar spoon around. Most of the other drinks were batched. Conditions were not ideal, perhaps, at the cocktail hour.

Is that 1 tablespoon of Herbsaint? It's a lot more than a rinse, and thus very interesting, if so. No one was shot for the Angostura heresy, eh? ← Sara lurks occasionally around here (I think), but she doesn't really post. I helped make some last minutes adjustments to the sazerac right before the crowds came in, so I'll chime in on this one. The use of Angostura and Peychaud's is common, even if the Sazerac company wishes it weren't so. A lot of good New Orleans bartenders use both, although it's more common to see 2-3 dashes of Peychauds and one of Angostura. Sara and I had a back and forth email exchange about this a while back, and she really thinks using the two in equal proportion brings out the liquorice flavor. After a few experiments, I have to agree. The sponsor had no rye, so at first Sara was going to be forced to use Bourbon in the Sazerac. Rather than commit such a heresy, she opted for Hennessy. Not sure that she had used it before. Pay no attention to the specified amount of Herbsaint. It's a rinse. Not to be measured. During a few test rounds, we decided that probably the plastic cups weren't holding the rinse so she opted to keep a little more in the bottom of the glass. The Hennessy was very assertive, so she ended up shaking a little longer to incorporate more water.

So what were the best drinks you had? I ended up with a brick of cards containing every drink made at the event. Lots of things I missed, but for the stand-out drinks I'll search through the cards and make them (I could also post the recipes here).

It does look great, although the crowds were so thick at the opening that I didn't get a good look at everything. Very nicely presented, though. I'm sure some day they'll want to claim a larger space, but for now it's like booze soaked wunderkammer. I understand that they'll also be hosting monthly talks from heavy hitters in the cocktail world. Good news for those of us in New Orleans and something for the traveler to look for.

Sorry. My mistake. I was asking for suggestions in the "eclectic" category as defined by Sam above. I wrote "esoteric" by mistake.

At this point, I'm just looking at commercial bitters.

I've come to really enjoy drinking sparkling water with a few dashes of bitters in the afternoon. So I'm willing to invest in more than what I strictly need to make drinks. Which of the esoteric variety do you like?

Although all the information I need might be buried in this long thread (I'll start reading the thing from the start if people tell me it's there), could someone give me some advice for commercially available bitters. A bitters buying guide, if you will. I've got the two standards already: Angostura and Peychaud's. I've got both the Fee and the Regan orange. Do I need the Angostura orange as well? Is it that different? From what I can tell, Fee Brothers and Bitter Truth seem to be the other two bitters companies. Which of their products are worth it? Many look quite interesting, but I've also tasted some Fee bitters that are pretty artificial.

In 1996, Gregory Roberts gave it 4 beans. Edit: Just for kicks, here is how NOLA.com looked back in 1996: Nola.com

Shoot. It must be baked. What a shame.

I bring you tomorrow's review today [spoiler ALERT, as they say]: It's three beans for Mr. B's. In this piece Brett explain why he waited three years to review:

Should Punt e mes have solids in it? I just picked up a bottle with a very faded label (the first time I've seen it here). I'm afraid it might have been baked.

This time no kidding, it's for real, the reviews are really back. A big banner on the A section of the Picayune teased the return of the beans tomorrow. Any speculation on the first place that will be reviewed?

Yes (and for the rest of the audience, TIDES are short seminars for freshmen--they're supposed to be fun and not too heavy on the reading).

I'm teaching a short course at the university on New Orleans food. One of the units will look at the cocktail. Any suggestions for a good, 20-pages or so, intro to the history of the cocktail? I'm looking for something backed up by some academic research. It could be an article or a book chapter. I'm just drawing a blank at the moment. And what other sources would people suggest if the students want to dig deeper? Interested to hear other opinions on that question.

The Pocket Recipe Guide from the Museum of the American Cocktail by Robert Hess and Anistasia Miller credits the Jasmine to Harrington and gives "the 1990s" as the date.

Thinking about the Michalada (and the Margarita), I'm wondering if salt is an element to a good, thirst quenching drink (and why would that be?). On the non-alcoholic side of thinks, I see lots of salted drinks at Vietnamese restaurants and seem to remember a salted Indian drink. Those are certainly hot countries.

What are the variations? I've always done a little hot sauce, a squeeze of lime and salt on the rim.

I like a Michalada beer as well in the summer. Do they actually drink them in Mexico? I was introduced to it by a Spaniard (who learned about them from a Mexican) while we were hanging out in Juarez. They certainly seemed to drink them in that border town.

What do people drink around the world when it's really hot? Personally, I like a white vermouth with a twist or a vino verde. Hardly unique to my location here in New Orleans. I suppose a Pimm's Cup would the local choice for warm weather. It seems like countries near the equator might have locals cocktails or spirits well suited to hot days.

I was watching some cooking demos on the Food and Wine website. Two chef (Batali and another famous one I can't remember) swore by Wondra flour for coating meat before sauteing. I'm been using a lot for fish fillets and it's great. Thin and crisp. Why does it work so well for this? Is it just because it's milled finer and therefore sticks well and coats evenly? How commonly is this used? I had never run across it before, a friend with more cooking experience than me said it was common in professional kitchens.

Yeah, well, you know you know who owns it, and that's about as local as you can get around here. Just handier to make it up there, I guess. Frankly, after I talked to you about it last week, I looked into it and I think it's been made up there, or at least somewhere else, for years. What we need to do is to invent a cocktail that contains Dr. Tichenor's. It's still made right here in NOLA. I might have to begin working on that, though it's a bit early in the day. ← Yeah, the brand rep I spoke with today said they ceased all New Orleans production shortly after buying Buffalo Trace. Sounds like it's a massive operation.

Herbsaint as well, no? ← Yep, Herbsaint as well.