TAPrice
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OTOH, I've tasted the RZ23 and the price is damn good for a 23-year-old anything.
As far as I can tell, Zacapa is really a 6 year old rum. They use a solera method, but everything I've read says the youngest rum in the bottle is 6 years old.
The bottle used to say "23 años," as this old photos shows:
Now they tout that it's aged at 2,300 feet and make no mention of years in any language on the front.
ETA: I don't own a bottle at the moment, but this discussion on a tiki forum says the back of the bottles states 5 to 23 year old rums.
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[quote name='Dan Perrigan' date='05 August 2010 - 08:23 PM'
Do you know if Lemon Hart 151 is still available in the States?
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For me, it's pretty much "big one." Until a few weeks ago, we ate black drum once a week. Occasionally we'd have fresh shrimp another night. I only buy directly from the fishers at out farmers market, and they don't sell a wide variety.
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I was actually in the seminar where Pacault talked about Bluecoat (it was the spirit tasting workshop on Friday morning). In the Q&A section, someone asked for Pacault's opinion of Anchor and Bluecoat. He didn't respond about Anchor (although he might not have heard the whole question), but he talked about how much he disliked Bluecoat.
A plant? I seriously doubt that. But judging from the tone in which the question was asked, I gathered the questioner knew what the response would be.
After flipping through Pacault's book, it's clear that when he dislikes a spirit he really hates it. His scorn for Rogue, for example, is pretty fierce. His comments about Bluecoat certainly aren't out of line with his opinions of his other least favorite spirits.
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I don't know how rare it is, but I'm told by a Russian friend that the "Russian Standard" (labeling is in Cyrillic, of course) is what the Muscovite yuppies like to drink. He brought me back a bottle a few years ago. It was quite tasty, however it's vodka, so it doesn't really have too much flavor. It was pretty smooth though...
Russian Standard has a tasting room at Tales on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
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Another miss for me. Maybe I should start reporting this experiences on the "drink that go in the sink" thread.
I tried the Colonial Cooler from this month's Imbibe. It's from the article on Brooklyn bars.
- 1.5 oz London dry (I used Beefeater)
- 3/4 sweet vermouth
- 3/4 oz Carpano Antica
- .25 Cointreau
- .5 lemon juice
- Soda water
Shake. Strain into iced high ball (I used a Collins, because who can find highballs?) and top with soda.
Going into this, I thought it would be too sweet. Three sweet elements (two vermouths and Cointreau) seemed like overkill. In the end, it was just a unpleasant (and somewhat watery) mismash. Nothing played nice.
Strike two for Brooklyn related cocktails. I'm going to stick to Manhattans.
- 1.5 oz London dry (I used Beefeater)
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Following a recipe in the Washington Post, I tried a Greenpoint. I gather this belongs to a class of rye drinks named after hipster enclaves.
- 2 ounce high-proof rye (I used Wild Turkey)
- 1/2 ounce green Chartreuse
- 1/2 ounce Punt e Mes
Stir, strain, lemon twist.
Not a great drink. Too hot. Too much alcohol. I won't be making this one again.
- 2 ounce high-proof rye (I used Wild Turkey)
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Any word on Beta Cocktails?
The second hand word I got from a bartender at Cure is that it's coming but not in time for Tales
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Headed up to Montreal this weekend. We're looking for a Sunday brunch option. Any suggestions?
My wife, who is in her third trimester, gave me this requirement:
I want big fluffy pancakes or waffles that will make me feel totally stuffed, by the way.Bagels will be for another morning.
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Where control of dilution is important, say in a Manhattan, we adopt a flash chilling method. The glass is filled with ice and this is gently stirred until the glass is cold to the touch. The glass is then topped up with fresh ice and all the water strained off, then you start making the drink. I prefer to keep the original ice in there rather than replacing it all a I find it gives me better control of the amount of dilution.
But isn't dilution desirable? Aren't drinks suppose to increase roughly 25% due to dilution? Or are you still getting enough dilution when the alcohol hits the strained ice and you then chill the liquid down by stirring?
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Direct from Scott McClard, here is why Bill Clinton's favorite barbecue joint only has chicken on Wednesday:
We have too much of our meat to cook Thursday thru Saturday..........Wednesday is the only day we have room for chickens.Not sure it adds much to Fat Guy's original question, but there you go.
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Last month I was in Hot Springs, AR, and ate a few times at McClard's Bar-B-Q restaurant. They only have chicken on Wednesdays.
Why? No idea. Maybe chicken barely sells, but then why make it all? Maybe the pit masters don't like working with chicken?
[i emailed McClard's. We'll see what they say.]
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That's the argument the whole-hog Eastern North Carolina people use when they say all barbecue other than whole-hog barbecue is "just grilling."
I don't see how that's the same argument at all.
The line from the whole-hog people is regional bluster and, frankly, nonsense. It's not grilling unless you have direct heat.
Has enough cultural attention been lavished on barbecue chicken that people would even recognize certain styles and approaches in the U.S., in the way we do with other smoked meats? Do these barbecue styles ultimately depend upon restaurants as a touchstone? And if barbecue chicken is considered more of a home dish, do we lack these restaurant reference points for fowl?
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In barbecue-connoisseur circles, barbecued chicken is frowned upon. Yet, if you visit most any barbecue joint in barbecue country -- even one purporting to serve the most authentic regional style -- you'll find chicken on offer. Sometimes, it's really good.
I wonder if serious barbecue circles (or parts of the country that have a culture of barbecue) see chicken as home cooking. Sure, you can cook other types of meat at home and plenty of people do. But it still can be a bit of a production. Tossing some chicken on the grill and banking the coals to one side, well, that's just a weeknight meal.
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What happened to the CIA instructor? She got a little testy when the judges asked if she had made this dessert before (she hadn't). And then, as far as could tell, she just disappeared. Which is pretty much what happened in the previous episodes.
Is she just too mid-pack to rate much screen time at this point? It seems like the producers could wring a lot of drama out of a CIA instructor. And I'd like to hear someone with solid fundamentals and a little more maturity comment on the competition. Could add a new perspective.
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OK, I just didn't want to offend anybody if the map has zero places in Lousisana marked. I know that New Orleans is not a BBQ destination, but I thought that someplace near the Texas, Arkansas or Mississippi borders might be more in tune with the rest of the south.
That could be, but I don't know that region well.
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Yes, how could I forget Cork and Bottle. Great shop with a nice selection.
There is a Martin Wine Cellar on Magazine Street, which is closer to the French Quarter. It's quite small, though, compared to the shop in Metairie. If you call ahead, they can send anything over to the Magazine Street location.
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Selection in New Orleans has improved significantly over the last year. Your best bet is to stop at either Martin Wine Cellar or Dorignacs grocery. Both in Metairie, which is a long way from the Quarter. On the other hand, you could make a stop on the trip to the airport.
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I'd be interested in things like:
Junipero Gin
Rittenhouse Bonded
Laird's Bonded
Plymouth Sloe Gin
Cooper Creme Yvette
Toriani Amer
Kuchan Barrel Aged Peach Brandy
and pretty much anything Haus Alpenz imports
feel free to pm me if you find something you'd like, or post your own list.
Rittenhouse Bonded is available retail in New Orleans, as are several of the Haus Alpenz products. Pretty sure I've seen Junipero, but I'm not certain.
The liquor store in the French Quarter is called Vieux Carre. Don't know what they carry, because I don't shop there often:
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Domenica, an Italian restaurant here in New Orleans, makes its limoncello (and other citrus liqueurs) by suspending whole fruit in cheesecloth above the Everclear. I don't know the exact procedure, but the results are incredible.
Anyone tried this? The chef said he picked up the technique in Italy.
The only downside is that you need a rather large jar. I also imagine that it takes longer to make a batch.
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New Orleans doesn't have a bbq style or really any decent bbq restaurants. Another way we're not like the rest of the South.
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CNN quotes a Nature Conservancy scientist on the long-term impact on oysters:
Mike Beck, senior scientist on the global marine team for the Nature Conservancy, said there is a lot of concern for oyster reefs, which were also already suffering. Only 15 percent of the world's oyster reefs remain because of over-harvesting and dredging, he said, and hurricanes have also destroyed some reefs. He said there have been some oil spills in Europe that provide clues as to what might happen."What we have learned from other accidents is we've seen mortality and then we have seen lower growth rate," he said, "so that even if they're not killed, you are likely to have much lower [population] growth. We're not likely to be able to eat those oysters for quite some time because ... they hold heavy metals in their tissue."
He estimated that the damage to the reefs could last two to five years, but that other oil spills have shown that in some instances it can be longer than that.
The article also says that 40% of the nation's seafood comes the Gulf of Mexico.
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As a precaution, fishing was halted today from Louisiana to Florida. The New York Times says swordfish and tuna, along with charter boat fishing, will be most affected:
Citing public safety concerns, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration restricted fishing for at least 10 days in the affected waters, largely between Louisiana state waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River to waters off Pensacola Bay in Florida. Scientists were taking samples of water and seafood to ensure food safety.“We want to make sure that we can maintain the public confidence in the safety of the food supply and make sure that members of the public aren’t at risk,” said Roy Crabtree, the Southeast regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “We’ll continue to look at this and evaluate this.”
Trawlers fishing for swordfish and tuna, and charter-boat operators, many of whom work out of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, are likely to feel the impact more than Louisiana fishermen, said Harlon Pearce, the chairman of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board. He welcomed the restriction as a precautionary measure.
This article is not completely clear on the details, but as far as I know fishing and oyster harvesting continues west of the Mississippi, where there is still no oil. I've seen reports that if the oil continues to flow, it could make its way around Florida and up the Eastern seaboard.
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Bob Marshall, the Times-Picayune's Pulitzer winning outdoors writers, looks at the impact on people who lead charter fishing trips:
The delta of the Mississippi River isn't a sandy tourist beach. It isn't a line of solid sand and rock on the other side of a highway that can be easily reached, cleaned and repaired with bulldozers and dump trucks. It is 70 wetland miles from the nearest road, and it isn't a coastline. The edge of this coast resembles the bottom of a broken jigsaw puzzle, hundreds of miles of zigs and zags, of odd-shaped pieces that don't fit together, of grass and mud, bayous, passes, bays, ponds and lagoons sprinkled with grassy islands.That vast, uneven interface of water, grass and mud is the engine that drives the most productive fish and wildlife habitat in the lower 48 states, one of the greatest coastal estuaries on the planet. The people who make their living and take their pleasure in that ecosystem know this; they know how important it is and how difficult it will be to find and remove millions of barrels of crude oil that might wash over it.
So they were terrified. And that terror was justified late Friday when the state closed all fishing -- recreational and commercial -- east of the Mississippi River, fearing contaminated seafood might be caught and consumed. The closure does not include lakes Borgne, St. Catherine and Pontchartrain, but does include the marshes around and south of Lake Borgne.
One ray of hope, at least for the economic survival of these and commercial fishermen, is that they may be able to make money from the clean-up operation. It also seems clear that BP is responsible for these loses. If it takes years for compensation to arrive, however, it may force the fishermen to give up and seek other work. That could devastate the fishing industry, I would think.
Edit: Another TP article on fishermen training to help in the cleanup.
And this TP article from several days ago explains how most fishing and oyster harvesting east of the Mississippi was shut down as a precaution.
Help with itinerary!
in Louisiana: Dining
Posted · Edited by TAPrice (log)
A few comments below:
Acme is easy. Not too bad for a po-boy, and there aren't a lot of better po-boy options in the French Quarter. Without the oyster bar, it's less appealing. If you want something no hassle when you arrive, this might work. You can find better food.
Are you sure Wilie Mae's is open on Monday? Go on the early side, because it can be slow.
Also, be cautious in the neighborhood.
Personally, I really love the zoo. The swamp exhibit, way in the back, would be interesting for you. It's a first class establishment. I also have a two year old, so that might color my opinion.
I would suggestion a Hansen's sno-ball on the way home from the zoo, but they're closed on Monday.
Upperline just lost Ken Smith, who had been the chef for about 20 years. He decided to become a priest. Keep that in mind.
You know the 9th Ward and Parkway aren't close, right?
I agree with others that Lola's could be skipped. Perfectly fun place. The Spanish food is fine, but nothing that ambitious.
Keep in mind that many people spend three hours at Galatoire's for lunch.
That's a lot of food in one day. I wonder if breakfast at Brennan's will kill your appetite?