johnder

Last night I had many drinks -- one of the more memorable ones was a Vermont. 3/4 Gin 3/4 Applejack 3/4 Apry 3/4 Benedictine 3/4 Maple syrup Pretty good although with the maple and apry it was a little too sweet. I think the Gin should be bumped up to 1 oz. These drinks were with Donbert last night at his awesome cocktail soiree who I might add had an awesome booze colection.

Sweet. I am sure your homeowners policy covers in-house distilling. Mine does. Seriously thought, distilling those after you infuse them should bring them back to a clear state I would assume. Are you going to let them all infuse for the same amount of time? I would think the citrus one would give up all its flavors pretty quickly and then turn sharply towards a bitter oxidized taste with the rinds.

I have been poking around the web and found a few interesting tidbits, first The Martini -- Why everything you know is wong. Interesting... let us keep reading. Wha? Ok, more info, this time at the Martini FAQ. and his answer on bruising: I don't have the book quoted in the faq on hand to see the full explination, but the oxidiation explination is pretty plausible. So the FAQ was pretty concise, and I really like the fact they quoted sources, and gave references. I did look up the claim of the report in the British Jounal of Medicine and found it here. Definately an interesting read. Here is the summary: So what does this all mean? It seems that shaken martinis are slightly healthier for you, but at the behest of the loss of some flavor. As far as the actual amount of dilution shaken vs. stirred I think I feel comfortable saying there definately is more dilution with a shaken drink rather than stirred, but I will commit fully to that statement after some more tests this weekend. John

Ok, tonights bizarro drink. I was looking through the Jones cocktail book for drinks that could use some Parfait de Amore and came across the Windows Kiss and the Widows Kiss Variation Widows Kiss 1 oz Apple Brandy 3/4 Yellow Chartreuse 3/4 Benedictine Bitters Strawberry variation: 3/4 Parfait 3/4 Yellow Chartreuse 3/4 Benedictine 1/2 Egg White While the Widows kiss seemed interesting I thought what if I did a version where I combined parts of the two. 1 oz Apple Brandy 3/4 Benedictine 1/2 Parfait Barspool Homemade grendaine Hess Bitters Well, let's put it this way. It was interesting. Very complex, slightly overpowered by the Benedictine. I think a little citrus would round it out. Before I try playing around with it some more, I am going to make the orignal recipe, but was wondering what they mean by strawberry. I am guessing it is used as a garnish, but I wonder what would happen it it was muddled. So many questions!

Wow, nice setup Don. Must have been fun schlepping all that stuff around.

Looks like you can at New York to the list now -- CNN breaking news:

Ok, I had high expectations to take photos at each step of the way, but I got too caught up in the moment to keep clicking away. I did one run of tests, but I ran into a few kinks along the way, that I am not 100% happy with my results. Here is the setup. 1 Ashiba 500g scale with 0.1 g resolution 1 Shaker bottom weighing 130g empty (will be used for shaken test) 1 Shaker botom weighing 131g empty (will be used for stirred test) 1 Shaker top weighing 169g empty (will be used with shaken test) 1 measuring vessel weighing 26g empty All measuring vessles will be room temprature. Liquid will be vodka, measured to be room temprature, 70 degrees F, 30g of liquid total for each test. Ice will be 90.5g of ice (standard ice maker cubes) in each test, whole, not cracked. Shaken time will be 15 seconds Stirred time will be 30 seconds. There will be 10 seconds of straining time for each drink at which poing the weight of the liquid + the 26g of the measuring vessel will be computed. After the 15 seconds of straining time a weight will be taken of the vessels the liquid was shaken/stirred in. One of the problems was that fact that there is no way to reliably extract all the liquid from the shaker/strainer after chilling has occurred. Unless I can get my centrifuge working , I am not sure what else to do. Here is a picture of the setup: That was the only picture I took. So, here are the results: First test, shaken, 30g of 70 degree F vodka for 15 seconds. Input weight (169.8 (shaker top) + 130 (shaker bottom) + 90.5 (ice) + 30 (vodka) Total: 420g pre shake weight Shake 15 seconds, strain liquid into 26g vessel for 10 seconds. Resulting weight of measuring vessel + strained liquid = 31.7g (gain of 1.7g weight) Total weight of the 2 shaking cups + ice after liquid was drained: 342.1g So we have a total of 26g (vessel) containing 31.7g (vodka) + 362.1g (shaker + ice) = 419.8g Net loss of 0.4g weight, but picked up 1.7g of liquid output. [Note: liquid was strained through a fine mesh strainer, with shards of ice and slush returned to shaker] Ok, moving on. Still with me? I am somewhat lost myself at this point. Stir test. Same variables, 30g of vodka by weight 90.5 g of ice stirred in a cup which weighed 131g. (total: 30g + 90.5 + 131 = 251.5g) Contents were stirred for 30 seconds, strained into 26g measuring vessle. The contents of the liquid that was strained out (for 10 seconds) was a whopping 39g. That means I picked up 9g of liquid by weight. The ice + stirring cup weight after straining was 246.3g (loss of 5.2g) So this is interesting, I picked up 9g of liquid but only lost 5.2g. A few notes: It was much easier to strain out the stirred liquid obviously. I could tell there was a huge increase of the liquid from the stirred cocktail just by looking at the amount in the measuring vessel. There was probably 0.3 to 0.5g of liquid still clinging to the strainer that wasn't accounted for in the shaken test. I would have liked to take a post shake/stir temprature of the liquid, but my digital thermometer didn't go below 32, both liquids registered "Lo" after passing 33 degrees. I am going to run a few more tests, and take some more pictures over the weekend. Am I missing anything in these tests? Anything wrong with my logic? I am measuring everything by weight as I don't have anything that can measure liquid volume with any precise granularity. I really wish I took some pictures of the resulting liquid. The shaken liquid was cloudy, like sea water and while had a nice mouth feel it had very small ice particles that made its way through the very fine strainer. The stirred cocktail had a great consistancy, perfectly clear and thick like a simple syrup. Although the shaken one had very small ice particles in it, the stirred one actually felt colder on my tounge overall. The shaken liquids temprature was colder in specific areas on my tounge, I assume to the ice crystals, but not overall as cold as the stirred one. John

So I was browsing around the newly launched chow.com and on the front page there was an article entitled: Conversation with a Cocktail Epicure obviously I was curious about it. It is an interview with Alberta Straub, who they describe as: It is an interesting read, but I was a little surprised at the question: Shaken or Stirred? and her response See I don't agree with that. For me it was always about shaking a drink without citrus (or a "clear" drink which I think is what the are referring to) just clouds the drink. I am actually curious to check on the dilution point though. Tonight when I get home I will fill two shakers with 1 oz of booze and an equal amount of ice by weight and shake one for 15 seconds, and stir the other for 30 seconds, strain and measure out the liquid I get. I would think I would get pretty close to the same amount from each. Thoughts? edit: Sorry the url for the article is here.

Ok, I give up looking for Apry, so I am trying to figure out how to make some. Given apricots are out of season I figured I would try dry. I minced up 2 pounds of dried turkish apricots and added them to a jar with vodka to cover. I was planning on letting this sit for a week or two to flavor the vodka and then put the plumped up apricots into a rig in which I can squeeze the living crap out of them. From this base I was going to add some sugar and maybe some other flavorings to bring it to something palatable. I have no idea if this will work, but I figured it was worth a shot. Doing some research I did find this -- looks pretty bizarre: Apricot Brandy Mix

When I was at Gramercy Tavern last week Jim Meehan made me an awesome cocktail he came up with called the Van Brunt. It was a Rye based cocktail that included Cappellano Chinato. I never heard or ot tasted the Chinato before and it was amazingly complex. It added a whole new level to the drink perfectly complementing the Michters rye that was used. It is an expensive purchase ~$80 per bottle retail A quote from Lenell's website describes it:

Wimp. ← Damn. Fine -- I am going to whip up a late night snack of packaged spinach and raw chicken breast. A household favorite here. I called ahead and the hospital said they had wifi access in the emergency room so I can give a blow by blow of the stomach pumping. Stay tuned.

Huh. So much for that bag I bought today. 4 bucks down the tube.

I was hankering for a La Rosita but when searching for my campari I came across aperol and came up with a variation that was petty tasty. La Aperita 1.5 Silver Tequila .75 Aperol .5 NP Sweet .5 NP Dry Grapefruit twist. Overall it was pretty good. I had to bump up the Aperol to make it noticable and replaced the orange with the grapefuit in this version. Will try an orange twist in the next one.

I pretty much use Herradura Silver for mixing in cocktails aside from Margaritas. I find the Anejo and Reposado will mask most of the other ingredients I am mixing with. Not to mention the extra cost.

How about a La Rosita 1.5 oz tequila .5 oz sweet vermouth .5 oz dry vermouth .5 oz Campari I have been working on a drink with Phil that is tequilla, cucumber, mint, lemon, simple and chatreuse. Research is almost complete on that one.

You can always made some addington cocktails. 1/2 sweet vermouth 1/2 dry vermouth topped with soda water. or a vermouth cocktail -- same as above but remove soda, add bitters. John

Awesome choice! I had one of those myself last night, followed by a Fay Rye cocktail.

Should be interesting to see what he can do with the menu. He is pretty much giving up the farm at Stone Barns, for a whole bunch of farms at the USQ greenmarket.

I think you really loose something by storing your liquors in the freezer -- mainly getting a balanced drink. While yes, the liquor is cold, you are going to get a much harsher drink than if you stir (or shake it in the case of citrus drinks). Mainly because of the slight dilution of the drink the water will provide. I can after a 45-60 seconds of stirring get a mighty cold drink, one that is round and balanced, as well as enjoying the actual art of making the cocktail. If it is speed over quality you are after, freezing helps with that. Try both -- see what you think.

I think if we look at this thread as a whole there are contructive criticisms and ideas that are good for him to hear, especially as the risks of doing that he is doing may be larger (or smaller) then he thinks, and is completely in context of this thread. The other comments that were judging him based upon his age, or lack of experience is something else that I think was out of the original intention of the thread as Bryan himself mentioned up thread.

ahh seems the splif man beat me to the punch with the bitters. I would expect nothing less! cheers, john

Obviously what is "Perfect" to one person won't be perfect to another. If I was going to have a dry martini I would shoot for 5 to 1 ratio or 6 to 1 . (My preferred Martini is 3 to 1. I would definately not just rinse out the glass with vermouth, what you could do is fill a shaker with plenty of ice, pour in 1-2 parts of Vermouth, stir with a barspool, pour out the vermouth, leaving what is covering the ice. Add 5 parts gin (room temperature), and a few dashes of bitters (orange bitters preferably), stir. stir some more. stir a little more. Rim a chilled martini glass with lemon peel, strain martini into glass. repeat as needed.

It would be great to get the focus of the thread back on his ideas, the food and the concept than about slamming poor Bryan and his venture. My company just signed an agreement with Duke to do some work with the Duke Diet, so hopefully in the next few weeks I will be visiting Duke, I am surely going to let Bryan know when I am in town. John

I am heading there tonight, so I will do a first hand inspection, ladies room included! I never remember seeing any wheatgrass in the men's room.

What Apricot brandy did you use? Brizzard?