johnder

Yah I think some technique and consistancy would go a long way. As I said the space is really awesome, they have a great selection of liquors too. The bartender was really nice and we had a great conversation, so I was a good experience overall. Next time I am back in the Bay Area I will definately check it out again -- hopefully they will get some more processes in place. John

So I stopped by Rye tonight with my wife and had a few drinks there tonight. First impressions are that it is a great space, and they have a great cocktai menu. Unfortunately I think they need to work on the execution a little bit to really make it fire on all cylinders. I started off with the Velvet Cane which I think has the ingredients to be an awesome drink, except the version I had was very heavy on the bitters -- so much so I couldn't taste anything but the bitters. This in conjuction with the free pouring (instead of measured shots) lead to a slightly one dimensonal drink. My wife had the Golden Rye Flip, which was a really good drink. I was surprised to see that they didn't mention egg yolk on the menu, as every "flip" drink I know has egg yolk in it. While the drink does have egg yolk in it (pasturized from a carton), it was still surprising not to see it listed on the ingredients. After that I had a Sazerac with Mitchers Rye and was slightly dismayed to see it being shaken and served in a martini glass. While it is just a detail, a drink of that nature really shines when the execution is there. This was ok, but not super special. Wife had the Apple Bomb -- pretty great drink. Overall the wife seems to have picked the winners of the evening, and while I was generally happy with the drinks, once the execution of them is stepped up a bit, it will really be an awesome place. I am leaving to go back to NY tomorrow, but it is safe to say if I lived in the Bay Area I would visit Rye again, and I do think it has the capability to be pretty awesome. I think just with a little more attention to technique and measuring of the shots will go a long way to really making the drinks sing. Then again, I may just be very spoiled with Milk and Honey, Flatiron and Pegu in New York. John

I don't think applewood in brooklyn is %100 organic, but I know they only use hormone and antibiotic free meats and wild fishes. On their website they say they try to use organic whenever possible. John

I am out visting the Bay Area and heading to this place tomorrow around 8. I was on the edge up until hearing this from Erik but seeing the description of the drink below, I am so there.. Looks mighty tasty.

Interesting. I will definately wait before going there to see if things shape up. John

I have an unlined copper pot I have been using for the last 12 years or so. Granted I use it maybe 2-3 times a month. I have no concerns about using it. I would think the concerns about copper leeching into your food is pretty minimal, and if you are only using the pot occasionaly should be of no concern. Thats my opinion anyway. john

Dude -- if you are pregnant you can just tell us. We are all friends here. Nine months. Holy crap. Sorry to hear the news. John

Sam -- Next time you are at Fairway you should keep you eye out for this raw pomegranite juice they have. I forget the brand name, but it is organic, %100 pure juice with no other ingredients. (They also have a quince juice which I am going to start experimenting with soon) I used that to make my latest batch of grenadine and it was pretty awesome. John

Oh man this is a lot of pressure. I am not saying you should do my recipe -- especially since I am the first reply, but here is how I make my jack rose.... 2.5 oz Bonded 1 oz Lime 1/2 - 3/4 oz house made grenadine dash peychauds I vary the amount of the grenadine since I found when making it at home the sweetness varies with the bottles of pomegranite juice I buy. While I try to bring the sweetness to roughly the same with each batch, ultimately I adjust it while making the drink by adding more or less grenadine to the drink. Maybe I should invest in a hydrometer like Vadouvan suggests and I can bring my grenadine to a specific degee on a baume scale. I also add a dash of peychauds. Phil at Pegu turned me on to that -- peychauds and applejack -- a match made in heaven. John

Not sure -- I was hoping for great things, as Dale designed the menu. I guess the 10,000 dollar question was, did he create the drinks and pass off the recipes, or did he invest the time to actually train the bartenders. We can probably make a quick detemination by seeing if they bartenders are free-pouring or actually measuring out the liquors with jiggers.

Wow, good technique, but be warned. Don't click on any of the website pictures, it will take you to a really nasty ad loop for a casino that is really hard to get away from.

I think sam can give us the full lowdown, but the bonded has a much larger concentration of apple flavor, due to the increase number of apples used to process the bottle: • It takes 7,000 pounds of apples to produce one barrel of apple brandy. • A 750 ML bottle of Lairds AppleJack - 6lbs of apples • A 750 ML bottle of Lairds 7-1/2 Year Old Apple Brandy - 16lbs of apples • A 750 ML bottle of Lairds Apple Bond - 20lbs of apples • A 750 ML bottle of Laird’s 12 Year Old Apple Brandy - 30lbs of apples You can definatley tell the difference between the taste and nose of the bonded vs. non-bonded. If you smell the side-by-side the apple aroma of the bonded is off the chart. John

Welcome to egullet Chef_T. Awesome first post, I must say! John

Slkinsey, myself and Eric_Malson were at Pegu last night and -- wait for it... wait for it... Audrey now serves Lairds bonded applejack. Yes friends -- Audrey has convinced they distributor that there is indeed a market for the bonded stuff, and yes, people really, really want it. If you haven't tried Lairds Bonded, you really are missing something. You should head down there and try a jack rose with the bonded and house made grenadine. Awesome beyond words. So phase one of the master plan is complete -- on to phase 2. Getting the local liquor stores to carry it. Congrats Audrey, and also thanks to slkinsey for being a huge applejack evangelist as well. john Admin: applejack-related discussion moved to the applejack thread in the Fine Spirits & Cocktails forum.

Oh god. That's good to know. I guess I will wait for natural selection to work itself out. What did you drinK?

So I stumbled across the drink menu for Gin Lane, a new restaurant/bar that opened up in NYC on 14th street. The thing that I found interesting is their drink menu was designed by Dale DeGroff. You can check out the menu here (pdf). They are some classic drinks on it such as: French 75 "Perfect" Manhattan Bees Knees Singapore Sling as well as some original (I think) cocktails such as Irish Blond Irish Whisky, Orange Curacao, Fino Sherry, Regan's Orange Bitters An interesting read overall -- and I like that Grey Goose only accounts for 4 out of 14 drinks, while Gin is 5 out of 14. John

Hi Alinka! Looking forward to you blog! I was in Moscow 10 years ago -- looking forward to see how it changed. John

I first met Matt in person a few months ago when slkinsey introduced him to me at Pegu, along with Megan. We hit it off pretty well that night, but it was what happened subsequently that really stood out. After that first encounter, we tried to get together as often as possible to either enjoy fine cocktails -- while talking about cocktails and food at the various NY cocktail haunts. As Sneakeater said, he seemed to know everyone at these places and everyone knew him. I will miss him greatly -- we actually were supposed to get together in the coming month to work on some cocktail ideas we have been messaging back and forth. Egullet suffered a great loss, as did the everyone -- as he was a smart, charming and personalable man. I fondly remember the last drink we enjoyed -- a New York Flip. I will never have that drink again without thinking of you Matt. Cheers to you my friend. John

Johnny, I have 3 scales of various resolutions, the point isnt to brag but to inform you that i purchased them all from Brooklyn.... Great store.....http://www.itinscales.com/ Scales for all applications. ← That is exactly where I got it. Awesome place, great customer service.

Yah I hear ya on that. On a humorous note -- I was playing around with some sodium alginate / ca cl from willg and noticed my kitchen scale only had a resolution of 2 grams. Kind of sucks when you need to measure out 1.5 grams of this and 3.5 grams of that. Ended up finding a good scale place that was in Brooklyn not too far from my house. Found a good deal on a Ashiba MP-500 -- resolution of 0.1 g

V - How much lecithin powder did you add? Is there a ratio of x grams lecithin to x grams liquid, or is it pretty rough? Was it just dry powder added to the warm liquid? thanks! John

I have always heard it pronounced "tee"

I agree with you. Joy definately contains more recipes and details about drinks, but Daves book definately has the pictures and humor going for it hence the recommendation for the first book. I agree about the binding of the book -- it is serious annoying. So much so that I cut the binding off the top and rebound the book at work on the side. John

I second Sam's choice for a great book. It is very illustrative and gives a good description of the required equipment you need for a proper bar.

John, Thanks, its not about any one person, it's about food, the more people know the better. Consider it another phalanx of soldiers in the war against mediocrity. Information is free, knowledge should be too, the more we are inspired by each other, the better we all eat..... ← Thanks V, I agree -- sharing knowledge is awesome and I (and others) really appreciate your time and dedication that you are spending uploading and documenting all your work. It has definately inspired me. I find myself anxiously awaiting the next post with more info to cram into my grey matter. Cheers John