Bricktop

I would like to punch him in the face four or five times!Is this just a case of "Cocktails are cool right now. Let me jump on the bandwagon?". Even so, as much as I like Lomonaco, he's not my list of the top 20,000 people I would think of if someone said "cocktail".

I just used the peppermint in my Southside, and all's well. I did use a little less to compensate for my perception of its strength, and that was a good call. It's a super drink that will be a warm weather staple again.

My spearmint has not come back too well this year, so I bought a peppermint plant that is going nuts. It's my gut feeling sniffing the two that it may be a bit strong for my Southsides, so I am going to use a little less in there.

Romulan. Clahh-ssic!

Since it seems to be his accepted eG name, it was great fun to see Shithead getting slapped around by Ruhlmann and to a lesser extent Donatella. Ruhlmann's critiques seemed to be on point, while SH was just a bit nitpicky. For once, I would have been glad to have eaten either of the contestant's meals.

The only time we managed to get in was at 5:30, and it filled up FAST. It was too long ago to remember what we had, but I recall large portions of really good food, and outstanding friendly service. I think I will give it another go. After Labor Day though.

Only in the interests of helping my on-line friend and the pursuit of knowledge, I just did a side-by-side straight sipping of the ryes I have on hand to see which one I'd pick. (yes, I'm a rye slut. I didn't include my Saz 18 YO which is a different animal entirely). Jim Beam (80) Pikesville (80) Old Overholt (80) Sazerac (90) Rittenhouse (100) Wild Turkey (101) Remember, this was the straight rye, with just a sip of water between tastes. There was a clear winner and a clear loser. Winner = Pikesville. Nicely smooth, balanced and rounded. Loser = Old Overholt. Very grassy tasting. I'm not even sure how I'd use it in cocktails. Maybe a mint julep? Not surprisingly, the Rittenhouse and the WT were the "hottest", noticeably more alcoholic, and very good, but you have one and likely can't get the other. Of the three options you have, I would go with the Jim Beam. Remember it's an 80 proof compared to a 101 though, but that's not a bad thing. However, if you have any friends in the Baltimore area who can send you some, Pikesville is the way to go. It's absurdly cheap too. I bought a 750 for $11, and a 1.75 for $18!!!

Season 4 is airing now in the UK, and is out there on BitTorrents if you're so inclined. Tonight will be episode 3. I have watched episode 1, and it was fun. That's not a spoiler is it?

Where was this quote from? Sounds like a fun site. ← here you go. It begins about 30 seconds in. The actual argument lasted like 30 or 40 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvIc7C1egAM...ACEFCE&index=12 I'm a huge nerd. ← Clah-ssic!

To kick off Memorial Day Weekend, and therefore summer, my first Southside of the season, with lime juice and Tanqueray Rangpur gin. My best one yet!

Some great advice above, especially the tips about checking out the bar's setup and ingredients. Even though I am not madly in love with it, if I see Peychauds behind the bar, a little tension leaves the shoulders and I know at least someone's paying attention. If they have a setup like Dave The Cook described, then that's awesome. Sadly here in suburbia, that's not very common. To drinks then. Although it has a "girly" name, I would try a White Lady. Gin, Cointreau and lemon juice. It's delicious and elegant. I've ordered them for myself, albeit a little blushingly, and it was the first drink I made for my wife when I became drawn into this magical world of cocktails. Any bartender worth his shaker should be able to make a decent one, and it has the advantage of being made from very basic ingredients. If they have a bottle of maraschino (the tall thin straw-covered bottle Dave mentioned), you can blow their minds and order an Aviation (gin, maraschino, and lemon juice). Instant respect from the bartender will ensue.

It will be interesting to see if anyone is going to cook their way through The Alinea Book. Just looking at a few of the recipes there are some really cool parts to them I will certainly try. Whole recipes even. The whole thing? Chefg will need to have a job waiting for me. I love the layout of the website, and the recipes are really well explained. The videos are a great feature. Bravo! I'm Bricktop in the Alinea forums too, though I haven't posted yet.

Got my email too. This may kill a day of productivity at work.

I just bookmarked the Alinea Mosaic website. I'm practically drooling in anticipation.

I had my first of many Southside's after reading Eric Felten's WSJ piece last summer. It's a terrific cocktail, and I was pleased to find a way to use the surfeit of mint I was blessed with. No doubt, I will go through many this year too. I used lemon, but lime sounds like fun too. Gin was Plymouth. Ahh, so many ways to play the game.

Don't let Marco Pierre White hear you say that. BTW, your Daily Racing Form analysis post was Grade I Stakes quality!

Marco was excellent on UK Hells Kitchen. The guy defines charismatic.

That was my very first thought too. And it would have been pure genius for them to offer the diners "just one thin mint".

Forget corned beef hash with poached eggs! I want THAT!!!!

Wow. If I had known Genevieve was so hard to find, I would have bought more of it. I hope I don't have to ration it now.

[insert standing ovation here]

Fantastic read tupac. I am looking forward to the rest!

We used to have the 100 yr and 150 yr Grand Marnier in addition to the regular ol' Cordon Rouge at work. We once did a semiblind tasting on all three side by side and everyone unanimously preferred the cordon rouge to the 100 yr, with the 150 clocking in as the faraway favorite. We no longer stock the 100 yr. Now it could be that some do prefer the 100 yr, but my suggestion is that since it isn't all that much more, go ahead and give the 150 a shot. It's quite nice (one of our wine distributors used to drink it like water). ← Hee hee, I have the 150 also, but that one's in worse shape volume wise than the 100. I think 150 > 100 > CR, when I taste them side-by-side, but that's very rare. The CR is plenty fine in my book. The prices now are crazy. The 100 cost me $89 and the 150 was $109 about 5 years ago.

100th anniversary Grand Marnier after a nice Valentine's Day dinner. The bad news is I am in the home stretch of a bottle I bought several years ago, and the replacement cost is !

I called at 9 am SHARP. If you want a Friday or a Saturday, that's the way to go. As I said above, there were several people calling at the same time who got shut out because I reserved for 6 of us. Other days may be different, but I can't really speak to that.Good luck. It is really worth the effort.