Rob Simmon

I was talking to a friend of a friend a week or so ago who helps come up with the branding & marketing for one of the very large liquor companies (he helped create Captain Morgan and Coke in a can). According to him, a case of high-end vodka is almost all profit, and no more expensive to produce than the cheap stuff.

You might want to add some extra water. Bottled cocktail recipes often need water to make up for what you don't get from melting ice.

I'm pretty sure I've seen both dry and candied rose and violet petals at Dean & Deluca (in DC). Unfortunately they cost an arm and a leg.

I haven't seen this posted yet: The golden age of cocktails LAS VEGAS -- The name itself evokes the clink of ice in a glass. So it may seem fitting that a museum celebrating the history of the cocktail has just moved into town. And really, the location couldn't be better. Visitors to the Museum of the American Cocktail can sip a classic or cutting-edge drink as they check out the collection of historical cocktail memorabilia, because exhibits are on display in a room at Commander's Palace restaurant in Aladdin Resort & Casino. ... http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo...-headlines-food

Bassin's/McArthur Liquors in DC has one bottle of Apry left--I just bought the other two.

to clarify: I'd like drinks created since 1990 or so (I already have way too many classics and forgotten classics to cull through) that don't have any citrus. Recipes that you've recreated from a restaurant menu, for example. I'll read through some of the other EG threads and see if there's anything inspring.

I'm throwing a cocktail party next weekend, and I'm aiming for a three-part menu: metro: new drinks like the Tantris Sidecar retro: forgotten classics like the Aviation, 20th Century, and Tipperary the classics: Martini, Manhattan, and so forth (or Tiki drinks, and place the classics on the retro side). I have a handful of modern drinks--but they're primarily sours, and I'd like to have more variety. I'd appreciate suggestions for new drinks with the potential to be classics. Recipes by Audrey would be welcomed, for instance. I'm also planning on avoiding vodka, unless it's for an infusion. I'll likely post the full list with recipes when I've compiled it. If the co-host ok's it, anyone in DC on the 3rd can message me for an invite. thanks!

You could turn a 21 year-old single malt into vodka. Did mythbusters do a double-blind test, by the way? How did they determine the filtered vodka was better?

I adjusted the grenadine to 0.5 oz.--a tad too sweet. Almost a jack rose, in fact (lime (including rind!), not lemon, is specified by Duffy). 2 tsp.? I haven't compared Amer Picon to Torani Amer, but Dr. Cocktail prefers Torani to the current formulation of Amer Picon. Personally, I like the assertive bitterness of the Torani.

I took my mom out to mother's day brunch (with my brother who lent me Duffy, if you're following that thread) at Cafe Atlantico and we had the margarita with lime air (mentioned in the NYTimes article) and a cotton-candy mojito. The mojito was purely for effect (pour the liquid over cotton candy for the sweetness--it dissolved immediately), but the lime air had salt and lime zest in it, and it transformed the drink. Really nice.

Hugo Bracer Juice of 1 Lime (1 oz.) 2 dashes grenadine syrup (1/8 teaspoon Cortas (from a middle-eastern grocery)) 1/3 Amer Picon (0.75 oz. Torani Amer) 2/3 Apple Brandy (1.5 oz. Laird's 12 year (hey, it's what I have!)) Shake well with cracked ice and strain. Finally, another grown-up cocktail. There's a lot of promise here, but either limes are bigger now (likely, in my opinion) or more grenadine was intended (also likely, since I suspect the drink was supposed to be pink or red, and it was decidedly brown). So up the grenadine by 50%, cut the lime juice to 0.75 oz., and I think the Hugo Bracer would be a superb cocktail. Tons of complexity, with a sour and bitter edge that would go great with rich food, like rare grilled salmon or smoked pork.

Attention Cocktail 1/4 French Vermouth (0.75 oz. Vya) 1/4 Absinthe (144 proof Verte de Fougerolles) 1/4 Gin (Magellan) 1/4 Creme de Violette (Cote Garrique Sirope a la Violette) 2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's) Stir well with cracked ice and strain. Tastes like licorice. Maybe a hint of violet, but mostly like licorice. Perhaps cut the absinthe in half? Then in half again?

I'm using lavender leaves, not blossoms, so it's more herbal, less floral. I'm specifically staying away from sours. Not sure why, exactly, just trying to challenge myself.

I don't have any home-made (the lavender is on the porch, waiting to be planted) so I don't know how it compares. I suspect the Monin is both more fragrant and sweeter, so I reduced the proportion a little bit, to somehwere between 0.5 and 0.75 oz. The drink wasn't perfectly balanced, but it was my last of several experiments on the night, so I was "tired" , and I used a different brandy (Asbach Uralt), which is itself quite different than a cognac.

That's nice! I used Monin lavender syrup instead of home-made.

yet another unamed cocktail: 2 oz. lavender infused canadian whiskey 1 oz. Barenjaeger shake & strain I infused a "handful" of lavender leaves with 4 oz. canadian whiskey for 4 or 5 days. The result is surprisingly flavorful (and a bit medicinal) I probable left it too long. The lavender dominates the resulting drink, probably better with scotch, which was my original idea, but I wussed out, thinking the lavender would be too mild. Hah!

More weirdness: Yellow Parrot 1/3 Yellow Chartreuse 1/3 Apricot Brandy (my dwindling bottle of Apry) 1/3 Absinthe Very sweet, again! Not really much to recommend here. The absinthe dominates (no surprise, really) and the apricot disappears. I think the proportions would have to adjusted radically for the drink to work. Maybe 2 parts Chartreuse, 3 Apricot, 1 Absinthe? It doesn't solve the sweet problem, though. Citrus would almost certainly clash with the absinthe. Bitters? Too much complexity, I bet (sometimes more is less, after all).

I remade the Trilby #2 with more conventional ingredients, and transformed it into something boring. The parfait amour and vermouth (Martini & Rossi) dominated, burying the scotch (Famous Grouse). The whole thing mostly came off as simply sweet, which is surprising considering the ingredient list. So next time (if there is a next time) less parfait amour, maybe add 1/3 single malt and 2/3 blended?

I see molecular mixology as a pretty good thing: using modern technology (it's much more technology than science, by the way) to play with texture, temperature, and presentation. It's the natural extension of adding an egg white to a drink to give it body. I'm also interested in "deconstructing" classic cocktails (or adding new garnishes that nonetheless fit the mythology of a classic perfectly (leather-infused bourbon sounds brilliant, although I haven't tasted any)). Maybe serve a martini that's a glass of gin with an assortment of fresh herbs found in vermouth filling the glass? A foam Ramos Gin Fizz? The mixologist can almost force the drinker to think about the cocktail, rather than just consuming it. Of course we'll also be faced with a foamed daquiri from TGIF's, but it's a small price to pay.

As stated in the article, foams are easy. Keep a charged whipped cream canister filled with the proper ingredients, top off drinks as necessary. The "paper" at WD-50 is floated on top of the liquid ingredients. There's a lot of prep work involved, but then the preparations can be kept at the ready.

Admin: threads merged. Two Parts Vodka, a Twist of Science AT David Burke's Primehouse, a weeks-old steakhouse in Chicago, the house vodka martini is garnished with a lollipop — a lollipop made from "reduced olive brine, olive flavoring and salt crystallized in isomalt" that is stuffed with blue cheese, according to its creator, Eben Klemm. The restaurant's house manhattan is made with leather-infused bourbon, sweet vermouth and a bitters-spiked maraschino purée, dropped into the drink as a liquid that coalesces into a "gumdrop" when it hits the side of the glass. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/10/dining/1...=rssnyt&emc=rss I've had the two minibar cocktails mentioned in the article, both are outstanding. Unfortunately I did a wine pairing at Moto--sounds like cocktails were a better bet.

I haven't seen any. Mine was imported by a friend. If you're ever in DC come over and I'll mix something for you.

Trilby Cocktail No. 2 2 Dashes Absinthe (scant 1/8th teaspoon) 2 Dashes Orange Bitters (Regan's) 1/3 Parfait Amour Liqueur (0.75 oz. M-B) 1/3 Scotch Whiskey (Mortlach (Speyside)) 1/3 Italian Vermouth (Carpano Antiqua Formula) Stri well in ice and strain into glass Some days, you've just gotta try the weird stuff (I'll admit that's every other day for me, but this drink is pushing the boundary a bit). I'm not sure what to make of it--the sweetness of the parfait amour balances nicely with the smokiness of the Scotch (in a blood and sand sort of way), but the bitterness of the Carpano is too pronounced. Next time I'll either reduce the proportion, or switch to a milder vermouth (Vya, if I can find it). I'm not sure I can taste the absinthe at all. Maybe garnish with a flamed orange peel? I'm also not sold on such a smokey scotch. Anybody know if single-malts were common in the 30s? Interesting drink, but it needs work. For those of you who were wondering, there's no listing for a "Trilby Cocktail No. 1"

Ladie's Cocktail 1 Jigger Whiskey 2 Dashes Absinthe 3 Dashes Anisette 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters Stir well with cracked ice, strain and serve with a piece of Pineapple on top. I don't remember what bottlings I used, but was not impressed with the cocktail at all. Mildly anise flavored whiskey. shrug.

Creole Cocktail 1/2 Whiskey (0.75 oz. Sazerac 6) 1/2 Italian Vermouth (0.75 oz. Carpano Antiqua) 2 dashes Benedictine 2 dashes Amer Picon (Torani Amer) Stir well with cracked ice, strain and serve with a twist of Lemon Peel. A thoroughly adult cocktail. Despite an overpour of Amer (precisely how much is in a dash, anyways?) which added a touch too much bitterness (especially combined with the Carpano) the ingredients played well together, with the Benedictine lending an herbal note that tied things together. More of a Manhattan relative than a really distinctive drink on its own, but very nice. I'd probably up the proportions of Rye and Vermouth, hopefully correct the amount of Amer, and maybe increase the Benedictine to make the cocktail more distinctive.