lostmyshape

thanks for the clarification with scotch! anyone esle want to chime in and give us the blended skinny on other types of whiskey?

if you're in da 'burgh, i'll be happy to show you around (that offer is extended to anyone on egullet). i love taking people around my town (even if there isn't much to see). the southside is the best area for getting to a variety of bars, but, like i've said before, there's a neighborhood bar on every block in this town, some great, some the diviest of the dives... in fact, during all of the superbowl media nonsense, some seattle writer put Pittsburgh down for having a bar on every corner. said we were lowbrow or something because of it. we just said ssssppphhhhfffftttt back.

i thought this was mentioned here before, because i had gone to the site and looked at the curriculum previously, but maybe i'm wrong. looks cool, but definately for the professional. i hope they put together the 2-4 day version mentioned in the article for us hobbyists. in anycase, M.X.Hassett, be sure to tell us about your experience there!!!

I think there's a little confusion here. Blended scotch is single malt scotches blended with grain whisky, and as you say, the grain whisky spends time in oak, just like the malts, but grain whisky doesn't have to be made from malted barley. It's usually made using corn as the primary grain. ok... now i'm really confused about this whole "blended" business. for scotches, i see the above, but aren't there also blended malt scotches, a blend of a group of single malts? and what about plain old "blended whiskey," the cheap stuff? it was my understanding that they're not blended with "grain whiskey," but "neutral grain spirits," which i thought was good ol' unaged, high-proof distilled, flavorless booze... essentially vodka. this stuff i try to avoid, but i'm i wrong about it? if that's the case, i think that stuff is giving the better "blended" a bad name.

yeah... i know a lot of people love dees... and it's not the same as jacks (who has that sleazy drinkin' at 6 in the mornin' and pickin' up chicks vibe), but i just didn't get dees. wasn't my cuppa tea, but neither is jacks. people in the east end of pittsburgh love "the squirrel cage" (the squirrel hill cafe), but i think it's "eh." just one bad experience at a bar can leave a bad taste in your mouth (cheap rail liquor can do that, too). sorry... didn't mean to put dees down. my point was that pittsburgh is full of bars like that and every person has their favorite. sort-of depends what "your" bar is. no trouble started.

um... serving drinks? kidding aside, i like my bartender to have knowledge and swagger... the only important things to me. if i ask for a rye manhatten and the bartender tells me they don't have rye... no big deal. but if they don't know what rye is... tsk, tsk. or if i point to a tap and ask what that beer tastes like and they tell me they don't know. good greif... know what you're serving!!! and serve it efficiently and happily. a bartender who takes pride in their work is the best kind. i don't care if they talk to me, flirt with me or dazzle me with tricks... just serve a good drink and know what you're talking about (or, if you don't, convince me that you do).

dees is pretty standard for a pittsburgh bar. there's at least one of these in every pittsburgh neighborhood. across the street is jack's, and down a way's is brewski's and the white eagle. all notable for that fact that they open at 6AM. lot's of 2nd shift workers drinking the day in. my vote for all those is the white eagle, also on carson st. it's got a big rectangular bar that fills the whole room, with only 3 feet to the wall, and the best juke-box in da 'burgh. wildly varied clientele: the elderly black couple talking to the college kid and middle-age blue collar about classic funk. beer and a shot... no difference between the rail and top shelf liquor (it's all bad). and you can walk out with a six-pack for 5 bucks. too bad Chiodo's just got torn down to put in a CVS. this place was classic Pittsburgh, down the hill from where all the steel workers used to live. bras on the walls, great beer selection, and the "mystery sandwich." nothing lasts forever. speaking of beer, Pittsburgh really is a beer-drinkin' town (alas, no cocktails in sight). there are 2 bars were you can choose from over 600 different beers: The Sharp Edge and D's 6-packs and Dogz (not related to the Dee's above). the latter has nearly 1,000 different beers to choose from and makes a mean hot dog, too. D's is in my neighborhood (regent square) and i love it. almost all locals who all say hi to you and want to talk about great beer. maybe i'll go to that esquire site and nominate some bars.

i've been contemplating buying one of these (non-vintage) from the local kitchen supply store. but, what exactly would i do with it? can i actually make my own soda? like, ginger simple syrup soda-fied for "ginger beer"? seems cheaper and fresher than buying it by the bottle. sorry for my ignorance, but i've never actually seen one of these things in action.

tried the straight cognac version and was, well, underwhelmed. had my first at Pegu Club and came home to replicate what i found was a tremendous drink. read that it was orignally made with brandy, so i had to try it. eh... gimme rye everytime. although i did enjoy a 50-50 mix: spiciness from the rye, grape-skinnyness from the cognac. not the same without the spicyness, though.

good stuff, kindof grassy tasting, but it depends on the brand and how old the tea it. it's traditionally drunk from a hollowed out gourd with a metal straw/filter contraption called a bombilla. there were a lot of south american students at my college (Carnegie Mellon University) who would drink it. it's a communal drink that's passed and sipped from 1 gourd/bombilla. first time i saw people drinking it, i thought it was some sort of drug they were passing around. it almost is. the caffiene kick knocks me over. forget that redbull crap. if i want to stay up late, gimme some mate!

the gin that got me drinking gin. really mild, but tasty... not too juniper-y. good gin to introduce to non-gin drinkers, although still tastes like gin. i second the 50-50 w/orange bitters and a twist, or 4:1 martini w/bitters and twist works well, too.

yeah... heering and maraschino aren't even close. both are great, but the heering is sweet and cherry-y and the maraschino is nutty, drier, and has a funkiness i don't know how to discribe. both yummy, but have different places in cocktail making. heering is pretty easy to find in PA liquor stores also (at least in the pittsburgh-go steelers!-area). wish i could get my hands on the other luxardo products.

i just use a utility razor... the kind you get at the hardware store. works great, and is cheaply replaceable!

sorry to be the contrarian! i think this is a great subject. i just wasn't sold on the idea that to make a "savory" cocktail just add a lot of salt and take away the sweetness. i can play this game now that we can admit that a savory cocktail could have some sweetness! when i think of a bloody mary as gaspacho w/vodka (as cdh mentioned), i get much more open to that idea of booze+soup or booze+savory something. sure, use that roasted onion-infused vodka, add some beef drippings, a shot of angastura, and a bacon fat float (someone mentioned accidentally dripping bacon fat into a dry martini and loving it... maybe the "what i drank last night" thread)? hey, sounds outrageous, but might taste good! lot of work for a cocktail, though. edited to add that beef drippings and bacon fat float might be a bit much now that i think of it.

anyone tried to SLO anything? i want to get some luxardo and laird's bonded (love to get parfait amour, but it's not listed as a SLO). wondered what the experience is like. if it's really slow (no pun intended), i might order a couple bottles of each. thanks!

^^^^well put Jaymes. exactly what i was trying to say earlier. detlechef: what do you mean by "savory?" meaty? i mean, savory things can be awfully sweet. as Jaymes said, an onion tart is really sweet, but i would definitely label that as savory. maybe it's really hard to make the distinction between "savory vs. sweet" in cocktails. perhaps we're better off speaking about them in more classic terms as far as sweetness goes: "sweet vs. dry?" then we can talk about a "savory" cocktail without worrying if there's any trace of sweetness to it?

i also have a cheap-o salter scale (probably the same 5# max one as above). unless you expect to break it, get a more expensive one. the one i have is endlessly frustrating. it auto-offs really quickly and the on button is also the tare button. so everytime it turns off, my tare is reset just by turning it back on. and it's actually turned off while i'm measuring out flour. arrrgh. so, at least, get one with separate tare and on buttons.

yeah, and most sweet dishes, too... ice cream can't cut it without salt. ever had melon with salt and pepper? mmmm.... herbacious, eh? how about a B&B? classic and i wouldn't describe it as sweet (maybe medicinal, but i love them).

wow, matthew... thank you for that detailed reply. that's a lot to think about. just read an article that someone here in pittsburgh won a $160k grant from the state for running studies for the feasibility of distilling PA potatoes into vodka. gives the farmers business and creates a new industry here in town. interesting idea... probably more realistic from a business profitability standpoint than making and selling genever. thanks for the link, WHT. although wine doesn't really interest me, i've though about brewing beer. but so many breweries do it sooo well. i just decided it was too much work when i could walk down the street to an awesome six-pack shop and choose from almost 1,000 beers. on the other hand, i can only get 1 type of genever and 2 types of rye (both beam products) at the PA state store. seems like a market that could explode! plus, there's so much romance in moonshining. retrofit a "water-heater reflux still," huh? i, i mean, my friend might need to PM you.

yeah... what do you mean by "savory?" just not sweet? there are a lot of cocktails which i wouldn't consider sweet. a negroni has sweet vermouth, primarily to balance the campari, but i would never say it is sweet. it's bitter. and what about sour cocktails? are they savory? now if you mean salty and "meaty," i think there aren't many because we don't percieve, say, steak as refreshing. we don't look to create a drink that makes us think, "mmm, meaty," but it could be done. i just descovered Islay scotches. they're super smokey and a bit salty. i would never describe them as sweet, but i'm not sure i'd call them savory. but is this what you mean? although expensive, they could be used to make spectacular cocktails! (isn't this the ingrediant that gives audrey's dreamy dorini smoking martini part of it's name?) lastly, i've found that most good bartenders really are aiming at balance in cocktails. one type of flavor can be dominant, but it needs many flavors to be good. sort of like the thai food philosophy of salty, spicy, sour, sweet. lets get all those flavors in there, not just salty. you just called the dirty martini "hideous" and you want us to come up with more salty drinks?

thanks for the reply, dave. it's been bugging me since i came across this website (beware: annoying auto-music) about visiting old distilleries in PA. seems like they were everywhere, and now? all gone. any ideas why the government makes it so hard to distill your own booze? pressure from the big guys (like beam) to keep out competition? or just leftover temperance laws? i beleive some states are creating a new "craft distilling" category that has less regulations, like micro-brewing. is this true? i'm sure some of you have friends who do a little home-distilling. is this an expensive hobby? probably not a good idea in a small, city apartment, huh? and i'm always looking for an excuse to quit my job... don't have the guts to do it, though.

just a note, but if you're considering the POM and/or the Williams-Sonoma varieties, i think they're the same. the W-S bottle says made by POM Wonderful right on the side.

giving my thread on last bump to see if any historians might bite. thanks.

wow... great idea to marry a floral tea with cachaca. i often think cachaca is "missing something," and this might do the trick. i'm gonna try this one.

yeah... and my jigger is in metric... 4cL? that's, what, little less than 2 oz? ugh. back to egg drinks... made a Coffee Cocktail from Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails on a lark. thought the discription and picture were intriguing, but didn't expect to like it (wierd ingredients... just doesn't look tasty). but, Ted Haigh has yet to point me in the wrong direction. i loved it and was sorely disappointed when i discovered i didn't have enough brandy for a 2nd.