WoBuJiDao

Bols also makes a Maraschino Liqueur - it's the only one available where I live. To me it tastes like a sweet floral soap, but I still very much enjoy Aviations which make use of it. I can't compare it to Luxardo (I'll pick up a bottle next time I'm in the US) but I imagine it's only vaguely similar.

It also might be worth muddling some fruit and adding it to the vodka. I think straight vodka can only be appreciated straight, or maybe in the very simplest of cocktails.

Chinese import stores will have Sarsaparilla Soda, along with Schweppe's Grapefruit soda. Have to admit it reminds me of what Europeans say about Rootbeer - that is, it tastes like toothpaste. I'll try mixing it with booze and see what I think. As for Schweppe's Grapefruit soda, that stuff is excellent and has obvious Highball applications. Pick up a can or 12.

Wild Turkey Rye. Single malt v. blended, Scotch v. bourbon v. Rye v. Irish, is a definite matter of personal taste. I'd say, it's a waste going straight to what somebody tells you is the top brand, especially if you're spending big bucks on something you haven't learned to appreciate. Get a little of this, a little of that, see what you like, compare the flavors against each other, and develop a taste for what's good.

If your zoning allows sake, maybe it also allows Soju/Shochu, at up to 48 proof? That's the way it is in some states. It's a Korean liquor that's lightly flavored but essentually a neutral spirit - the taste would be lost in most cocktails, anyway. Use a chilled bottle (so it needs less ice/dilution) and use it in cocktails as a replacement for vodka or light rum. Plus Soju will become super-trendy sometime in the future - I have predicted it.

Looking at my Chinese-labeled bottle of HC7, it has an award from the "World Spirits Championship" in Chicago, 1997. Excellent, excellent stuff, and I find myself ignoring the rest of my liquor collection when I have a bottle around.

The absinthe I've had has been 151 proof...at that proof you could just as easily wait until New Year's 2007 party, or 2017, and there'd be no real difference.

Hmm, perhaps I'm alone on this one but I feel Hennessy and Remy Martin are pretty good alcohols. Of course they're not artisinal at that production value (they've got a gallon or two at every market here in Shanghai, as well), but I think they taste fine. If you're using it for cooking, or not familiar with brandy, the fine points would be lost on you anyway. On the other hand, I don't get them often, because for the same price I can get a much higher quality whisky or rum. Tequila has the same problem. If I just want to make a cheap Sidecar, I think most of the French Brandies are horrid, horrid stuff, as are the Mexican Brandies I've tried. However I got a French De La Maziere brandy recently, it's not good but it's passable for cooking or a cocktail, it retails for maybe $10 or $15. And I think California brandies are about the same.

I posted before and since learned a little extra. Korean sojus are not crafted. They are essentially industrial neutral spirits, the same as vodka, but watered down to 48 proof instead of watered down to 80 proof. OK there's usually a little bit more of a flavor to it, usually a powdered sugar or pear flavor, but the flavor is very subtle and not noticeable in a cocktail, any more than a premium vodka tastes different from Smirnoff in a cocktail. Japanese shochus tend to be of a higher quality, and brewed from sweet potatoes (Korean sojus were also brewed from sweet potatoes, until the practice was outlawed during some war, the Korean War I believe) but really aren't much different. In the Bay Area, there are definitely some cool spots that aren't at all Asian and have soju cocktails. These spots are cool for their indie or music vibe rather than the quality of their cocktails, though. Also, I thought it was interesting to see a publicity photo for the new Harry Potter movie - Harry is seen with a small green bottle with mountains on it. Keen eyes will note it's a bottle of Korean green-tea infused soju. One bottle is about equal to four beers. So I expect Harry's Quidditch skills to be a bit sloppy in this one.

Interesting post but I have to disagree. There certainly are cheap places in the US that run on the McDonald's scheme of lots of quick food for a cheap price. But when I lived in San Francisco I thought there was a full range of quality to Chinese restaurants, ranging from $2 meals to some of the best restaurants in San Francisco. I'd often go to special-occasion meals at Chinese restaurant, with either Chinese or non-Chinese people, as some of these restaurants are considered to be the best in town. Sure by percentages the majority of US Chinese food is just passable and is mostly popular because it's cheap, plentiful, and quick, but that doesn't reflect on higher-quality restaurants. Anyway the breakdown is similar to restaurants in China, where I'm now living, and had a cheap rice bowl with pork for dinner. There's no place where everybody eats gourmet food every meal. If making money was the gauge of a restaurant's success, food would be boring and why bother holding discussions on eGullet? I understand where you're coming from but I strongly disagree with that viewpoint. And why shouldn't we consider Chinatown restaurants? Anybody can go to them and order food after all. And they're often aiming themselves partly or entirely at a non-Chinese crowd, anyway - take a look at House of Nanking in SF, for example (just don't go inside).

I think most people consider Schweppe's the tonic water of choice. It's definitely my favorite. I'd love to try Stirrings if it showed up on the shelves of my local grocery store, but that's not too likely I fear.

I enjoyed the Gary Regan book and think it's a good overview of mixing cocktails. It was my first real cocktail book (in college I had a simple recipe book, like everybody else) and I also enjoy the straightforward approach where he emphasizes the balance between ingredients and the similarities between different cocktails. But I also think it has some serious problems - too many archaic or obscure drinks that should stay archaic or obscure. Classes of drinks that should not exist (I guess I'm mostly thinking of those "squirrel drinks"). The concept of a proper Manhattan being Bourbon Whiskey with lots of vermouth and a Maraschino cherry (ugh). Lots of other drinks where I just thought the ratios weren't very well chosen. Most of all the book is just dry, it felt like something to be studied. Granted I did more-or-less study the book, but it clashes with the cocktail culture, and it also means it's not really something you loan to a friend. I strongly prefer the Splificator books, the drinks are a lot better and the books are a lot more fun.

I live in Shanghai, and maybe I can add a little to the thread. First, bicycles are everywhere in Shanghai, they've been banned from major thoroughfares but dominate the traffic in general - . There's no doubt that your average Shanghai-er walks and bikes far, far more than your average American. Secondly, trying to generalize Chinese home-style cooking is impossible. There's just too many people, too many cultural variations, too many traditions, etc. Talk to somebody from one region, and they invariably will tell you that the food of more-or-less any other region is repulsive. Lumping them all together isn't quite fair.

Ah, don't be picky. It gets you drunk, who cares?

It's no surprise you have to stretch to make a decent drink with Chinese booze. In the US, most hard alcohol ends up getting consumed in a cocktail. So of course alcohols that mix well become popular, while those that demand to be taken straight generally turn into niche products. There's a certain amount of tail wagging the dog that doesn't so much happen in China. Europe also has less of a cocktail culture, I recall visiting Eastern Europe and getting plum or apricot wines that were unbearably sweet (much sweeter and stronger than what is brought to the US) and would be probably unusable in a decent cocktail. And bread has always been big in most of China. Also there's other Chinese beers that are about the same quality as Tsing Tao (ie nothing to brag about). Yanjing comes to mind.