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Of the places I've been to, at the moment, my favorite restaurants are: Commonwealth, Bar Tartine, Bar Jules, and Ragazza/Gialina. I also really like Mission Chinese Food. Not really into super upscale dining, these restaurants are more intimate and comfortable. Just a note, the Michael Mina restaurant in the Westin closed and has been replaced by another branch of his Bourbon Steak restaurant.

I have one, but after losing the end of a finger to a ceramic mandolin, I'm scared to use it. (It also takes too thick a zest.)

I always thought this passage from Wm. Boothby was interesting: Also interesting are drinks like The Dandy, Newbury and Temptation, where multiple twists are included in the ingredient list rather than as a garnish. Boy, it's hard to find a decent peeler, though, that doesn't take too much pith along with the zest.

I had a WMF strainer that I really liked, the only problem I discovered is that they weld the spring retainer onto the backing. If too much outward pressure is applied to the spring, the spring retainer will snap off the backing. Unless you have a spot welder, this is not fixable. Moral of the story: Do not store these style cocktail strainers by hooking them over stainless bar partitions between the spring and backing. However, my favorite part about the strainer was the tightly wound, large diameter spring, so I just moved it off of and onto another strainer.

Nice, another Oatmeal blog and maybe some cocktails!

Local Spirits writer Camper English traveled to Spain and got the following guidelines direct from the Industry: How Long Does Sherry Last Going with those numbers, I expect just about every bottle of sherry in the US is probably "expired", not to mention that sticky bottle that has been in your aunt's cabinet for the past 15 years.

...Though life without Sazeracs sounds pretty grim, too. My favorite Orange Bitters Solution is from the NY School of Bartending, half Fee's and Half Regan's. I like Angostura Orange Bitters, but you do have to be careful, they are far more pungent than either Fee's or Regan's. Too much can easily unbalance a cocktail.

Well, my perspective is as someone who makes a lot of classic cocktails from the late 19th and early 20th Century. While Peychaud's is necessary for the Sazerac and Vieux Carre cocktails, there are so many more classic drinks that call for Orange Bitters, it would be hard for me to justify a bar without them. I mean you can't even make a proper Gin Martini, and life without proper Martinis would be, well... Words fail me.

I've tried a couple toasted almond orgeats and while I think they are lovely, I'm still on the fence about whether they are appropriate for all applications. As you mention, for brown liquor drinks, sure. But for Gin or Absinthe drinks, not so much. I recently made a batch of pumpkin seed orgeat/horchata where I toasted them and thought it added a great flavor. But then, there's no real historical precedent for how a pumpkin seed orgeat should taste.

Picnic Bars, Lindt Pistachio and Almond filled chocolate bars, and the evil Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Peanut "granola" bars.

I have some friends who have been telling me that you really don't need to blanch the almonds before using them to make orgeat. I experimented with a small batch. While I can't say there is an appreciable flavor from the almond skins... I will say, unless you prefer your orgeat being a lovely chocolate brown in color, you should probably blanch them.

*cough*Not a Martini*cough* Though she does at least acknowledge her heresy, "It seems that anything can be called a martini these days. I'm not a purist, but to me, a martini is not defined by the vessel that it's served in, but by the inclusion of gin and vermouth. Beyond that, any added flavor is fair game."

Cool, thanks for the clarification. The link seemed a bit tenuous to me, aside from the Anglicization of the Indian word being similar to the drink, and the Toddy House being a sort of a bar. Palm Wine is usually not drunk hot nor is it diluted or sweetened as far as I know. I have to admit that I've been enjoying REALLY simple drinks lately and the cold version of the Toddy (or Sling) is one that has been quite pleasing to me.

Couple references: From the Answers.com Hinglish Dictionary: From the Answers.com Food Lovers Companion:

Was recently watching an episode of No Reservations where Anthony Bourdain traveled to Kerala, India. In the episode he visited two establishments which gave me pause, a Toddy Shop and a Tea Shop. While I know the idea of “Punch” was likely adapted by the British from Indian Roots and the Indians have a pretty good claim on being among the first to distill spirits for consumption, I hadn’t given much thought to what else they may have contributed to drink culture. Toddies and Slings are booze plus water, sugar, and maybe a garnish. Along with Punch, they were among the most popular drinks in America during the early years of the country. In India, Toddy Shops are bar-like places that serve Palm Wine and food. Palm Wine is a fermented beverage made by harvesting the sap of Toddy Palm Trees. It spontaneously ferments, making a low alcohol beverage similar to Mexican beverage Pulque. These shops are gathering places for men, and often serve food as a sop to their Toddy, or maybe Toddy as a salve to the spicy Indian Food. One way, or another, they are gathering places, where men, food, and alcoholic beverages converge. It puzzles me how the word “Toddy” may have migrated to or from India, to refer to a ubiquitous American beverage of the 18th and 19th Century. Or was the transfer the other way?

Oh right, continuing the thought, sorry it was early here, while sugar cubes may not have been authentic to the 19th Century bar, it seems making Old-Fashioneds and Sazeracs with sugar cubes was certainly authentic to the late 19th and early 20th Century, when both of these variations on the cocktail were probably created. Just as to be authentic to the late 20th Century, you'd make them with muddled fruit. I guess it just depends on whether you're wearing an edwardian collar, a vest and tie, or a black shirt.

I wrote this earlier this year when I was researching Sazeracs. As far as I know it is accurate: Personally, I am fond of "Cock-tails" or Old-Fashioneds with my friend Jennifer's Gum Syrup...

OK, I was exaggerating by saying "poison". Sorry about that. I've also been away from the computer for a few days. To be honest, the thing that galls me the most about most of the Agave Syrup Marketing is indeed the implication that it is some sort of natural, unprocessed, traditional Mexican Sweetener which is somehow more healthy for you than sugar. It isn't particularly natural and it was invented some time in the very late 20th Century. It is from Mexico, though, as far as I know, plain old honey would be a far more "traditional" Mexican sweetener. If you want rustic Mexican sweeteners, go with Piloncillo. It has recently been irritatingly popularized by Bethany Frankel as part of her dubiously healthy pre-prepared "skinny girl margarita", even though it has been a part of the Tommy's Margarita for years. I don't have the Scientific or Nutritional qualifications to evaluate the arguments, but as far as I can tell, if you avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup for any perceived health reasons, it makes not much sense to use Agave Syrup. I do not agree that the fact that alcohol is potentially poisonous and addicting should preclude us from using other natural, organic, or downright healthy ingredients in alcoholic beverages. I know I feel proud being able to tell people that the bar I work in uses all organic citrus, fruit juices, and sweeteners, and I think our drinks are better for it. Given that there never really seems to be a glut of Mexican Agave and the process seems a bit labor and energy intensive, I am curious about the circumstances that gave rise to invention of Agave Syrup.

While I know quite a few people who have transitioned from careers in the kitchen to successful careers behind the bar, I can't think of any "top chefs" who have really taken the time to master bar recipes and culture while maintaining their kitchen careers. Generally, I think being a successful chef is demanding enough, better to delegate the business of running the bar and crafting cocktails to those with the appropriate skills, training, and background.

Well, it's not like I'm against bar and food parlor tricks, whether it is flaming an orange zest, or even small magic. I do wonder how the elaborate theatrical, and rather sober, presentations of a place like Alinea can be translated to a bar.

There does seem to be a bit of the Sazerac Straight Rye around SF at the moment, I've seen it in a couple stores. Wild Turkey Rye, aka the blood of San Francisco, is around some, but not as plentiful as I would like. K&L is a very nice store with outposts in Redwood City, LA, and San Franicsco, I recommend them, as well as Plump Jack Wine, John Walker and Cask in San Francisco proper. In Berkeley, Ledger's is a very good store. Of the slightly more expensive Ryes, the High West Rendezvous Rye is pretty good, if a bit mild.

Grant Achatz quoted in the Village Voice Blogs Grant Achatz: Why Settle for Liquid Cocktails? So weird that he is saying cocktails are stagnant. I mean, I feel like bartenders and other drink makers are currently doing some awfully cool things with cocktails and mixed drinks. Having lived through cocktails in the 1980s, it seems kind of odd to say they are stagnant now. Not just that, but it seems like he is talking from a perspective of a person which is fairly uninformed about the history of prepared alcoholic beverages. Leaving aside the fact that he is ignoring the work of contemporary drink makers who have been experimenting with culinary or "molecular" techniques, there are recipes for solid drinks and all sorts of other wacky things from the 19th century and before. Ooo, a hot drink. How about a Toddy? Ooo, a hot and Cold Drink, maybe Irish Coffee, fer cripes sake. Sure, you can do an alcoholic version of the Fat Duck's Hot and Cold Tea, where different jells allow a hot and cold beverage to be served in the same glass without combining, but is that looking to the future? Or is it just a novelty? Chef Achatz certainly has grabbed our attention, it will be interesting to see the follow through, if he can live up to all the expectations that he is setting himself up for.

Whatever Rye you can find. We're in the middle of of a Rye Droughts right now in CA, with bars and retailers struggling to find supplies of reasonably priced Rye Whiskey for cocktails. His sister should be able to find some of the luxury brands and Beam, Overholt, or (ri)1. Beyond that, there are no guarantees.

I was recently writing this cocktail up, and it reminded me of this topic: Actually, I'm thinking of replacing the Cherry Brandy with Curacao and renaming it The Elmegirab Cocktail. Or maybe the Evo-Lution Cocktail. ;-) Even moreso, making this one last night:

My guess is Mexican Piloncillo is about as close to unrefined loaf sugar as you are going to get, though I've seen actual unrefined loaf sugar for sale in Chinese groceries. If you're going to use sugar in an old-fashioned, I think superfine or caster is best. Though you can always run any sugar through the blender or food processor for a few seconds for finer grains.