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Cool stuff, George. Actually, sounds pretty tempting, though I am unclear how you, "Imbed your lemon-peel in...sugar". I know I've seen punch recipes where they tell you to (more or less) zest the lemon by rubbing the yellow peel off onto pieces of loaf sugar. But since they tell you to first remove the peel with a paring knife, that doesn't seem to be what they are talking about. Plus, there's no way loaf sugar would dissolve in this sort of a la minute preparation. "You see we use dark sherry for this, both for strength and the colour. It makes the mixture of a beautiful golden hue; with amontillado or Manzanilla it would look too weak." For the sherry, would they be using something like oloroso or cream, then?

Haven't tried lemon grass in alcohol; but, I do find lemon grass infused simple syrup loses its lemoney-ness rather quickly, even when kept refrigerated. To me, the syrup becomes rather vegetal and somewhat bitter in a week or so. --- Also meant also to say, I didn't mean to be discouraging. You never know what complex aromatics like this are going to do in the long term, until you try. I just wouldn't make too big a batch the first time.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, October 06, 2006 The cosmo-free zone: Bartending purists demand respect for the art of mixology, Camper English Elements of craft cocktails, Camper English THE SIPPING NEWS: Now you don't have to finish a bottle of wine the day you open it -- or feel guity about consuming the whole bottle in one evening. Add Lillet cocktails to the growing list of inventive drinks that skirt liquor laws. Save the odd ends Save the odd ends and uneven slices of your tomatoes for bruschetta. HEADS ABOVE THE REST The Tasting Room: Stonestreet Vineyards & Winery, W. Blake Gray Buyer beware: Attack of the giant bottles, Jancis Robinson Uncorked: Negociant Cameron Hughes, W. Blake Gray Pairings: Dried mushrooms are always in season, and so is this pasta dish, Lynne Char Bennett Recipe: Mushroom Lasagna The Chronicle's Wine Selections: MENDOCINO COUNTY PINOT NOIR, Lynne Char Bennett The Cheese Course: Discover goat in a haystack, Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: Redd, Jane Tunks Bargain Bite: Jimmy Bean's, Stacy Finz CRITICS' PICKS: The Wine Country, Bill Addison "Most Wine Country restaurants focus on California cuisine that celebrates the bounty of the state, but if you're in the mood for a European twist, try La Salette on Sonoma Square. Its Portuguese specialties include caldo verde, salt cod and a sexy tapioca pudding with fig compote. And if you just need a quick nosh between jaunts to wineries? Grab sandwiches, salads or rotisserie chicken at Cafe Citti on Sonoma Highway in Kenwood. "

While I suppose it is valid to limit your criterion to recipes created during the actual time the 18th amendment was valid, it is good to note that the US struggled with the temperence movement for quite a bit longer than the duration of "the great experiment". Some US states, counties, or cities first went dry in the 1800s and, heck, some are still dry today.

Hmm... Well, getting a bit off topic, but... As an, ahem, amateur mixologist, I often wonder something similar. There is a whole universe of ingredients available to mixologists today that Jerry Thomas could only dream of. Fresh herbs and fruits available year 'round, amazing varieties of exotic spices, unusual syrups and flavors in ethnic markets. Sure, maybe only 1 in 10 will result in a truly amazing cocktail; but, why not try? On the other hand, if you don't understand the basics and the history of the craft, how can you hope to build on it? To me, it is like cooking. Too many inexperienced chefs and cooks get seduced by exotic ingredients before mastering the basics. Adding lemongrass to your soup doesn't make it any better, if the stock sucks, the veggies are poorly chopped, and it is improperly seasoned. If I'm in a bar, and they can't make me a proper Manhattan or old-fashioned, I'm not going to trust their lemongrass and muddled mango-tini.

Funny how different people smell/taste different things. The store was out of peanut, and I recently tried safflower. To me it has a bitter unpleasant smell when heated. I'll be glad when I finally get to the bottom of the bottle.

If any of you read (or write) blogs which cover cocktails, you might know that Paul over at Cocktail Chronicles has been organizing a monthly online cocktail event he calls Mixology Mondays. Since I'm sure there are still at least a few eGulleters who might not have blogs, I thought I would again start a thread here and encourage you to post your cocktails, ramblings, and pictures. I'll compile a list of the cocktails posted and contact the host of the event with them. We had some good contributions to last month's theme, "Goodbye, Summer," and this month's theme seems even more fun. To again quote Mr. Clarke, "Meeta over at What's For Lunch Honey? is hosting this round, and she’s chosen Exotic Drinks for her theme. This is perfect — the theme covers a wide range, everything from the funky, fruity drinks you had on vacation to your latest experiments in tikidom." The deadline for posting is October 16th at midnight. Gentle men and women of eGullet, get out your mugs, tropical ingredients, and let's see some seriously smoking Exotica!

Sean, I was trying to think of things to compare the violet liqueur to, and came up with this: If you've ever made a lavender flavored simple syrup or Sorbet, (the linked recipe is excellent, BTW,) it's very similar. Except, well, it tastes like violets, not lavender.

Sean, I convinced some friends to bring the liqueur de violette from London when they were visiting the US. They got it from Sally Clarke's, who will ship to the US, if you're really curious. Here's a picture: The Benoit Serres liqueur de violette is made on an Armanac base and is 25% alcohol. It is very intensely aromatic and violet-ey. When I've given folks a taste or smell, they mostly say, "that's very odd". For some reason, I still haven't tried Parfait Amour, so I can't give you a taste comparison. I've read Parfait Amour is an imperfect substitution for creme de violette. Sweeter and with a less intense violet flavor and with some citrus and vanilla added. Some authors describe it as "grape jellybeans".

Apparent Cocktail 1/2 Dry Gin (1 1/2 oz Beefeaters) 1/2 Dubonnet (1 1/2 oz Dubonnet Rouge) dash Absinthe (Verte de Fougerolles) Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into a cocktail glass. (Orange Twist garnish.) I enjoyed this one. An interesting wet martini variation. I thought the orange twist added a nice layer of aromatic complexity. Definitely something I would make again.

Feature article in today's SF Chronicle about Bourbon and Branch. The cosmo-free zone Not only are they making their own tonic; but, experimenting with Sodium Alginate! And quite a roster of bartenders!

Aluminum and lead are bad. I believe some silvers contain larger portions of lead. Pewter, perhaps? If your flask is made of those things, don't leave liquor in them. If it is solid stainless, no problems.

re: Arrack I was re-reading David Wondrich's incredibly informative, "A Brief History of Punch," in Mixologist Volume 1, and ran across this footnote. In addition in Stanley Clisby Arthur's "Famous New Orleans Drinks & How to Mix 'Em", I find the following information from his writeup of the Arrack Punch recipe. These two quotes lead me to wonder if the most appropriate substitution for Arrack might not be some decent Japanese Shochu or even Chinese liquors started with "Red Starter". Perhaps a trip to one of the many Asian Grocery stores in the area is in order. Who knows, they might even have Indonesian Arrack. Though, given what I've heard about the flavor of Chinese rice wine and liquor, it is probably no wonder it was heavily adulterated before being consumed. Some nice wiki pages: Chinese Wine Chinese Distilled Beverages edit - typos

Interesting writeup of Bourbon and Branch in SF Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer's blog: The Price of Experimental Cocktails Sounds like they still have some kinks to work out... Here's another cocktail related Bauer blog entry with some interesting comments and destination suggestions: The art of the cocktail

I guess you mean the "Jones Complete Bar Guide" by Stan Jones. Is that a book you recommend having around? I see it is a "DrinkBoy Choice" for "Wad-O-Drinks" type books. DrinkBoy Wad-O-Drinks Recommendations Eek! 4000 drink recipes. Sure glad I'm not trying to drink my way through that one.

Is Jim at Gramercy using the cinchona bark or chemical quinine? I used some powdered bark in a bitters recipe, and it was a pain to filter out, as it is often so finely ground. Can't you get pharma grade quinine sulfate from chemistry supply places? I know the lab I used to work for uses it experimentally. I don't think it's a controlled substance, is it?* edit - *Did some googling, apparently, Quinine is a controlled substance, (or more accurately "drug paraphanelia",) because it is so often used as a "diluents and adulterants" to other drugs.

and... ← Yeah, well, Quinine is nothing compared to Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria), which is probably what the "serpentaria" is referring to. That would be one bitter, poisonous, tincture! Check this Dr. Cocktail post on the DrinkBoy forums. In any case, great foodblog! Thanks so much!

Oh, huh, Hermes make an apricot liqueur? Interesting! FYI, there is a recipe for dried apricot liqueur here on Gunther Anderson's site. Like Chufi, it recommends rehydrating the apricots before steeping. Really impressed with the Saturday meal. Wow, you guys are hardcore! Truly inspirational.

Ante Cocktail 1 Dash Angostura Bitters 1/4 Hercules (1/2 oz Henri Bardouin Pastis) 1/4 Cointreau (1/2 oz Cointreau) 1/2 Calvados or Apple Brandy (1 oz Laird's Apple Brandy) Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into a cocktail glass. Pretty cocktail. The Apple Brandy and Pastis actually make an intruiging flavor combination. Though, I think if you reduced the pastis to 1/4 oz, it would be a better balanced drink.

Forgot, my wife took some pictures of our dinner preparations. Shelling (cranberry?) beans: Dragonfruit (jujubes in bag in backgroud): Adding Jujubes to cooking pork shoulder: Cranberry beans, Tuscan Kale, and pork hock: Dragonfruit, cut: Yeah, the courses were a little schizo with the roast pork with jujube sauce being Asian in style and the greens and beans being American/Southern. Our friends brought mashed sweet potatoes over as the starch. Strangely, everything tasted really good together. I guess I got lucky. The dragonfruit was a post-dessert treat.

Angler Cocktail 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters 2 Dashes Orange Bitter (Regan's) 1/3 Hercules (3/4 oz Herbsaint) 2/3 Dry Gin (1 1/2 oz Beefeaters) Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into a cocktail glass. This one didn't do much for me. I'm not sure if Hercules was a milder absinthe-a-like than Herbsaint; but, to me, it really took over the cocktail and unbalanced it. Also, almost all the recipes I see for the Angler's Cocktail (Different cocktail?) on the internet call for grenadine not pastis. Odd. The cocktaildb calls for grenadine, with cointreau or Hercules listed as substitutions, and tells you to build it in a Highball glass with ice.

Red Cooked a whole bone in pork shoulder last night. For a sauce, I added about 3/4 pounds of seeded fresh jujubes (Chinese Dates) near the end of the cooking time, cooked until soft, pulled them out, and pureed them with some of the braising liquid. So tasty!

Had some friends over and tried a couple cocktails that have been on the list for a while. A Big Mak (NY TimesSelect link) variation with 2 key limes, 4 blackberries, 1/2 oz simple, 2 oz Weller 12 year, and 1/2 oz Chambord (used the lemons for the Wet Spot and what I thought was cranberry at the back of the fridge was a fermenting bottle of Just Pomegranate). The Wet Spot, which is plymouth gin, apricot brandy (Vedrenne liqueur de Abricot), apple juice (unfiltered from Sebastapol), elderflower syrup (d'Arbo), and lemon juice. I would classify both cocktails as dangerously drinkable. To me, the Big Mak was pretty desserty. Kind of like a big glass of bourbon spiked blackberry port. Also messy to make. Those blackberry skins will stain porcelain sinks pretty badly. The Wet Spot is one of the more complex cocktails I've tried. We were all picking out different flavor elements that seemed to be in there. Pineapple, blueberry, some hard candy from our childhoods. Good stuff. edit - add amounts and brands.

Did I mention that I am jealous of your kitchen? Are you sure you don't want a six month sabbatical in San Francisco to redo mine? I'd pay you in cocktails! Good luck with your dinner party! I'm looking forward to the pictures. I found the recipe I used on one of Robert's posts on webtender. The changes I made were to halve the recipe, except for the gentian, and add allspice. It's also in the link below from the DrinkBoy Forums: DrinkBoy House Bitters edit - spelling

Angel's Kiss 1/4 Creme de Cacao (Bols) 1/4 Prunelle Brandy (Homemade Prune Plum liqueur) 1/4 Creme de Violette (Benoit Serres) 1/4 Sweet Cream Use liqueur Glass and pour carefully, so that the ingredients do not mix. "Undrinkable?" "A waste of perfectly good liqueurs?" I guess those sentiments are a little strong; but, this is easily my least favorite of any cocktail I have tried so far from the Savoy. Yuck. However, it is the last of the Angel's, so, woo! No more liqueur stacking for me, at least for a while. On to a couple Pastis based cocktails, and then a bunch of Apple ones just on time for fall.