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Kurt, I didn't order all of that at once! Are you crazy! My wife would kill me! Even though she had fun at the bourbon tasting last year, she's not all that enthusiastic about another brown liquor tasting and has insisted that alternative cocktails be served. My friend and I already had most of what is listed, just hadn't compared at one time. Since part of our interest with the bourbon tasting we did last year was semi blind value/cost analysis, I mostly needed to pick up some odds and ends. For example, I am fond of the Wild Turkey and Old Overholt, so never really saw the need for a bottle of Beam in the house. And of course, after reading about so many cocktails from Pegu using Rittenhouse, we had to get some of that. Along with straight, we should probably try them in Manhattans, too. I have been trying to get through of this bottle of Noilly Pratt sweet vermouth, so I can justify buying a bottle of Cinzano. -Erik

Plymouth also makes a Damson Gin, which I guess is made from a slightly sweeter member of the plum family. Making sloe gin is not hard at all; but, I have no idea what commercially available American plum or plum-like fruit would come closest to Sloes (Blackthorn fruit). I do know the Blackthorn bush (Prunus spinosa) is considered a thorny weed in some areas of the US. Damsons are Prunus domestica or Prune Plums. A typical stone fruit liqueur recipe would be: Steep 2 pounds of whole washed, stemmed, and pierced fruit in 4 cups of liquor in a sterilized, sealed jar for a month or so. The addition of the zest of a lemon and maybe some spices would not be uncommon. Filter through cheese cloth and sweeten to taste with 2-1 simple syrup. Age another month in sealed containers. Filter again through coffee filters and bottle. Edited to say, I didn't see jackal10's post above or his course when it was published. Cool stuff! Maybe I use too much fruit in my liqueurs.

Speaking of Molecular Mixology, its theory and practise, issue #5.1 of diffordsguide to Cocktails (A-C) has an interesting feature on Tony Conigliaro, a barkeep who has worked with Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck. There are some recipes with the article, though many include unexplained or exotic components.

Thanks for the advice, Kurt and Joe. Talked to the Specialty Spirits Buyer at Binny's and he was quite helpful. If all goes well, and nothing is smashed by UPS or FedEx, we'll have the following, in addition to some surprises from my friend's recent holiday trip to "Bourbon country". Sazerac 6 yo Sazerac 18 yo (2 bottlings) Classic Cask Rye Van Winkle Family Reserve rye Van Winkle 12 yo Rye Black Maple Hill rye (made by Van Winkle) Wild Turkey Rye Jim Beam Rye Old Overholt Rye Michter's Straight Rye Whiskey Rittenhouse Bonded Rye No luck tracking down the Pikesville. Jim Beam will have to represent for the MA style rye. I'm still slightly tempted to pick up one of the Anchor Old Potreros; but, can't quite bring myself to part with the change.

A few more somewhere between diner and yuppie: Kate's Kitchen on Haight near Fillmore is quite good. I have fond memories of their french toast. Boogaloo's at 22nd and Valencia isn't bad. If I hadn't chosen the Huevos Rancheros, that one time... Why is it, when you are really hung over, you always choose the food the least likely to make you feel better? We've almost gone to Ella's in the Presidio a few times now. If they served waffles on the weekends we probably would have gone for brunch on my birthday. One of these days we will get there.

Does the added energy from shaking alter the system? Stirring seems to be a much more gentle way to reach thermal equilibrium. Be interesting to do some time/temperature tests with the two methods.

Was a great weekend for Hoppy Beers. First we tried Deschutes Hop Trip made with fresh hop flowers. With the fresh flowers, I expected this one to be overwhelmingly hoppy and sharp. It is not. While the hops are strong, they seem to have a more mellow character than dry hops. This beer reminded me most of a very good fresh English Ale. Highly recommended. The long MLK day weekend finally allowed us to make the pilgrimage to Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa. We tried their Double IPA, Pliny the Elder, and one of their Belgian style Ales, Perdition Pale Ale. Both are outstanding examples of California Brewmanship. Pliny the Elder being a tasty strong hoppy ale not too far from Stone's Double Bastard or Prohibition's Double Daddy. Really nice. I just wish I didn't have to drive all the way to Santa Rosa to get it, or I'd drink it every night. Oh, well, maybe it is a good thing it is so far away... Their Perdition is a Belgian style ale, copper in color, and with some nice hop bite to go with the more traditional malt flavors. I will also note that their pizzas are very good and have a happy hour all day sunday and from 4-6:00 every week day, when taps are sold for the ridiculously low price of $2.75.

Don't get out to brunch very often. I do like Mabel's Just For You on 22nd near Third. Falls somewhere between Diner and Semi-Refined. I believe pretty much everything is from scratch and they do seem to have some talented line cooks, as the eggs are usually pefectly cooked. Great Pancakes!

This is much better for the flannestad household: Thai Lady Revised (for two) 4 oz Plymouth Gin 2 oz fresh lemon juice 3/4 oz Lemon Grass infused Simple Syrup 3/4 oz Cointreau Chill well and strain into two cocktail glasses.

Tried Regan and Terrell's Thai Lady this evening. As is, the formulation is pretty sweet for me. This is about the 3rd cocktail from his column that I've made and had this response. I guess I should just realize he likes his cocktails sweeter than I do, and adjust before making them. Aside from being a little sweet, it is an amazingly aromatic cocktail.

My wife got me a subscription to the PlumpJack Beer Club for Christmas, and one of the December beers was Schneider's Aventinus Weizen Eisbock. Holy Crap! I'm still trying to decide if the appropriate description would be "Beer Port" or "Beer Liqueur". Probably, given our response to sharing a single bottle, "Schneider's Hammer", might be most accurate. If you drink wine, this beer is closest to a Sauterne or Late harvest Riesling.

Thanks for the kind words Dave. Along with their cocktail applications, the Hellfire Bitters are probably an effective vermicide. The next bitters experiment was confused. Initially, I intended to make something like Stoughton Bitters. I thought "Quassia" was "Cassia" and went about starting the mixture below. Later I was reading an herb catalog and realized that "Quassia" was a completely different herb that had nothing to do with Cinnamon. Clementine Bitters Peel of 3 Clementines and leaves, sliced thin and steeped in 1 cup vodka 1 stick Mexican Cinnamon 1/8 cup Dried Orange Peel 1/8 cup Chamomile 1/8 cup Gentian Root 4 Bay Leaves 1 Cup Vodka 2 TBSP Blackstrap Molasses Crush all dry ingredients in a pestle. Steep both of the mixtures for 2 weeks, shaking occasionally, strain through cheesecloth, combine with 2 tbsp Blackstrap. Age for 2 more weeks, rack or pour off and strain through coffee filter into sterilized containers.

Anyone have any recommendations for a liquor store or online source which will ship Rittenhouse bonded (and Pikesville) to CA? Some friends and I did a bourbon tasting last year and this year we want to do one with rye. We've managed to accumulate most of the ryes available in CA; but, feel we would be remiss to not include these two historic ryes. Besides, I want to try some of Alchemist's cocktails which specify Rittenhouse. -Erik

I have friends who are fond of that stuff for sentimental reasons; but, unless you're over fond of kool-aid type drinks, I would really recommend trying something like the from scratch hurricane on this webpage. Personally, I think the Gumbo Pages recipe should be further soured up by leaving out the simple syrup or by using pomegranate juice instead of grenadine; but, that is just my preference. edited for speling.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest, Thursday, January 12, 2006 Alsace in Anderson Valley : Chilly Mendocino County nurtures the distinctive white grapes of northeastern France, Steve Pitcher Boy, I love all these wines and winemakers! Esterlina, Navarro, Greenwood Ridge, Lazy Creek, Husch, and my good, good friend, Ed Meades*. They don't mention the red wines too much in the article; but, I recently tried Esterlina's Pinot and it's an absolutely fantastic food wine and well worth the price. Wine Business Insider: Wine drinkers 'follow their own path in life,' a survey says, Cyril Penn Another survey...Inertia Beverage Group...is launching a new Internet-based service that connects wineries with restaurants that want to purchase directly from them...Benicia's Cork Supply USA has introduced a new alcohol steam-cleaning process for natural corks it calls "Innocork."...The nonprofit International Screwcap Initiative (ISI) has been launched to build on the success of the New Zealand Screwcap Initiative...Who and Where... Letters to Wine Pairings: Smoking eggplant transports you to the Ottoman Empire, Joyce Goldstein Recipe: Hunkar Begendili Kofte (Meatballs with Smoky Eggplant Puree) The Chronicle's Wine Selections: California Petite Sirah, Linda Murphy The Cheese Course: Bethmale -- a cheese to please from the Midi-Pyrenees, Janet Fletcher Bargain Wines: Sample some simplicity, W. Blake Gray Simple and expensive whites to cure the post holiday blahs. Benefits *I don't really know Ed Meades, if there is such a person; but, the delicious flavor and near port strength of their Zinfandel has gained them the honor of being called, "my good, good, friend," through good times and bad, in my household.

I used to ride the Golden Gate Transit bus from Marin to San Francisco on a daily basis. Often there would be convicts heading to San Francisco, I guess on work release or just out of prison, still in their orange duds. For some reason I never figured out, when I overheard their conversations, Tommy's Joynt was always their first priority. I suspect their second priority may have been the Mitchell Brothers, so perhaps it was just proximity.

FWIW, I think the "molecular gastronomy" movement started in France with Herve This & Pierre Gagnaire. ← Good lord, that means the Coneheads COULD actually have been molecular gastronomists! ← Interstellar Molecular Gastronauts, seems to me a better way of putting it.

Janet, Thanks so much for organizing this. I had a very nice time. It was great to put some names and/or screen names with faces. I only wish I'd had a chance to chat with more people. I too enjoyed the ravioli quite a lot. It was such a nice pairing with the Passito di Pantelleria. I think my other favorite was the sardine. Hopefully, we can do it again some time in the not too distant future. Maybe even somewhere with cocktails! -Erik

Irish is also made predominantly from malted barley, however, after malting, the barley is dried in a closed kiln rather than over an open fire, so it doesn't have the smoky flavor associated with scotch. The ingredient differentiation between American Bourbon and Rye Whiskey, is, rye is made with at least 51% rye, and bourbon made with at least 51% corn. I'm not really that much of a Scotch fan, so I will disagree with you here. It's fine and all; but, I prefer the flavor of a nice Bourbon, Rye or Irish. Plus, I don't have to take out a second mortgage to sample the good stuff. It's also my understanding there is some very nice blended Scotch out there, like that from Compass Box. Kind of a different animal from Single Malts, though.

Hopefully, the staff at Cortez will continue to excel; but, the Chef and Pastry Chef are headed back to L.A. SF Chron Inside Scoop

Any idea where you might have read this? I am looking for some background on this very topic!! Thanks, Chantal ← It was a website not a magazine article: Peruvian Coffee

Most tilapia is farmed, so parasites tend to not be as likely a problem as they are with wild fresh water fish. Informational link

Interesting that Consumer Reports is now lending its gravity to this study. We talked about this earlier after an article was published. I think PatrickS' thoughts on the validity of the study are really interesting food for thought. It's also good to remember that "Organic" is only part of the equation, when considering what food to buy. A couple interesting tangential facts I've run across since posting the original thread. A winery who I respect gave up on organic certification after getting frustrated with many of the seemingly arbitrary rules imposed. If I remember correctly, the clincher for them was when they were told they could only use "natural" sulphur to spray their grapes. Otherwise, they are a model of stewardship of their land, responsible water use, and treating their employees decently. I recently read an article about the Peruvian coffee industry. Since there is now a greater demand for fair trade organic coffee than supply, Peru has jumped on the bandwagon, and is now clear cutting large swaths of rain forest so they can plant new fields, get them certified, and sell Organic coffee. And to piggyback a little more on Patrick's thoughts, just because a substance is "organic" or "natural" there is no real guarantee that it is not toxic. Many of the most deadly poisons known to man are organic. Ricin, Botulin, Pyrethrin, etc. are all naturally derived substances. That makes them no less poisonous to man or other animals.

But the best news from the article, at least for unmarried eGulleters: The study, "...also discovered that women were more impressed by a man's cooking ability than whether they owned a flashy car." It certainly worked for me!

Going through older cocktail recipes, many call for either Cointreau/TripleSec or Orange Curacao. I haven't tried Curacao, so am not sure about substitution or what brands are any good. From the Curacao of Curacao website, it seems like Cointreau, by calling their product Triple Sec, were trying to differentiate their dryer product from the sweeter Cuacaos? Is this accurate? How is the Senor Curacao of Curacao compared to other Curacaos? I guess, a well stocked bar would have at least one orange liqueur from each spirit base. Brandy--Grand Marnier, Gran Torres Rum(?)--Orange Curacao, (and I suppose Blue Curacao, if you're into tiki...) Neutral Spirits--Cointreau/Triple Sec The Brandy based ones don't seem to be used all that often in cocktail recipes. Need it for Crepes Suzette, though!