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Except with a cocktail as old as the Bamboo, you'd probably be better off with the newly available (to the US) "original formula" Noilly Dry.

I do think the evolution of drinks from those with dashes of bitters and citrus, like the Crusta and Casino, to the drinks like the Pegu Club and Sidecar with less bitters and more citrus makes sense as a representation of what was going on in drink culture. And, yes, the style of drinks with dashes of citrus seems to have died out as produce transportation modernized and refrigeration became more common. There was no reason to be so shy with your citrus juices. It's also worth noting that the most ostensible link between the Crusta and the Sidecar, the sugar rim, is not a feature of early recipes for the Sidecar cocktail.

The rumor is Jeff is working on an updated version of the first two books: New Book! So if you can hold out, it will probably not be worth tracking down Intoxica.

But is it colored with Bugs?

I believe this has been covered before, but the Bendistillery products, Desert Juniper and Cascade Mountain, are not distilled gins. They are just Juniper berries (and maybe some other spices) macerated in Grain Neutral Spirits, filtered, diluted, and bottled. As such, they are likely prone to some sort of flavor change or evolution post bottling, not to mention flavor differences between batches. I've never done an extensive tasting of them, but when I've had cocktails with them, I have to say I haven't found them particularly enjoyable.

Along those lines a friend over at the mixoloseum made this drink the other night. I did this and found it quite pleasantly funky and delicious: 1 oz Genevieve 1 oz Homemade Swedish Punch 1 oz Coruba Rum barspoon homemade orgeat dash absinthe Angostura Bitters Stir and strain into chilled angostura rinsed glass.

I've been in inventory reduction mode lately. Having finished off a very old bottle of Michter's Rye, I've moved on to the Pikesville. The other week, I was thinking about having a Manhattan and Green Chartreuse came to mind. I had a vague memory of a red hook variation called Greenpoint, thinking it had Chartreuse, so went ahead. 2 oz Pikesville 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse barspoon Maraschino 3/4 oz Punt e Mes This seemed OK to start, but as I drank the cocktail the dark flavors of the Punt e Mes and Green Chartreuse seemed to coalesce into something unpleasant. I figured I must have done something wrong. Handily, Robert Simonson recently published a bit of a round up of the various East Coast neighborhood cocktails: Got a Neighborhood? Here's Your Drink Oops, the Greenpoint is: Which is lovely, but, as usual when it comes to modern cocktails, I thought a bit light on the vermouth. When I got home from work last night, I defintely needed a cocktail, so I revisited the Green Chartreuse idea. 2 oz Pikesville 3/4 oz M&R Sweet Vermouth 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse dash Angostura Orange dash Angostura Aromatic Stir, strain, lemon peel. Ah, just what the doctor ordered!

It may vary by brand, but the most common brand in CA sells both a pomegranate concentrate and a pomegranate molasses. The Molasses has caramel coloring and other extra ingredients that make it unappealing in a Grenadine. It also seems a bit more concentrated.

Not sure how easy it is to see the color of this drink, but this is a fitty-fitty made with the new (to us in the US) Noilly. No ango or anything, the color is all from the vermouth.

From a writeup of a restaurant in Napa, California: Cuvee Napa Not sure if it is the journalist or the bar, but it's good to know I'm not the only one who confuses the Bronx and the Brooklyn. Even though I'm not sure that Bourbon, Punt e Mes, and Campari could really even be called a Brooklyn. Well, at least it is closer to a Brooklyn than a Bronx.

Playing with various combination of the new Noilly Dry and Dolin Rouge, I wasn't really enjoying many of the cocktails I created. After a bunch of flops, aside from a more interesting than great fitty-fitty, I felt like rewarding myself with a Manhattan. The following items were at hand: 1 1/2 oz Bulleit Bourbon* 1 1/2 oz Punt e Mes dash Angostura Orange Stir, strain. Screw the twist, screw the cherry. I'm not even usually a huge fan of the Bourbon Manhattans, but goddamn if this isn't the tastiest drink I've had all evening. *Bulleit Bourbon obtained for free through some ridiculous confluence of eGullet related acquaintances.

Had one of these this week while waiting on my pizza at Waldo Pizza. Really enjoyed it. ← We don't get Bell's out here in California, but it is one of the things I look forward to when I travel back to Wisconsin. And their Two Hearted Ale is one of my absolute favorites. IMO one of the best IPAs currently made in America.

Yeah, sharing is probably best, I couldn't finish the whole thing it was so rich. It's like drinking a bottle of bourbon coffee creme caramel.

Sorry, that's blew my head off. ← Yowza, you aren't kidding about that. Got a couple bottles of this in my beer club this month. Drinking one now and it nearly qualifies as a cocktail!

In my experience touring small and mid-size breweries, I have found few that bottle and don't at least do diatomaceous filtering. I know of one local tap and cask only brewery that just fines their beers. There are a couple really small ones that I suspect don't even do that. But once you get to the size of Anchor Brewing, I believe most breweries will both filter and flash pasteurize before bottling.

"...the degeneracy of modern times."! You crack me up, Mr. Splificator.

A certain amount is allowed in most categories, I believe. From what I understand, Rum has the most leeway, but sweetening of some sort of another, to some extent or another, is allowed many categories including Canadian Whisky, Brandy, Cognac, Gin, etc. The better question, is almost, in which catgories it isn't allowed. Straight or Bonded Bourbon and Rye? Any others?

Big article on Sherry in today's SF Chronicle: Restaurants' pairings ease novices into sherry

As far as I can tell in the 19th Century, there were about a million recipe books which nearly all contained questionable approximations of just about any liqueur, bitter, spirit, or syrup you could possibly need to get a buzz. Think of it like those books that purport to re-create the recipes of McDonalds or TGIF. Or even better, think of it like the Melamine in Chinese Milk products. While it is possible some people may have been gullible enough to make these recipes, what you would get if you would buy a bottle was likely not going to contain acetate of lead. Though, it is possible, I suppose, as this was pre- pure food and drug act and most of the regulation in America and Europe which prevents this sort of experimentation with a disregard for the use of seriously poisonous products in food stuffs and liquids.

I dunno, calling the Jim Beam Rye a "disappointment" is kind of over stating it. It's a perfectly fine rye for Old-Fashioneds and Manhattans. It's not my favorite, but in no way is it a poor quality spirit. Actually, that's my favorite part about the Rye category, there really aren't any bad choices, and most are pretty fairly priced. I've not yet tried one of the bunch that can't make a perfectly good old-fashioned.

By the way, every historic recipe I've found for Orgeat, suggests grinding the almonds to a paste using a stone mortar and pestle, not chopping them finely with a knife, like the FX Cuisine recipe. I kind of like the clear almond syrup, but the cloudy almond milk syrup is probably more "authentic".

Sorry, yeah, it was a bit smart alecky. My suggestion, if you're interested particularly in Orgeat in France, would be to post in the regional France forum and ask. There are a number of folks there who are quite the experts in French food traditions and history. In addition, drop the famous Francois Xavier of FX Cuisine a note. He seems to have done a good amount of reading about food history and has always responded whenever I've sent him questions. As I'm sure you know, Orgeat is part of the family of grain and nut beverages which seem in common to all cultures, whether it is the corn beverages of Native Americans, the oat beverages of the scotch, the rice beverages of the spanish, the Barley Water of the English, the soybean beverages of the Asians, or the Nut Sedge kernel beverages of the Egyptians. Before the invention of leavened bread, the easiest way to get nutrition from grains was to soak or cook them in water and then consume the liquid. Orgeat, the beverage, began as a blend of ground barley and nuts, often almonds or squash seeds, cooked or soaked in water, then with the plant mass, more or less, strained out. The root of the word Orgeat is thought to be the latin word for a particular type of barley, something like "Hordeum". The first known published use of a related word in an English Text referred to a type of Barley used to make a beverage. This was some time around 1500. The first known published use of “Orgeat” referring to a sweetened Barley, Melon Seed, and Almond Syrup was in J. Nott’s “Cook and Confectionary Dictionary” in 1723.

We're about on the cusp, as far as I can tell, in the SF Area. I've seen the new packaging for the sweet, but most retail outlets seem to still be selling through their stock of the old dry bottles. Same with bars. Most are still on the old bottles of dry, but I've seen the new bottles a couple places. Personally, I'm looking forward to giving it a try in some Savoy cocktails.

I finally got to try the Vergano Luli White Chinato this week. It is a very nice and delicious product. A spiced and bittered aperitif based on Moscato di Asti wine. However, not much like Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano. The primary difference from either Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano is a seeming complete lack of citrus in the flavorings. I got a lot of chocolate like flavors and some floral (rose maybe?) components from the Lulli Chinato. It is also more lightly bittered and spiced than the Cocchi Americano. Really tasty, though, if a bit pricey.

I forget where exactly the proof falls on the finished product, but I know Stirring's Blood Orange Bitters should be refrigerated once they are open. So I probably would also refrigerate Jamie's Amer after you open the bottle.