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Hi Lonnie! I've lately been a little tired of our local coffee options and a friend suggested Ancora Coffee in Madison, Wisconsin. http://www.ancora-coffee.com/ They have a wide variety of Coffees with an emphasis on those available as Fair Trade and Organic varieties. I am particularly smitten with a coffee they are currently featuring from Peru, (Organic/Fair Trade Peru 'Cochepampa' Cocla Co-op). Man is it a fantastic cup. We recently turned some friends on to it who usually buy French Roast or darker, and they were also amazed. Erik

I found it at John Walker & Co at 175 Sutter in downtown San Francisco. http://www.johnwalker.com/ It's a little fancy; but, they have a good selection of quality items and are nice folks. I usually only go there for things I can't find at BevMo. Erik

I haven't seen the new bottles here, yet; but, haven't been out for Thai food for a month or two. I will have to keep an eye out. I don't go out of my way to buy Singha; but, it is one of the few Asian beers I like. (For some reason the taste of most Japanese beers really turns me off. Do they use rice or other variety grains in them?) It would be a shame if they had changed the brewing process or taste of Singha.

The food court which recently opened in the International Terminal near the airport BART station, actually has some pretty decent local restaurants. I was pleasantly surprised. However, once you get inside the airport proper, I agree, the prospects are pretty dim.

Fun article about Alberta Straub of the Orbit Room Cafe in the Style section of today's Chronicle. 'The Alice Waters of booze' brings humor, fresh concoctions and attitude to the job

All this and try to fix my pear cocktail? Oh, my goodness, do I have my work cut out for me! Well, I guess if there is any good night for this sort of "hard work", it is Oscar night. At least I'm not "cuttin' brush" in Crawford. Erik

Yes, you must have bitters for the Pegu Club. Use only Angostura if you can't find the orange. I'm fairly new to them but it's become very, very clear to me that bitters can really make a drink. I suppose most drinks can survive w/out them but I'd skip 'em only if forced to by circumstance. ← Email the nice folks at Fee brothers, and they should be able to provide you with the names of liquor stores in your area that carry them. Odds are, if the liquor store has enough sense to carry Fee's stuff they will also have Peychaud. http://www.feebrothers.com/ Aside from being bitter, the different bitters do have very different flavors. Peychaud's has a stong anise/root beer flavor. Orange bitters have a strong citrus element. Try 'em if you don't believe me. With Gin, you're talking basically about flavored grain neutral spirits. While the core "aromatics" are generally similar, the exact recipes and percentages vary pretty widely from Gin to Gin. So don't write off Gin, if you don't like the flavor of one particular brand. You can also keep Gin in your freezer, which helps in chilling your cocktail, along with taming the aromatics a bit. Lastly, the Aviation, like the Martini, is a pretty serious "Gin" drink. Like folks have suggested, try some where the Gin is a little less of a player. Along with the suggestions above, the "Monkey Gland" and "French 75" are very nice. Erik

Thanks for your thoughts, Samuel! Chambord was for valentine's day pink, mostly! I think my main mistake was in letting the drink be composed by outside factors instead of from my palate. In any case, I agree the drinks flavors were too complex and also that the chambord detracted from the overall direction. Another thought is that that particular pear cider is too complex and tannic to play well as a component in a cocktail. I was looking for something that fit in with the pear theme of the dinner and would function, like a French 75, as a light somewhat dry before dinner aperitif.

Mr Bordelet's delicious sparkling Pear Cider was playing the Champagne in this version and I was counting on the Chambord for sweetness.

I've been drinking my way through Dr. Cocktail's entertaining book, "Vintage Spirits..." with friends and recently tasted the French 75. What a great before dinner cocktail! When I was recently at Whole Foods here, I noticed they carried Eric Bordelet's Poire Granit pear cider. Since I was going with a pear theme for Valentine's day, I decided to try to make a version of the French 75 with pear cider, pear eau de vie, brandy, and some chambord. I could have used grenadine or just a cherry; but, for some reason I'm fond of Chambord and have been looking for an excuse to buy it for a couple years now. Recipe was: jigger brandy (Germain-Robin fine) 1/2 jigger pear eau de vie 1/2 meyer lemon, juiced 1/2 jigger chambord Shake with ice and strain into champagne flute. Top with pear cider. It was OK; but, the tannic elements of the pear cider and brandy came to the fore. What can I do to make this a better cocktail? Thanks! Erik PS. I first tried Eric Bordelet's Pear Cider in Seattle on my birthday five or six years ago. It is amazing stuff and has stuck in my mind and palate for all that time. I'll take the pear granite over most champagne any day. I'd despaired of ever seeing it again until it appeared shining and glorious between the Blackthorn and Ace on the Whole Foods shelf. Thank you Whole Foods buyers!

Some friends and I made a stop at this year's Barleywine Festival at the Toronado here in San Francisco. They have around 50 Barleywines available for your tasting pleasure many of them very good. The festival runs through the 26th, if you are interested in this sort of thing. http://www.toronado.com/events.htm#137 I've been intending to go to this pesky event for about 3 years now, and this was the first time I actually made it. I like but don't love Barley Wines. My first priorities were to taste the Speakeasy and Stone offerings, so I got tasters of both. Actually, I didn't hear which was which; but, after tasting it was immediately apparent which was which. The Old Godfather from Speakeasy had all the quintessial Speakeasy flavors. Perhaps a little too much. It really tasted more like a double Prohibition, than a barleywine to me. The Old Guardian from Stone was a nice gargoyle of a beer. Intense strong and hoppy. Certainly worth seeking out. Next I wanted to sample the offering from El Toro. My wife and I are big fans of their Poppy Jasper, and I wanted to see what they could do with a Barleywine. Unfortunately, the answer is not much. This was easily the worst beer of the night and the worst beer I can remember having in some time. They didn't list the alcohol percentage; but, I think it had to be over 15. It tasted like malt, hops, brown sugar, and everclear had been mixed in a bucket, left overnight and bottled the next week. I didn't take notes, so after that things get a little muddy. 21st Amendments Lower de Boom was very good. Anchor Brewings Old Foghorn quite tasty as usual. Lagunitas Old Gnarleywine was very tasty. Of the beers which had one the tasting contest, the only one in the top 5 which was not sold out was Alaskan Brewing's Big Nugget. I'd not tried any beers from this company before, so it was a pleasure to find that we also judged it among the best of the evening. I'm going to have to try some of their other beers. If you're in town, be sure to check it out, just don't forget to pace yourself! Erik

I haven't tried it in a Sidecar, yet; but, picked up some Germain-Robin Fine Alambic brandy to make an attempt at the original brandy Sazerac, and am really pleased with it for mixing and drinking. Very smooth stuff. It is also great mixed 2 to 1 with benedictine and a couple shakes of Peychaux (Good Fellow variation). Erik (Sorry to repeat myself to the readers of the "Hennesey" thread.)

Ooops. Didn't mean to derail the thread with my Taylor's Refresher comment. I just think there are better and more interesting places to eat at the Ferry Building. Get a BBQ pork or hot pastrami sandwich and (real) lemonade to go at Golden Gate Meats and sit outside and watch the ferries. One place I would recommend if you are in the East Bay and interested in Indian food, is Breads of India. It is a tiny (but nice) restaurant on Sacramento at Dwight Way in Berkeley. There's a lot of good Indian food in Berkeley; but, their interpretations are truly fantastic. Erik

Hello, I'm not a doctor, nor am I an expert in Prion disease. However, I do IT support for a research lab whose primary research focus is Prion disease and have listened to plenty of presentations about it. This is something of a mis-statement; but, it may be somewhat accurate. A more accurate way to put it would be, "some sort of genetic inability to efficiently clear mis-folded proteins in the brain". One of the current hypotheses is that the BSE protein acts as a sort of catalyst to cause certain naturally occurring proteins (PrP) in the human brain to mis-form into a pathological form (PrPSc), which also converts other PrP molecules into the mis-folded form, eventually building to a sort of cascade reaction, where your brain no longer has the ability to remove the malformed proteins impeding your brain's ability to do its normal work. Dieing from or losing someone to Mad Cow (New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob) disease is, uh, wrenching. For those of you, like myself, who are old enough to have lost a parent or grand parent to Alzheimer's disease, it is similar, except it takes place over the course of months instead of years and potentially when the person is in the prime of their life. That said, some researchers speculate some past event or process in human evolutionary history, may have "inoculated" a good percentage of the human race against Prion disease. I'm not going to go into it; but, I will say that in the 20th century a form of Prion disease called Kuru was still occurring among cultures which practised cannibalism. I still eat beef; but, am lucky enough to live somewhere it is easy to come by grass fed or organic beef. Honestly, there are a whole host of reasons not to eat the beef from McDonalds, Safeway, or Carl's Jr. Mad-Cow is probably somewhere around 6 or 10 in my thinking. This post is already too long, and probably technical, one more thing though. I grew up in the midwest in the 60s and 70s, and my parents got most of their beef from a local butcher. One thing I noticed when I started eating grass fed beef recently, was that it tasted like the beef I grew up with! Regards, Erik

Ti Couz is great. Be sure to try some of the delicious Breton Cider and save room for dessert. The Cafe Ligeous (sp?) crepe is my favorite. The Ferry Plaza is fantastic, disneyland for foodies. Very expensive, though. I hope I don't offend anyone; but, I would skip Taylor's Refresher. I've been pretty disappointed with the food I've had there and feel they use too many pre-fab ingredients. Traci Des Jardin's little gourmet taqueria, on the other hand, is quite good. I would also skip Yank Sing. My wife and I differ on this; but, I really don't understand the appeal and the prices are ridiculous. If you want to go out for Dim Sum, I would second what another poster said and go to Ton Kiang. Honestly, they have the best dim sum I've ever had. Koi Palace is a lot of fun, though I would suggest a dinner there. It is very busy at the weekend, so either make reservations or be prepared for a wait. I have not been to Hong Kong Flower Lounge for dim sum; but, Seafood Harbor, also in Millbrae, is very good. Erik edited for repetitive word use

Great story chef koo! On the nights you don't feel like spending $35, I will note that there are a couple of brandy makers in the US that are doing a fine job making great Alambic brandies. I recently picked up a bottle of Germain-Robin's Fine Alambic Brandy, and feel it can go head to head with any similar VSOP Cognac. They also make a number of more expensive brandies and varietal grappas. I have yet to try it; but, it is my understanding that Jepson's Rare Alambic brandy is also very good.

divinia, I'd love to know what recipe you use for the sage. Though, I am having a hard time imagining the taste. Do you use fresh garden sage (Salvia officinalis)? I've been intrigued by one of our CA native herbs, Yerba Buena, Satureja douglasii, (same Genus as the herb savory,) which has a really interesting lightly mint-thyme smell and flavor. I grew it last year and was hoping to try it in some cocktails last year but it didn't survive long enough in my garden. How do you make your own vermouth? Erik

Hi... My wife and I ate at Matterhorn (http://matterhorn.citysearch.com/) with friends a couple years ago. It is a pretty fun destination restaurant. It is all done up with Swiss Tchotschkes and I seem to remember the waitresses wearing alpine costumes. The food is very good and seemed quite authentic. I agree with ludja that fondue parties with friends at home are probably more fun. Or maybe just one course of fondue in a meal. Three courses of fondue is a little much. Though, for the carb avoiders in the audience, it is probably the perfect restaurant. Erik

Bumping this thread to ask about Ratafia. When I was in high school in the midwest, several of the students showed up at a track meet drunk. They claimed they had "accidentally" drunk some Cherry Bounce left in a cup by their parents. The math teacher (an annoying man) on the "sports council" reasoned they were guilty, based on the assumption no sane person would drink something in a cup without rinsing it first. In any case, I've recently seen a recipe for a Clementine Ratafia* that was used in jam preparation and have been thinking about some other interesting fruits and combinations. Blood Orange, Star Anise, and Black Pepper Pomelo Has anyone else experimented with making Ratafia or using it as an ingredient in cocktails? Regards, Erik *NY Times 13 Feb 2005, THE WAY WE EAT; Jelly's Last Jam By AMANDA HESSER (NYT) 1800 words Late Edition - Final , Section 6 , Page 61 , Column 3

Maybe I missed it; but, I didn't see a recipe for Jambalaya in this thread so I will post one I've made for years. It was originally based on one from New Orleans Take Out in Madison, WI. As far as I can tell it is a fairly authentic Creole style Red Jambalaya. I usually substitute andouille sausage for the ham in the recipe. For the liquid part, you are looking for a total amount of 3 Cups combined of the reserved tomato juice and stock. Really the best thing to make this in is a well seasoned cast iron 5 quart dutch oven. Erik ------------------ New Orleans Take Out Jamabalaya Salt 1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper 1 tsp. White Pepper ½ tsp. Black Pepper ½ tsp. Bay Leaves 2 Dried Thyme 1 tsp. Sage ¼ tsp. Butter 2 TBSP Ham, Medium dice ½ lb. Chicken, Medium dice ½ lb. Celery, Medium dice 1 cup Onion, Medium dice 1 cup Green pepper, Medium dice 1 cup Garlic, minced 1 TBSP 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, liquid reserved Chicken Stock 2 ½ cup Long Grain Rice 1 ½ cup Method: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine seasonings; reserve. Heat pan slowly. Add butter; melt. Turn heat to high; add ham. Stir frequently until brown. Add chicken; cook for 5 minutes. Stir often scraping pan bottom as needed. Stir in seasonings and half celery, onion, and green peppers. Add garlic. Stir constantly until vegetables are clear, for 6-8 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and tomatoes. Stir in tomato juice and chicken stock and rice. Bring to a simmer. If mixture is in 2-qt. Pot, them transfer to an 8x8 pan. Cover and place dutch oven or pan in oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with sweet crusty french bread. Serves 4 with leftovers. New Orleans Take Out Restaurant, Madison Wisconsin

Wow. Hallucinations, eh? If I were you I would probably stay away from Gin and Genever! I mean unless they were fun hallucinations. Seriously, it might be a food allergy of some sort. I think the botanicals vary from Gin to Gin. Found this page on the Plymouth Gin website, they use seven botanicals, "angelica and orris roots, cardamom pods, orange and lemon peels, coriander seeds and juniper berries." http://www.plymouthgin.com/index.cfm?articleid=183 Bombay Sapphire uses, "almonds, lemon peel, licorice, juniper, orris root, angelica, coriander, cassia bark, cubeb berries, grains of Paradise." Grains of paradise are cardamom relatives and cubeb berries are related to black pepper; but, with a more pronounced bitterness. Tanqueray admit to Juniper, angelica, coriander, and fennel on their website. Erik

The "Blended" in the term "Blended Whiskey" refers to the manufacturing process not to the mix of corn or rye. In "Blended" whiskies like Canadian Club, the distillate is blended (perhaps diluted is a better word) with grain neutral spirits before being aged. With "Straight" whiskies, like American Bourbon or Rye, the whiskey is distilled, aged and then diluted with water to the appropriate strength. Nothing should be in "straight" whiskey except what came out of the still and water. Erik

Thanks for the hints. The liquor store I was at carries both of those and I looked at them; but, since this was my first experiment with Rhum Agricole, the price for the St. James was its big selling point. None of the staff had tried any of the recently, I don't think. Though someone did say they had tried the Sea Wynde pot still over the holidays and it had, "blown their head off". Next time I have some cash burning a hole in my pocket, I will have to give one of them a try. Erik

Picked up a bottle of the boomsma jonge gin yesterday and had a taste test with the other three gins in the house, Plymouth, Junipero and Gordon's. It is fairly reasonable here (~$15); but, isn't really in the same league as the two "premium" gins. It has nice body; but, is considerably more restrained scent and flavor-wise. Not bad, just not spectacular. To me it is closest to what I call the "Old Spice" flavor profile of Gordon's. Erik

If I can jump in here... I don't think the increase in strength is really the big thing. From what I can tell, there has always been a variety of strengthed mixed drinks or just plain drinks available for your drinking pleasure. I think the big change , especially in the US, has been the increase in size. Most cocktail recipes don't call for more than a couple ounces of hard liquor, yet you go out to hotel or martini bars and are served fish bowls full of gin or vodka. Americans' idea of value is always tied to volume. Erik fixed typo