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Well, I'd say Good Life Grocery or Rainbow Foods, but that doesn't help you much out on the East Coast. Somewhere like Bell Bates in Tribeca seems like it would be a good bet. Or a Middle Eastern or Indian market?

Maybe I'm a cheapskate, but I still think it is weird to buy Pom and reduce it. Pom is made from Pomegranate concentrate. Why pay them to sell you water? Why not cut out the middle man and just buy pomegranate concentrate/paste?

Hard to say how badly the description of Elixier Bacardi is mangled, but from that description it sounds more like Creme de Noyaux (or Amaretto) than Maraschino Liqueur.

For years one of the best sources for information regarding cocktails and bars and tending has been the DrinkBoy Forum hosted by Robert Hess on MSN Groups. Unfortunately, in February of 2009, MSN will discontinue its groups service. Robert Hess, aka DrinkBoy, has decided to start a new non-profit and a new forum dedicated to the advancement of the cocktail. Chanticleer Society To quote Robert from the group's website:

Napoleon Cocktail 1 Dash Fernet Branca. (1/3 tsp. Fernet Branca) 1 Dash Curacao. (1/3 tsp. Bols Dry Orange Curacao) 1 Dash Dubonnet. (1/3 tsp. Vergano Lulli Americano) 1 Glass Dry Gin. (2 oz Beefeater Gin) Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top. As we've noted, while there were a number of civilized fifty-fifty martini type drinks on the menu before and after prohibition, there was also no shortage of, "Hey! That's just booze in that glass!" drinks either. If I were you, I'd go a bit long on those dashes. As measured above, this tasted pretty much like a big, cold glass of gin.

The Mule’s Hind Leg 1/5 Gin. (1/2 oz North Shore Distiller's No. 11) 1/5 Benedictine. (scant 1/2 oz Benedictine) 1/5 Applejack. (1/2 oz Clear Creek 2 year Apple Brandy) 1/5 Maple Syrup. (scant 1/2 oz Maple Syrup) 1/5 Apricot Brandy. (1/2 oz Zwack Barack Palinka) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Another lovely prohibition era libation from the oeuvre of Judge Jr. The only possible way I could see drinking this was to use apricot eau-de-vie instead of apricot liqueur. Even then, this is pretty much a waste of perfectly good alcohol. Reduce the Benedictine and the Maple Syrup to a bar spoon or so. Add some bitters. There might be a drink worth salvaging here.

Mountain Cocktail The White of 1 Egg. 1/6 Lemon Juice. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Lemon Juice) 1/6 French vermouth. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth) 1/6 Italian Vermouth. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Punt e Mes) 1/2 Canadian Club Whisky. (Generous 1 oz Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey) (Dry shake ingredients with spring or blender ball for a half minute or so. Add ice and...) Shake well and strain into medium-size glass. In "Barflies and Cocktails", Harry McElhone has a slightly different take on the Mountain Cocktail: 1 white of a fresh egg; 1/6 Lemon Syrup; 1/6 French Vermouth; 1/3 Rye Whisky; 3 dashes of orange bitters. McElhone also notes that the recipe is "from Hoffman House, New York." I guess it is part of Craddock's weird compulsion to make "perfect" cocktails that leads him to use sweet and dry vermouth in the Mountain. Or maybe he found the cocktail too tart with only dry vermouth and nothing to balance against the lemon juice? Anyway, it is a very strange cocktail. The first flavors are all whiskey, the second flavors are the lemon juice, then in the finish the sweet vermouth and whiskey seemed to combine into flavors similar to coffee. I didn't exactly like it, but I kept going back, tasting it, and puzzling over the flavors.

Moulin Rouge Cocktail 3 Dashes Grenadine. (1 barspoon homemade grenadine) 1/2 Apricot Brandy. (1 oz Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot) 1/4 Orange Gin. (1/2 oz Orange Gin*) 1/4 Lemon Juice. (1/2 oz Lemon Juice) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. This is pretty good. I think I preferred it to the orange juice version. It's a bit drier. It's sweet but not as super sweet as you expect with that much liqueur. That may be because both the R&W Apricot and my grenadine are not as sweet as some versions of same. I find my ideal for sours is somewhere around the very difficult to write in fractions 1/2 oz Lemon, 3/4 oz liqueur. *1/3 bottle of No. 209 Gin infused for a couple hours with 1 tbsp crushed Juniper Berries, 1 Whole Clove, 2 crushed Green Cardamom Pods, and the microplaned peel of 1 orange.

The Capresso Infinity is a bit above that price (~$80), but I've been pleased with mine. Held up well for a few years now. Pleased with it for drip and aeropress.

Saw the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection at a local liquor store. All bottles priced at $85.99! Guess that's off the holiday shopping list...

Yeah, that's exactly what I will do. I've heard there are some brands of around, but I don't see much point in searching them out for a couple cocktails. Prolly, the quick orange infusion is superior, anyway.

Moulin Rouge Cocktail 3 Dashes Grenadine. (1 barspoon homemade grenadine) 1/2 Apricot Brandy. (1 oz Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot) 1/4 Orange Gin. (1/2 oz Orange Juice. Wait a sec! Oh, goddamn it!) 1/4 Lemon Juice. (1/2 oz Lemon Juice) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Here I was getting all in a bother about how weird the next cocktail looks, and I totally screwed the pooch on this one. Orange Gin, not Orange Juice. I was wondering why this cocktail had no booze! In any case, as made, this isn't awful. In fact it's kind of tasty, in a kiddie cocktail kind of way. Heck, double the size or maybe serve it over rocks, and it would be a pretty awesome breakfast drink. Sigh, I guess this will be a "do over" later tonight.

One of the really spiffy things about writing this pesky Savoy topic is that occasionally people you've met send you really cool stuff. The other day I got an email from Stephan Berg, one of the proprietors of The Bitter Truth asking for my address. Having met him at Tales of the cocktail, he didn't seem particularly menacing. So I figured it would be safe to send him my contact info. The Bitter Truth Guys, Alexander Hauke and Stephan Berg, had recently released a Celery Seed Bitters and a reproduction of Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters. I suppose I had an idle hope that they might send me some of those. Instead they sent a brand new product, which they have created to honor the 75th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. They bitters are quite complex. The initial flavors and scents are clove which give way to a front of mouth bitter flavor. Secondary flavors which come forward after that initial bitter burst are similar to root beer. I don't get much, if any citrus. Instead other flavors similar to culinary herbs and more bitterness linger in the aftertaste. If you should desire to purchase these bitters, you can either mail order them from The Bitter Truth in Germany or, well, I've heard a rumor that a certain beleaguered retailer in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, and self proclaimed "Bitter Bitch", has secured a few bottles. Morning Glory Cocktail 3 Dashes Gomme Syrup. (1 tsp. rich simple syrup) 2 Dashes Curacao. (2/3 tsp. Bols Dry Orange Curacao) 2 Dashes Bitters. (2 dashes Bitter Truth Repeal Bitters) 1 Dash Absinthe. (1 dash North Shore Sirene Absinthe) 1 Liqueur Glass Brandy. (1 1/2 oz Lustau Reserve Brandy) 1 Liqueur Glass Whisky. (1 1/2 oz Anchor 2006 Hotaling's Whiskey) 1 Piece Lemon Peel, twisted to express the oil. Two Small Pieces of Ice. Stir thoroughly and remove the ice. Fill the glass with seltzer water or plain soda, and stir with a teaspoon having a little sugar in it. Well if you've got old-school bitters, handily, here's an old school drink. Quoting here from David Wondrich's introduction to the Morning Glory Cocktail in his book, "Imbibe!" According to Wondrich, the Morning Glory Cocktail first appears in print in the 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas' Book and is pretty much verbatim as above. The "remove the ice idea" is a bit silly. Perhaps sensible when ice was at more of a premium than it is today. I recommend, as does Mr. Wondrich, that you simply follow a procedure similar to a Sazerac. Chill a medium size serving glass with ice and water. Stir your cocktail in ice in a mixing glass or tin. Dump the ice from the chilled serving glass. Strain your cocktail into the chilled glass. Top up with soda. While I was getting all old-school, I figured I might as well use Anchor Distilling's Hotaling's Whiskey in this cocktail. Seemed like it would combine well with brandy. And indeed. Uh, wow. After a couple sips, it felt like my scalp was floating a few feet above the top of my head. No idea what might happen, if you follow Mr. Wondrich's other piece of advice and listen to that, "anarchic little voice in your head that suggests substituting champagne for the selzer." And, oh yeah, speaking of cool things, it looks like the cool people at Alembic Bar may be re-launching their "Savoy Nights" some time next month. Still a little squooshy, with details to follow, but if yer gonna be in the San Francisco area on Sunday the 14th of December, put it on the calendar.

Well, if you can find 3 bottles of Handy! I think I might have missed my chance at the Antique Collection this year, due to a brief illness at my primary liquor store... Anyway, I'd try it again, but was pretty underwhelmed with the (ri)1, especially for the price. For mixing, I don't see it knocking the Rittenhouse, Sazerac, or Wild Turkey out of the shopping list. And for sipping I'd rather spend the extra $10-15 and get a whiskey from the Antique Collection. You know, not to mention a dozen or two other more reasonably priced rums, brandies, or European Whiskies.

Oh rats, I thought maybe there was some other interesting edition of the book out there. I know mkayahara has a later "expanded and revised" edition, which I need to track down. Thought maybe yours might have been the same.

Bourbon? Interesting. Which version of the Savoy Cocktail Book do you have, brinza? Both versions of the book I have (sadly) call for "Canadian Club" in the Old Pal. In my experience, "Canadian Club" was likely a Prohibition/European substitution for unavailable American Whiskies like Rye or Bourbon. That is to say, if you find the recipe in the book which Craddock was cribbing from, 9 times out of 10, the recipe calls for Rye Whiskey. I do have the Old Pal noted as coming originally from one of Harry McElhone's books. I'll have to double check later today and see if McElhone calls for Canadian Whisky, Bourbon, or Rye.

Morning Cocktail 2 Dashes Curacao. (2/3 tsp Bols Dry Orange Curacao) 2 Dashes Maraschino. (2/3 tsp Luxardo Maraschino) 2 Dashes Orange Bitters. (2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters) 2 Dashes Absinthe. (1/2 tsp Sirene Absinthe Verte) 1/2 Brandy. (1 oz Lustau Reserve Brandy) 1/2 French Vermouth. (1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth) Shake (well, if you really want to shake, shake. Recommend stirring, myself.) well and strain into cocktail glass. Add a (Mmmm... Luxardo) cherry and squeeze lemon peel on top. This recipe is verbatim from Harry McElhone's "Barflies and Cocktails" (and more likely "Harry's ABCs"). McElhone credits the recipe to "Harry Johnson of New Orleans". And indeed, it is to be found in the 1900 edition of Harry Johnson's "Bartenders' Manual" (Handily published by Mud Puddle Books: "Bartender's Manual".) The only difference between Mr. McElhone's and Mr. Johnson's recipes is that Mr. McElhone calls for the Orange Bitters and Mr. Johnson calls for "3 or 4 dashes of bitters (Boker's Genuine Only)". Well, times change, and Boker's Bitters probably weren't available in London or Paris. The recipe is a bit twiddly, with all the dashes of this and that. In addition, I'm growing dissatisfied with the Lustau Brandy. It just doesn't have much presence in a drink or much length or depth on its own. Despite that, I found the Morning Cocktail genuinely enjoyable. I was really surprised how dominant the citrus flavors of the cocktail were. There's some sort of interesting interaction going on between the Dry Vermouth, Curacao, and Lemon Twist.

I'll have to try that. The Moonshine is also quite similar to the certifiably delicious Savoy "Imperial Cocktail". 1/2 Dry Gin, 1/2 Dry Vermouth, 1 dash Maraschino, Angostura bitters. Stir, strain, olive.

Moonshine Cocktail (6 People) 3 Glasses Gin. (1 1/2 oz Martin Miller's Gin) 2 Glasses French Vermouth. (1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth) 1 Glass Maraschino. (1 barspoon Luxardo Maraschino) Before shaking add a drop of Absinthe Bitters (Gin and Wormwood). (Add an Olive.) OK, I cheated slightly on the Maraschino amount. It should have been 1/2 oz, not a barspoon. Just seemed like it would be a bit much, and frankly, 1 teaspoon was plenty. A fine, but not outstanding cocktail.

Moonraker Cocktail (6 People) Pour into the shaker 2 glasses of Brandy (3/4 oz Lustau Reserve Brandy), 2 of Quinquina (3/4 oz Lillet Rouge) and 2 of Peach Brandy (3/4 oz Massenez Creme de Peche). Add 3 dashes of Absinthe (drop or two of North Shore Sirene Absinthe), shake (I stirred) vigorously and serve. Moonraker seems like such an evocative name, I have always wondered a bit what it referred to. The two main possibilities seem to be a certain type of sail or a reference to a British folk tale. The Legend of the Moonrakers (link to swindonweb site) Why on earth Ian Fleming would name a book about a plot to use a nuclear weapon to destroy London after this legend, I have no idea. I was also puzzled by the use of the generic term "Quinquina" for an ingredient. Notes to friendly cocktail experts unfortunately yielded no results, leaving me to rely on my own google-rific conclusions. When examining the results of an image search for "Quinquina" almost all the products which come up seem to be dark or red colored. Dubonnet Rouge comes up quite frequently, but it seems there were a number of other Quinquinas available. Some friends were cleaning their liquor cabinet and gave me a barely used bottle of Lillet Rouge. Thought it would be appropriate, given the results of my searches. Used Peach Liqueur, as I don't really have anything else peachy in the house. Hard to say if this should be peach eau-de-vie, aged peach brandy, or peach liqueur. With the peach liqueur, this is a pretty sweet cocktail. It is, however, pretty tasty. If you were casting about for after dinner options, you could certainly do a lot worse.

Morning Glory Cocktail delicious, but just about blew my head off. This was a breakfast beverage? Sure would have made work a lot more fun today.

I forget if I posted about this, but when I made Blue Blazers the first time, I had a hard time getting the whiskey to light without heating it a bit on the stove. At the time, Mr. Wondrich mentioned that by adding the hot water to the whiskey (preferably cask strength), it would raise the temperature enough to "volatilize" some of the alcohol, making it easier to light. I did find this to be the case. But then, Mr. Wondrich is seldom wrong.

Just a note, a couple people have mentioned to me this idea that alcohol burns with a "cool" flame. From any research I can do, the temperature of an alcohol flame is approximately the same as that of natural gas or any other hydrocarbon. I mean think about it, ethanol is used as a gas additive! It does, however have a very low evaporation temp. Not being a super scientific guy, I think this means basically that the liquid itself does not need to be super hot to evaporate. It is the gas which is quickly evaporating and burning significantly above the surface of the liquid. But the flame itself is as hot as any other flame.

Um, no the liquid is actually hotter than it looks. And from personal experience, the real danger is the hot containers which have contained the ridiculously hot flaming liquid. But think of it this way... You can walk across a field of burning coals without getting burned. And you can extinguish a flame with your fingers. But if you screw up the timing of either, you are going to be in a (relative) world of pain. Likewise, if you spill that mug of burning whiskey on your arm or set your clothes on fire. It's going to mean a trip to the hospital.

I am puzzled by a technicality of Sazerac making. Sazeracs are a simple 9 step process for me: 1) ice a rocks glass. 2) add Sugar, water, (or simple syrup) and bitters to mixing glass. stir to dissolve/combine. 3) add booze to mixing glass. stir. 4) add ice to sugar, bitters, and booze mixture. stir to chill. 5) empty ice and water from serving glass. 6) add absinthe or absinthe-a-like to serving glass. swirl to coat. 7) dump out absinthe. 8) strain booze mixture into serving glass. 9) squeeze lemon peel over cocktail and discard. I see a lot of folks adding the absinthe to the ice and water mixture they are using to chill the serving glass. It seems like this leaves almost no absinthe flavor in the glass after the ice is dumped. Or is that the idea? oops, typos.