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← Like all rules, I believe this one is meant to be learned, understood, and then broken. [...] ← I'm in total agreement with Mr. Wondrich here. Try a Bacardi Special some time: Fantastic drink which I have served to accolades at several parties. In the introduction to his book, I believe Mr. Duffy was speaking particularly about prohibition era cocktails where gin was being used more or less as a lengthener for more expensive and hard to come by spirits. In the edition I have, he even goes so far as to note the drinks which he specifically does not recommend mixing. I forget many examples, but the Barbary Coast Cocktail springs to mind as a drink Duffy did not recommend which ended up surprisingly tasty. The Frankenjack/Claridge is another I seem to recall him disapproving of, which can be quite tasty if carefully mixed.

In his (hilarious) talk at Tales this year during the homemade ingredients panel, Boudreau had some thoughts regarding loss of aromatic materials when straining with a Pur Filter. First, Boudreau is a believer in making bitters by blending tinctures. He feels this gives you much more control over the end product. This makes sense to me, given the variability of the herbs and spices which go in on the front end. Second, he claims using a Buchner funnel gave him the worst hand cramps he has had since he was 11. It wasn't a place he wanted to visit again. Third, in regard loss of aromatics, he said something like, c'mon, even if there is some loss of aromatics when using a charcoal filter, the flavors we are playing with in bitters are so strong, how much does that small loss matter? I'm guessing this is especially true if you are, like him, making bitters by blending tinctures.

FWIW, Embury lists the proportions at 1 part orgeat, 4 parts gin, 3-4 dashes absinthe, but omits the bitters. I wonder what peach bitters would be like in this? [...] ← Oops! Baker doesn't use bitters either: Gaby Des Lys Cocktail; 1 jigger dry gin; 1/2 pony orgeat; 1 scant teaspoon of Absinthe. Frappe with ice and pour into a cocktail glass. I believe they do add some bitters of some sort when they make it at Beretta here in San Francisco.

The Gaby de Lys (Charles Baker?) is another nice feature for quality Orgeat, not dissimilar to the Japanese. I'll have to check for exact amounts later tonight, but the ingredients are: Gin, Orgeat, Absinthe, and Bitters.

More info here: Stroh Rum?, A word from Stock, the holding company

Commodore Cocktail 1 Teaspoonful Syrup. (1 teaspoon rich simple syrup) 2 Dashes Orange Bitters. (2 Dashes Regan's Orange Bitters) The Juice of 1/2 Lime or 1/4 Lemon. (1/4 Lemon) 1 Glass Canadian Club Whisky. (2 oz 40 Creek Barrel Select) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Oddly, I made this cocktail, and took this picture about a year ago; but as far as I can tell I never posted the drink in the Savoy topic! Not seeing the picture in the topic, I just remade it. It is a perfectly fine Canadian Whisky Sour. Nothing to get too excited about. A bit light on the citrus, as compared to normal Whiskey Sours. Interesting that they give you the option to use lime. Maybe next time!

All that makes sense. I've never made a study of the DeKuyper Orange Curacao. Had it in drinks at bars. Don't remember it making an impression. They do use it at Forbidden Island. I can say I don't think much of the Bols Orange (or Blue) Curacao sold in this country. I've not had a chance to try it, but I have heard good things about the European version of Bols Dry Orange Curacao in a Mai Tai. I'm hoping to run into Philip Duff at Tales of the Cocktail this year. If I do, I'll be sure and hit him up for a sample. Just wish someone could convince Bols to sell that version of the Dry Orange Curacao in this country. I do continue to like the Luxardo Orange Triplum as a Curacao substitute. It's got the strongest pure orange flavor of the bunch and is a bit sweeter than Cointreau.

If it's true that Trader Vic was using the neutral spirits based Orange Curacao from DeKuyper when he created the Mai Tai, I'm not so sure that the brandy blended Grand Marnier (or even the Brizard Orange Curacao) is the most "authentic" choice. Have you done comparative taste tests? I've mixed with Grand Marnier so infrequently, I'm not even really sure what it brings to a cocktail.

Well, there's David Nepove's Kumquat Caipiroshka. Kumquat cocktail calls for the right implement

Well, the book was more or less a compendium of the cocktails published on the cocktailtime and hotwired cocktail pages. Unfortunately, the earliest I can find for either of those websites on the Internet wayback machine is 1998, and there's already a buy this book link and the Jasmine is listed as a cocktail. Hotwired launched in 1994, with the website going live I think in 1995. Not sure when the cocktail stuff started on the website or exactly when Mr. Harrington was working at the Town House in Emeryville.

If you can't do a Mai Tai, how about a Fog Cutter? Fog Cutter Recipe Comparison (Kaiser Penguin) Though, to be honest the challenge in the Mai Tai really isn't the Orange Curacao so much as the orgeat and the proper rums. You can use Cointreau in a Mai Tai to no real deficit to the drink. To the best of my knowledge, Trader Vic was using DeKuyper Orange Curacao, fer cripes sake, when he made it up. I made this Mai Tai variation last night, most excellent: 1 1/2 oz Appleton V/X 3/4 oz St. James Ambre Juice 1 Lime 1 barspoon Luxardo Triplum 3 barspoons Home Made Orgeat

I'll drop a note to Mr. Difford and ask. I think I might even have an email address for Paul Harrington somewhere around. Don't know Mr. Turner. [...] ← I didn't hear back from Mr. Difford, but I did check the most recent Difford's Guide (#7). It credits the creation of the Jasmine to Paul Harrington.

I'll drop a note to Mr. Difford and ask. I think I might even have an email address for Paul Harrington somewhere around. Don't know Mr. Turner. Well, back to the subject at hand. I was asking around a while ago about Caribbean drinks from Nassau/Bahamas. About the only good answer I got was the Goombay Smash, a specialty of Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar.

Isn't there a bit of a debate as to who created the Jasmine, as I've seen this drink credited to Alex Turner? [...] ← Wasn't aware of any controversy regarding the origin of the Jasmine. Hotwired Jasmine Story (Internet Archive Link)

Can we subdivide the US? I've no idea what the proper modern national drink should be. Something they serve at Applebee's or Chile's, I would guess. I feel like the Mojito is probably the most common and widely served drink in San Francisco bars. But, I like Harrington's Jasmine as the drink that jump started modern mixology on the West Coast.

Are you looking for cocktails that a large number of people in that country drink? Or just the cocktail most associated with a particular country. For example, I don't know many Mexicans that drink Margaritas. Sangritas are far more likely. Or just Tecate and a shot of tequila. If they're even drinking spirits at all. Likewise, is the Negroni particularly popular in Italy? I think the Americano or Campari and soda might be more appropriate.

“L.G.” Cocktail 1 glass Scotch Whisky. (2 oz Highland Park 12) 1 glass Beer as a chaser. (St. Ambroise Pale Ale, Brasserie McAuslan, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Last month's beer club notes describe the St. Ambroise Pale as follows. Not exactly a cocktail, but a very enjoyable beer and a very enjoyable Scotch.

Rats, I wish I had thought of that!

You end up with a lot of small pieces of vegetable matter that make it through your cheesecloth or strainer. "Chalky" was the word someone used to describe my first batch of orgeat. Also, instead of a consistent cloudy louche from just the almond oils, your cocktails will have a blotchy appearance like this Inca Cocktail:

Oh, you're right, the El Dorado White is a Molasses based rum! Excellent. Finding a bottle of that will have to be my next quest!

Lemon Pie Cocktail 1 Glass Scotch Whisky. (2 oz Famous Grouse Scotch) 1 bottle Lemonade. (Fever Tree Bitter Lemon) (Patrick Gavin Duffy: Stir gently with 1 ice cube.) No instructions for this one, so initially I wasn't sure if they were to be served separately or mixed together. Fortunately, Patrick Gavin Duffy included the above instructions in his "Official Mixer's Manual". In the English vernacular, I'm told "Lemonade" refers to a carbonated beverage not dissimilar to 7-Up. Or perhaps those carbonated French Lemon Sodas. In any case, I've wanted to try the Fever Tree Bitter Lemon for a while now, and this seemed like a fine excuse. As an experiment, I'd say it was a bit of a failure, as Scotch and Bitter Lemon didn't quite work for me. The Scotch already has enough character going in and the bitterness kind of clashed with it. Would have preferred plain lemon soda or, to be perfectly honest, plain soda water.

Wow, you rate the Wray & Nephew overproof that highly? A certain part of my brain, which makes the rest of my brain grumpy the day after, really likes it. But not sure if I would rate it higher, mostly for health concerns, than the Flor de Cana Extra Dry.

Yeah, Montecristo white is tempting, as is the El Dorado White. I may cheat and throw it in. The problem is, neither are really an appropriate substitute for Bacardi. As much as I enjoy Montecristo white or El Dorado, neither is a molasses based rum.

Leave It To Me Cocktail (No. 2) 1 Teaspoonful Raspberry Syrup. (1 teaspoon Monin Raspberry Syrup) 1 Teaspoonful Lemon Juice. 1 Dash Maraschino. (1/3 tsp. Luxardo Maraschino) 3/4 Glass Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin) Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. Now, we're talking. This is a lovely cocktail, which definitely could use some revivification. Admittedly a bit girly, being slightly pink and a bit fruity. Still it's not pink enough to cause alarm and with enough of a gin punch that I think any male secure in his manhood should have no problem with it.

mbrowley, thanks for reminding me of the orgeat recipe on FX Cuisine! I'd seen this a while ago, but sort of forgot about it. The best part about it is by avoiding the blender and food processor, you run no risk of over processing your almonds. I suspect, as long as your bottles are sanitized properly, with that much sugar, the risk of it going off are somewhere in the slim to nil category, even without adding alcohol (whose preservative qualities are vastly overrated, I might add.)