eje

Right. First off, generally, fermented grain beverages contain very little methanol, as it is mostly created by the breakdown of pectins in fruit. So, if you got a massive hangover from drinking cider, it is likely the methanol. If you get a hangover from beer, it is probably something else. Yes, distilled spirits are generally more "clean" than simple fermented beverages, there's a lot that goes away in the distillation process. The more you distill, the more that goes away. Most vodka is, more or less, ethanol and water, likely with some additives to give it flavor and character. Of course, the caveat here is how well the spirit is distilled, and how much of the heads and tails are kept. Distilled spirits are also more concentrated, so it takes X amount of beer to come up with a bottle of Whiskey or vodka. So, in some ways, it is more likely to get a true dehydration hangover from spirits than beer. There's a lot of water in beer. The rate at which you drink can also be a factor. You may be good at pacing yourself with cocktails, but after drinking straight spirits, beer can taste a lot like a soft drink. If you slam down that 22oz bomber of Arrogant Bastard, you're probably drinking the equivalent of 3 or 4 cocktails in a lot less time. And yeah, a lot of modern craft beers are so strong that they mess with the 1 beer equals 1 cocktail ratio. The one beer equals one cocktail thing was probably based on a 12 oz beer at about 4% ABV. So, lots of factors. Personally, I have found I am sensitive to something in many unfiltered beers. I get an allergic-like reaction in my sinuses (and usually a sinus headache) from drinking home or true craft beers. This bums me out, because these are usually my favorite types of beer. But it doesn't stop me from drinking them.

Well, like other point out, there are pluses and minuses. For example, at home you don't have to worry about making a profit on whatever it is you are crafting, be it infused liqueur or distilled spirit. On the other hand, some things don't really work out that well on a small scale. I'd agree with bostonapothecary, in the amounts a home or even bar can have access to wine and have the space to age and tweak things, Dry Vermouth doesn't really work out, especially since it has a relatively short shelf life once opened. Sure you can make some interesting wine based infusions, but really is it going to be that much more exciting that Dolin or Noilly Prat? You're really just reinventing the wheel with dry vermouth. Barolo Chinato type experiments, where you are working with larger flavors, are perfect for home. Same with liqueurs, some work on a small scale, some just are never as good as what you can buy. For example, I've never tasted a homemade Apricot liqueur that comes anywhere near close to commercial products. In the case of syrups, on the other hand, with some care and good ingredients, in many cases the person at home can easily out do much of what is commercially available. I assume it is the same with distilling, there are some things that may only really work once you get to a certain batch size and/or certain size or type of still. You just have to pick your battles, I guess, and realize you will probably never make a very good whiskey at home. However, you can pretty easily make an Orgeat or Lemon Syrup that outstrips anything that Monin or Torani have on the market.

Interesting. I wonder then, since the recipe was formulated for rye, if the formula should be adjusted when using Canadian Club, or does the Savoy recipe have different proportions than the one given in "Harry's ABC" and "Barflies and Cocktails"? (I don't have either of those last two books) Nope, no difference between the Savoy and McElhone recipes, aside from the "Canadian Club" instead of "Rye Whiskey". This is typical for the Savoy Cocktail Book, almost all the recipes which call for Canadian Club in the Savoy Cocktail Book, call for some other sort of Whiskey in the books I suspect they are sourced from.

Tell that to Modern Spirits (who make Tru) and Bendistillery. Both of them sell infused spirits as "Gin". Not to mention the other companies that produce Gins by cold compounding flavor essences... Not to mention some crazy person over at the Underhill-Lounge who made a juniper flavored punch based on unaged whiskies.

Hm, actually, I believe the earliest recipes for the Scoff-law, from "Harry's ABC" and "Barflies and Cocktails", call for Rye, not Canadian Whiskey. Fun Quote: Chicago Tribune, January 27th, 1924: “Hardly has Boston added to the Gaiety of Nations by adding to Webster’s Dictionary the opprobrious term of “scoff-law” to indicate the chap who indicts the bootlegger, when Paris comes back with a “wet answer”—Jock, the genial bartender of Harry’s New York Bar, yesterday invented the Scoff-law Cocktail, and it has already become exceedingly popular among American prohibition dodgers.” The Savoy Cocktail Book does call for Canadian Club, perhaps by 1930 Rye Whiskey had become harder to come by.

Totally agree with Pierogi on this one. After chipping one too many "tempered" glass mixing glasses I switched to all metal 3 or 4 years ago and haven't looked back.

FWIW, as far as I know, the Ryes currently known to be made by LDI, (and you can tell if the brand plays up the 95% Rye and 5% Malted Barley Mashbill,) are: Bulleit Rye Redemption Rye Willet 2 Year Rye Templeton Rye I believe High West also sometimes sources some Rye Whiskey from LDI for their Whiskies. edit, oops, the Willet made at LDI is the 2 year rye.

Templeton has a small still at its distillery in Iowa, with which it produces some small batches of products which are sold locally. The product that it sells commercially as Templeton Rye is produced by LDI in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and only bottled at the Templeton plant.

"ny short list"? Nice typo, John. I think this is the SF short list. I would argue Alembic is a bar with an amazing restaurant program, but pataytoe, patahtoe... Also, you forgot Heaven's Dog. ;-)

Katie Meadow, "The selection of ryes here in the east bay seems limited." East Bay as in Berkeley-ish? Have you checked Ledger's? Otherwise, a short BART trip can take you to Cask at Market and Kearny in San Francisco (Montgomery stop).

Neither Hayman's nor Ransom are notably sweet Gins. I think I remember Eric Seed telling me when they were researching Gin sugar content they discovered some allegedly "Dry" Gins which had higher sugar content than Hayman's. And I think bostonapothecary did some testing on Ransom and couldn't find a detectable amount of sugar. I think the assertion that Old-Tom was necessarily a sweetened Gin is a simplification. The best way to look at Old-Tom is as Gin produced in England, initially to mimic the Genever Style, which, as time went by, evolved into something nearly indistinguishable from London Dry Gin. Interestingly, in his older books Cocktail Bill Boothby asserts that there were "Cordial" Old Tom Gins, and admonishes mixers that when using "Cordial Old-Tom" they should be careful to add no more sweetener to drinks. I think one style of Old Tom was essentially a Juniper liqueur.

"Cocchi VdT"? "Cocchi Vermouth de Turin", maybe? Am I to understand that Haus Alpenz will soon be bringing in another Italian Vermouth, perhaps in the Turin style? I was unaware that Cocchi even made a Vermouth.

They're pretty different liqueurs. The Rothman & Winter Violet is pretty single notedly Violet and not particularly sweet. Unless you really like Violet, it needs to be deployed with some care, as its intense violet flavor can easily overwhelm the other elements of a drink. The Cooper Creme Yvette has some Violet, but also elements of berry fruits and Citrus. I don't have a lot of experience mixing with it. Having a hard time justifying buying another bottle of Violet liqueur for the house. I probably already have more than I will use in this lifetime. Parfait Amour (depending on the brand) is Citrus with some Violet notes, but ultimately most people compare the flavor of the Brizard Parfait Amour to something like Grape Jelly Beans or another artificially flavored fruit candy. It also needs to be deployed with care in cocktails. Yeah, I agree, I wish they all would be available in smaller bottles.

That was from the introductory section on aperitif wines. Later in the book, under Short Drinks, he has an entry for Kina Lillet drinks: So what does everyone make of this? Was there yet another Lillet product--a vermouth no less--that may have been called for in certain drinks? If we are to believe that Kina Lillet never really changed, is what we are looking for to faithfully re-created old drinks something else entirely? I can't imagine Embury was completely mistaken about this, especially since he cites it as his favorite French vermouth. Surely he knew what he was drinking. Gotta love that he feels that the only way anyone would possess a bottle of Kina Lillet is "by accident." Well, if you go back to the Lillet timeline: My guess would be that Mr. Embury was referring to the "Lillet Dry" created some time around 1920. My other guess would be that the modern Lillet Blanc is an off shoot of the "Lillet Dry" product, rather than the earlier Kina Lillet product. Also, the elusive Jean de Lillet is likely the modern version of "Sauternes Lillet". As to what happened to Kina Lillet, (or "Lillet Export Double Quinine" for that matter,) your guess is as good as mine. It appears that branch of the Lillet family died out some time after Mr. Embury's writing.

Well, you do sort of start getting esoterically existential at this point, "At what point does the combination of whiskey, vermouth, and bitters stop being a Manhattan?" Is a reverse Manhattan still a Manhattan? Is a Manhattan with dashes of Curacao or Absinthe still a Manhattan? In our current climate of mixological lumpology, I would say pretty much any combination of Whiskey (what if it's Canadian?), Vermouth (is it optional?), and bitters (likewise?) is a Manhattan. I know the Manhattan you made is more of a Manhattan than many I have been served. Heck it has Vermouth. But if you want to make up a new name...

Actually, I was surprised by how tasty the El Dorado 5 is! I'm not a huge fan of their white rum and I've heard the 151 is not very good, but other than those it's a very respectable company.

I like many equal parts drinks, especially when using cask strength or overproof spirits. Never go too long on the bitters, as you've already got plenty of character from the vermouths and spirits. Affinity: 1 oz The Macallan Cask, 1 oz French Vermouth, 1 oz Italian Vermouth, 1 dash ango. Lemon Twist. Whisper: 1 oz Handy Rye, 1 oz French Vermouth, 1 oz Italian Vermouth. Ashtray Heart: 1 oz Smith & Cross, 1 oz French Vermouth, 1 oz Punt e Mes. Rinse glass with smoky Mezcal. Underhill-Lounge French Vermouth is usually Dolin Dry or Noilly Prat. Underhill-Lounge Italian is almost always Carpano.

While Absinthe and some other Herbal Liqueurs may benefit, or at least evolve, with time in the bottle, the cork, if kept in long contact with the spirit, will deteriorate relatively rapidly. Unlike wine, spirits should be stored standing up. And, yes, cork contamination is absolutely possible with spirits as well as wines. Not only that, but I've had older spirits that I swear have taken flavor from their plastic enclosures or pour spouts.

Most of the Del Maguey products are a tad high priced solely for mixing, however their new "Vida" Mezcal is quite delicious and a decent value (comparatively). The other most commonly mixed Mezcal, at least around here, is named Benesin. Also quite good, though not quite as aggressively funky as the "Vida" (or other Del Maguey products). Sombre ain't bad either, though that one is all about the smoke. A bit more expensive, if you can find Mezcalero around, it is fantastic, and only available in CA.

$22 for coffee!!!! I once paid 7 euros in France for an espresso with some goodies and almost had a fit when I got the bill. $22 - Stunning!! Il Cane Rosso is on the list for a walk in / casual thing. $22 was the CHEAP coffee. There was another coffee that was over $40.... Yeah, check out the prices on their cocktail menu, too, it's crazy. Alexander's just opened another branch in SF, not sure who is supposed to dine there...

I have not been yet, but I have a foodie-type friend who quite liked it. Anyone else have opinions? Worth the hike to Sausalito?

I was looking through the Cocktail Kingdom reprint of Hugo Ensslin for Savoy recipes and happened to notice his take on the Blue Moon. Uh, what? NY in 1917 and there's no Lemon in this? Top off with Claret? Huh, well, actually it sounds kind of good, but it is certainly not a sour, not even a New York Sour. What's the earliest Blue Moon Cocktail recipe?

Now that the Cooper Creme Yvette is available again, I thought I might start some discussion. How are people enjoying it? New Inventions with the product? Aside from a couple Pousse Cafes and the Ping Pong, what's good with Creme Yvette?

An interesting roundup of San Francisco's best new restaurants, according to our local paper: 2010's top new Bay Area restaurants (Ooops, just noticed that the article isn't available online until Monday.) The restaurants listed are: Frances, Marlowe, Oenotri, Saison, Prospect, Bar Agricole, Ippuku, Commonwealth, Benu, Plum, and Michael Mina. RE: Manresa and Meadowood My preference would be for Manresa, but I haven't been to Meadowood. When we dined at Manresa, we stayed overnight at a nearby hotel. It is possible to use public transit to get to Manresa, though it would involve at least 4 forms of public transport and an investment of approximately 3-4 hours. Depending on when you eat and stay, it may not be possible to get back to SF. The public transport option on google maps or transit 511 should be useful. Meadowood is about 50 miles from SF, with no public transport option. I don't know what your idea of "reasonable" is, but that would be a significant cab ride to say the least and it would be difficult to find one to take you home. You may be able to rent a limo or book a driver, I think these sorts of things work out better for wine country travel.

"In fact, the coffee guy challenged the idea that there were any bitter compounds at all present in lemons, and when we trimmed the pith off of the skin and ate it, it was, if anything, sweet." Well, he is a coffee guy, his tolerance for bitterness must be off the charts. ;-) Not sure the reason for the 4 hour rest, but I agree with Sam (slkinsey), the test needs to be done without it. I'd also like to see it done with the twists stirred in the drink and strained out.