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Well, no one's still mixing with that poison, are they? Just when you thought you got the High Fructose Corn Syrup out of the modern bar, they sneak another chemically created sweetener in under the radar.

I do like that point. Few guests, especially not very spirits savvy ones, really go out to the bar thinking, "Boy I'm really looking forward to trying a new Gin drink tonight." They are far more likely to have something from their food vocabulary in mind. Mint, ginger, lemon, lime, etc. Using these food vocabulary cues is far more productive when communicating with these guests than trying to explain the difference between Cognac and Pisco. The slightly more savvy drinker will generally have a favorite drink which they order every time they go out. It is here where "If you like a X, whey don't you try Y" comes in. Though many at this level, especially if they are older, are unbudgeable from their single favorite drink.

Sloe Gin is a fine Anglo-Celtic tradition, wherein you add a portion of the fruit of the Blackthorn Bush and a generous helping of Sugar to your Gin. A bittersweet, somewhat medicinal tasting elixir is produced after a lengthy steep. Unfortunately, Blackthorn bushes are not quite as common in the US, as they are in the UK. If you have access to other small, tart plums (say Damsons or Mirabelles) they could be substituted. Check this topic for more information regarding it's production. Autumn and Festive Preserves

So I was chatting with a friend who works for the Lillet Company. They had mentioned a few of the questions brought up in this topic to the Master Blender at Lillet, who got a bit, oh, cranky. Interesting points: According to the Master Blender, the only thing which changed about the Lillet in the 1980s was the label. What was in the bottle labelled Kina Lillet did not change when they switched to calling it Lillet Blanc. It was simply a re-branding. My friend tasted some Lillet samples from before the rebranding and confirmed this fact. My friend has an excellent taste memory and palate, so I have no reason to doubt them. As far as Lillet is concerned the Jean de Lillet product is as close to an authentic reproduction of vintage Kina Lillet or the Lillet which is/was made for the French market as they will admit. The only bittering agent which has ever been used in Lillet is Quinine, thus the Gentian (and other herbs and spices) in Cocchi Americano take it quite far from anything which the Lillet company has ever made. Questions: While it is interesting to note that the relatively modern version of the Lillet product(s) remain unchanged, what was the character of Kina Lillet which was sold at the time of the creation of the Corpse Reviver (No. 2)? What about that "Lillet Export Double Quinine" which was available around 1900 in the US and West Indies?

Hm, tea old fashioned. Interesting idea.

Well, let's say you went into a bar and said you'd had a drink called a "Oaxacan Old-Fashioned" and told the bartender that it contained Tequila. Perhaps the bartender would think, "Huh, that's an odd name for a Tequila Old-Fashioned, spirits distilled from fermented Agave in Oaxaca can't technically be called 'Tequila'." "Oh, but they do make a lot of tasty Mezcal in Oaxaca..."

One note on execution, a lot of bars are serving drinks like this on big, very cold ice. I find, depending on the proof of the spirits, that I appreciate the drink being briefly stirred with cracked or cube ice before being poured over the big ice. You just don't get enough dilution or chill fast enough with the big rocks. If you're using spirits over 80 proof, those first sips will be quite the shock. Well, unless the guest in question is used to high test.

Interestingly, I was recently reading a cocktail book from 1925 called, "Drinks Long & Short" by Nina Toye and A.H. Adair. Whether it is a quirk of the authors, representative of the time, or an advertiser/promotion deal, I cannot say, but in many cases where dry vermouth is called for, they specify "Noilly Prat Vermouth".

Why wouldn't the Oaxacan Old Fashioned be an old fashioned? It's just tequila, mezcal, sweetener, bitters, and orange peel, as far as I know. Recipe - Oaxacan Old-Fashioned (NY Times Link)

First, wow, you guys must have a lot of time on your hands, I'd hate to see what would happen if the cocktail you were discussing had more than 3 ingredients. Or if politics came up. Right. If someone asks for an old-fashioned, these days they generally mean a Whisky Cocktail on the rocks. In almost every case, they want Bourbon. In both the places I work, our house old fashioned is an old fashioned old-fashioned: only spirits, bitters, sweetener, citrus peel, and ice. However, when I did the BAR Advanced course, and made an old-fashioned in the practical part of the exam, after presenting said drink to my examiner, I was reminded that I should really inquire in some fashion of the customer. Not just what spirit they want, but to somehow determine the manner in which they want the drink prepared. A lot of customers do have different expectations about what constitutes an old-fashioned: Muddled Fruit, Cherries, soft drinks, etc. For me, I think there is plenty of variability in the 4 components of the old-fashioned: spirit, sweetener, bitters, and citrus garnish, that I don't think any elaboration beyond that should be included in the category of the "Old-Fashioned Cocktail". At least, I would not expect anything beyond that to be included when I ordered an Old-Fashioned. Heck, most people are shocked that the Old-Fashioned can be made with anything other than Whiskey. For example, in the Savoy Cocktail Book, a Whiskey Old-Fashioned bittered with Fernet is called a King Cole Cocktail, not an Old-Fashioned. Quite delicious, I might add. The same cocktail, a few years later, served up, became the Toronto.

I seem to recall the last pimento dram I made being at least as pungent as the St. Elizabeth's product. Did you leave the allspice berries whole or crush them? Were they relatively fresh?

There was no "Old-Fashioned" Cocktail in 1862, uh, because they hadn't gotten that old yet. They were still fashionable. ;-)

2 oz rye whiskey, 2 oz sweet vermouth, 1 tsp maraschino liqueur, 2 dashes bitters. On ice in a rocks glass. Old Fashioned? Really, you want to call any drink served over rocks an old-fashioned? I guess it is literally an Old Fashioned Manhattan. At least it is, without the twee addition of Maraschino, what you would get if you asked for a Manhattan in an Old Fashioned Tavern or Old Fashioned Supper Club in Wisconsin.

A Heering Old Fashioned?

"their contribution to mixology seems to be basically exploring really simple avenues of expectation/anticipation and the potential of deconstructing traditionally homogeneous drinks into the inhomogeneous. whether its been done before or not its just not that powerful." That's a good way of putting it. I have a lot of hope that they will pull off some very cool stuff given the track record of Alinea, but so far what I've seen doesn't seem that compelling. The videos are a savvy way to generate buzz for the bar so it will be interesting if they track a progression from early clumsy experiments like these to genuine culinary art.

If you mean micro-distillery, in my opinion, there's very little micro distillery rum produced that is worth the cost. To expand a bit, most micro-distillery Rum is not produced from Cane Juice or Molasses, it is produced from sugar. Now, it is true that any spirit produced from sugar or sugar derivatives, including refined sugar, can be considered Rum in the US, but, again, in my opinion, Rum produced from Sugar isn't really Rum, it's Moonshine, to use a pejorative term. There are a few small distillers making white rums from molasses in the US, but most are of the, "Hey, my white rum has so little flavor, you could use it instead of vodka and no one would notice," school. St. George Spirits recently started making an Agricole Style Rum from fresh pressed cane in an unaged and aged version that is pretty cool and interesting. Also, I agree with vice, the white rums from Barbancourt, El Dorado, and Flor de Caña, while not "small" producers exactly, are good products. But then, are you looking to find "small producers" or simply producers not represented by multinational conglomerates?

Curious, do they give any indication of the nature of the selection process? Was there some sort of poll or contest? Editorial process? Or is it completely subjective?

Regarding making a quick pimento Dram with the NO2 technique, going back to the original Cooking Issues post (Infusion Profusion: Game-Changing Fast ‘N Cheap Technique), I don't see anything in the usual AllSpice Dram recipes that would particularly red flag it to not work. Seemed like dry spices (they tried star anise) worked pretty well. I'm sure it will be different than the usual Allspice Dram, but probably all right.

Neisson and La Favorite are imported by the same company (aka Ed Hamilton). Anywhere that has one brand, should be able to get the other range. There was a bit of a snafu with the La Favorite when they recently got the new bottles, but I believe that has all been ironed out. To the best of my knowledge, none of the St. James products are currently imported into the US. I believe the distributor dropped them some time last year.

Manzanillas are generally lighter than Amontillados, though the Solear is pretty full flavored for the category.

You're sort of taking him out of context. In the article he talked about a drink of his that was only palatable in a very narrow range of temperature with a ridiculously futzy preparation. I believe he is postulating a sort of "evolutionary" model for "classic" cocktails. If a cocktail isn't successful or enjoyable in a variety of settings with variable preparations, it won't survive as a "classic".

Bourbon? I thought he recipe called for CANADIAN CLUB! (it is a tasty cocktail, I just made it last week with 40 Creek Three Grain and Solear Manzanilla.)

Hm, sorry that the Tinton didn't work out. I have to admit I did enjoy it with Calvados, though by this point my tastes are so warped I really am not much of a judge...

Where on earth did you find Brandy made from Arbutus fruit? There are enough on my street, I could nearly make it myself, but is it imported?

Oxley is a very mildly flavored Gin. One person put it to me like this: It tastes like Gin on its own, but disappears completely when you mix with it. Whether that is good or bad, I guess depends on how you feel about the flavor of Gin.