eje

A online acquaintance and Amer Picon enthusiast informed me that he is finally getting some "bites" from Diageo regarding Amer Picon. He suggested a few more inquiries and friendly nudges from the cocktail community, might tip them in the direction of returning the product to world wide distribution (and maybe its original formulation.) If you've got some free time...

I'll get some fresh jujube on Saturday and take pictures of them cut, etc. Not sure if larrylee's fruit is jujube. Looks kind of large and the shape seems wrong. I suppose it could be a different variety than the ones commonly grown here. teepee's look more similar: Thai Apple

In a similarly smoky vein, Thomas Waugh has a very nice cocktail on the Alembic menu, here in San Francisco, called the Macanudo. It is Partida Anejo, apricot eau-de-vie, qi smoked tea liqueur, dash agave nectar, lemon twist, dried apricot garnish. Don't know exact proportions; but, it is not a particularly sweet cocktail.

I was reading Dr. Cocktail's monthly column in Imbibe the other day. He featured interesting tidbits about one of the early American Bar at the Savoy Hotel Head Bartenders, Ms. Ada Coleman. However, near the end of his article, he states that the Savoy Hotel will be closing in the near future for an extensive renovation. Just in case anyone was planning a pilgrimage to the Savoy Hotel, I thought I might send the folks at Fairmont Hotels (The Savoy's Parent Company) a note and ask for details. They were kind enough to respond. The Savoy Hotel will be closing 15 December 2007 for an extensive renovation. The American Bar will be part of the renovation. They are expecting the renovation to take approximately 16 months and are hoping the Hotel and American Bar will be open again some time in 2009. Until then, you will have to content yourself with the Dorchester, or another of the bars where Mr. Craddock held court. Though, given the current exchange rate with the Pound, it might be best to cross your fingers and wait until 2009!

Yep, just about time for the garlic, onions, fava beans, and sweet peas (for the flowers next spring). Also a good time for Chard and other "cold" tolerant greens. Probably a bad time to plant lemongrass, at least up here. You'd want to do that when it is warm and give it a good chance to establish before it has to deal with cold, wet weather.

I just usually use tasting corks or leftover corks from liquor bottles. If you really want to cork and seal, probably the way to go would be hot wax. You should be able to get the supplies for that at a home brew or wine supply store.

Nice mention in Sunday's New York Times: BoÎte: Dial D for Drinks* *Link may require registration and/or payment.

Darb Cocktail 1/3 French Vermouth. (3/4 oz Noilly Prat) 1/3 Dry Gin. (3/4 oz Bombay Dry Gin) 1/3 Apricot Brandy. (3/4 oz Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot) 4 Dashes Lemon Juice. (Juice 1/8 Lemon) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. I also tried this with Zwack Barack Palinka in place of the apricot liqueur. While that combination is, uh, interesting, and sort of like a vaguely apricot flavored Casino Cocktail, I really understood why thirtyoneknots said, "as it started to warm it became somewhat harsh," about the Culross Cocktail. I think any cocktail with more than a little Zwack Barack Palinka, and you're going to want it plenty cold. Anyway, I stirred this, and double strained to get any stray lemon pulp out. I thought it was a quite attractive. A shimmery translucent peach in color. According to Bartleby.com, quoting "The Columbia Guide to Standard American English", "Darb is an Americanism probably nearly obsolete today, a slang word from the 1920s meaning 'something or someone very handsome, valuable, attractive, or otherwise excellent.'" Couldn't agree more!

If any of you read (or write) blogs which cover cocktails, you might know that Paul over at Cocktail Chronicles has been organizing a monthly online cocktail event he calls Mixology Mondays. This month's event is being hosted by Natalie on her Liquid Muse blog. The theme is "Pairings". To quote Paul: Natalie goes on to explain the criteria: If you would like to participate, please write up a cocktail in this topic before Monday, October 15th at midnight. I will compile a list of cocktails posted and email them to the organizer. I have to admit I've not explored "pairing" much of anything with cocktails. Is a Martini, a bowl of pretzels, pickles, and some runny cheese OK? Can't wait to see what you inventive people come up with.

As long as the citizens are "liberal" with tips, and "open" to trying new tastes, I don't know that a city's particular political bias has much to do with it. Schnookered on both sides of the aisles, as far as I can tell...

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, October 05, 2007 Italian winemaker Piero Antinori is poised to make his own Napa Valley wine, Jon Bonné THE SIPPING NEWS: Roshambo winery sponsors Rock Paper Scissors contest, Camper English Zagat and Diageo team up for iDrinkWell.com, Camper English Sipping news: Good things come in small batches, Cammper English What we're drinking Spirits: A wave of artisan cachaca hits local bars, Camper English Harvest Report: Unpredictable weather keeps vintners guessing, Lynn Char Bennett Pairings: Spiced duck confit to go with South Central Coast Syrah, Lynn Char Bennett Recipes: Farro Risotto Spiced Duck Leg Confit Chronicle Wine Selections: South Central Coast Syrah, Lynn Char Bennett The Tasting Room: Chimney Rock blends style and substance, Karola Saekel The Cheese Course: Cheesemaker turns goat's milk into a 'good mouthful', Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: Barndiva, Stacy Finz "Barndiva Three years ago, Jil Hales and her husband, Geoffrey, built a cool red barn just off the historic square in Healdsburg. The upstairs became their home, and the downstairs a bar and restaurant that mixes sleek contemporary architecture with farm-chic appointments. Travertine tile floors, 16-foot high ceilings, lots of exotic woods, comfy banquettes and gleaming tables set off the sophisticated interior. Wrought-iron French bistro tables, shady walnut trees and farm sculptures lure patrons out to the garden. At night, the trees twinkle with tiny lights, and the water from the large fountain is musical. You feel like taking your shoes off, even before sipping your first cocktail." Bargain Bite: El Norteño Tacos, Tara Duggan "El Norteño Tacos This taco truck across from San Francisco's Hall of Justice draws court bailiffs, cops, lawyers and an assortment of folks serving jury duty, contesting parking tickets or perhaps checking in with their probation officer. There aren't a whole lot of other restaurants nearby, but it's not just convenience they're after. El Norteño serves up hefty burritos, tortas, soup and nachos, and best of all, delicious mini tacos for $1.50 each."

Dandy Cocktail 1/2 Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse Bonded Rye Whiskey) 1/2 Dubonnet. (1 1/2 oz Dubbonet Rouge) 1 Dash Angostura Bitters. 3 Dashes Cointreau. (1/2 tsp. Cointreau) 1 Piece Lemon Peel. 1 Piece Orange Peel. Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into cocktail glass. Not the greatest picture, sorry about that. I may re-make this tonight and try to get a better shot. I have had a horrible cold all this week, and this was the first cocktail to break the fast. I interpreted this literally, cutting two wide swaths of peel, squeezing them into the ingredients, and then stirring them in there with everything else. The use of peels as an ingredient makes me think of 19th century drinks like Cobblers, though the use of Cointreau and Dubonnet, seems to place it more squarely in the 20th Century. Perhaps a 20th Century adaptation of a 19th Century recipe? Quite nice. Similar to a Manhattan, yet quite distinct. The milder flavor of the Rittenhouse seemed appropriate to the Dubonnet, rather than the Sazerac Straight or Wild Turkey. Definitely something I'll make again.

Well, you can certainly bottle it, never seen it canned. Perhaps too reactive with metal? Certainly real lemon wedges would go in Iced Tea, etc. when I was growing up. Don't remember ever seeing one juiced for lemonade. That always came from frozen concentrate or powder.

Gin. Vermouth. ← I guess you mean a) patrons would not expect to be able to order those cocktails and b) bars would not be able to make them unless you were somewhere very cosmopolitan (San Francisco, New York, London or Paris) or where the ingredients were plentiful. And then, probably not year 'round. I guess that jives with growing up in Wisconsin, and what I've seen of pictures of cocktail parties there in the 40s and 50s. Old-Fashioneds, Martinis, and Gimlets were about all I saw in peoples hands. Well, that and cigarettes. When I was talking to Victoria Damato-Moran, she mentioned that some of her relatives had been making bottled sour mix in the North Beach area of San Francisco for a very long time. I'll have to ask her about that time frame again.

One thing I do wonder about is the availability of citrus. Citrus are pretty seasonal fruits. Right now, here in CA, we seem to be at the tail end of the lime season, and the very beginning of the lemon season. (Generally, in North America, Citrus season starts in the fall, with the smaller, tarter harvested fruit, picked first, and progressing through early spring for the larger, sweeter harvested fruit.) In England of the 1920s or America pre-prohibition, could you really expect to have limes, lemons, and oranges year around? If not, what would you use when you didn't have fresh? Syrup? Chemical fabrication? Shubs?

I don't know if any conclusions can be drawn about Hercules from the various Savoy Cocktail Book cocktails it is included in; but, here they are. It does seem to be used in a similar amounts to Italian Vermouth. Angler Cocktail 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters. 2 Dashes Orange Bitters. 1/3 Hercules. 2/3 Dry Gin. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Ante Cocktail 1 Dash Angostura Bitters. 1/4 Hercules. 1/4 Cointreau. 1/2 Calvados or Apple brandy. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Cota Cocktail 1/4 Hercules. 1/4 Cointreau. 1/2 Dry Gin. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Gene Corrie Cocktail 1/2 Hercules. 1/2 Dry Gin. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Genevieve Cocktail. 1/3 Hollands Gin. 2/3 Hercules. Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. Health Cocktail 1/3 Brandy. 2/3 Hercules. Stir slightly in ice and strain. Note: Any desired spirit can be used instead of Brandy. New Life Cocktail 1/4 Hercules. 1/4 Bacardi Rum. 1/2 Cointreau. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Personality a La Roy Cocktail 1 Dash Angostura Bitters. 1/4 Hercules. 1/4 Applejack or Calvados. 1/2 Dry Gin. Shake well as strain into cocktail glass. Ramon Newton Cocktail 1/4 Hercules. 1/4 French Vermouth. 1/2 Dry Gin. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top. Volstead Cocktail 1/4 Lime Juice. 3/4 Orange Juice. 1 Dash of Hercules. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Warden Cocktail 1/4 French Vermouth 1/4 Hercules. 1/2 Dry Gin. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Wow Cocktail 1/4 Bacardi Rum. 1/4 Hercules. 1/4 Calvados or Apple Brandy. 1/4 Brandy. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Zed Cocktail 1/2 Hercules. 1/2 Calvados or Apple Brandy. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. From the 1934 Second edition of the Savoy Cocktail Book... Gun Cotton 2 Dashes Absinthe. 1/3 Hercules. 2/3 Gin--Booth's Dry. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Hercules Cocktail 1/3 Hercules. 2/3 Gin. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze a piece of orange peel on top.

Damn-The-Weather Cocktail 3 Dashes Curacao (Brizard Orange Curacao) 1/4 Orange Juice. (3/4 oz fresh Orange Juice) 1/4 Italian Vermouth. (3/4 oz Cinzano Rosso Vermouth) 1/2 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Gin) (Dash Regan's Orange Bitters) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. If there is any single type of Savoy Cocktail Book cocktail that I'm getting a bit bored with, it's probably these Bronx type things. They're perfectly fine and all, they just never really seem exceptional. For example, I know I would prefer the Damn-The-Weather without the orange juice. Heck, then it's a Martinez! Yum! Are these type cocktails supposed to be Breakfast/Brunch picker-upper type things?

Cool Hannnah! Thanks so much! All these ads are making me think it is more like a wine based Red Bull than an Absinthe substitute!

A few things... One of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book is the "Health Cocktail" (2/3 Hercules, 1/3 Brandy), given the similar verbiage to the ad, I feel pretty certain that the Hercules in the ad Splificator posted and from the Strand is the one called for in the Savoy. Does "Numatea" equal "Yerba-Mate"? I feel less certain that the Quinquina in the Dutch poster is the same product. Others have pointed out to me that there was a French wine based "Absinthe Substitute" called Amourette. Though, on what level a wine based Aperitif can be an "Absinthe Substitute", I don't know. Similar herbs and spices? I haven't tried Yerba-Mate; but, I believe, like Wormwood, it is quite bitter. Can anyone comment on whether its flavor is similar to Wormwood? Minty-Sagey-Bitter? Serious Absinthe fanciers claim Absinthe's "Secondary Effects" include, "lively mental clarity and uplifted mood, not unlike that of caffeine." Doesn't sound too far from what I've heard of the effects Yerba-Mate, so I guess in that sense it does sort of qualify as an "Absinthe Substitute". Or perhaps the idea of it being an Absinthe substitute, just resulted from some Vermouth/Wermut/Wormwood/Absinthe confusion?

It seems to me Milwaukee might work for a place like d.b.a. (NY, NO), Hopleaf (CHI), or Alembic (SF). Serving quality local beer and food, good whisk(e)y, and cocktails along the way. "Local" is really big in Wisconsin. There are a few places in Madison that are trying to be "fancy" cocktail bars; but, most of the menus I've seen so far seem poorly conceived. Candy concoctions made with flavored vodkas. Also, Madison, aside from the student population, isn't a large city, and much of its affluent population lives in the surrounding suburbs.

True enough! I suppose I should have written "scant teaspoon," as that's what I usually use in these, "Juice of 1/4 Lemon or 1/2 Lime," type drinks. Definitely not "heaping." Though, it does depend on the size of the lemon or lime, to a certain extent. I get my favorite limes (jackfruit, avocados, lichis, pineapple, cherimoya, guava, etc.) at the Farmers' Market from an exotic fruit grower who drives up from Palmdale every week. They are generally on the small side, with very thin skins. Wonderfully aromatic.

Daiquiri Cocktail The Juice of 1/4 Lemon or 1/2 Lime. (1/2 Lime) 1 Teaspoonful Powdered Sugar. (1 teaspoon caster sugar) 1 Glass Bacardi Rum. (2 oz Flor de Cana Extra-Dry) (Drop the lime shell into the cocktail shaker. - eje) Shake well and (double - eje) strain into cocktail glass. I was able to track down the Full Text of Hergesheimer's "San Cristobal de la Habana" on the Internet archive. The Savoy editors chose to edit the passage in some pretty interesting, and fairly predictable ways. I've added the deleted text back in, in bold. It's kind of funny, I've made versions of the Hemingway Special, (with Maraschino and Grapefruit Juice,) a lot; but, I don't think I've ever sat down and made myself a regular Daiquiri. I guess it seemed too simple to be extraordinary. The relatively small amount of lime and sugar, leaves it a pretty dry and sophisticated cocktail. The flavor of the Rum and scent of the lime are front and center with just enough sweetness to take the edge off. Simply delightful.

Thank me? Thank you! It was your idea, after all, and quite an astonishingly tasty one, too, I might add.

One more note, I thought to search for "E & F Newall, Ltd, London" in the ad from the Strand Magazine which turned up in Google Books, and that text showed up in the same ad for "Hercules" which I quoted above. "Proprs: E. & F. Newall, Ltd., Mate Products, (Dept. 11), 10 Philpot Lane, London, E.C.3." With the additional quote in the same area of text, "Argentine Gauchos derive much of their remarkable virility from drinking Mate." Also of note, "The Strand" was, (and is,) quite a famous magazine, notably publishing Arthur Conan Doyle's accounts of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It appears some local libraries may have vintage copies of this magazine, so if I'm lucky I'll be able to track down additional information.

So, to summarize what has gone before... A defunct ingredient called "Hercules" is called for in a dozen cocktails, (Angler, Ante, Cota, Gene Corrie Cocktail, Genevieve Cocktail, Health Cocktail, New Life Cocktail, Personality a La Roy Cocktail, Ramon Newton Cocktail, Volstead Cocktail, Warden Cocktail, Wow Cocktail, and Zed Cocktail,) in the Savoy Cocktail Book. According to the Stan Jones' "Jones' Complete Bar Guide" and the Cocktaildb ingredient entry it was an "Absinthe Substitute". After making the Angler and Ante Cocktails with Absinthe substitutes, I began to wonder if indeed is an Absinthe Substitute. While there is no shortage of unbalanced cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail book, these two seemed particularly out of character. They almost worked; but, only if you reduced the amount of Absinthe substitute to a dash. At the same time, I'd noticed that occaisionally an ad or label for something that appeared to be called "Hercules" (Hercules Advert?) sometimes appeared on the cocktaildb front page. When I examined that tiny ad, I discovered that it appeared to be for some sort of red wine based Quinquina. When I made the Cota Cocktail I tried it with a couple of red wine based Quinquinas, and found it quite appealing, especially when made with Cocchi's Barolo Chinato. At that point, I decided to send a note to an expert or two, and ask their opinion. As you can see from the above, that's about where we are now.