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Interesting! I will definitely give it a try again with some variation. I don't think I over poured the Benedictine or Amer Replica dashes; but, I may need to re-do the Picon Replica now that Jamie Boudreau has posted an updated recipe. Amer Picon Using the fresh orange zest in my replica was probably a mistake. You can see that the cocktail is somewhat cloudy, I think that is an overabundance of orange oils falling out of solution. Still, my Amer Picon replica was quite nice on its own and in the Liberal. I also didn't think it was a crazy amount orangier than a modern Amer Picon I tried a couple weeks ago. edit - Oh, and being Mr. Stickler man, I have to point out that Punt e Mes, isn't strictly an Italian Vermouth. It is more of a bottled vermouth cocktail. Using it is kind of like using a portion of Italian Vermouth and a dash or two of bitters.

Mary, Thanks so much for organizing this! My wife and I had a great time. For us the highlights were the great company and wonderful wines. Well, that and the mollusks! I'll try to write up some more coherent thoughts and post some pictures once we get caught up on laundry etc. Again, thanks so much!

Creole Cocktail 1/2 Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. (1 1/2 oz Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey) 1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 1/2 oz Carpano Antica) 2 Dashes Benedictine. 2 Dashes Amer Picon. (homemade) Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel on top. I'm surprised to say, this was a little busy for me. I've been looking forward to trying this cocktail for a while now, and it has just about everything I look for in a cocktail, so I was pretty surprised that I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping. It might be my Amer Picon replica making process took the orange-i-ness too far. But, the combination of vermouth, benedictine, Amer Picon replica, whiskey, and a lemon twist just seemed like too many things going on in one cocktail. I did make a Liberal, which is basically the same without the Benedictine and with an orange twist instead of lemon, and much preferred it.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, September 14, 2007 Female vineyard managers blaze trails in Wine Country, Deborah Grossman Uncorked: Darrell Corti on "Zingate", Olivia Wu What We're Drinking Spirits: Bartenders get creative with cucumber cocktails, Stacy Finz Cocktails: Limonata Scozzese Cucumber Margarita Pairings: Pizza gets upper-crust treatment for Pinot Noir, Lynn Char Bennett Recipe: Lamb, Plum & Smoked Mozzarella Pizza Chronicle Wine Selections: Mendocino County Pinot Noir, Lynn Char Bennett The Cheese Course: Goat cheese from Sardinia's sheep country, Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: Que Syrah, Jon Bonné "In a part of town not known for nightlife, the warmth virtually radiates out of this storefront onto the silent sidewalks of West Portal Avenue. Owners Stephanie and Keith McCardell decided to think small. They focus on small wineries around the world, and their 25 seats are arrayed in a vaulted sliver of space so narrow, you can almost touch both sides. Dark wood and a stripped-down mahogany bar - plus some plastic vines that seem to have wandered in from a Billy Joel song - offset white stucco walls in a living-room-hip aesthetic. It's a pleasantly comforting setting in which to wander into uncharted wine territory." Bargain Bite: Little Potato, Miriam Morgan "Little Potato features food from the Dong Bei region of northeastern China, which focuses on delicious braised and lotus-leaf-wrapped dishes. That's in addition to an extensive menu of dishes from other regions. Plus, the place is a big-time bargain - you can get three generous, well-prepared dishes, plus soup, for $15."

I had a number of nice beers in Portland, Oregon, last weekend. The one that stood out was the BURGHEAD HEATHER ALE from Roots Brewing. They claim it is based on a 3000 year old recipe for some sort of Scotch Ale. Whatever! To me it was just a very good beer. Not overwhelmingly flowery or anything. Though, I am not entirely sure what heather tips taste or smell like.

Hmmm... Well, not really. A well made liqueur or Eau de Vie can capture more of a fruit (and especially a spice or herb)'s essence than simple muddling. That's like saying fresh fruit is always better than jam. I can muddle an apricot and some sugar on my toast; but, there is no way it is going to taste as good as a well made apricot jam. Admittedly, that one week out of a year apricots are truly outstanding, it might be nice to simply butter your bread, slice an apricot, sprinkle on some sugar, and enjoy...Or make an Apricot Cocktail (Dry). But, the rest of the year, I'll stick to apricot jam and apricot liqueur, thank you very much. But, now I'm derailing this topic...

Chuckle! Well, OK, I probably used somewhere around the juice of a quarter of a small-ish lemon. In the spirit of dashes, I didn't really measure, just partially squeezed a half lemon. If I had to guess, I'd say somewhere around a quarter ounce of lemon juice. Feel better?

Apple Blow Fizz The White of 1 Egg. 4 Dashes of Lemon Juice. 1 Teaspoonful of Powdered Sugar. (1 tsp. caster sugar) 1 Glass Calvados. (2 oz Germain-Robin Apple Brandy) Shake well, strain into medium size glass and fill with soda water. I've been itching to try some of the "category" recipes at the back of the Savoy Cocktail Book for a while now. The Fizz MxMo seemed like a fine excuse to check out the Fizz recipes in back pages. There are actually about 25 of them, ranging from the Apple Blow to the Texas Fizz. I'm not entirely sure why this one has this name. "Blow" Fizzes have always seemed slightly salacious to me. I'm disappointed with the head on my fizz today. Dunno if it's the weather, ingredients, or technique. I guess my soda water did seem a bit anemic. In any case, serious head of foam or not, the Apple Blow Fizz is a tasty and refreshing beverage, and one which I would not hesitate to make again or recommend to any.

Not to derail discussion of Dave's book... I guess I'd avoid a lumber yard, since most of that wood is heat cured and treated. But, uh, really, don't you just need a pine tree (preferably not in proximity to any serious industrial run-off, herbicide, or insecticide use), a saw, and an axe?

A Toast to Michael Jackson Some of the venues can be found via Yahoo Events: List of Venues

No, I'm pretty sure it was Lecithin, then. I don't know what else might have been in there; but, don't remember any mention of gelatin. I didn't notice an unpleasant flavor. Interesting, yeah, I haven't had much urge to play with these sorts of products for cocktails, too much on the plate already, and eggs work perfectly fine for any use I've run across so far.

I might also add, I recently had a cocktail with a Xanthan (or was it Lecithin?) foam, and while it looked good to start with, it got pretty ugly about the time you get half way through the cocktail. Weird lumps of undefined foam goo floating at various levels in the cocktail. Never really noticed this as much with an egg white foam. Well, at least egg white foams seem to look more "natural" to me. Egg whites are bad enough; but, I've also read that some of these other products can be a real pain to clean off your equipment.

There does seem to be a trend towards using fresh fruit or fruit purees rather than liqueurs in cocktails. I guess it makes sense seasonally, especially given the low quality of the widely available liqueurs in the US. Though, I have to say, if you do have access to any of the nicer French Crème de Mûre, I'm not sure I see the need to "improve" Bradsell's Bramble, especially given the cost of keeping fresh berries behind the bar.

The Cowboy Cocktail 2/3 Whisky. (1 1/2 oz Plump Jack selected single barrel Eagle Rare 13 year old Bourbon) 1/3 Cream. (3/4 oz Cream) Cracked Ice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Another cocktail ripped from the pages of Judge Jr.'s 1927 "Here's How". I dunno where a Cowboy would get cream, or why he would put it in his Whisk(e)y. Maybe to cover up really bad "bathtub" whisky? "Here's How" was published during the period of prohibition in the US. Perhaps I should have used Canadian Whisky (I am not implying here that Canadian Whisky is "bad", just that it might be a more appropriate choice for the time period this cocktail was created.) In any case, another drink that didn't do much for me, bordering on a waste of perfectly good Bourbon and cream. I didn't pour it down the sink; but, a dash of liqueur or simple would do a lot to perk this up. If you're going to mix Whisky and cream, at least make yourself something nice like the Barbary Coast.

Hmmm... Interesting. I was actually wondering about the Aviation Gin in a Martinez. But, not to be a crab, I'm kind of wondering what the Dry Vermouth is doing in this version. Doesn't seem like it would be enough of a foil for the Maraschino.

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 Gabe on his Cocktailnerd blog. The theme is Fizz! To quote Gabe: If you would like to participate, please write up a cocktail you first read about on a blog or website in this topic before Monday, September 17th at midnight. I will compile a list of cocktails posted and mail them to the organizer. Some combination of C2H6O with CO2 or NO2, whatever pickles your fancy, just as long as it bubbles!

I must second the recommendation of Teardrop Lounge. We stopped there after a fantastic dinner at Park Kitchen and they really treated us well. An interesting range of house bitters! I think they are up to 8 varieties, including Chipotle Chocolate! It's a vibrant space (they were running Orson Welles movies all night) and the staff was friendly and inviting to everyone who walked in the door, cocktail enthusiast or not.

Regarding Gills, this post from a certain "Wondrich" over on DrinkBoy is informative: Eddie Clarke's 1963 Shaking in the 60's Example recipe: Most recipes a little more than 2 measures, or um, an ounce and a third, if my fractions are in order. Unfortunately, given the motley origin of the Savoy Cocktail Book recipes, you can't assume every one is either the same size or uses the same measures. But, in general, yes, the drinks were very small.

Interestingly, in this month's Imbibe Magazine there's a big article on the bar scene in Milan and Torino in Italy, "Bitter is Bella". Campari and Soda, Bianco Vermouth, Aperol Spritzer, etc. all those low alcohol alternatives are apparently very popular there. Due to a ridiculous glut of bitters at home, if I'm not drinking, I usually go with a healthy dash of bitters, some simple, and citrus juice topped up with soda. Serves dual function of keeping me sober and familiar with the flavor of the bitters.

Toured the House Spirits distillery last weekend with some friends. They asked me to make them a Savoy Cocktail with the Aviation, so I (bravely) went with the ATTY, as we had creme de violette and Absinthe available. I went with my usual 2 parts gin to 1 part vermouth, and thought the Aviation Gin did remarkably well in that cocktail.

Country Club Cooler 1 glass French Vermouth. (2 oz Noilly Prat Dry) 1 Teaspoonful Grenadine. (Home made) 2 Lumps of ice. Pour into tumbler and fill up with soda water. Just didn't do much for me. I suppose it is fine and all. Might be a refreshing drink on a hot day. Or one of the fancy vermouths, like the Vya, could perk things up.

Just me being dumb and adding more booze. Interesting, though, when I was talking to a bartender about the Corpse Reviver No. 2, they were surprised to discover that the cocktail was equal parts. They said they had been using the CR2 recipe from Dale DeGroff's book. I guess he tweaks it toward the tart and strong by increasing both the citrus and gin.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, September 07, 2007 Napa off the map, Jon Bonné Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction reaps a record $1.3 million, Lyn Char Bennett THE SIPPING NEWS: Wine Month vs. Bourbon Month Sake soiree Napa's newest pin-ups In Our Glasses Brews ahoy Spirits: Roll out the single-barrel, Camper English Have wine experts forgotten the virtues of white wine?, Jancis Robinson The Cheese Course: Roth's cheese stands alone, Janet Fletcher Tasting Room: Tasting room or wine bar?, Karola Saekel Pairings: Taste the terroir of California and the Rhone in an earthy matchup, Lynn Char Bennett

It was interesting to me to try the Creole cocktail and Liberal side by side with the same ingredients. I actually preferred the slightly simpler Liberal to the busier Creole. Though, oops, it looks like I screwed up the proportions of the Liberal slightly... 1 1/2 oz Sazerac Straight Rye 3/4 oz Cinzano Rosso Vermouth 1/4 oz homemade Amer Picon dash regan's orange bitters stir, strain...

Cool! Well, at least, one other person in the world thinks the Cocchi Americano is an interesting ingredient. I know I've tried to make CR2s before and not been particularly impressed. However, I think, at the time, I may have increased the gin to other ingredients ratio. It does seem like one of those cocktails that rewards careful measurement.