eje

Classic Cocktail 1/6 Lemon Juice (1/2 oz lemon juice) 1/6 Curacao (1/2 oz Brizard Curacao) 1/6 Maraschino (1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino) 1/2 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Frost rim of glass with castor sugar. Squeeze lemon peel on top. I left off the sugar rim, as it seemed like this cocktail was plenty sweet already. Sort of an interesting half way point between the Brandy Crusta and the Sidecar, no? I do kind of wonder if bartenders getting this cocktail mixed up with the Sidecar, is how that cocktail ended up with a sugared rim. Anyway, quite tasty. Could be a little more tart for my tastes, I suppose.

Had a chance to attend a Scott Beattie's session, "Farm Fresh Cocktails" at the "Mixology Weekend" portion of this summer's "Inside the Kitchen" at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay. Mr. Beattie expounded at length about his philosophy of using local and organic ingredients in his cocktails. Herbs fresh from the same farms that supply the Cyrus kitchens, vegetables and fruits from local growers, spirits from nearby distillers. He managed to cram 7 cocktails for us to taste into the two hour session, including his Beau Regard, Thai Boxer, Sunny and Dry, and the Upstairs Neighbor mentioned in the Chronicle article above. The Upstairs Neighbor, which he described as "Caprese salad in a glass" was particularly pungent, as it is currently using Hangar One's Chipotle Vodka. My other favorite, Sunny and Dry, featured Sarticious Gin, Lemon Juice, Lemon Verbena leaves, Sunflower petals, and cucumber. It was very tasty and an amazing treat for the eyes. At some point during the session, though, I started to wonder if these particularly culinary concoctions were even cocktails. They were refreshing, pungent, beverages which included some portion of alcohol. Maybe I am too steeped in drink culture up to the 1930s; but, after all of these "salads in a glass", I have to admit I found myself longing to get back to the simplicity of a good Manhattan, Martini, or Old-Fashioned. edit: Drinks Menu At Cyrus

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, August 3, 2007 Cracking the bar code, Gary Regan THE SIPPING NEWS: Tie One On Turning Water into Wine Jammin' Cocktails In Our Glasses Disney Pulls Plug on Ratatouille Wine The Cheese Course: Wisconsin Ader Kase inspired by Bavaria, Janet Fletcher Pairings: Chicken's the dish for difficult wines, Lynne Char Bennett Recipe: Herb-Marinated Chicken on Summer Vegetable "Risotto" Chronicle Wine Selections: South African Chenin Blanc, W. Blake Gray Essentials: Txakoli basks in the limelight, Derrick Schneider World View: Argentina's and Chile's wines are earning global kudos and fans, Jancis Robinson 96 Hours Bar Bites: Otis, Amanda Berne "Otis This exclusive club opened on Maiden Lane two years ago, drawing a business crowd and hipster following alike to the only after-dark spot on this quaint street, just off bustling Union Square. Now food service has started, opening up the possibility of a full-cocktail lunch as well as tide-me-over nibbles at happy hour. Of course, when the DJ starts playing and the beautiful people stream in to the two-level space, happy hour soon turns into last call." Bargain Bite: Bobby G's Pizzeria, Carol Ness "And that's not the only thing that makes Bobby G's stand out. The thin-crust pizzas are very good - not quite Neapolitan, but close. The hand-tossed organic crust is stretchy, and somehow the kitchen staff manages to get the edges to puff, blister and brown without a wood-fired oven. And the toppings are ample without weighing down the crust. Nice."

Gary Regan has a nice article about cocktail basics in today's San Francisco Chronicle: Cracking the bar code, Gary Regan

Crap, Andy reminded me there are a few examples where dry apricot brandy is called for instead of the liqueur. I think Mr. Wondrich even calls for it in at least one drink in "Killer Cocktails" or "Esquire Drinks". Hop Toad, maybe? ...Little later... Ah, yes, I knew we'd had this discussion before. Little slow on the uptake some times: Apricot Brandy/Barack Palinka/Hop Toad Well, I do have some Zwack Apricot brandy around. I'll have to give the Claridge/Frankenjack a try again with that or the Haus Alpenz stuff.

When I made the Brooklyn Cocktail from the Savoy Cocktail Book, eGullet member Splificator felt inspired to taste his various bitter aperitifs against a vintage bottle of Amer Picon. Bitter Taste Test He found one called "Amaro Ciociaro" to be closest in character to the vintage Amer Picon. As stickii mentions, recently Jamie Boudreau has been working on creating a replica by doctoring another Italian bitter. If I remember correctly, the recipe involves adding a home made bitter orange tincture and Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters to Amaro Razzomoti. I'm told some folks at Tales of the Cocktail did a comparative tasting of Jamie's Amer Picon substitute against a vintage sample, and found it awfully close as well.

Hey... I found a page about Amer Picon. It's in French. Amer Picon Google translates it to:

Yeah, maybe leave out the Cointreau and just add a dash of Orange Bitters. Unlike "Peach Brandy", I don't know of any instances where "Apricot Brandy" in a cocktail means "Apricot Eau de Vie" and not "Apricot Liqueur". I mean, Kirsch is pretty rarely used in cocktails, and Apricot Eau de Vie is an even more rare spirit than Kirsch. My impression is, in the areas where Apricot Eau de Vie is common and appreciated, they are not that big on the cocktails. Parts of France, Germany and Austria. But, I don't know for sure. If it is a prohibition era cocktail, would Apricot Brandy have meant home distilled apricot brandy?

Well, your addition of Wasabi infused vodka makes it sound even better to me! Apparently, a bartender in Canada lays claim to have inventing the Caesar (or Bloody Caesar) in 1969 to commemorate the opening of a new restaurant*. Why it took someone 35 years to think of adding vodka to the Clam Juice Cocktail and come up with a new name, I have no idea. Also, it is apparently the number one most popular cocktail in Canada. *Caesar Cocktail(The Art of Drink Article by Darcy O'Neil)

Claridge Cocktail 1/3 Dry Gin (1 oz Boodles Gin) 1/3 French Vermouth (1 oz Noilly Prat Dry) 1/6 Apricot Brandy (1/2 oz Rothman and Winter Orchard Apricot) 1/6 Cointreau (1/2 oz Cointreau) Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into cocktail glass. I just got this new Apricot liqueur from Rothman and Winter. I was really hoping with it's delicious fresh taste of apricots, and wonderful scent of apricot eau de vie, the Claridge would be a home run. In some ways, it is a very good feature of the Apricot Liqueur. You can really taste it. On the other hand, the cocktail itself is a bit subtle and single noted. I felt like a little something was missing. I was a little worried, though, if you added a lemon twist, you would lose the delicate smell of the apricots. And if you added peach bitters, you might lose the delicate balance between the cointreau and apricot liqueur. Maybe a different gin or a dash of one of the lighter orange bitters? Going on the evidence from jazzyjeff's photo here, it appears Craddock was also involved in the bar at Claridge's in London. Most likely this cocktail was named after that hotel. A cocktail with the same ingredients and proportions is called the "The Frankenjack" in Judge Jr's "Here's How" and in the Savoy Cocktail Book. Judge Jr. sez "The Frankenjack" was, "Invented by the two proprietors of very, very well-known Speakeasy in New York City."

From my understanding, vino cotto is reduced grape juice (must) not wine. From the worldwide gourmet website below, there are some similar products made from reduced wine: Saba, sapa, mosto cotto, vino cotto...

Clam Juice Cocktail 1 Dash Celery Salt 1 Dash Lemon Juice 1 Dash Worcestershire Sauce 1 Teaspoonful of Tomato Catsup (Oh my, that sounds delicious! How about 2 oz home made tomato juice, instead!) 1 Glass Clam Juice (3 oz clam juice) (1 1/2 oz Rain Vodka) (1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish) (1 dash Rancho Gordo Rio Fuego Very Hot Sauce) Use medium-size glass and stir well in ice. (Roll ingredients in ice between cocktail shakers. Strain into ice filled glass and give it a good grind of black pepper. - eje) Note: This recipe is from the "New and Additional Cocktails" section of the second edition of the Savoy Cocktail Book from 1934. First time I've tried this "Caesar" type thing. Kind of enjoyed it. OK, I did add a little vodka to the recipe. In any case, I often find Bloody Mary's a bit thick. Using the clam juice thins out the tomato juice. It's not too clammy or anything, more of a hint of the sea. Nice, really. The Rancho Gordo Very Hot Sauce and horseradish give it a little bit of a kick.

Robert! Welcome to eGullet! Interesting about Gastric, I can see how that would be an interesting flavoring element in small doses. Though, I think an over pour might be dangerous. There's also a traditional Italian reduced grape juice called "Vino Cotto" that I've been interested in playing with in cocktails. One of these days I'll remember to pick some up at the Italian market.

Hi AshleyUNOB... Welcome to eGullet! It seems like I've tried more organic beers than this; but, I do like: Wolovers from Vermont and Eel River from California.

Oh, and let's not forget we have Mansinthe to look forward to: Der offizielle Absinthe von Marilyn Manson

No, I haven't talked about the Marteau Absinthe, yet. That is just the name of Jamie's Blog Article. I can see how that could be confusing. But, yes, in the near future, we're looking at 2 Absinthe's designed in the US and manufactured abroad, in Lucid and Marteau Verte Classic. Lucid was designed by T.A. Breaux, is manufactured in France, and is already approved for sale in the US. The Marteau Absinthe has been designed by a Washington Absinthe enthusiast and historian. It will be manufactured in Switzerland. I don't believe the Marteau folks have begun the process of applying to be approved for sale in the US, so it will still be the typical expensive proposition to order it from overseas. It is my understanding that they would would like to bring production to the states, eventually. The Okanagan Spirits Taboo Absinthe, made in Canada, will likely not be available any time soon in the US. Given that Jamie's article says its thujone content is near 35PPM and the FDA/TTB have determined that thujone content can be no greater than 10PPM, it seems like the only way you'll be able to sample this Absinthe will be to bring it in from Canada yourself. The St. George/Hangar One Absinthe is made and manufactured in the US. Woo! USA! USA! It is also rumored to be in the process of being approved for sale here. There is also a Kubler Absinthe, manufactured in Switzerland, which is very close to being available in the US. I'm guessing we'll see a lot more entries into the market soon! edit - fixing some stuff to hopefully make clearer.

Some interesting news from the blogs. According to Jamie Boudreau in this post at SpiritsAndCocktails.com, a Canadian Distiller, Okanagan Spirits, is working on bringing an Absinthe to market: Marteau Verte Classique I haven't tasted the Okanagan Spirits Absinthe yet; but, the the distiller makes what appears to be a line of quality, small batch, eau de vies and grappas, which seems promising. Some initial reviews I've read in the Absinthe community for the product also seem positive. In more local news, I'd been hearing rumors over the last year that a local flavored vodka producer had been experimenting with prototypes for an Absinthe. It appears Hangar One/St. George Spirits are getting closer to bringing their product to market. The most recent (unconfirmed) news I've heard is that they are currently working with the TTB on their label. I'll try to get more info on this. Pretty exciting stuff though! Both of these are the first true Absinthes made legally in North America since 1912!

St. George Spirits just released what they are calling a Basil Eau de Vie. While I don't believe it really counts as a true Eau de Vie, it does sound intriguing. Eau my goodness

Ahem, yes, 4 days would make more sense.

Oh, oops, the link in that post seems to go to a deleted topic. Will investigate. In any case, here's the recipe: If you look for sirop de citron recipes in google, you can find a number of french recipes. Par Example: sirop de citron maison This is basically lemons and sugar. 3 lemons sliced and macerated in 400kg sugar for 4 days. Bring it to a boil for 4 minutes, then strain. Sounds pretty intense. edit - fix translation error.

Yes, the Church Parade Cocktail itself would have been significantly improved with the addition of a citrus twist or a dash or two of bitters. Cinzano Sparkling Cocktail In a wineglass put 1 lump of Sugar, 2 dashes of Angostura, 1 dash of Curacao (Brizard Orange Curacao), 1 teaspoonful of Brandy (generous teaspoon Pierre Ferrand Ambre), 1 lump of ice (uh, oops, forgot). Fill up with Cinzano Brut (Rotari Brut Rose), stir slightly, and squeeze lemon peel on top. As far as I can tell, Cinzano Brut either no longer exists, or has been renamed. There are a few Cinzano sparkling wines imported into the US; but, the only one I could find was the Asti. I imagine that is a long way from the Brut, so substituted the Rotari. For the price (~$9), it is really a pretty good sparkling wine. Anyway, another perfectly delicious sparkling wine cocktail.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, July 27, 2007 A tale of two Bordeaux, Michael Apstein Skeptic finds solace in well-aged Dom Perignon, Jon Bonné Notes for Dom Perignon vertical tasting, Jon Bonné Winery Watch: Frank Gehry designs new Hall, Jon Bonné First shot in wine movie feud, W. Blake Gray Tasting Room: Down-to-earth Napa: Mason Cellars breaks ground in Oxbow, Karola Saekel Spirits: Bay Area bartenders earn toasts at New Orleans cocktail event, Camper English Pairings: Simple snack suits subtle Cabs, Lynne Char Bennett Recipe: Salami & Cheese Focaccia Chronicle Wine Selections: Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, W. Blake Gray The Cheese Course: It takes a Northern Italian village to make Alta Badia, Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: Cetrella Bistro and Cafe, Olivia Wu "Cetrella Bistro and Cafe: The stunningly restored Half Moon Bay Growers Association building on Main Street in this Peninsula seaside town is a gracious and ample space, and lends both comfort and elegance to the 6-year-old, always reliable Cetrella. It has garnered three stars from The Chronicle for its Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. The same rustic elegance extends to the bar at the entrance to the restaurant. A plus: The bar space feels as if it extends to the outside through a glass-enclosed porch." Bargain Bite: Crossroads Cafe, Amanda Gold "For breakfast, grab an egg sandwich on a bagel or a signature smoothie before plunking yourself down on one of the comfortable leather couches with a magazine, or eat lunch out on the back patio. By dinnertime, the scene is more subdued, with singles perched at small tables reading books or tapping on their computers, or neighborhood residents picking up food to take back to their SoMa lofts. Magazines and books are for sale, but racks are also filled with reading material to borrow."

The word is, Enrico's has reopened. I haven't been, yet, so can't say what changes the new management and remodel might hold. Looking forward to getting down to North Beach to check it out. Some fascinating news from this week's tablehopper:

Church Parade Cocktail 2/3 Plymouth Gin (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin) 1 Dash Orange Curacao (Brizard) 4 Dashes Orange Juice 1/3 French Vermouth Shake well and strain into cocktail glass After the last few "cocktails" I was kind of excited that I would get to make one with an actual portion of booze. Then I decided to google and find out more about Church Parades. Dum, de dum, English and Scottish tradition, parades of church goers walking from here to there. How Quaint. Certainly could use a drink before one of those sorts of things. Oh look! The most (in)famous Church Parades of all are the Orange Marches in Northern Ireland...Oh, wait one second: Orangemen, Orange Juice, Orange Curacao, English Gin...Goddamn it! I can tell you it looked like this before I poured it down the sink: Frankly, it could use some bitters, if for no other reason than poetic license.

Woops! Jumped a couple tracks on the record! I guess I was carried away by the current discussion on vermouth! Fortunately, the cocktail that was supposed to come after the Chorus Lady is also a vermouth heavy one... Chrysanthemum Cocktail 3 Dashes Absinthe (Lucid Absinthe) 1/3 Benedictine (1 oz Benedictine) 2/3 French Vermouth (2 oz Noilly Prat Dry) Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top. Sorry about the photo. Yes, that is my enormous greasy fingerprint on the far rim. In any case, this really surprised me. I expected it to be far too sweet and/or vermouth-ey. It really isn't. The sweetness is about on level with that of a not too sweet gewurtztraminer or glass of apple juice. Deliciously complex, yet every ingredient is there to be savored. It's true I am a sucker for pretty much any cocktail with Bendictine; but, this is one of my new favorites. Definitely something I will make again. By, the way, the S.S. Europa had its own interesting history: S.S. Europa Launched on March 19, 1930, she served peace time passengers for Germany, participated in war time activities for the Third Reich, was confiscated by the US in 1945, took part in troop movement for the US soldiers, then back to passengers for France after WWII as the S.S. Liberté. Finally the scrap yards of Italy in 1962.