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Interesting that you bring it up! There are actually three cocktails that are very similar. The Attention, The ATTY, and Arsenic & Old Lace. I did slightly overpour the vermouth when I made it, perhaps that helps to tame the Absinthe?

Andy, that's pretty cool. I didn't think of perfect purees when I was struggling to find Sirop de Groseille and ended up just using red currant preserves (D'Arbo) instead. If you've got a little more I'd really recommend trying the Artist's (Special). It's quite a delicious little cocktail.

Curses! Mr. Wondrich informed me that I was incorrect! Or to quote him, "Alas, sometimes sharp reasoning and keen observation founder on the rocks of fact." The full Enslinn recipe is as follows:

I was scanning the Savoy Cocktail Book, and thinking about the Ensslin Aviation vs. The Savoy Cocktail Book Aviation, and one thing lept out at me. With most of the Pre-Prohibition cocktails from Hugo Ensslin or Judge Jr. the recipes are written verbatim. For example: -or- Whereas the Aviation has been Savoy-ized: Unfortunately, I don't have Ensslin to see if the original recipe was written in fractions. I suspect not (Splificator?). I dunno what that means. Maybe that the Savoy version of the cocktail was active and being made to those proportions when the Savoy Cocktail Book was compiled, unlike some of the other older cocktails written verbatim? There are plenty of cocktails with violet liqueur in the book, so it doesn't seem like availability would have been an issue. Also, unlike some of the other mistakes, they did not correct the recipe in the "New and Additional Cocktails section" of the second edition.

Paul Clarke did his round up of MxMo XVII here: The Mushiest MxMo Ever

Yer gonna need a lot of sugar to make a vodka infused with sloes palatable. My understanding is they are very, very bitter. To me, that gets away from infusing vodkas, and makes it more like liqueur making. I've made liqueurs with various types of plums, pluots, and plumcots and had varying degrees of success. My favorite, really, was a black plum liqueur made on a gin base. I would really like to try making a home made sloe gin; but, have never been able to track down a source for sloes.

Choker Cocktail* (6 People) 4 Glasses Whisky (1 1/2 oz Binny's Select Buffalo Trace Bourbon) 2 Glasses Absinthe (3/4 oz Lucid Absinthe) 1 Dash Absinthe Bitters (Angostura) This Cocktail is to be very thoroughly shaken and no sweetening in any form should be added. With such a menacing quote, I think I would have trouble finding 6 people willing to share this one with me! Never did resolve the "Absinthe Bitters" issue. No one I talked to was aware of any commercial bitters which might have been referred to as "Absinthe Bitters". There have been a number of bitter wormwood based elixirs made through history. Purl(e), Malört, etc. As in the Bunny Hug, I went with the Binny's Select Buffalo Trace for this Cocktail, as it seems to have the Cojones to stand up to the Absinthe. It's not a cocktail I'll be making again any time soon; but, I think I did prefer the whiskey, bitters and absinthe to the whiskey, gin, and absinthe of the Bunny Hug.

Is Point still brewing any Augsburger? I know they were paying to use the name for a couple products a few years ago. I consumed many, many cups of the old Augsburger at the Rathskeller in Madison back in the day, and was also a bit sad when I found out it had disappeared. Never found out if the Point beers were based on the original Augsburger recipes or if they were new formulations. I think I did try one of them a couple years ago, and don't remember being particularly impressed. Also didn't think it tasted much like the old Augsburger. But, tastes change, so who knows.

If there's one blogger who is semi-responsible for my current state of cocktail obsessiveness, it is probably Chuck Taggart over at Gumbo Pages. I believe it was a random google search for Sazeracs which brought me to his domain. And his fine writeup of that drink, The Original Sazerac Cocktail, which told me that someone could be a cocktail perfectionist and still be OK. I raise a virtual Hoskins in honor of Mr. Taggart, a fine citizen, bacon fanatic, and cocktailian.

I think I probably agree with that. When having a chocolaty dessert, I usually pick a ruby port or dessert, and don't try to combine them. I was thinking about the cocktail, and actually instead of port one of the sweeter sherries might be nice. At least it seems more inspiring when I imagine it.

Chocolate Cocktail (No. 2) The Yolk of 1 Fresh Egg 1/4 Yellow Chartruese (1/2 oz Yellow Chartruese) 3/4 Port Wine (1 1/2 oz Warre's Warrior Port) Teaspoonful of Crushed Chocolate (heaping teaspoon of Scharffen Berger cocoa powder) Shake well and strain into medium size glass Yes, well, again, I am not sure what might be meant by "crushed chocolate". I couldn't imagine how crushing a chocolate bar would result in anything except a mess. Dump a generous teaspoon of unsweetened Cocoa Power into one of your bowls. Add a teaspoon of water and mix until it starts to form a paste. Add a little more water at a time and continue mixing until it reaches the consistency of melted chocolate. Separate the white from the egg and whisk the yolk into the chocolate. Measure the liqueurs into your mixing tin or glass. Pour in the egg and chocolate ixture. Add ice and shake well. Strain into cocktail glass. While I enjoyed the previous cocktail, and I know port and chocolate are supposed to go together, this reminded me of that old reese's peanut butter cup commercial: "Excuse me, you got Port in my Chocolate. Why, no sir, you got chocolate in my Port." Unfortunately, they don't really seem like, "two great tastes that taste great together," at least in a cocktail. I dunno, maybe tawny port would work better.

Dunno about the tiki room. The only Tiki places I know of in San Francisco proper are Trad'r Sam's, Tonga Room, The Bamboo Hut, and Trader Vic's. Lingba Lounge in Potrero also might count. Martini Monkey at the San Jose Airport is reputed to be good. My personal favorite in the vicinity is Forbidden Island in Alameda.

The measures and ingredients suggest to me that that the Casino Cocktail is one of the pre-prohibition recipes in the Savoy Cocktail Book. It's not from Jerry Thomas, that I know of. Unfortunately, my pre-prohibition library isn't deep enough for me to be able tell you where else it might come from.

Lucky man, to find some bottles of Malacca! A couple people I trust to know what they are talking about, recommend Malacca as a substitute for Old Tom Gin, as long as you add a dash of simple. One of my favorite recent cocktail discoveries from the Savoy Cocktail Book is the Casino Cocktail. It calls for Old Tom Gin. Really, it's good with just about any decent ballsy gin, so it might be worth a try with the Malacca:

I have to admit I've never tried a Bianco Vermouth. I guess they are sort of half way between the stronger flavored Rossos and Milder Dry Vermouth? Is there any cocktail use for them? Cocktails that take particular advantage? Or are they just for drinking straight?

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, July 13, 2007 Why doesn't California make more $10 Rhone-style wines?, Tim Teichelgraeber THE SIPPING NEWS: Ratatouille Chard to hit Costco Summer camp for cocktail drinkers A Taste of Sonoma County OPENING: Woodenhead tasting room in Santa Rosa Bourbon with a Chardonnay chaser In our glasses Pairings: Meatless dish muscles up to beefy redsLynne Char Bennett Recipe: Grilled Eggplant & Portobello with Red Wine Mustard Sauce Chronicle Wine Selections: California Bordeaux-style red blends, W. Blake Gray The Cheese Course: Spanish goat cheese caters to your whims, Janet Fletcher Spirits: The evolution of tonic water, Camper English The Tasting Room: The other Turley wines, Carol Ness Letters to Wine: Winning Bargains Uncorked: Be magnanimous -- open more magnums, Jon Bonné 96 Hours Bar Bites: Bing Crosby's Restaurant and Piano Lounge, Jennifer Tomaro "The moment you pass through the enormous arched entryway hung with thick velvet drapes, you're transported from trendy downtown Walnut Creek to swinging, star-studded 1930s Hollywood. The elegant lounge is anchored by a long, sleek bar and a piano stage that provides a musical backdrop for those who are more interested in the nightlife scene than the adjoining restaurant. True to its name, the entire space is decked out in Bing Crosby memorabilia that celebrates his life in both motion pictures and as a recording artist. The owners also have Bing's in other cities, Joe DiMaggio's Italian Chophouse in North Beach and McCovey's Restaurant just a few blocks away." Bargain Bite: The Noodle Shop, Miriam Morgan "Fans of the Shanghai Dumpling Shop's xiao long bao -- steamed pork-filled soup dumplings -- now have a new place to indulge their passion. This branch of the popular Millbrae restaurant opened just a few weeks ago, serving dumplings, small plates, weekend breakfast foods and hand-pulled noodles."

After a kinda crap Savoy cocktail, I felt like I should console myself. I was thinking of bostonapothecary's recent posts. Got Vieux Carre slightly confused in my head with Clisby Arthur's Cocktail a la Louisiane: Yaaar! 1 oz Wild Turkey Rye 1 oz Carpano Antica 1 oz Benedictine Generous dash Peychaud bitters Generous dash Lucid Absinthe Stir, strain, cherry or not. Beautiful.

Chocolate Cocktail (No. 1) 1 Teaspoonful of Powdered Chocolate (heaping teaspoon of Scharffen Berger cocoa powder) 1 Egg 1 Liqueur Glass Maraschino (1 oz Luxardo Maraschino) 1 Liqueur Glass Yellow Chartreuse (1 oz) (dash Pierre Ferrand Cognac) Shake well and strain into large glass. Now, I'm not sure if "Chocolate Powder" means something other than cocoa powder; but, if you're going to use Cocoa Powder, it's going to be a bit more complicated than the above instructions, unless you want a lumpy mess. Extra equipment: 2 small bowls, rubber spatula, and a whisk or fork. Dump a generous teaspoon of unsweetened Cocoa Power into one of your bowls. Add a teaspoon of water and mix until it starts to form a paste. Add a little more water at a time and continue mixing until it reaches the consistency of melted chocolate. Whisk up your egg in the other bowl and pour it into chocolate. Whisk together. Measure the liqueurs into your mixing tin or glass. Pour in the egg and chocolate mixture. Add ice and shake well. Strain into cocktail glass. Like the Cafe Kirsch Cocktail, I had no real hope that I would enjoy this. And like the Cafe Kirsch, this is a really tasty cocktail. The Yellow Chartreuse and Maraschino combine in really interesting ways with the cocoa. My wife even enjoyed it. The two ounces of liqueur might seemed like a lot. However, using unsweetened cocoa powder, that's about what you're going to need to balance the bitterness of the chocolate. It seemed on par or less sweet than most hot cocoa or cold chocolate drinks. If you have a choc-a-holic friend, this might be a nice change for them from the usual "chocotini".

In the last few years it seems like a few of the traditionally bottle conditioned Belgian Beers have begun to push their beers on tap to restaurants and bars. Over here eGullet member plattetude had a bit of a rant: Does anyone else have thoughts on this matter? Are Belgian and Belgian style beers as good on tap as they are in bottles? Tangential to that, it seems like Leffe/Stella/Hoegaarden are really pushing their products in the US beer market right now, in advertising, on tap, and in 6 packs.

<tangential> Well, fair enough. It appears they no longer have it on tap, so it may have been a special keg when we were visiting. We were more stoked that they had it at all than anything else. I have been surprised by how many of the Belgian brewers and distributors have been pushing their taps in the last 5 years or so. Chimay, Leffe, Urthel, etc. That said, I love drinking Russian River's wonderful Belgian Style cask conditioned ales on tap, especially at the brewery. Good stuff! The beers do seem to be less flavorful when I have them out at bars. Freshness and care of kegs and lines, I imagine. But, anyway, this discussion is probably better carried out in the beer forum! </tangential>

Had a wonderful night at Hop Leaf the last time I was in Chicago. It's a bit out of the way from downtown; but, tasty well made bistro type food and an amazing selection of beers. Blew us away that they had Rodenbach Red (not a beginner beer!) on tap. I didn't even think it was available in the US. Definitely recommended.

It's a mix of people, just like any other job. Working at a University, I've met supposedly "smart" people who live their lives like idiots and treat every one around them like dirt. Working in restaurants, I met cooks who knew more about politics than most editorial writers. Some really smart people decide they don't want to sit in a cubicle for 40 hours a week or lecture students at a University. And some really dumb people have PHDs.

The other three are pretty much just lists of recipes with illustrations. I would get Sippin' Safari to start. It's a really fun read and it has recipes. If you find yourself fascinated by Tiki Drinks, go back and get the other three.

Just finished Jeff "Beachbum" Berry's new book "Sippin' Safari". Downsides: Too Short. Difficult to find ingredients Upsides: Colorful stories, great vintage photos, delicious sounding drinks It's really more of a story of the people behind the bar than about tiki drinks. It does include about 70 recipes, or so, with plenty of advice in the appendix about appropriate ingredients and substitutions. Some never published before, and many are direct from the "black books" of the great bartenders of that era. If you have any interest in things tiki, or that drinking culture, I highly recommend it.

Of the more or less traditional style gins, I'll second TBoner's Junipero recommendation. It's one of my favorites. For something different with a Pacific NorthWest origin, you might try the Aviation Gin, Cascade Mountain Gin, Desert Juniper, or Rogue's new Spruce Gin. I've read they're all a bit off from traditional gins in various ways. I've enjoyed the Aviation when I've tried it in cocktails.