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I think I'll take a decent pre-made, like Briazz, over SafeWay or SubWay most of the time. The quality of bread and other ingredients, not to mention the, hmmm..., how to put this kindly, quality of employee, of those chains often leaves much to be desired. Everything arrives pre-sliced, packaged, and vacuum sealed, and they still can't keep their stations clean. Ideally, they'd not just be slicing the turkey and roast beef; but, cooking it as well. Sure they'd have to, horror of horrors, train their employees to cook; but, I bet the food costs would be lower.

Based on the information I gathered from this and other eGullet topics, I've been using cracked ice for all stirred cocktails for a while now. I use a cast aluminum ice cream paddle to crack the ice cubes. It is heavy enough to work well. I have my freezer set for -5 F, so the cubes are very, very cold. They do have a tendency to stick to my hand and it stings a bit when I smack them to bits. While cracked ice makes a difference, it seems like chilling the glass makes an even bigger difference. Given the same amount, and more or less same consistency of cracked ice, there is a huge difference between the speed at which the ice melts when you have chilled your mixing glass in the freezer and when the glass is at room temperature. The combination of very cold (-5 F) cracked ice, a chilled (-5 F) glass, and a well stirred (30-60 secs) cocktail, results in a very cold cocktail with a wonderfully silky texture. I know this is getting a bit into the land of things that will likely never happen in a real world bar. Still, I present it for your consideration, and thank you for pointing me in the correct direction.

Looks like a perfect lunch to me! Glad to see you doing a FoodBlog, Dave! Looking forward to the coming week!

Sounds delicious. About 9 months ago I was on a plum wine kick and picked up a bottle of every sort I could find. One in particular was knock-you-over strong, and we were positive it was actually mislabeled plum brandy. Never figured out what to do with it, and I'm fairly sure it was tossed during a kitchen re-organization. Fairly sure I know which place it came from, and can hunt down the brand if you like. ← Being the stickler kind of guy that I am, I will point out that what is typically labelled "Plum Wine" is not actually a fermented beverage made from Plums. It is really a type of plum liqueur made by steeping whole plums in "white liquor" with sugar. Depending on the proof of the liquor you start with, you can have a real range of proof. Many of the commercial ones seem to be around 15% Alcohol. Homemade ones could be 30% (typical shochu) or higher. Real "Plum Brandy" is typically called "Slivovitz", "Quetsch" or "Mirabelle". Clear Creek makes a nice slivovitz style Blue Plum Eau de Vie. It is similar in character to a Grappa or Kirsch.

Skipping the Champs Elysees and Chanticle(e)r for reasons which will become clear (I hope!) shortly. Charles Cocktail 1/2 Italian Vermouth (1 1/2 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth) 1/2 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac) 1 Dash Angostura Bitters Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into cocktail glass. Interesting! This seems to indicate that this cocktail was named for Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Silvester Maria Stuart (or Bonny Prince Charles.) I would expect whisky; but, maybe he was a brandy fancier. I was a little trepidatious about formulating this one, being afraid the Antica would overpower the Cognac, so was going to use the Cinzano Rosso. At the last minute I decided to go with the Antica. Glad I did. The Carpano Vermouth and Cognac do really interesting things together. It has some nice bitter elements; but, there are some cool almost flowery flavors that are brought out in both the brandy and the vermouth. Nice.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, June 29, 2007 Chugging along in Napa Valley, Stacy Finz THE SIPPING NEWS: China's breakthrough Chardonnay Boozy barbecue sauce Pinot daze Infusions 2.0 In our glasses Tasting Room: Peak experience, Carol Ness Letters to Wine: Readers request more local, familiar wines Beer: Summer's the season to hoist a hefeweizen, Derrick Schneider The Cheese Course: A 'little cheese' from the Italian Alps with a snow-white rind, Janet Fletcher Chronicle Wine Selections: Basque fish stew hooks Sauvignon Blanc, Joyce Goldstein Recipe: Marmitako Chronicle Wine Selections: Central Coast Sauvignon Blancs, W. Blake Gray 96 Hours Bar Bites: Martini House, Stacy Finz "'First come, first served,' the bartender tells patrons entering this St. Helena hot spot. The bar, aptly named the Wine Cellar because it's in the basement of this popular Napa Valley restaurant, gets crowded on weekend nights. Everyone clamors for a table by the enormous fireplace or a stool at the cozy bar. With its dim lighting, earthy stone walls and beamed ceiling, this may well be the most romantic lounge in the Wine Country. Although there are quite a few martinis on the Cellar's drink menu, the place was named for Walter Martini, a retired San Francisco opera singer who built the Craftsman bungalow in 1923. Pat Kuleto of Boulevard, Farallon and Jardiniere fame partnered with San Francisco's former Campton Place chef Todd Humphries to open the restaurant in 2001." Bargain Bite: Thaipoon, Karola Saekel "The food is predominantly traditional Thai with a few side trips to nearby countries: a Chinese eggplant-chicken stir-fry with miso paste, wonton soup, and an appetizer of crunchy samosa-style egg rolls filled with potatoes and peas in an Indian-style curry."

Ha, well, I suppose that is a fair description! Welcome to eGullet, Dianabanana! My understanding, and others will likely correct me if I'm wrong, is that you do pronounce the final "t" in Fernet. I guess Italian and French differ in that. Though, I think it should be pronounced more like, "Fair-Net", rather than the typical Fur-Net, we'd say in the US. Do you roll Rs in Italian?

Sorry, merged the Abbott's topic into the main bitters topic for what I thought would be ease of searching. Johnder's bitters experiment starts here in that topic: Abbott's Bitters

But, are per se and The French Laundry the only restaurants on the list which only serve tasting menus? (I could have sworn they used to have some sort of a la carte dining. Do they not anymore?) I mean, that sort of simplifies things, if everyone is getting charged the same for food anyway.

We picked up some Alaskan Pale on sale at the beverage warehouse, and I am quite impressed. It's a really nice light, clean beer. Mildly hoppy to start out, more in a Czech style than West Coast, leading to a nice malty middle. There's maybe a touch of Belgian in here (a bit of Diacetyl?); but, otherwise very clean flavor and finish. Could see drinking a lot of these.

Oh, duh, can't believe I didn't think of that. I knew it seemed familiar. Interesting, though, that there are 3 Blue Moon cocktails in the Cocktaidb, and only one contains lemon. Blue Moon is just Gin and Creme Yvette. The first "Blue Moon Variation" is Gin, Lemon Juice, Creme Yvette, and egg white. The other "Blue Moon Variation" is Gin, Creme Yvette, dry vermouth, and orange bitters. The egg white and lemon Blue Moon is sounds pretty good to me...

Incanto in San Francisco includes a partial service charge in their bill. To quote their website:

I just got the July issue of Gourmet. I have to say I was really impressed with the photography this time. A little arty, perhaps. The pictures in the article on frozen desserts, though, just blew me away. Cool stuff.

Awesome, sir! Speaking of water and gas, have you located a good source for selzer? Or are you carbonating that in house? I know a number of restaurants in San Francisco who filter their own water instead of serving bottled have also opted to carbonate it themselves. Anything similar happening in Chicago?

It is a very good drink! One of my favorites! Though, honestly, I never quite know what I'm going to get when I order it. I've gotten all sorts of things, from bartenders who make it with only a splash of Campari and Vermouth to others who include soda and/or orange juice. My preference is for equal portions of Plymouth Gin, Cinzano Italian Vermouth, and Campari, stirred and served up. Though, sometimes rocks are nice too, as the up version can be a bit rich. Ideally the bartender or server would ask you when you order.

8 kinds of ice? Cracked, crushed, shaved. 1" cube, big cube, ball. My imagination is failing me. I can't really think of any other useful sizes. Enlighten me. Really big block? Ice sculpture? Flavored?

2 years on, I am still perfectly happy with my capresso infinity for (mostly) drip coffee. I've had no problems with it and use it daily. Well, I did break the hopper by dropping it in the sink once when cleaning, and had to order a replacement part from Capresso. So, no problems that weren't my fault! I use it exactly as I used my old blade grinder, measuring out the beans into the hopper each day and then grinding them before making coffee. It is a lot less noisy than the blade grinder was, you don't have to worry about shaking it to get an even grind, or cleaning the pulverized beans that stick in the corners. It does take up a bit more counter space than the old blade grinder and cleaning it is a bit more of a time investment. I haven't used it very often for press pot coffee, so can't really comment on its appropriateness for that task. It works well for melitta drip and aeropress.

Cool! I'm going to start working on convincing my wife to include a Chicago leg in our trip home for the holidays this year. Best of luck!

Well, Batavia Arrack, obviously! For substitution, the problem is the pickings in overproof white rum are pretty slim. Basically, the only one with flavor approaching the funk of Batavia Arrack is the Wray & Nephew White Overproof. In thinking about your question, I think if I really had to try to reproduce the flavor of Batavia Arrack, I might try a blend of 3/4 Wray & Nephew White Overproof and 1/4 La Favorite Rhum Blanc. Is Batavia Arrack made from sugar cane or molasses? Given the drier nature of the spirit, my guess is sugar cane.

Not really the same; but, one of the drinks I've been made for what seems like forever* is called the Sunburnt Senorita. It's from the Coyote Cafe Cookbook. Puree and sieve a bunch of watermelon flesh and chill. 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar (or not depending on watermelon) 1/2 oz lime juice 1/3 cup watermelon juice 1 1/2 oz tequila Shake with ice and strain. A lot of times I'll add more watermelon juice and a little more tequila and build it over ice in a collins glass. Really refreshing. Had a similar drink the other day courtesy of Victoria Damato-Moran. She was calling it a Watermelon Smash. Muddle Watermelon, simple, and cayenne syrup (I think). Add ice, lime, tequila. Shake and strain. It wasn't super picante; but, the touch of heat and flavor of the cayenne really highlights the flavor of the watermelon. *checked the book, and I got the Coyote Cafe Cookbook from my Mom in 1992! That is pretty much forever, eh? Time tested recipe.

Chuckle, well me too, sometimes. To echo thirtyoneknots points, especially with bitters, I think it comes down to the type of bitters, the spirits involved, and personal taste. For example, if you are using the Fee Bros. Orange bitters, whose bitter kick is fairly mild, a larger dose might be appropriate than if you are using Regan's. Or if you are using a particularly nice whiskey in an old-fashioned, you might use a smaller amount of bitters than if you were using old overholt or jim beam. Lastly, some people like bitter flavors more than others. Where a Campari and soda or a heavily bittered old-fashioned might appeal to me, others have a low tolerance for bitter flavors and might want that to be a raspberry syrup and soda or just the smallest dash of bitters in their cocktail.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, June 23, 2007 Summer's perfect match, Lynne Char Bennett, Tara Duggan Recipes: Corn & Zucchini Baked "Fritters" Fish with Melted Peppers Watercress & Butter Lettuce Salad Fresh Lasagna with Pesto, Yukon Golds & Swiss Chard Tomato & Farro Salad THE SIPPING NEWS: Tips for tipplers on surviving Pride weekend Taste what women want Label watch A wine for left-handers In our glasses Uncorked: NASCAR driver's devotion to wine, Deborah Grossman Letters to Wine: Keeping score on ratings Spirits: Muddling around with summertime's farm-fresh cocktails, Amanda Berne Recipes: Cucumber caipirinha, From Duggan McDonnell of Cantina (580 Sutter St.) in San Francisco and Highway Blackberry Cooler Chronicle Wine Selections: Wines to Pair With Produce, Jon Bonné The Cheese Course: Raw milk goat cheddar perfect for a grilled cheese sandwich, Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: Trader Vic's, Jane Tunks "Signature drink: It would be a crime to go to Trader Vic's and not sample the mai tai, which was said to be invented by Victor J. "Trader Vic" Bergeron in 1944. Lovers -- or just close friends -- sip from the Scorpion Bowl for Two, a high-octane concoction with rums, fruit juices and brandy that comes in a huge ceramic bowl. Or ignore the cocktail menu's warning of "drinker, beware" and order a Fogcutter, a lethal blend of unspecified rums, juices and liqueurs." Bargain Bite: Toast, Tara Duggan "While Hungry Joe's had its own greasy-spoon charms, Toast has a modern diner ambience, with glass tiles in a range of toasty-brown colors. Look for specialties like Hash Brown Hill ($6.99), a pile of shredded potatoes topped with cheese, avocado and olives, and the Day Street omelet ($9.25), stuffed with chicken apple sausage, spinach and feta. Wash down the chocolate-studded Chips Ahoy pancakes ($6.95) with fair trade and organic coffee drinks."

The problem with dashes in many recipes, is that the recipes are based on proportions, and dashes are a volume measure. So, unless you know the ultimate size the cocktail is intended to be, it's tough to know how big the dash should be. For example, as far as I can tell, most cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book are intended to be about 2 oz total liquid before chilling. I've seen some in other old cocktail books where the drinks are even smaller. No one is going to make a cocktail that small these days. So you need to adjust the size of the dash for a larger cocktail. I also always maintain that a dash from a bottle with a speed pourer and a dash of bitters from a bottle, really are not the same thing. I usually use about a half teaspoon per 2 Savoy Dashes in a 3 oz cocktail. Usually works out well for me. But, yeah, on the dash scale there are ingredients that always must be measured more carefully. Pastis, Absinthe, Violette, etc. These are ingredients where it is critical to measure accurately and test the recipe before making it for guests. There's more wiggle room with dashes of things like bitters, lemon juice, and less strongly flavored liqueurs like Curacao and Cointreau.

Cool! Sounds like a perfect palate cleanser to me! By the by, while I don't know that he reads eGullet, Jamie Boudreau's current spirits blog is here: Spirits and Cocktails There's contact info there and what not. I expect if you drop him a nice note he would respond and send you the procedure for the Gin Sorbet.

Hmmm... I guess the Casino kind of fits into the spectrum as well. Though, I tend to think of it more as a Gin Cock-tail variant, as it has bitters and only dashes of lemon and maraschino. It is supposed to use Old-Tom, so I'm not sure about the use of Beefeater's. Tad too sophisticated. I have tried it with Junipero, which is pretty tasty. 2 oz Junipero, 2 dashes maraschino, 2 dashes lemon, 2 dashes orange bitters. Stir, strain. Yum.