eje

It grows wild in the community garden I participate in; but, I've never experimented with it. Traditional in Pimm's Cups, I guess, though I've never seen it. Flavor, of the flowers at least, is very mild. Make great semi-alien appearing garnishes, though. One of the things on my todo list for a while now has been a "decontructed" Pimm's Cup, and I think involving borage foam or something would be cool. I can just never decide which part should be which. Pimms, ginger ice, borage foam? Pimms foam, ginger ale, cucumber ice? Lemon ginger ice, pimms, soda, and borage foam? Had an awful Pimms Cup the other day, syrup-ey, medicinal, and disgusting, which didn't really encourage me to experiment further, even though the weather was appropriate.

Hi cookman! Welcome to Spirits and Cocktails. While there are recipes for dairy (and egg) based liqueurs, I kind of feel like the possibility of contamination and spoilage of homemade ones, makes them less compelling to make than fruit based liqueurs. Perhaps someone here will have a killer recipe, I can only refer you to Gunther Anderson's liqueur making website: Liqueur Making, Principles and Techniques. It appears there are a couple well tested Bailey's clones on the recipe page there.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, May 12, 2007 The vintner who did it his way, W. Blake Gray THE SIPPING NEWS: Get schooled Mother's little helpers Drink to cocktail week In our glasses Wine Country hikes Wine Business Insider: More wineries bypass the middleman, Cyril Penn Bargain Wines: Spain's early ripener, W. Blake Gray World View: Tasting through Burgundy, Jancis Robinson Cocktailian: A splash of Champagne tops off the refreshing Starfish Cooler, Gary Regan Recipe: Starfish Cooler Adapted from a recipe by Stacy Smith, bartender at G.W. Fins, New Orleans. Pairings: Viogniers coax crab out of its shell, Joyce Goldstein Recipe: Curried Crab Cakes Chronicle Wine Selections: West Coast Viogniers, W. Blake Gray The Cheese Course: Want to know if your Jarlsberg is true? Look it in the eyes, Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: Bong Su, Tara Duggan "Even those who normally inhabit dark, wood-lined pubs will appreciate the elegant, airy ambience of the lounge at Bong Su restaurant. Situated behind a large gong that frames the hostess stand, the horseshoe-shaped bar has lots of seating, and the lounge's raised communal dining table entices visitors to order a round of chef Tammy Huynh's delicious Vietnamese starters." Bargain Bite: Noodle Theory, Carol Ness "And that's the whole idea, according to chef and owner Louis Kao of Berkeley, who comes from Szechuan stock but reins in his taste for spice for his clientele. Kao grew up in Palo Alto, where his father ran a Szechuan restaurant named Hsi-Nan for years."

Bush-Ranger Cocktail 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters 1/2 Caperitif (1 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc) 1/2 Bacardi Rum (1 1/2 oz Santa Teresa Gran Reserva) Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. (Garnish with orange zest. - eje) Usually, Lillet and Orange are flavors I enjoy, however, with the rum here, my embellishment doesn't quite work. Also, as usual, I have no idea how close a substitution Lillet blanc is for the defunct South African aperitif wine, Caperitif. edit - Couple notes from later on: I like the more expensive Santa Teresa 1796 rum; but, remain unimpressed by the Gran Reserva. It's just not got a lot of character. Also, I think my Lillet is getting old and needs to be replaced. When the cocktail warmed up, I definitely detected a little "refrigerator" taste. I will probably re-try this cocktail at a later date with a different rum and some new aperitif wine.

This is a great writeup! Thanks! I learned a lot, enjoying both the body of text and digressions. I'm just starting to acquire a taste for sherry, and only found out about the amazing Pedro Ximénez sherries last year. I'm very fond of "stickies", so tasting my first Pedro Ximénez, just blew me away. In general, it seems sherry is both under appreciated, and under represented in the US market. But, I'm beginning to find it can be a unique and amazing match for certain types of food. (Oh, oops, that's the other topic!)

I should say, Ecco Caffee and Sweet Maria's are, to the best of my knowledge, exclusively coffee Roasters. And Sweet Maria's, despite carrying a wide variety of green beans, only roast a single variety of Decaf, Espresso, and Drip coffees every Monday. Ritual now has a couple shops in San Francisco, and both roast their own beans, and are well regarded for their Espresso. Blue Bottle has a cart at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market and a "kiosk" on Hayes in San Francisco. It looks like they also have carts at a couple East Bay Farmer's Markets. Do they brew coffee or make espresso in Oakland? On their website mention pickup times at their "Beach Street Location". Is that just offices?

Yeah, well, I was painting with a fairly broad brush. I'm sorry if I'm re-hashing the old FOH vs. BOH debate. As JAZ pointed out, there are a wide variety of bartender jobs, as there are a wide variety of back of house jobs. From Prep Cooks to Line Cooks, Salad Station to Executive Chef. There are also a variety of schools offering training to aspiring chefs and aspiring bartenders. Depending on the school, and depending on your goals, it might be better to start as a dish washer or prep cook, rather than attend a culinary school. Just as it might be better to work your ass off as a bar back or waiter, instead of attending a bar tending school. For anyone who works in food service, you are better off having a wider understanding of the various roles. Getting some experience in FOH, or understanding something of the economics of running a restaurant, is a good idea if you want to make a career out of it, if for no other reason than to understand why some decisions might be imposed on you. Why you can't garnish your $10 entree with Caviar or use 4 oz of Sazerac 18 in your special cocktail. I'm just speaking from my experience. I have an enormous amount of respect and awe for those that are good at both waiting and bar tending. I couldn't do either job, not because I can't balance trays or mix drinks; but, because of the interpersonal skills required. You know, when you go into a bar or restaurant, you've had a crap day, and the service person can read that, and somehow intuit the right thing to do or say. Whether it is to tell a joke and be cheery, or leave you alone with your whiskey. I'm sure it's not brain surgery; but, it takes a certain kind of person.

I was thinking something similar. The wide spectrum of Balsamic Vinegars, not to mention the possible confusion with Balsam, makes it a not very good term. Perhaps for foodies who have had actual Balsamic vinegar; but, most of the cheap Balsamic Vinegars on the market are just slightly richer wine vinegars. And the flavor of those are not really things I would find appealing when associated with a wine.

Resinous. As in balsam of Tolu, Canada balsam, balsamic vinegar. (I first encountered balsam as a resinous adhesive in a tincture form, used to attach cover glass to microscope slides in the chemistry sets so popular in the rash of "science education" that swept the US for some years after Sputnik. Will probably never forget that plant-resin smell, and it seems apt sometimes for wine.) Edited to add: Correction! I just looked up balsamic vinegar out of curiosity, and at least one authority says that particular idiom came from the ancient "balm" (as in healthful medicine) which is a variant word for balsam. Vinegar does have some medicinal history. Learn something new every day! (Thanks, Mary.) Still I always had the impression wood aging puts some sap into balsamic vinegar too, making the term maybe doubly apt? Also, Greek retsina wine is named for the resin that came to flavor it (originally by accident, I understand); I haven't tasted retsina but would guess it might qualify as "balsamic." ← I don't know, Max, I would assume the author would just mean the wines shares some characteristics with balsamic vinegar, which I don't think of as particularly resinous. Intense, concentrated, maybe over-extracted. That sort of thing. I wouldn't use "balsamic" if I were trying to say a wine had pine or resin tastes. I would use "resinous" or "Piney". The smell of balsam would be a pretty obscure tasting note in the modern world. When's the last time you saw a balsam pillow? Hard to say, though, without a usage example. Was it a particular review, Mary, which caused you to ask?

I think the place I was thinking of is Midway Foods. For some reason I always just called it the "Asian IGA". My memory of the street grid is a little foggy; but, Park and West Johnson, maybe? We lived on Spaight Street in Madison. I always really liked that neighborhood. Shopped at Willy St Coop, could walk to the square and the Majestic Theater (still there?). A few decent restaurants and bars near by. When we lived there, it wasn't student central, like some of the neighborhoods closer to campus. More semi-permanent slackers, older-hippies, and the like. It seems like the neighborhood would be even better now, with quite a few decent restaurants and bars within walking distance. It is also pretty easy to get from there to the Beltline, via John Nolan Drive.

Bunny Hug 1/3 Gin (Almost 3/4 oz Boodles Gin) 1/3 Whisky (Almost 3/4 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon) 1/3 Absinthe (Almost 3/4 oz Absinthe Verte de Fougerolles) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. This cocktail has always puzzled me. First, the name made no sense, until eGullet member thirtyoneknots pointed out that the "Bunny Hug" was some sort of raunchy dance invented at the Fairmont Hotel in the early part of the 20th Century. Also that "Hug" was not really quite as "cute" a term, as it might originally appear. Apparently, the name was supposed to evoke something more like, "doing it like rabbits". There's also what may be an apocryphal story that a dancer named Vernor Castle adapted the Bunny Hug into the slower and more acceptably named Foxtrot. Then there's the menacing epigraph. Is it meant as a warning or encouragement? I really had little hope for the cocktail. Given the lineage of the name, it seemed more likely that it was the turn of the century equivalent of a shooter. A short, high alcohol drink you slammed between dances. That may be; but, it's actually not that bad. Absinthe is dominant, of course; but, the gin kind of mediates, and the whiskey is there in the finish. I probably lucked out by picking a feisty whiskey, like the Buffalo Trace. Anything more polite would simply get blown away by the Absinthe. Still, not something you're really going to slowly savor in front of a warm fire. Make it small, make it cold, and get on with the dancing.

On a whim, I picked up a bottle of "Mure Sauvage" from Farmhouse Brewing. No information on the bottle, aside from the fact that it is a Belgian Style Ale. Poured a cloudy amber with little head. Uh, it smells like yeasty cheese with maybe a bit of sourdough thrown in. Once you get past the smell, the beer doesn't taste bad, in a sour Belgian sort of way. Tart and fruity. Pineapples and apricots. Not as dry as the Belgian Gueuzes I've tried. Sweeter. I'm just learning about these styles of beer, so I don't know how unusual it is. Still, that smell was just weird.

Here's another related question, that I hope is less dumb. It's my understanding that alcoholic beverages and liquors used to be shipped to bars in barrels. Was it then up to the barkeeps to dilute this? Or would the cocktails have been mixed with "barrel proof" liquor? When did the switch from shipping spirits to bars in barrels to shipping spirits to bars in bottles, take place? Now, I know the bottled in bond act was enacted in 1897 to discourage unscrupulous individuals from tampering with spirits. Over-diluting or under-diluting. And, also to give the consumer some confidence that what they were buying was, in actual fact, the spirit it claimed to be. On a related note, it seems like the widespread availability of spirits in bottles would have had something to do with the possibility for folks to mix their own cocktails. When did the liquor store, as we know it today, really take off? The ability of individuals to easily purchase liquor for themselves. Hmm... When did home mixology really take off? Was it prohibition? Oops, I should stop now, before I get too far off topic.

I'm sure current Madisonians will answer this better than I. Re: Asian Groceries When we lived there, I frequented the Asian IGA on Park St. I still use the Carbon Steel wok I bought there in 1983 or 1984. I see from a post on another website that it was still there in September of last year, so hopefully, still there this year. (You didn't ask; but, Star Liquor on Willy St. is a great liquor store! As are both the Steve's Liquors. If you like beer, I can also recommend a micro-brewery I visited last fall, called Ale Asylum. It's on Kinsman, just off East Johnson. Very nice modern American style beer.)

Well, I guess the twenty some odd years between the books (Thomas (1862) and Johnson (1888)) are significant. (It's so funny, looking through Thomas. I just found a recipe using Verbena. Lemon Verbena has been such a trendy ingredient in bars for the last couple years, everyone thinking they are a genius for coming up with the idea of using it. But, there it is, in a recipe from nearly 150 years ago!)

Is there any significance to the fact that Harry Johnson included Coolers in his book; but, not (as far as I've found) Jerry Thomas? Are there any earlier citations than Johnson?

Neat! I hadn't been aware of this effort. Looks like the website launched late last year: Ultimate Bar Chef Lots of good stuff here: Ultimate Bar Chef Accessories Lewis Bag

Check out this White Lady, not to mention the "Whoopee Wine Cocktail" next door. Was funny, as I had just read an article which referenced flavored gins... Bottled Martinis: Booth's Gin from the 70s (not to mention Mateus and Crazy Wine Aperitif!):

Bull-Dog Cocktail Put 2 or 3 lumps of ice into a large tumbler, add the juice of 1 Orange, 1 glass (2oz Boodles) Gin. Fill Balance with Ginger Ale (Reed's Ginger Brew). Stir, and serve with a straw. I blame David Santucci for getting this song (as covered by Sissy Bar) stuck in my head for the last week. It's a perfectly tasty drink, great for the warm weather we've had in San Francisco this week. Gin, fresh orange juice, and ginger ale. How could that be bad?

Likewise, I think that's great, Alchemist. Especially, since I usually get through Chicago at least once a year. While it is a big drinking city, I've not found cocktail culture to be particularly well represented there. (If you drink beer, be sure to check out Hop Leaf! A very nice bar.) I look forward to hearing more. Well, fair enough. There are actually some bartenders who do care enough about what they are serving to try to make a good tasting drink. On the other hand, there are an awful lot who are on auto pilot. Simply following the recipe on the cheat sheet. Bartending, and waiting, though, involve a certain amount of what I will charitably call "acting". A less charitable ex-bartender I was talking to the other night, called it a "hustle". Presenting yourself in a certain manner, with the hopes of creating a desired experience for the customer and a larger tip for yourself. Can you train cooks to do this part of the job? Of all the jobs I've done, cooking was the most blissfully free of any concerns beyond working with your co-workers to get the job done quickly and well. Your co-workers might be "dumb as a bag of hammers"; but, if they rocked the grill, got the job done, and came through when the going was tough, you didn't care. And, we would occasionally get a wait or barstaff who would show some interest in cooking. But, really, they were not interested in the tough stuff. They'd want to know how to cut an onion or bone a chicken. But, when they saw a 50# bag of onions or a case of whole chickens, they would not be so enthusiastic. Also, maybe it is different now, and the quality of cooking school graduates has improved; but, then, I didn't relish getting stuck with some green cooking school graduate, as a manager, or as a co-worker.

Not sure where you are in California... In the San Francisco Bay Area, the small batch coffee roasters I can vouch for are Ecco Caffe, Ritual Coffee Roasters, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Sweet Maria's.

Ah, I really should search the wikipedia before posting. Whew! I was worried about Ian Fleming for a second! Thought he might have been a bit of a lightweight.

Oh, by the way, the bottles did say 70 (degree sign) Proof, which I was wondering about. What does that indicate?

If someone could take pity on my poor fraction enfeebled brain and explain in simple terms, I would appreciate it! 100 Proof is what ABV? ABW? In the US, my understanding of 100 proof is that it is 50% alcohol. I guess that is by volume? 70 Proof is what ABV? ABW?

Well, the bottles didn't have ABV or ABW percentage numbers (except for some of the bottled cocktails). They all said 70 Proof. Shoot, I just noticed I didn't upload those pictures into ImageGullet. There was a particularly cool bottled White Lady. I'll upload them tonight when I get home.