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Sound of the Sea is a perfectly fine dish. Can't say I really see the point of making a big deal out of it or the iPod. Is it the first step towards dinners with something similar to those audio museum tours? "As your server approaches with the cheese cart, press 2 on your personal audio device." Sounds of the farm and happy cows mooing.

Well, I have to admit that there are times when the upcoming cocktails do not exactly inspire. I think I stared at those 3 Alexander Cocktails for about a week before I could bring myself to make them. Really, it was just peer pressure that caused me to go back and finish the cocktails I had skipped. That and drying out a bit after the trip to England, have caused the delay in progress. I got some cream on the way home tonight, so I'll take care of Bud tomorrow. Ugh. Brunelle Cocktail 1/4 Absinthe (1/2 oz Verte de Fougerolles Absinthe) 1/2 Tablespoonful of Sugar (1 teaspoon caster sugar) 3/4 Lemon Juice (Juice 1/2 lemon) (1 oz Boodles Gin) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. The best part about having contributors, is, I feel like I can riff a bit on the cocktails. I took jmfangio's "Absinthe Sour" idea to heart, and simplified things. But, cocktails made with just Absinthe haven't done much for me. Too rich. When I was thinking about it at lunch, I thought I would dilute it with vodka. But, then, after waiting an half an hour for a N Judah train to even show up and take me home, a mild gin like Boodles seemed like a much better way to reward myself. After it took an hour and a half to get home, my thoughts were, "Screw vodka and screw MUNI I'm having GIN." First I was quite pleased with myself, thinking it an original idea. Then, it seemed a bit familiar. Couple sips later, I remembered Le Demon Verte from "The Art of the Bar". OK, Le Demon Verte uses lime juice as sour and falernum as sweetener. Still, I have unthinkingly come pretty close to taking the long way around to rediscovering its DNA. Tasty, though. I do believe I'll have another.

The San Francisco Cocktail Week website is up: San Francisco Cocktail Week Participating bars and featured cocktails listed on this website. A couple are even brave enough to feature Mint Juleps!

Wow! Ouch on that price to volume ratio! I didn't realize it was so expensive. Do they only sell half bottles? There is plenty of whisk(e)y in the world that sells for upwards of $70 per 750ml. Companies just don't usually market it for making Manhattans with. I guess they are targeting places that sell really upscale Manhattans.

Article in last Sunday's NY Times, which I somehow missed until now: Shaken and Stirred: The Real Manhattan, Jonathan Miles* Was anyone on hand to try their new Rye? *Link may require registration and/or payment.

Robert Hess (aka DrinkBoy) has a series of videos over at the Small Screen Network: The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess So far, they've been targeted at educating and making suggestions to interested novice home bartenders. Production values are quite high, the videos are informative, and Mr. Hess' home bar is quite impressive.

Speaking of San Francisco bar news, I recently learned from Marcia Gagliardi's great Tablehopper newsletter, that Enrico's Sidewalk Cafe is in the process of being resurrected and aiming for a June re-opening. According to Tablehopper, Reza Esmali has been brought on as a consultant GM and is overseeing staffing, the bar program, and cocktail menu. Here's hoping the new owners can re-vive and revitalize a true San Francisco classic.

Hmm... Maybe I should have named the topic differently, "Bartending vs. Cooking" rather than "Bartenders vs. Cooks". Yeah, Oyster Guy, bartenders and cooks do tend to get on like matches and gasoline. But, as someone who has done both, do you think the skill sets of the two jobs are complementary?

jmfangio, that is a pretty unusual recipe, I have to admit I didn't have much hope for it either. Did you find any other more appealing variations? The cocktaildb version is half pastis, half lemon, and a teaspoon of sugar. I guess with the sweetness of the pastis, it will be about the same cocktail. Brandy Gump 1 Hooker of Brandy (1 1/2 oz Korbel VSOP) The Juice of 1 Lemon (about an ounce) 2 Dashes Grenadine (1 generous teaspoon Fee's American Beauty) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Woo, this is tart and pink. I didn't have any problem finishing it. It's kind of like one of those really sour candies. Bracing. This is the last of the cocktails I skipped, so, at last, we will be getting back to some forward motion!

I was reading the excellent online blog of a gentleman who bartends. Advice for a High School Senior He had given a young man who was interested in bartending the advice to attend a cooking school. I was dubious. I guess, as dubious as a bartender would be about sending a person interested in bartending to bartending school. Certainly, attending a cooking school will give the person valuable experience. Many people, bartenders and civilians, don't know how to cook. It can't be a bad thing to know how to feed yourself. Plus, it is an additional skill set if you are out of work or looking for work in a new town. On the other hand, most bartenders I know, don't come from the back of the house. They come from the front of the house. And most cooks I've known, including myself, would not be comfortable talking to customers or handling money. On the other hand, many bartenders and cooks are beginning to take cocktails much more seriously, as both a source of profit, and a cuisine unto themselves. We're seeing people like Scott Beattie at Cyrus in Healdsburg and Jeff Hollinger and Jonny Raglin of Absinthe in San Francisco using a much wider palette of ingredients than are traditionally used in a bar. Do you know of any bartenders or cooks who have made the transition from kitchen to bar or bar to kitchen? Or are cooks and bartenders really different kinds of people?

Yeah, me too, though they don't say specifically. Given that they mention glass, it may well just have been sitting in bottles in a warehouse somewhere. I've dropped them a note, and will report back, if I get any further information. ← Heard back from Bonny Doon. The Peach Eau de Vie was made in 2001 and aged in Stainless Steel barrels. Maybe if some other folks bug them, they will switch to wood for the next batch...

By the way, Derby Day is this Saturday (May 5, 2007.) As fine an excuse as any to chill those julep cups you splurged for on eBay, and practice your julep making skills.

Taking a quick look at the cocktail menu, it appears most, if not all, are in the book. The Pomegranate, by the way, is just a drizzled garnish, like they do in coffee shops, not a major flavor component of the Daiquiri. There's a picture included on the recipe on epicurious: Avocado Daiquiri

There is very little in the book regarding the reasons she makes ingredient choices or her philosophies. That is why I called it "slim" in the initial review. She doesn't say why she chooses to use "Lemon-Lime Juice" in all citrus cocktails, just that it is "essential" to many "Hip Sips" cocktails, and freshness is important (though she says it is OK to use high quality, organic, bottled juices.) Her bio goes as follows: The focus of the book is definitely not the "classics". The "Sentimental Sips" chapter is the last one and only includes 20 cocktails. As a "cocktail classicist," (or "picky bastard,") I have issues with probably 15 out of those 20 recipes, in either ingredients or method. From what I can tell, she is most well known for things like her "Avocado Daiquiri": 2 oz Silver Rum, 2 oz Gold Rum, 1/4 Avocado, 1/2 oz half-and-half, 1/4 oz Lemon-Lime Juice, 2 oz Simple Syrup, 1 1/2 cups cocktail ice cubes, Pomegranate Syrup for garnish. Blend until smooth. Is it a boozy cold soup? Alcoholic smoothie? Why is it called a Daiquiri?

Big Sous Vide Article in today's Chronicle Food section: Cooking in a vacuum, Tara Duggan Includes some conversation with a certain Nathan, in the "Science of Sous Vide" side article: edit - forgot author citation.

The only ones which seem a little out of place in the top 10 are Seagram's and Bombay Sapphire. I'll admit, though, that I haven't tried either of them for a few years.

My first guess would be that it ended up pink somehow because someone was subbing in either a pink sweetener to replace expensive sugar, or a pink sour agent, to replace expensive lemons. I did find one recipe on the internet for "Pink Lemonade" that involved sumac and no lemons at all. Aside from sumac, hibiscus flavored drink is red and somewhat similar to lemonade. Or maybe pink lemonade was originally some sort of lemon-berry shrub. I suppose, though, the "it's just pretty" argument, is always possible.

I guess I shouldn't be so hard on her. Here are the sidecar and margarita recipes. They are not horrible, both basically 2-1-1, with the sidecar being slightly drier. Just very light on the orange liqueur. Sidecar: 2 1/2 oz Korbel Brandy, 1/4 oz Cointreau, 1 oz Fresh Lemon-Lime Juice, 1 oz Simple Syrup Margarita: 2 oz Sauza Hornitos tequila, 1/4 oz Patron Citronage, 1 oz Fresh Lemon-Lime Juice, 1 oz Simple Syrup And there are some interesting ideas for "culinary cocktails". Beet infused vodka, for one, seemed particularly interesting. It's just, I like to think I have a well stocked bar, and going through this book, aside from the few classic recipes, there are almost no cocktails I could make without making a trip to the gourmet market or liquor store. But, then, I put homemade granita in my last mixology Monday cocktail, so who am I to talk?

I've only been to the restaurant a couple times (the oysters from the truck out back on Saturday just seem to taste better); but, I've never seen them really pre-shuck. I mean, as they are shucking oysters, they will shuck them to the ice in front of them, rather than directly to a tray. But, I've never seen the oysters sit open, on ice, for longer than it takes for them to shuck the rest of an order.

Hip Sips: Modern Cocktails to Raise Your Spirits, by Lucy Brennan This is a thin, pretty book. Brennan also has a gift for coming up with catchy one word cocktail names. Unfortunately, for me, it doesn't have much else going for it. Too many recipes call for flavored spirits, which I don't typically have, or fruit purees, which I also don't usually have around. There are a few "Sentimental Sips", or plain old cocktails; but, most of the recipes are balanced too far to the sweet side. For example, neither a sidecar nor a margarita should ever need an ounce of simple syrup. So unless you can ransack the pastry station after the bakers go home, or have a personal mission to use every type of Cruzan flavored rum, I'd give it a skip.

Just found this topic, Peter, and am still getting caught up. Great writeup, so far. Fascinating stuff. Ahem, anyway, I've fallen back on a similar line myself, when talking to those in the various drink related industries. I'm an "enthusiast". System Administrator by day, Cocktail Enthusiast by night.

Had a very nice, if somewhat expensive, brunch at Foreign Cinema on Sunday. Fresh huckleberry "Pop-Tarts", slow cooked eggs with favas and peas, a frisee salad with poached eggs and duck breast. Tasty. The crowd is a pretty business-ey. Folks on the left talking about real estate investment and the folks on the right talking about the pros and cons of investing in big media. My wife and I decided we needed to have a conversation about our imaginary vacation home on Majorca. Service was friendly and competent. Some odd confusion about what dishes went to which table. Perhaps because we were dining on the patio? Good coffee and OK iced tea, (when will restaurants stop making flavored iced tea?) If you're in the mood for an upscale brunch, or Mom and Dad are in town, I'd recommend it.

Being a lazy home-body type, it often takes me a bit of time to get out to new places. Finally got to the new-ish Bi-Rite Creamery on Sunday. There was a lemon ice cream and ginger snap ice cream sandwich available, so my wife's choice was a given from when we walked in. Quite tasty. I tried the Salted Caramel ice cream. Wow! I don't know what to say, other than it was amazingly fresh tasting and amazingly delicious. It really does taste like the best possible home made ice cream. My only quibble would be the sugar cone. It seems like they are using some sort of organic, all-natural, blah, blah, cone of the sort you might get at a natural food store. They are just not that great. They should just make their own waffle cones, instead. The beautiful day, dogs in Dolores Park, and fantastic ice cream, had us really missing our old neighborhood!

Absolutely. One of my questions about Absinthe, in general, is how popular it would be subtracted from the romance of the Green Fairy and thujone's "bad boy" reputation. Irritatingly, even the NY Times article listed above traffics in some of the usual tropes about the "thujone high". And while the article contains the following quote from the producers of "Lucid": A quick look at their website, with its cartoon faeries, shows how "sincere" they are about that. I will be interested to compare Mr. Breaux's efforts with Lucid, his Jade products, and other modern Absinthes. What modern Absinthes do you enjoy, MaxH?

Yeah, fair enough. My point, though, was more general, and that Maraschino and Kirsch, like Scotch and Drambuie, are quite different, and simply sweetening Kirsch (or Scotch) will not result in an acceptable substitution.