eje

Assuming you can get Apricot Brandy! Beebs, I see the BC Liquor Stores carry some Luxardo products. Can you special order from them?

Here is a fine description of someone attempting to drink some portion of Wormwood extract, from the Erowid Vaults: Absinthe Experiment, Wormwood Extract The only thujone content info I can find on the Wormwood-Absente Web Site sez, "This natural chemical is stated to make up 40-90% (by weight) of the essence of wormwood." Going from the information on the Wormwood-Absente site, it appears that they simply macerate dried wormwood flowers in alcohol, then press the liquid out. I suspect the resulting liquid would indeed be quite bitter.

MaxH, Those points are all good and worth repeating. My only point regarding wormwood extract, was, that it is a contradiction. It would be impossible to die of thujone poisoning from consuming Absinthe. Long before you reached a toxic level of Thujone, you would be dead from Alcohol poisoning. Yet, it would be possible to become very sick from Thujone by purchasing wormwood extract from a "health" food store and dumping a large amount of it into some other beverage. The only thing that would probably save you, would be that it would be undrinkably bitter. edit - Oh, and in case I am not completely clear, I think it is absurd to ban one product intended for human consumption because it contains a certain substance, yet allow the free sale of the substance itself as an herbal extract intended for human consumption.

The main difference being kirsch is a distilled spirit and maraschino a liqueur. Sort of like the difference between Scotch and Drambuie. A few other differences. Kirsch, being an Eau de Vie, is not typically aged. The base spirit of Maraschino may spend a couple years in wood before being sweetened and bottled. Not all Kirsch is made from a whole fruit distillation. Some is made just from fermented cherry juice. The base spirit of Maraschino liqueur typically involves the pits, giving it a slight almond-like flavor. I've never tried to sweeten a kirsch and then compare it to Maraschino. Anyone? Once in desperation, determined to make something like Floridita Daiquiris in a place where I couldn't find Maraschino, I did mix a 2-1 sugar syrup with a blue plum eau de vie. It was actually not a horrible substitution. Oh, and I will point out, that a lot of the stuff labeled kirsch or kirschwasser in the US is really awful. Some of the products from LeRoux and others are artificially flavored and sweetened, not Kirsch at all.

Interesting article in today's NY Times business section. Absinthe: The American Remix* According to the article, the Absinthe-like product, called "Lucid" will be available starting next month and retail for around $60 US for a bottle. *Link may require registration and/or payment.

Brandy Blazer Use small thick glass. 1 Lump Sugar 1 Piece of Orange Peel 1 Piece of Lemon Peel 1 Glass Brandy (2 oz Korbel VSOP) (Warm Brandy slightly. -eje) Light with a match, stir with long spoon for a few seconds and strain into cocktail glass. Gosh darn it! All the running around putting out the lights, and the cocktail goes out before I get a chance to take a picture. I really could use a camera assistant for some of these! Cocktail is pretty tasty, in a winter-warmer kind of way. Probably good if you have a cold or similar. Found the Korbel a bit harsh without dilution, and ended up adding a bit of hot water. I've no idea how you could possibly ignite this without first warming the brandy.

Cocktail videos have proliferated on the Internet. We've had a few topics about specific videos; but, I thought I'd start a topic to post the ones you found particularly useful or embarrassingly bad. I'll start by pointing out that Alberta Straub, ex of the Orbit Room here in San Francisco, now has a series of instructional and entertaining cocktail videos hosted on "On Networks". Cocktails on the Fly

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, April 27, 2007 Paso Robles at a crossroads, Stacy Finz THE SIPPING NEWS: In our glasses The Wrath of Pong Parducci goes carbon neutral Mix it up with a video bartender A vintner's career -- through the out door, Jon Bonné The fights -- and subfights -- of creating AVAs, Stacy Finz Spirits: What's in a name? A cocktail with attitude, Amanda Berne Recipes from Daniel Hyatt of Alembic in San Francisco: Mellow Yellow Mediterranean Homesick Blues The Tasting Room: Fun-loving haunt for wine lovers, Jane Tunks Pairings: Ease into warmer weather with sausage and watercress salad, Amanda Gold Recipe: Grilled Chicken Sausage with Wilted Watercress, Mushroom & Fennel Salad Chronicle Wine Selections: Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs $36 and up, W. Blake Gray The Cheese Course: Sharpham Rustic stands up to aging, Janet Fletcher Letters to Wine: Get a life, you snot-nosed snob 96 Hours Bar Bites: Faz, Jane Tunks "Long gone are the days when "happy hours" went by the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary's strict definition, and we quote: "happy hour (noun), a period of time during which the price of drinks (as at a bar) is reduced or hors d'oeuvres are served free." Though you can often find discounted cocktails during that transitional time between work and play, free snacks to go along with them are rare. But, luckily for us, the folks at the Pleasanton branch of Middle Eastern minichain Faz dish up a generous spread from 5 to 7 p.m. every weekday." Bargain Bite: Uncle Wong's, Karola Saekel "The name suggests old-fashioned coziness, and Uncle Wong's meets that expectation. Never mind that this 14-year-old family-operated venue is on the street level of a nondescript, multistory building adjacent to the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station and features familiar Chinese dishes common before restaurants started to focus on specific regions."

Excitingly, some new information as a result of some work done by a researcher here at the University of California in San Francisco, indicates the problem may not be Cell Phones at all; but, fungi or combination of other pathogens. Experts may have found what's bugging the bees

Couple of Stone Brewing's offerings have recently started showing up in 12oz 6 packs. For some reason I just don't like Stone Brewing Pale Ale. I dunno if I'm just tired of Stone Beer (also didn't like last year's Double Bastard) or what. I did like the 10th Anniversary IPA. The Pale Ale is a malty ale similar in taste to Boont or Anchor Steam. Except lighter. It's a fine beer; but, something in the flavor profile just doesn't do it for me. I usually get about half way through a bottle, and think, "ehh, why am I drinking this?" Puzzling.

Boy, I agree with this. It is so refreshing to see new products from companies which are taking the quality and craftsmanship of their products seriously. I wish them the best of luck (not that they seem to need it). They have a few drinks on their website (which for some reason doesn't come up easily in Google): St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur

I wish I was an expert! Hopefully someone else will chime in. I have a lot of California Poppies in my garden (couldn't get rid of them if I wanted to) and the native Bumble bees (Bombus californica! Great name!) are all over them every spring. I think it's a matter of growing the flowers they like and avoiding insecticides. Here's a cool site at UC Berkeley about encouraging California native bees: Urban Bee Gardens

In what sense? Commercial Farming, you mean? There were/are a lot of native bees, like Bumble Bees and Leaf Cutter bees, that pollinated plants before the introduction of the European Honey Bee.

Reminds me of my cousin, who married a nice Norwegian girl. When he would come back to the states, he would pack his suitcase with cereal and junk food, saying, "They eat frickin' open-faced sandwiches for every gosh darn meal. I can't stand open-faced sandwiches for breakfast!"

Cheers, David! The exchange rate was so brutal, I tried to restrain myself to items I knew I couldn't get in the US. Plymouth Navy Strength, an unusual Sloe Gin, and Oude Genever. After reading this Dr. Cocktail article, I was hoping for Bols Corenwyn. No such luck. Will have to post pictures soon. I haven't even gotten around to tasting them yet! Brandy Cocktail 2 Dashes Curacao (1 barspoon Senior Curacao) 3/4 Wineglass Brandy (1 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre) (1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters) Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. Couldn't resist adding a dash of orange bitters. It is supposed to be a cocktail, after all! Even more than the Brain-storm this is just about the booze. If you enjoy orangey, slightly sweet, cold brandy, you will enjoy this cocktail. If you don't enjoy the flavor of brandy, this isn't a cocktail for you. Like the Brain-storm, it seems like it's a cocktail where the size might be key. There's no way I would enjoy 4 oz of this. On the other hand, 2 oz (with dilution) is quite nice.

San Francisco Cocktail Week From May 14th to May 21st several bars in San Francisco will participate in the inaugural San Francisco Cocktail Week. Each bar will appoint a "Cocktail Champion" who will come up with 2 cocktails to be featured for the week. One classic and one original. Participating bars currently include: Absinthe, Elixir, Cantina, Bourbon & Branch, Rye, Alembic, Range, Eastside West, Citizen Cake, NOPA, Slanted Door, Tres Agaves, Le Colonial, and the Presidio Social Club. On Monday, May 21st, the week will culminate with an event at Absinthe Brasserie and Bar. Cocktailian bartender and author Gary Regan will helm the bar for an evening of cocktails and light appetizers. Tickets are available for $45 per person. A portion of the proceeds from the Absinthe event will benefit Tales of the Cocktail. For tickets to the May 21st event at Absinthe Brasserie & Bar, please contact Vanessa Harris: vharris(at)absinthe.com or (415) 551-1453.

Every year the folks at the Museum of the American Cocktail organize a cocktail themed event on the day The Balance and Columbian Repository published a definition of the cocktail. Various official events are listed on their website: World Cocktail Day Many other bars and cities may be holding less official celebrations. How do you plan to celebrate World Cocktail Day? Just one moderator note, please keep posts within the guidelines of the eGullet Society Events Policy.

Except the odds of novices enjoying Sherry (at least in my personal experience) are even slimmer than that of enjoying bourbon juleps. Unless you want to spend the party making juleps to order, I would suggest the following: Soak a bunch of washed mint (and maybe a couple of lemon peels) overnight in the liquid from a 1.75 liter bottle of bourbon. Say, the regular Evan Williams. Strain it out, put the bourbon back in the bottle, and chill in the fridge. Have a big batch of mint flavored simple syrup (2 parts water to 1 part sugar) ready and also chilled. Day of the party, fill cup with ice, 2 oz bourbon, top with 1 oz light simple (or to taste,) stir, garnish with mint sprigs. It's not really a julep; but, will likely be the best bourbon punch your guests have ever had. edit - reconsidered one instruction.

If you're going to do long twists, the only way to do them is to cut them right over the drink, just before it is served. If you do that, and cut a whole horizontal circumference of your lemon, you'll get a lot of citrus scent in your drink. Otherwise, you're right, they are mostly decorative. It's nice to do be able to do the DeGroff style "spiral mof" twists, as well. I think those are particularly snazzy hanging on the side of a glass. Here's one of my tries at that: Bentley Of course, Mr. DeGroff sometimes garnishes his cocktails, like the Big Spender, with both a spiral mof twist for decoration and a flamed wide twist for flavor (and pyrotechnics.)

Orbit Room update: I've been told that Flighty Hostess, Alberta Straub, is no longer at the Orbit Room. There was another good bartender there (Ron, I believe); but, if you're making a special trip to visit Alberta, you will be disappointed.

Don't like the Oxo Good Grips ones. Hollow handle needs to be taken apart every time they are washed and not very good at making zests. Also, because of the design, they only work for right handed people. Recently got a Zyliss one that works quite well. Blade parallel to the handle, so will work for any handed folks. Pulls a deep zest with little effort. Zyliss Zester If you're really serious, go to a knife shop that specializes in supplying knives to professional cooks. Look for the tools that are sold for serious garnish work. Fruit carving and the like. edit - Ooops! Wrong Swiss kitchen tool manufacturer. I recently got a Kuhn Rikon peeler not zester. The zester was a Zyliss.

Well, the Iron Chef challenge was interesting. The ingredient, Garlic, was a bit, well, uninspired. I was pleased with how close the outcome was (2 points). To me, Incanto's weakest element has always been their presentation, so no real surprise that Batali bested Cosentino in the plating category. Fantastic looking food on both sides, though. And yes, Cosentino did his best to get offal onto the menu. Great to see tripe and liver featured on Iron Chef. Oh, and the Squab was awesome! Just fantastic to see Cosentino instructing the judges in the finer points of sucking down squab brains. And that little claw clutching a whole clove of garlic! Very cool.

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.

It's interesting that Grossman places Pastis in the continuum of Mediterranean anise flavored liqueurs and spirits. That's a point of view I've always subscribed to. Yet many spirits enthusiasts seem to place Absinthe and its supposed bastard offspring Pastis outside of that grouping. I've no idea why, as, as far as I can tell, Anise and herb flavored spirits were enjoyed well before Dr. Ordinaire, (if he existed at all,) supposedly "invented" Absinthe. To me, the Pernod and Ricard Pastis, with their relatively simple herbal flavor profiles, fall squarely into the tradition of these Mediterranean liquors and liqueurs.

Interesting. I wasn't aware of Bonny Doon's new Eau de Vies. The cherry is definitely aged 13 years. They imply aging on the Peach; but, don't say how long. And on the Raspberry Eau de Vie page: