eje

I was already being pretty generous with both the whiskey portion and dash size; but, go ahead, sounds good to me. Adding the Wray & Nephew, you might need to call it Brain-Cell Eraser, or something... The Brain-storm is an example of a single serving, volume based recipe. Allowing that the "Wineglass" measure is indeed about 2 oz, this would, as written, be a very small cocktail. By the way, I do find some Brain-storm Cocktail recipes which call for Scotch instead of Irish. These usually use Italian Vermouth instead of French. In addition, in "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks", Embury makes this cocktail with Rye instead of Irish Whiskey.

Brain-Storm Cocktail 1/2 Wineglass Irish Whisky (1 1/2 oz Red Breast Whisky) 2 Dashes Benedictine (1 Barspoon Benedictine) 2 Dashes French Vermouth (1 Barspoon Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth) Squeeze orange peel on top. (Drop peel into mixing glass. - eje) Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. I liked this one a lot, actually. It's fairly subtle, as cocktails go. Whisky, herby, orange. Sophisticated, I'd say.

An interesting orange liqueur tidbit in Gary Regan's column for the San Francisco Chronicle this week. New Orleans cocktail journeys to Cognac Also includes a rather nice sounding orange liqueur and Cognac based drink called "La Tour Eiffel".

My first muddler was one similar to the ones Fat Guy linked to. Brown varnish, though, not red. I do find it too short to work well in mixing tins or tempered pint glasses. I think a 10" muddler would be much better. Works fine for muddling in the glass, as for Caipirinhas. Initially, I dismissed recommendations that I needed to sand the finish off. One day, though, I noticed that, yes, chips of colored varnish were missing from the business end. At which point, embarrassed that anyone might have sampled a cocktail with varnish chips, I took it down to the garage and spent about an hour sanding the rest of the varnish off. Anyway, the one chrisamirault initially linked to, looks like a good compromise between cost and function. Though, as jmfangio points out, if you've already got something similar in your kitchen, you may not need to invest. Pestle from your China Cap, maybe...

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, April 20, 2007 Man, 35, seeks grapes for serious relationship, Olivia Wu THE SIPPING NEWS: In our glasses Vodka for special moments? Organic wines need sheep -- and sulfites New Zealand water trickles into U.S. Wine Business Insider: Bronco president unveils proposal for glass plant in Napa, Cyril Penn Spirits: New Orleans cocktail journeys to Cognac, Gary Regan Recipe: La Tour Eiffel Uncorked: Buoyant sommelier reveals what floats his boat, Jane Tunks The Essentials: Super Tuscan producers size up Syrah, Michael Apstein Pairings: Nothing too fishy about pairing salmon and Pinot Noir, Joyce Goldstein Recipe: Salmon Braised in Red Wine with Wine Caramelized Shallots Chronicle Wine Selections: Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $35 and Under, Jon Bonné The Cheese Course: Pecorino di Moliterno aged in cool mountain town, Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: CAV Wine Bar & Kitchen, Carol Ness "Even in San Francisco, rare is the cocktail spot that gives you a choice of 31 wines by the glass -- and that doesn't even count the 13 dessert wines, ports and Madeiras. CAV's wide-ranging list is the main reason to resist Zuni's still-powerful siren song and head a few storefronts west on Market Street. None of it is the same old same old. And the seasonal California cooking is meant to go with the wines." Bargain Bite: El Zocalo, Tara Duggan "The Bay Area is rich with restaurants that have become such institutions you really should try them at least once, and El Zocalo in the Outer Mission District, in business since the 1960s, is one of them."

Red? If it's painted or shellacked (many are), yer gonna have to sand that off and refinish with food grade mineral oil. Flakes of shellac or paint aren't welcome garnishes in most cocktails. The time you spend sanding, is gonna pretty much eat the additional $10 for the Mr. Mojito muddler.

Had an Opera last night at Alembic. First time I've tried this drink, Martin Miller's Gin, Red Dubonet, Maraschino, and orange peel. Quite nice! Definitely going to go on the regular rotation.

Oh, yeah, sorry, I drew a blank on the common name for "Pride of Madeira" and used the Genus name "Echium". Exactly what I was thinking of. The blue/purple flowers are nice, too, though, the plants can get awfully big and will self seed pretty freely.

Holy crap, man, you had the original bar from the Palace Hotel?! For $500! I thought it burned in the fires after the quake! I hope later we will find out what happened to it! Another great installment, by the way, thanks!

I had a lamb main course which, while on the small side, I quite enjoyed. I remember it had pea puree and some other interesting features. One of our London friends, though, had a clam pasta, which he thought fine; but, rather ridiculously overpriced for spaghetti con vongole. In general, it seemed like the exchange rates made Ireland seem more expensive for our London friends, than it did for us. I thought Ireland was expensive; but, not crazy expensive, compared to San Francisco or New York. London, though, was particularly painful for us, this time around.

Yes, you can add it to your basket. However, when you try to go through the checkout process, the punsch will be removed from your basket, "due to customs reasons". Or at least that's what has happened the last few times I've tried. I sent them enquiries using their online feedback system, and they've never replied.

That's all interesting stuff! I think the germ of this question was planted last holiday season when I visited the Harvey House exhibit at the Grand Canyon, and noticed the cocktail prices on some of the sample menus there. The menu was from the 30s or 40s and most cocktails were on par with those jmfangio's menu, mostly ranging in the 25-50 cent range. While googling, I did find this more recent Harvey House menu. According to the referring website this is from the 1950s, and cocktails on it range from 65 cents for a Martini to 80 cents for a "Manhattan with Branded Whiskey". It seems to me, though, the economics of a restaurant or hotel with cocktails, and a stand alone bar, would be quite different. Is that the case? For the record, most bars and restaurants in SF that feature cocktails and decent spirits, are currently charging in the neighborhood of $9-12 US. In London, the cocktail bars whose menus I checked, were charging 9-12 Pounds (or, with the exchange rate, roughly, $18-24 US). Though, as a reminder, you aren't expected to tip at bars in England.

I haven't had any luck trying to contact the folks at The Northerner, though, I've never tried phoning. I guess I'm not that excited about paying what I imagine will be exorbitant shipping charges, otherwise I would try harder. I can tell you that Haus Alpenz, (importers of Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur and Lauria Alpine Cream,) are hoping to bring a Batavia Arrack into the US some time this year. If we're lucky, and the TTB is willing, we'll all be making our own Arrack Punsch soon...

Hi Simon, I don't want to make any generalizations, as our experience and time was so limited. We had great and friendly service at The Winding Stair, Mermaid Cafe, and most pubs in Dublin. Town Bar & Grill we regretted a bit, as it seems to take itself a bit too seriously as a dining destination, while not quite living up to its prices with the quality of food or service. Maybe because it is more of a tourist town, or maybe everyone is just crabby because of the water problem; but, we didn't find Galway, in general, to be as friendly as Dublin. I do really wish we had taken Corinna's advice and gone to Ard Bia instead of the Malt House. The servers at the Malt House were fine, just really apparently young, part-time workers, not professionals.

You're right and a bit wrong. Apparently a word similar to "Arak" means something like "distilled wine" in Arabic and can be used to refer to any distilled spirit. There is no connection, beyond both being distilled spirits, between Sri Lankan Arrack and Lebanese Arak. Sri Lankan Arrack is distilled Palm Wine. That is to say, palm trees are tapped, the sap oozes out, it is allowed to ferment, and then it is distilled. The resulting alcohol is kind of similar to rum and/or tequila. Though, it is often made illegally in both Sri Lanka and parts of Africa, and may or may not involve 100% palm wine. Lebenese Arak is usually (though not always) based on distilled grape wine and is most often flavored with anise seed, making it a bit similar to Ouzo and spirits like that. Batavia Arrack is from Indonesia and based on sugarcane, making it a bit similar to rum. However, instead of yeast, a fermented red rice is used to start the fermentation of the cane, giving it a unique flavor and smell. After posting the above, I did finally get to try some real Batavia Arrack and Swedish Punsch, and realize the punch I created had little to do with real Swedish Punsch. On the other hand, it's closer to Swedish punsch than any other rum substitution I can think of.

Well, we survived the excitement in Galway. Dublin was quite nice. We ate at Town Bar & Grill, Mermaid Cafe, and The Winding Stair. Thanks so much for the recommendation of The Winding Stair. It was one of the best meals of our trip. Town Bar & Grill was alright. The food was fine; but, a bit pricey for what you get, and the service was, well, bossy and a bit rude. Quite a pleasant brunch at Mermaid Cafe. If I lived in Dublin I would probably be a regular. One of our friends had gone to college at Trinity, so we let him pick the bars. It was a bit of a blur; but, among others, we had a nice time at The Stag's Head and Mulligan's. Also did the Guinness tour. While a bit disappointed with the "tour", as it's really more of a display or museum, the Guinness at the end was very, very good. We didn't have as much luck with food in Galway. An OK meal at The Malt House (wish we had gone to Ard Bia!) Again, expensive for what it was, and service was amateurish. After cooking some fantastic pork purchased from The Ginger Pig (in London,) and more amazing pork at The Winding Stair, I was on a bit of a pork fiesta this trip. I again ordered pork at the Malt House, thinking all pork in the UK would be above average. I was wrong. It was as dry and tasteless as most pork in the US. We did have some better than average fish & chips at a place near the Malt House. We took Corinna's advice and stopped at Sheridan's on the Docks (twice). Their eclectic beer selection was a nice change from the usual Guinness and Smithwick's. Also had a nice time at the Crane Bar. We went on a day trip to Connemara and Kylemore Abbey and, of course, bought the obligatory sweaters. One odd thing, when you call for reservations in Dublin, many restaurants slot you in for a range of time. So for example, when you ask for a 6 O'Clock reservation, they tell you you have booked from 6-8. We were confused by this, and thought it a bit odd. First time I can recall being explicitly told the time a reservation ends. Anyway, thanks for all the helpful advice! We had a very nice time and I do hope will be able to return again another time.

Thyme is a big bee attractor, along with rosemary and many sages. The generalizations I've read say that white or blue flowers tend to attract bees, Red flowers attract hummingbirds, and plants with flat, landing pad-like flowers are "designed" to be attractive to butterflies. The big weird shaped flowers tend to be moth (or other) pollinated. The best bee attractor I've ever planted was Honeywort (Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens') or Blue Shrimp Plant, Blue Wax Flower... Honeywort (PlantFiles link) Boy the bees just went crazy for it! Other plants in the same family, like Borage, BlueBells, and Echium seem just as attractive to bees.

Looks like there is one from Malta called Bajtra. Bajtra Website Or I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to make. Soak a pound or so of cut up prickly pears fruit in 4 cups of vodka for a month or so, adjust sweetness with 2-1 sugar syrup, and chill. Though, do be careful of those tricky little spines when you're cleaning the fruit!

I don't see why not. I know some of the bakers over in the eGullet baking forum use them to get the sugar level exactly right for their sorbets. You might ask in that forum about judging sugar levels in solutions with a refractometer, if you want a definitive answer. Blackberry and tea shrub does sound great. Wish I weren't on the Left Coast of America or I'd be on the other side of your bar right now asking for one.

If you've got Maraschino, the Floridita Daiquiri has always been very popular when I've made it for parties. la Floridita Daiquiri (cocktaildb link) I always get comments like, "Hey, this is like a rum margarita," or, "I thought Daiquiris were girly drinks."

For those of you who are Incanto fans, Chef Chris Cosentino will be the challenger on the Iron Chef America first airing April 22, 2007. He also brought along Jack Falstaff's Jonnatan Leiva and Boulevard's Ravi Kapur as his assistants. The restaurant will be closed that night for a staff viewing party. As I've read he challenged Mario Batali, and given both of their predilections for the "fifth quarter", I'm hoping the featured ingredient will be some exciting variety meat.

Chuckle, no that is just for smell. They also give you a forest flavor "film" and instruct you to put that on your tongue before they pour the liquid onto the moss. I really enjoyed that they explicitly used scent as part of the meal. They also sprayed a bit of lime scent into the air while we were enjoying the frozen lime mousse. I didn't really talk about the wine pairings; but, they were astoundingly well chosen and quite generous. After the amazing wine parings at Manresa last year, and this dinner, I've really come around to the idea of letting the sommelier do the work for me. There is absolutely no way I could have chosen as well. And frankly, the by the glass prices for all the wine we enjoyed would have well exceeded the cost of the pairing. Also, in this case, the inclusion of a very nice Manzanilla sherry for the "appetizer" courses was a pleasant surprise. After some initial resistance, I've started to quite enjoy sherry in some settings. The service staff were also a real joy to interact with. Some parts of the evening seemed obviously scripted, almost a confluence of dinner and theatre. On the whole, though, they seemed to be having almost as fun serving these unusual items, as the patrons did partaking of them. Sadly, my iPod was defective, so I didn't really get the full effect of "Sound of the Sea". To me, something subtler would be more effective. Directional speakers, with a very quiet ambient soundtrack timed to each table's courses?

Dinner for 4, Fat Duck, Brea, UK. As advised we took the train out from London to Maidenhead. Unfortunately, while waiting for other friends to arrive only found a boring chain pub (The Bell). Cab to the Fat Duck. After some early disagreements about Champagne, (Fear of Rosé!) our party went with the NV Tattinger to open, and then ordered the tasting menu with accompanying wines. While we discussed we were given what appeared to be house cured olives and the choice of brown or white bread. Starters First course was the "Nitro-Green Tea and Lime Mousse" prepared tableside. Unfortunately, I blew the picture of this one. A spoonful of green tea, egg white, and lime is quick frozen table side in a bowl of liquid nitrogen. Quite refreshing. We were then served a pair of jellies. One beetroot, one orange. Our server suggested we enjoy, "the orange one first." Amusingly, the orange colored jelly is beetroot and the red colored jelly orange. Of course he followed up by asking which we enjoyed most, orange or beet. Next dish was the Oyster, Passion Fruit Jelly, Lavendar. Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream, Red Cabbage Gazpacho We weren't at all sure what to expect with this one; but, the flavors again combine nicely. Whoever is doing the smaller than Brunoise on the vegetable in the "Gazpacho" deserves a medal of honor. Jelly of Quail, Langoustine Cream, Parfait of Fois Gras, Oak Moss, and Truffle Toast (Homage to Alain Chapel) Magnus describes this dish up-topic. It was one of the true standouts among an evening of stand out dishes. Just an amazing combination of flavors and textures. Manzanilla en Rama, Barbadillo(Sherry) Snail Porridge, Joselito Ham, Shaved Fennel 2004 Vin de Pays des cotes catalanes, Le Soula, G. Gauby, Roussillon. We greeted the snail porridge with a small amount of trepidation, as none of us are huge Escargot fans. Well, actually, I'm not sure how many of us had tried that particular mollusc previous to this evening. The trepidation was completely unfounded and the snails tender and delicious. Roast Fois Gras, Almond fluid gel, cherry and chamomile 2003 Vinoptima Gewurztraminer Reserve, Gisborne Another course that had us oooing and ah-ing. Simply the most delicious fois I've ever been served. Sound of the Sea Rashiku Ginjo-Sake, Yamatogawa Various sea creatures and vegetables accompanied by a foam and "sand". After the richness of the fois, this was a nice change. Salmon Poached with Liquorice, Pertuis Asparagus, Pink Grapefruit, 'Manni' Olive Oil 2001 Quinta Da Falorca Reserva, Dao I was ambivalent about this one. Not so much the flavor, which was quite nice; but, the texture of the "liquorice" coating. It was just a bit too firm. Reminded me of plastic or rubber. Best End of Lamb, Puree of onion and thyme Seems like this one may have morphed slightly from the description on the printed menu. In any case a delicious presentation of lamb. The little napoleon-like stack was particularly delicious. 1995 Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico, Masi, Veneto Selection of Cheese I went for one stinky one whose name I forget, the most delicious rouquefort I've ever had, and a very nice fresh goat cheese. Hot and Iced Tea I found this more interesting than compelling. Nonetheless a nice change of beverage from the wines. Of course, that won't stop me from shortly stealing this concept for a cocktail idea I have. Mrs Marshall's Margaret Cornet I missed getting picture of this dessert. It was a pleasing sherbert in an edible sugar cone. It was accompanied by a leaflet containing information about the ground breaking food writer and ice cream maker Mrs. Marshall. Pine Sherbet Fountain Apparently, this is a version of a candy the Chef enjoyed as a boy. Here in the US, I'll admit to enjoying both "Pixie Stix" and the salaciously named "Lick 'Em Stix" as a child. Another one I found more interesting than compelling. Mango and Douglas Fir Puree, Bavarois of lychee and mango, blackcurrant sorbet Schneiderberger Riesling Eiswein, Weinviertel As the desserts go, this one was a home run for me. Carrot and Orange Tuile, Beetroot Jelly Missed getting a picture of these. The Tuile is on a stick like a lollypop, and the Beetroot Jelly also served personally. Parsnip Chips, Parsnip Milk An amusing and tasty diversion. Nitro-Scrambled Egg and Bacon Ice Cream, Pain Perdu and tea jelly NV, Buller, Fine Old Muscat, Rutherglen, Victoria More dinner theater. A delicious pain perdu, bacon ice cream, and candied "bacon". Whisky Wine Gum, Violet Tartelet The texture of these were quite interesting. I don't know enough about the various modern thickeners to tell you which it was. As they dissolved they seemed to coat your mouth with flavor. The Scotch whiskey jelly was quite intense as was the violet. Sadly, then came the bill. Fortunately, we had been so well satiated that I should be able to ignore how many Dollars the Pounds translate into, until my credit card bill arrives later this month. I'm afraid the world did look a bit like this after... ...and the near perfection of many of these courses has really spoiled me (for the time being) on mediocre restaurant fare. edit - add beetroot and orange jelly picture.

We've talked about a bar's Pour Costs before, however, much has been made recently of the current high cost of cocktails in larger cities around the globe. I was wondering if anyone has ever undertaken research as to what cocktails would have cost in the past, adjusted for inflation and cost of living. It doesn't really make sense to me that cocktails should cost relatively more now, as almost all of the typical ingredients are easier to get, cheaper, and more consistently available. I remember my grandparents talking about the one time they received a gift of a box of oranges during the depression. They referred to it like they had been given a box of gold. It also seems unlikely that things like fresh lemons, oranges, and limes would even have been available year 'round until relatively recently. I don't believe conveniences like frozen concentrated juices were even invented until the 1940s. edit - add link to previous 'pour cost' topic.

Wow! Some really tasty sounding suggestions. I'm really looking forward to trying many of these. Here's a link to the roundup of the various submissions over on Married...with dinner: MxMo XIV Roundup