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Absente sells wormwood extract to add to their not very convincing Absinthe-a-like. The idea is the addition of wormwood extract will make it closer to real Absinthe. This is bullshit. You can also buy Wormwood extract at health food stores etc. The problem is that when (real) absinthe is distilled most of the bad stuff in wormwood is left behind, leaving only the scent. Wormwood extract, on the other hand, is poisonous, and has no real relation to Absinthe.

My wife and I had a very nice meal at COCO500 last night. Service was friendly and prompt. Started with a couple cocktails. I ordered a negroni, which was perfectly executed, and my wife had an original cocktail called something like Persephone's knees. It was gin, pomegranate, and lemon. Could have used a touch more lemon and came off as a bit perfume-ey. Really the only slightly off note of the night. To start we had their Brandade appetizer with fennel crackers. Delicious. We also had "The Wedge" which is a wedge of iceberg lettuce with a Point Reyes Blue Cheese Dressing, pickled onions, and bacon. Also delicious. For mains, we had the catch of the day, roasted steelhead served with roasted vegetables, and the stuffed pork loin. The pork loin is stuffed with figs, gorgonzola, and walnuts served on a bed of tradivo and drizzled with aged balsamic. I was afraid it might be too sweet; but, the bitter greens nicely complemented the figs and balsamic. We have an ongoing competition, as to who orders the best mains. We called this one a draw. These courses were nicely complemented with a bottle of Joseph Swann Pinot Noir Cuvee de Trois. For dessert we had coconut tapioca, coconut cookie, with a scoop of thai basil gelato. We do love tapioca, so this was an easy choice. But, that gelato was out of this world. Really going to have to figure out how to make that. The restaurant provided a very comfortable and comforting environment, along with some pretty tasty food. We'll definitely be back.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, March 23, 2007 Albarino is in the air, Tim Teichgraeber Tastings: A route less traveled, Jon Bonné THE SIPPING NEWS: Sitting pretty in the Veuve Clicquot loveseat The making of a wine lover Local beer pairings Vineland, the Musical! A toast to the Opera House Uncorked: Pairing wine with pleasure, Jon Bonné Wine Business Insider: Paso Robles asks for 11 new AVAs, Cyril Penn Pairings: A beef stew that's almost as good as a Roman holiday, Joyce Goldstein Recipe: Clove-Scented Beef from Rome (Garofolato di Manzo alla Romana) Chronicle Wine Selections: California Petite Sirah, Jon Bonné The Cheese Course: French farmsteads craft the best Saint-Nectaire, Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: Nihon, Amanda Berne "If the Kabuki Springs & Spa in Japantown opened a lounge, it might look like Nihon. With a pebbled floor, dim but warmly lit room and a fashionable, affluent and relaxed-looking crowd, the only difference is, well, the whiskey list. Guests can nibble on small appetizers or order lots of little plates to make up a meal with Nihon's interesting takes on Japanese classics." Bargain Bite: La Petite, Miriam Morgan "Vietnamese-food lovers tired of waiting to get into the perpetually jammed Saigon City in downtown San Mateo now have a new option: Saigon City's sister, La Petite, a couple of miles south on El Camino Real." Critics Picks: Hayes Valley "What a difference In a neighborhood once defined by the Central Freeway roaring overhead, a plethora of restaurants has come to life, including the German Suppenkuche, the Japanese Sebo and French brasserie Absinthe"

After reading this topic, I couldn't resist heading over to 21st Amendment to try their Oyster Point Oyster Stout. Wasn't sure about oyster content; but, the bartender assured me real oysters were involved. According to the website, 20 pounds of Hog Island oysters per batch. Anyway, a really nice stout. Honestly one of the nicer American stouts I can remember tasting lately. Can't say the Oysters make a huge impact. Wasn't fishy or anything. The beer does have a richness and (maybe imagined) briny taste as it warms. It was nice enough that I ordered a second pint without any consideration. If you're in the San Francisco area, recommended. They also had a really nice interpretation of a Double IPA style. Hoppy and complex, yet not as sweet as many of the versions I've tried. Also highly recommended.

Got the Japanese ice trays out of the bags last night and tried to fill them. The "Ice Tray Rock Type" is pretty much useless. It has no snap or any other function to hold the top tray onto the bottom one. You'd have to put a C Clamp or rubber band on it, I suppose. Second tray may have worked. Though, the fact that it is made out of hard plastic may make getting it apart without breaking the plastic difficult. We'll see about that later this evening. Fortunately, they were both really cheap...

Gave this a try last night and was not entirely convinced by the 50-50 sugar free version. And, yes, I did dial down the size to a more modest volume. 1 oz vermouth, 1 oz Gin, juice of 1/2 lime. Going to have to get some smaller cocktail glasses. Need to pick up some more limes so I can give the MacElhone/Craddock ratio a try. By the way, the Bronx Terrace is a bit similar to the Presidente Vincent Cocktail, which is Rum, Dry Vermouth, Lime, and a touch of simple. Though, the PV does recommend a sugar rim, which I could also see working with the Bronx Terrace.

If anyone lives in the Bay Area, allow me to plug the nice folks at Seltzer Sisters.

Simon Difford was recently in town (San Francisco) plugging his and Robert Cooper's new liqueur, St. Germain. Elderflower cocktails have become something of a flavor of the moment, with a cocktail featuring the ingredient winning the cocktail competition at last year's Cocktail 200 in Las Vegas and Mr. Tony Abou-Ganim featuring Elderflower Syrup as an ingredient in one of the cocktails during his appearance on Iron Chef. Unfortunately, Elderflower Syrup can be pretty hard to come by. D'Arbo is the only (?) supplier in the US and their distribution is spotty and limited to gourmet shops and specialty grocers. Rob Cooper, (who is (?) involved somehow at Philadelphia's Charles Jacquin et Cie,) decided to step in and produce an Elderflower liqueur. The process is pretty fantastic. They are using only wild gathered, fresh Alpine Elderflowers and building the liqueur on an Eau de Vie base. The resulting liqueur has the beautiful clear scent of elderflower without some of the off flavors or, well, syrup-i-ness of the D'Arbo Elderflower Syrup. I don't think St. Germain will be a completely one to one substitute in cocktails calling for the syrup; but, it is a great product all on its own. I'm really looking forward to experimenting with it in cocktails. I believe St. Germain is currently available in New York and on the cusp of arriving in California. They are hoping for wider availability as the year progresses. It looks like it should be at retail for around $30 US per 750ml. The bottle, by the way, is also quite lovely. Appearing more like a fine perfume than a liqueur. Now if only Mr. Cooper or Charles Jacquin et Cie could be convinced to start making Crème Yvette again, (or even better, an authentic violet liqueur)...

First off, let me say that I live in the Bay Area and think our water is really pretty good. Almost all of our drinking water comes from runoff from the Sierra snow pack. A number of restaurants in the area have stopped serving bottled water. Incanto was the first I was aware of. To quote their website: Personally, I think it is a great idea. There are some things I think it is worth thinking about when you are out to dinner. Cocktails, wine, food courses... I would prefer not to have to talk to a "water sommelier" as well.

Sorry, couldn't tell scale from the picture! Thought, they might be full size wine barrels. Where did you get them? Are they used? Will you try to char the inside? So many questions...

Well, now you just have to make about 240 gallons of bitters, and you should be able to fill those...

I've been operating on the assumption that the Savoy fractions are based on percentages of the total amount of pre-chill liquid in the cocktail. Do you think they mean a fraction of a standard measure, (like a 2oz jigger,) instead? edit - I guess it doesn't really matter, as the fractions always add up to 1. Just a different way to look at it.

I've gone back and forth on the size and not really made much of a point of getting bogged down on it. Then you have to start worrying about the size of lemons, limes, and oranges which have also changed significantly in the last 50 years. Not to mention the proof of the alcohol. The only cocktails which are consistently volume based are the ones which use measures like "glasses" or "wine glasses". Allowing that these "glasses" or "wine glasses" are something like 2 oz, I have found the portion size is probably somewhere closer to 2oz than 3oz. That is to say, when I cut the 6 person recipe in half, I end up with 2 large-ish or 3 smallish cocktails. I think, too, though, that different cocktails may have different portion sizes. Really, no one's going to want to drink much more than a 1 1/2 oz Pousse Cafe or other very sweet dessert cocktail. The other ones I think should be fairly small are the 100% booze cocktails, like the Bunny Hug or Barton Special. I think we're really talking about something like "shooters" in those cases. On the other hand, a less than 3 oz Daiquiri or Bacardi Special is just a little sad.

http://www.le-sanctuaire.com I think they are opening another retail outlet in San Francisco some time in the near future.

It's interesting, there are a few unsweetened citrus cocktails in the Savoy. The Bennett is even more basic, being just Gin, Lime, and bitters. I'll have to give this one a try. Sometimes bracingly tart can be a good thing. (Had a most excellent and bracingly tart Pegu Club Cocktail at Slanted Door on Monday. Too bad that restaurant is so crowded, as the cocktails are worth a stop all on their own.) In my Duffy/Beard "Official Mixer's Manual" the Bronx Terrace seems to have morphed into something called the "Bronx River", which is Gin, Dry Vermouth, juice of one whole lemon, and a half teaspoon of sugar.

Maraschino's a bit different from most liqueurs, in that it is distilled. Liqueurs based on the infusion of ingredients, do tend to lose some zip over time (years). Liqueurs based on dairy and egg have a shelf life after opening and may go bad or coagulate (congeal?). However, distilled liqueurs, like Maraschino, Chartreuse, and Benedictine, last pretty much forever.

Here's a related question I'll throw out. What happens to dead blogs? Right now there is a lot of great content on blogs. Recipes, commentary, reviews, stories. Obviously, at some point hosts will die (sorry to be a downer), domains will expire, etc. Unlike, say, Usenet, there is no real archive or mechanism for extending the life of this content in perpetuity. I'd be willing to bet that there are a lot of people who don't even bother saving local archives of their blogged content (Nudge! Nudge!).

Bronx (Silver) Cocktail The Juice of 1/4 Orange The White of 1 Egg 1/4 French Vermouth (3/4 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth) 1/4 Italian Vermouth (3/4 oz Cinzano Rosso Vermouth) 1/2 Dry Gin (1 1/2 oz Boodles Gin) Shake well and strain into large wine glass. Haven't quite decided what I think of the Boodles. It was on sale, so I figured I had little to lose. Flavor-wise it seems most similar to Plymouth Gin. Much lighter, though. The other night I tried it in my usual Martini (2 oz Gin, 1/2 oz Vermouth, dash orange bitters). To me the flavor of the Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth was really the dominant element in the cocktail. It also really seemed to call out for an olive, rather than my usual lemon twist. Here in the Bronx (Silver) something with a little more spine, like Tanqueray, might be more appropriate. Still, all in all, a fine Sunday cocktail.

Well, at least to the new Daiso store in Daly City. Evidently large cubes are fascinating to cats, as well. Clear instructions. Not sure what these warnings say, though. Anyone able to translate? Will report back on how they work.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, March 17, 2007 Spirits: Rye, resurrected, Gary Regan Spirits: Which Whisk(e)y, Jon Bonné THE SIPPING NEWS: Shake it up Hops make you smell better Look out, world Green parties Stags Leap redux Letters To Wine: Vintners Hall of Fame inductees gets readers talking Pairings: A Greek classic for lush Merlots, Joyce Goldstein Recipe: Moussaka Chronicle Wine Selections: Napa Merlot, Jon Bonné The Cheese Course: A dairy farm with a mission to make Ouray, Janet Fletcher Bargain Wines: Southern Hemisphere bottles shake off the vacation blues, W. Blake Gray The Tasting Room: NAPA'S MERLOT KING, Janet Fletcher 96 Hours Bar Bites: N.V. Restaurant & Lounge, Leah Clark "How far would you go for a good drink in a cozy atmosphere? On a recent Saturday night, newlyweds from Redding who had been to N.V. Restaurant & Lounge on their honeymoon were back to share the experience with friends. It's no wonder: The lounge is warm and inviting, with a fireplace and couches where people can sit and chat over a cocktail or glass of wine and share a cheese plate. If you don't like crowds, go earlier on a weekday to beat the after-work crowd." Bargain Bite: Asqew Grill, Laura Compton "When the weather turns unexpectedly balmy, and the neighbors start firing up their grills, what's the backyard-less city dweller to do? Try Asqew Grill in the Castro, one of five locations this Bay Area chain has in San Francisco (there are also locations in Emeryville and San Jose)." Critics Picks: Japanese "Sushi and more ? Bay Area boasts top-notch fare; can't-miss options can be found from Menlo Park to Rohnert Park and points in between"

It was from the wikipedia article I linked above, (and we know how reliable the wikipedia can be). I was wondering about the solubility of gas thing, wasn't sure if gas leaving frozen water was as a result of the crystallization or if, as the apparently incorrect wikpedia article suggests, gas is less soluble in cold water. Thanks for clarifying!

Gary Regan has an article about Rye Whiskey in today's San Francisco Chronicle: Spirits: Rye, resurrected, Gary Regan Nice mentions for local bartenders Jimmy Patrick of Lion and Compass, H. Joseph Ehrmann of Elixir, and Greg Lindgren at Rye.

Instead of boiling, has anyone tried the suggestion to thoroughly chill the water as close to freezing as possible before freezing? Any observable difference? Gonna have to make a trip to IKEA this weekend...

Bronx Cocktail The Juice of 1/4 Orange (Juice 1 Page Mandarin) 1/4 French Vermouth (1 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth) 1/4 Italian Vermouth (1 oz Carpano Punt e Mes) 1/2 Dry Gin (1 oz Beefeater's Gin, 1 oz Tanqueray Gin) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Ahem, this did end up a bit on the extra-large size. But, really, the Bronx is one of my favorite cocktails and I was thirsty. Anyway, I figured David had covered the basics, so I could feel free to do whatever I wanted. I hardly ever get to use Punt e Mes for anything, so its bitter kick seemed like a good idea. Finished off the nearly empty Beefeater's and Tanqueray bottles. The orange we had in the fridge was in worse shape than I had remembered, so the mandarin had to stand in. I've read a number of sources that say the Bronx was something of a cocktail non grata in the 40s and 50s. I don't really understand why. Especially, if you squeeze athe quarter of a juice orange right over the mixing shaker, the light fresh orange juice flavor and the smell of the slightly sharp orange oils are quite pleasant, combining with the gin and vermouths. I'll admit I am slightly more partial to the "Income Tax" or "Bronx with Bitters" so using Punt e Mes gets me closer to that drink. Is the derision heaped on the Bronx because of too much orange juice? Bad syrupy orange juice from concentrate? Bathtub Gin hangovers? Something we can blame on Anita Bryant? Probably not; but, ditch the Minute Maid from concentrate, and rediscover this classic the way it's meant to be.

Some things I discovered this AM. Apparently there is a very similar cocktail (slightly different vermouth to gin ratio and a whole egg) called the "Broker's Flip". There is a cocktail made with unspecified port, sweet vermouth, and curacao also called the "Broken Spur". The port, vermouth, and curacao version appears to be nominally more common, at least in a cursory search of internet sites which collect cocktail recipes. In the cocktaildb, the Savoy version of the Broken Spur is called the "Broken Spur Variation". Though I've never seen it in my travels, Gancia Vermouth appears to still be made. Not sure why it is specified here. Whether its inclusion just means it is important to use a decent Italian Vermouth, if there is some special quality to the Gancia, or if it was an ad/sponsorship thing like the Booth's gin in some of the recipes.