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I tend to think spirits based Amari are a relatively recent phenomenon. That is to say, I can't see anyone making them based on neutral spirits until industrially produced neutral spirits became a cost effective option. And I think the origin dates of Campari and Fernet in the late 1800s fits in nicely with that theory. As far as I can tell wine based, bitter herb beverages, whether you consider them the ancestors of Vermouth or Amari, have been made in Italy pretty much as far back as they have been making wine in that country. To me, it makes sense to think of these wine based beverages as the ancestors of both vermouth and Amari.

The paraffin coating can smell pretty bad, if you flame your citrus peels.

"Molasses spirits with artificial flavor added"? Wacky. As far as Anise flavored spirits go, "Arack" can be quite nice. Often less sweetened than ouzo or pastis. Though this Israeli one looks dubious. Useless for 19th century punch, but the nicer Aracks often come from Lebanon and are often a better and cheaper Absinthe substitute than Pastis or Ouzo.

Asked Mr. Shoemaker and he said their pineapple water is made in a similar way to tomato water.

My guess would be that "pineapple water" is just fresh pineapple juice. "tomato water" is where you chop tomatoes and then leave them in a bag for the clear juice to drain out slowly just via gravity. Could do something similar with pineapples. On the other hand, it could be pineapple agua fresca. I will try to find out.

Robert Vermeire also has a lot of good attribution information. Cocktails: How to Mix Them (Mud Puddle Books link.)

I guess they don't do many egg or cream drinks! It really isn't possible to clean cream with just hot water. Tins and/or glassware that have had egg in them need to be cleaned with detergent and warm or cool water. Just hot water won't cut it, they'll just continue to smell of egg.

Just to add, pretty much the same rules apply to barware as to any other kitchen utensils, serving glasses, and equipment. I can't think of any particularly special cases, where the normal rules of cleaning everything else in your kitchen don't apply.

Depends what they're made of, I suppose. But if we're talking about stainless and/or tempered glass, the dishwasher should be fine. Wish I had one. Depending on type/quality of stainless and your water, you may see spotting or corrosion when you use the heat dry cycle and/or leave them to dry on their own. So it may be best to wash/sanitize and then hand dry.

"Honey Crisp"? Why on earth do American distillers insist on using eating apples, like Honey Crisp and Golden Delcious for Apple Brandy and Cider. It's no wonder most of the American Apple brandies are insipid.

Some conversation the other night with Mr. Erick Castro regarding Punch. He manages the bar at Rickhouse in San Francisco, where punch has been big business. Interestingly, at Rick House, they make most of their punches a la minute. They have a few recipes with the amounts nailed down for groups and just go at it with a big measuring cup. In addition to the fun for the customers of sharing a punch bowl with a group of friends, this enables Rick House to make drinks for 5-8 guests in only slightly more time than it would take to make a couple cocktails. Mr. Daniel Hyatt and I have also had some luck serving punches for the last 3 or 4 Savoy Cocktail Book night at Alembic. Having a prepared punch on hand takes some of the pressure off of us on these nights where we have to look up nearly every cocktail we make. We've also found some continuing interest in punch bowls for groups, which we usually make a la minute. Fish House is an easy one which I've done and Daniel has done others. Have you, or establishments in your city, been experimenting with Punch? I'd be curious to know how wide spread a phenomenon it is. It will be interesting to see if this interest in punch continues or if is just a fad of the moment.

Actually found a few bottles of the Pages Parfait Amour at BevMo on the way home. Interestingly, as friend of the farmer notes above, it does also call itself "Creme de Violette" in small letters on the label. It will be interesting to compare to the violettes I have around. Wish I had a Brizard Parfait Amour to compare it to, but that seems to have disappeared from the liquor stores around here.

Oh yeah, besides, nut sedge was brought to Spain by the Muslims. It was originally cultivated in Egypt as a food source. I would guess some nut sedge beverage or another significantly predates its use in Spain.

It appears La Tienda sells Tiger Nuts (Chufa, Nut Sedge Kernels), so not so hard to find. To me the idea that almond or rice orgeat became this or that beverage as it moved across cultures is the wrong way to look at it. Cooking or soaking nuts and grains in water is just the easiest way to get some portion of their nutritional value out. Every culture has some sort of grain or nut beverage: Barley Water, Soy Milk, Horchata, Orgeat, Alote, etc. They are all basically the same thing. You don't need an oven or even a stove necessarily to make them and they are palatable to everyone including infants and invalids. I believe it is more like convergent evolution, the common way to solve the common problem of getting nutrition from stored dried nuts and grains. Not only that but as cooking techniques advance these beverages then become the foundation for more substantial food sources like tofu, tortillas, bread, beer, oat cakes, Marzipan, etc.

I think when Haus Alpenz was initially designing the product they got a lot of feedback from drink makers that they wanted a less sweet violet liqueur with a more natural tasting violet flavor. Ironically, now that Alpenz has given them that single noted violet liqueur, a lot of them have decided they would prefer something closer to a Creme Yvette. There is a spectrum of violet liqueur flavors depending on how natural the flavors are, how intense the violet flavor is, the level of sweetness, and if there are adjunct flavorings used. Of the ones I've tried, the Benoit Serres and Rothman and Winter are the most intensely violet, while the Yvette and Hermes are on the other end of the spectrum with citrus and vanilla notes. I've seen Miclo, but can't justify another bottle of violet liqueur. I would like to pick up the Pages Parfait Amour and Creme Yvette (if it ever reaches the shelves).

First off, the shelf life on naturally flavored, undistilled liqueurs is not fantastic. A lot of folks have commented on how St. Germain "evolves" in the bottle, but I believe the R&W violette is probably prone to similar changes. If you can, buy 375ml bottles. I actually wish Haus Alpenz sold it in bitters size dasher bottles. Second, creme de violette is a finicky ingredient, and I think any recipe that calls for more than 1/4 oz is the result of over enthusiasm for the product. Personally, depending on the drink size, I think a bar spoon (teaspoon) is plenty for an Aviation. Sure Creme Yvette is probably easier to mix with, as is the Hermes Violette. But neither are really Creme de Violette and the original recipe for the aviation called for "2 Dashes of Creme de Violette" not "2 Dashes of Creme Yvette".

*cough* so what about almond, soy, or rice milk? They have about as much to do with dairy as chicken fetuses.

I guess it's just another of those things where there is never one right answer. Just the one right answer for whomever you are serving at the time. From people like me who think bittered soda water is perfectly fine on an "alcohol free day" to someone who will freak out if they find out there is a tiny drop of spirits in their drink. Women who think the odd glass of wine isn't going to hurt baby, to those who will call child protective services if there is alcohol based vanilla extract in their muffin while they are pregnant.

Funnily, I was wondering about this recently too. Someone asked if we could make a "virgin pina colada". My initial response was no, as we don't have coconut cream. But then someone else suggested we could make something similar with orgeat. Seemed like an OK idea, but then I wondered whether the orgeat had Brandy. Which got me to wondering about flavorings, bitters, etc. and whether they are OK in non-alcoholic drinks. Generally, I interpret "virgin" drinks literally, and only allow myself to use juices and syrups I know don't contain any alcohol. Am I being too strict on myself?

Marian Biodynamic Farms make what I guess is best called a Pisco Style California Brandy. I've not yet seen it in stores, but several bars in the area use it in cocktails. Tasty stuff!

It's not uncommon for folks to say that many species of cocktail originated during prohibition, especially those where the spirit is less dominant. The idea being the additional ingredients were being added to cover up low quality spirits. Not having seem the B.A.R. wired courses, I am not sure exactly what the revered gentlemen might be refuting. However, going through the Savoy Cocktail Book, most of the cocktails actually have pre-prohibition sources, even the horrible ones. To me, the big changes that happened during prohibition were: Women started going to bars. People started making cocktails at home. It would be interesting to see an accurate accounting of those cocktails which can be confirmed to have originated in American during prohibition.

3/4 Noilly original dry, 3/4 carpano, 3/4 Macallan Cask Strength, dashes angostura. Well, it is quite a different drink than the subtle pleasure of the affinity with the Asyla. A bit more heat and maybe less body. Still, it's one of those, "Hm, that's interesting, maybe I should have another sip. Oh oops, it's gone. Another please!" kind of formulations.

Dude, are you on crack? The Mai Tai doesn't rise to the same "level of classic" as the Between the Sheets (equal parts brandy, cointreau, and rum with a dash of lemon=diabetic coma!), Bronx (fine when you get that one good sour orange, once a year), Bellini (not even a cocktail!), and Blue Blazer (more a gimmick than a proper drink!)?

Piccad Cocktail. 3 Dashes Angostura Bitters. 1/2 Caperitif. (1 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth) 1/2 Dry Gin. (1 oz North Shore Distiller’s No. 11 Gin) Shake well with two or three pieces of lemon rind and strain. Still no real idea what Caperitif might have been, beyond a rich yellow quinquina, similar in character to vermouth. Dolin Blanc, though a bit sweet, remains my current favorite substitution. And one of my current favorite vermouths. With its relatively large proportion of bitters (3 dashes!) this is a great cocktail to showcase both the character of angostura as a flavoring and that of Dolin Blanc. Happy to report that North Shore’s products are now starting to show up in some liquor stores and bars! Even the Distiller’s No. 11, which remains one of my favorite new American gins. Should you order this cocktail at tomorrow’s Savoy Night at Alembic Bar? Did I mention this is a great cocktail? Yes? Well, let me just say it again, “this is a great cocktail!”

Got this the other day. Have yet to try any of the more "rogue" cocktails, but I like the attitude. Nice pictures, too. I believe I met Kirk a year or two ago when he was guest bartending at Death & Co. Did have, at the time, the pleasure of sampling his flaming chartreuse swizzle. Great drink, great technique, and impressed me as a nice guy. Will have to get down to Cure one of these days. My main complaint would be that the book is far too short! Well, that and Blurb rips you off on the shipping.