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Great! I'll stop over for a drink, then. Actually, those half-moon "cubes" are good for cracking, however. If you hold one with the flat side down and your hand slightly cupped and whack it in the middle, it cracks nicely, so long as it is cold and dry. I know this tangent probably belongs in the ice thread, but why don't you like shaking with them? (BTW, those tovolo cubes are nice, aren't they?) ← I'm used to shaking with big ice and find the half moons awfully fragile. You end up with a tin full of slush really quickly.

Phoebe Snow Cocktail. 1 Dash Absinthe. (Verte de Fougerolles) 1/2 Brandy. (1 oz Osocalis Alambic Brandy) 1/2 Dubonnet. (1 oz Dubonnet Rouge) Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. Nothing complicated here; but an enjoyable cocktail all the same. Interestingly, like Aunt Jemina and Betty Crocker, Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created as a part of an advertising campaign. “Phoebe Snow, the “maid in white” who promoted the smoke-free anthracite coal used on the Lackawanna Railroad, was the brainchild of one of advertising’s earliest creative geniuses, Earnest Elmo Calkins.” So successful was the character that the Lackawanna Railroad named its first stream lined passenger train after her in 1949. However, as with all things railroad, in later years mounting losses took their toll. “Still, despite fine service and great views, as with the rest of the railroad industry, the Phoebe Snow could not stave off increasing losses as passengers took to their cars and the air for faster, more efficient means of travel. With the loss of the US Postal Service mail contracts in 1966 the Erie Lackawanna decided it was time to retire the Phoebe for good and she made her last run on November 28th of that year.” Should you order this cocktail at the next Savoy Night at Alembic Bar, July 26th? If you’re looking for an uncomplicated before dinner aperitif, I’d give it a, “why not?”

Jerry Thomas calls for "Curacao or Maraschino" liqueur in his Manhattan recipe. My personal favorite Manhattan Recipe, though, is Harry Johnson's from the 1900 edition of his bar book. About the only thing that isn't left to the customer's preference and the bartender's discretion is that the drink contains sweet vermouth and whiskey.

Generally, if I use Punt e Mes in a cocktail that doesn't call for it specifically, I will forgo the aromatic bitters in a cocktail, unless I know it is someone crazy for bitters. I've often wondered how "traditional" the recipes for either Punt e Mes or Carpano Antica are, but have never gotten enough ingredients together to attempt a real reproduction of 19th Century torino vermouth recipes. I know Eric Seed may have made some revelations along these lines in his presentation at Tales this year. Does a Manhattan with Punt e Mes, deserve another name? Maybe not, but it is far enough outside of expectations, that I wouldn't serve it in someones drink unawares, unless it was the house sweet vermouth (*cough*alembic*cough*).

Oddly, I'm completely the other way around. I don't mind using them in rocks drinks, but hate shaking with them. But never fear, my refrigerator's ice maker just stopped working, so it's tovolo cubes all the way, at least for the time being.

Philomel Cocktail* (6 People) 2 1/2 glasses of Sherry. (1 1/4 oz Don Nuno Dry Oloroso Sherry) 1 Glass Rum. (1/2 oz Inner Circle Green Rum) 1 1/2 Glasses Quinquina. (3/4 oz Dubonnet Rouge) 1 1/2 Glasses Orange Juice. (3/4 oz Orange Juice) Give one grind of the peppermill over this Shake: serve! Whence the name? Woo, now that’s a story. From the wikipedia: For some inexplicable reason, Philomel ends up being another name for the nightingale. And, uh, well, like the Golden Slipper, that’s an odd myth to want to evoke with a cocktail! That said, this isn’t an awful cocktail. Odd, it must be admitted, but rum, dubonnet, and sherry is an interesting flavor combination. I used the overproof, funk filled, and sadly no longer distributed in the US, Inner Circle Green, as it needed to stand up to all the rest of the ingredients in as a relatively small fraction of the cocktail. It worked quite well. Another interesting choice might be a spiced rum, if there were actually any of those worth drinking. Maybe the New Orleans Cajun Spiced rum? Would fit right in with the grind of black pepper! Should you order this cocktail at the next Savoy Night at Alembic Bar, July 26th? Signs point to a definite, “Hmmm. Let’s think about that before ordering.”

Not sure about the Rittenhouse notion. To me the big difference between Calvados and American Apple Brandy is that Calvados tastes like it is distilled from hard cider. Especially young Calvados. Where American Apple Brandies have more of an eau-de-vie, pure fruit character, without the funk of hard cider. I don't know if this has more to do with the type of apples used or the fermentation, distillation, and aging process for the respective products. To me, the Germain-Robin is more in the Eau-de-Vie style, though they have presumably aged it oak, so it has mellowed some and taken on character and flavor from the wood. Anyway, it has an all around cleaner flavor than any French Calvados I've ever tasted. For better or for worse.

Though, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "whiskey bite" of applejack. I was under the impression that prior to Laird's adding neutral spirits to their "apple jack" product in the 1970s or 80s, that "apple jack" simply meant American-Style Apple Brandy. The Germain-Robin Apple Brandy nicely qualifies as an American-Style apple brandy. A bit refined, admittedly, but it's not like I used Calvados or something...

The usual random reasons. The G-R Apple Brandy was almost empty and I was trying to use it up. Also, too lazy to go down to the basement and get a new bottle of the Laird's.

Philadelphia Scotsman Cocktail. 1 Hooker Applejack. (1 1/2 oz Germain-Robin Apple Brandy) 1 Hooker Port. (1 1/2 oz Sandeman 10 Year Tawny Port) The Juice of 1 Orange. (2 oz Fresh Orange Juice) Place in tumbler (with ice, stir,) and fill up with ginger ale (Fentiman’s Ginger Beer). Well, OK, Fentiman’s Ginger Ale is a pretty odd substitution for “Ginger Ale”. However, this is a “Philadelphia Scotsman” cocktail. Presumably, in Philadelphia, they’d be mixing home made ginger beer, not some fancy carbonated “ginger ale”. And tawny port is probably a bit of a stretch, too. Presumably, a ruby port or similar would be more common. Should you order this cocktail at the next Savoy Night at Alembic Bar, July 26th? You know, this is pretty darn tasty, if you ask me. If it’s warm outside, this would make a very good hot weather drink.

Peto Cocktail The Juice of 1/4 Orange. (About a half an ounce of Fresh Squeezed) 1/4 French Vermouth. (1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth) 1/4 Italian Vermouth. (1/2 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso Vermouth) 1/2 Plymouth gin. (1 oz Plymouth Gin) 2 Dashes Maraschino. (2/3 barspoon Luxardo Maraschino) Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. Another Bronx-ish cocktail and another Brunch possibility. Nicely refreshing with the touch of exoticism from the Maraschino. Nothing fantastic, but enjoyable. I would guess the name of the cocktail refers to someone’s name. Painter John Frederick Peto, perhaps? Hard to say if he enjoyed the odd drink. We’ve also got railway and harbor developer Sir Samuel Morton Peto, an acquaintance of Charles Dickens. Peto is also another name for the fish currently more commonly called “Wahoo“. Take your pick. Should you order the Peto cocktail at the next Savoy Night at Alembic Bar, July 26th? I would give this a, “Maybe.” It is refreshing and interesting. You could definitely do a lot worse.

How about Rin Quin Quin? I think that is even nominally available in the US.

Precisely. In this case it was probably something like the Dutch Hoppe's Peach Bitters, which is basically a low-proof, not-very-sweet liqueur with a slight bitter edge. It's meant to be drunk straight. ← So, peach liqueur and a dash of angostura would be a better solution than fee's peach bitters? Would certainly be a tastier cocktail. And secondarily, if that is what is meant by "peach bitters" why did Fee's not make something similar? Just sayin...

I like about 2:1 blanco:bianco, with a dash of orange bitters. I have taken to calling this a Bianca. I need to get some good strawberry syrup/liqueur. And some creme de cacao, which also goes pretty nicely with Tequila. ← 1 1/2 oz tequila, 3/4 oz dolin blanc with 1/4 oz yellow chartreuse and orange bitters. stir, strain, orange twist. I call it a "Death & Co". Though, if I call it a New York cocktail, it really should have at least 2 oz of base spirit and less vermouth. ;-)

Peter Pan Cocktail. 1/4 Peach Bitters. (1/2 oz Fee’s Peach Bitters) 1/4 Orange Juice. (1/2 oz Orange Juice) 1/4 French Vermouth. (1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth) 1/4 Dry Gin. (1/2 oz Plymouth Gin) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. I had some sort of idle hope that this would be at least interesting. I suppose, after a fashion, it is. The nice thing about it is the Peter Pan is, at least, a fairly dry cocktail. However, it really does taste, more or less, awful. That much peach bitters is just wrong. Not only that, but I felt kind of bad after drinking it. Burping peach flavored burps, and feeling like it gave me an instant head ache. Maybe all that glycerine and propylene glycol doesn’t agree with me. Should you order this cocktail at the next Savoy Night at Alembic Bar, July 26th? Signs point to a definite, “No!”

Shame, it's been on sale for $17/btl quite a bit lately at Specs in Houston. ← Enjoy the St. James products while you can. It's my understanding the brand has lost its distribution in the US.

Sounds a bit more plausible to me, Mr. Turkey, even though it sort of deflates my english-majorey theorizing. Will I be able to use this BA for nothing?

Personality a La Roy Cocktail 1 Dash Angostura Bitters. 1/4 Hercules. (1/2 oz Underhill Hercules v.3version 3) 1/4 Applejack or Calvados. (1/2 oz Calvados Groult Reserve) 1/2 Dry Gin. (1 oz North Shore Distiller’s No. 6) Shake (I stirred) well as strain into cocktail glass. Actually gotten pretty good response both to Underhill Hercules Version 3 and to this cocktail made with it. Not sure where to go from here. Expand the spice component? I think I could slightly enhance the bitter elements as long as I continue to skip Wormwood. The name is a bit odd, but I have no idea who Roy might have been and what about his personality might have attracted the name of this cocktail? Perhaps South African poet Roy Campbell? The time is about right for whatever fame he might have generated for himself in South Africa and England. Here’s an amusing section from his wikipedia entry, circa 1930 or so: Roy Campbell (poet) “…moving in literary circles, he was initially on friendly terms with the Bloomsbury Group but then became very hostile to them; he declared that they were sexually promiscuous, snobbish, and anti-Christian. His wife’s lesbian affair with Vita Sackville-West, the lover of Virginia Woolf, was a contributing cause to his changed attitude.” Oh Vita, with her long legs, wolfhounds, and gardens. Who could resist?

Perfect Cocktail 1/3 French Vermouth. (3/4 oz Noilly Original Dry) 1/3 Italian Vermouth. (3/4 oz Punt e Mes) 1/3 Dry Gin. (3/4 oz Anchor Junipero Gin) Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. Well, after all that Pegu Club nonsense, it certainly is good to get back on solid ground! Since the recipe is lacking bitters, I chose to use the more bitter vermouth, Punt e Mes. In fact, so bitter, some authors classify it as a Quinquina! Well, it works in this cocktail in a quite a wonderful way, providing some bitter backbone to what might be a bit routine other wise. Of course, it never hurts to throw Junipero into the mix, especially in fifty-fifty type drinks. Or in this case, 33.3-33.3-33.3 type drinks! Sometimes simpler and less complicated can be better.

First, I suppose I should point out that Doug, over at The Pegu Blog, writes pretty much about nothing other than Pegu Club Cocktails. So if you need more information about the cocktail, you might want to check out his ruminations on the subject. Searching through Google Books, I found a couple references. From a 1971 article in the Atlantic by Paul Theroux: Burma “On Bogyoke Aung San Street (formerly Montgomery) the Central Jail is being pulled down. The workmen were surprised to get a visitor and willingly showed me around the six enormous cell blocks which radiate in clumsy spokes from a central courtyard and administration building. They pointed out scratchings on the cell floors made in the teak planks by bored prisoners, the Burmese equivalent of tic-tac-toe. One man told me the place was one hundred seven years old—the seven gave the date a certain credibility; in fact, I couldn’t imagine the Burmese pulling down a building less than a hundred years old. The only market in Mandalay is the Zegyo Bazaar, designed and built in 1903 by an Italian, Count Caldrari (who was also the first secretary of the Mandalay Municipality). I stole a small sign from over a cell door in the Central Jail. It reads: 56′ BY 26½’ BY 12′—CUBICAL CONTENTS 17967—ACCOMMODATION FOR 28. It is only a short hop from the Central Jail to the Pegu Club, now an Officers’ Mess of the Burmese Army. The Pegu Club was to Rangoon what the Selangor Club was to Kuala Lumpur and the Tanglin Club to Singapore (but these two are still going strong). The sentry said that he would have let me look around, but as it happened, a senior officer (the sentry bulged his eyes to illustrate how senior) had just arrived and was inside.” Rudyard Kipling in his 1899 book, “From Sea to Sea”: The River of the Lost Footsteps and the Golden Mystery upon its Banks. Shows how a Man may go to the Shway Dagon Pagoda and see it not and to the Pegu Club and hear too much. A Dissertation on Mixed Drinks. “There must be a few hundred men who are fairly behind the scenes of the Burma War—one of the least known and appreciated of any of our little affairs. The Pegu Club seemed to be full of men on their way up or down, and the conversation was but an echo of the murmur of conquest far away to the north.” Pegu Club Cocktail. 1 Dash Angostura Bitters. 1 Dash Orange Bitters. (Angostura Orange Bitters) 1 Teaspoonful Lime Juice. (1 teaspoon Fresh Lime Juice) 1/3 Curacao. (3/4 oz Bols Dry Orange Curacao) 2/3 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. So this is the Savoy recipe for this cocktail. To me, it doesn’t make much sense, from a flavor perspective. The mere teaspoon of lime juice, does very little for the cocktail, to balance against the sweetness of the orange curacao, making it very nearly an after dinner proposition. The oldest recipe anyone has found, at the moment, is from an edition of Harry’s ABC of Cocktails from 1929. It is as follows: 1 dash Angostura Bitters; 1 dash of Orange Bitters; 1 teaspoonful of Lime Juice (Rose’s); 1/6 Curacao; 2/3 Gin. Ack! Though he does slightly reduce the volume of Curacao, he calls for Rose’s Lime Juice! Well, what are you gonna do. The Rose’s got me thinking of Gimlets, so I gimlet-i-fied the cocktail, serving it over ice. You know what, it’s not bad! One of the other pre-Savoy citations for the Pegu Club Cocktail comes from a book I’ve only heard of in quotes from David Wondrich, “Cocktails by Jimmy, Late of Ciro’s” Its recipe follows: Pegu Club 4 parts Dry Gin. (2 oz Gin) 1 part Curacao. (1/2 oz Curacao) 1 part Lime Juice. (1/2 oz Lime Juice) 1 Dash Angostura Bitters per cocktail. 1 Dash Orange Bitters per cocktail. (Angostura Orange Bitters) This is a very dry cocktail! Though it has its fans, it is a little too dry and tart for my taste. At this point, I have to admit I’m also thinking I don’t really like Angostura Orange Bitters in this cocktail. I like them in Martinis and such, but there’s something in the spice component that just isn’t working for me in a sour. Finally, seeking solace for my frustration, I made the version of the Pegu Club Cocktail from the Heaven’s Dog bar book. Obviously, I’d have to kill you if I printed it here, but damn that hits the spot. Save yourself the trouble of all the above, and just go out and order the drink at Slanted Door or Heaven’s Dog. You’ll thank me. Oh, and if that doesn’t convince you, and you really want to do your extra credit work, I highly recommend the gimlet-i-fied version made with Oude Genever instead of Dry Gin. Not at all traditional, but super tasty!

Kubler or Lucid. St. George is just a bit too far outside of "normal" for me to recommend as a first Absinthe. No matter what coast it's on, the St. George loses its color quite quickly. Since the color in Absinthe only comes from the last coloration step where herbs are briefly steeped in the distilled product, I believe it is mostly a cosmetic issue. But I haven't done a side by side with fresh green and faded st. george bottles.

To me obsello is kind of in the same vicinity of Lucid. Decent and well priced traditional style absinthe. Not outstanding, but quite good for the price. You can definitely spend more for much worse absinthe. Actually, Obsello is usually priced a bit better than Lucid, so it kind of gives it the leg up there.

Dear god, is Le Tournment Verte ever to be avoided! A friend had me try a drink he'd made, and my immediate response was, "What the hell is this?" When he told me it was a Sazerac, I nearly hit him. Until I noticed it had been made with Le Tourment Verte. Then I just felt sad. Shudder!

Not sure if it is cool to put up this whole quote from Cassel's Dictionary of Slang, but I shall try.

Peggy Martin rose is mending broken hearts and hurricane-ravaged coasts, By ELIZABETH CERNOTA CLARK / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News Unfortunately, that doesn't seem likely, at least in terms of history. At least if that rose variety wasn't named Peggy Martin until after 2003. Probably another red herring, but here's some more interesting tidbits regarding "Peggy Martin" from UsingEnglish.Com: Now if we can figure out who THAT Peggy Martin was, we might be on to something!