Jump to content

avant-garde

participating member
  • Posts

    138
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by avant-garde

  1. Enjoying a couple of these bad boys. Not too shabby.

    The Bohemio (Created by Eben Freeman)

    2 oz. Reposado Tequila

    ¼ oz. Mezcal

    ½ oz. Lemon Juice

    ½ oz. Orange Juice

    ½ oz. Simple Syrup

    ½ oz. Becherovka

    1 Orange Twist, Flamed

    Shake, Strain, Flame Orange, Serve on ice in rocks glass

  2. I wonder what would be a super-expensive Last Word?  Something like:

    Kensington Reserve XO London Dry Gin

    Green Chartreuse VEP

    Luxardo Perla Dry Riserva Speciale

    Buddha's Hand juice or Kalamansi juice (fresh to-order, of course)

    Not saying it would be good!!!

    I'd sure as hell like to find out.

  3. One night I was out of Chartreuse but really wanted a Last Word. Instead, I used Strega in place of the Chartreuse and changed the lime juice to lemon. The result is what I like to call the...

    Lemoncholy Cocktail

    1 oz. Gin

    1 oz. Strega

    1 oz. Maraschino

    1 oz. Lemon Juice

    3 drops Fee Brothers Lemon

    Lemon Twist

    Shake, Strain, Drink

    Watch here

  4. All you have to do is think: "A 'Final Ward' is a 'Last Word' with rye and lemon"

    Sorry if I'm a bit gullible here. I am a huge fan of the Last Word cocktail. Is this Final Word a real cocktail or just an example? I suppose I could try it, but am afraid to waste the ingredients. If so, is it:

    1 oz. Rye

    1 oz. Maraschino

    1 oz. Lemon Juice

    1 oz. Chartreuse

  5. Does anyone know when TVHs website will be complete?  I check it every now and again and it has been saying "Site is coming soon" for quite some time now.

    www.theviolethour.com

    I will check to see how the website is coming along. Other than info like adress and opening times and a menu is there anything else a cocktail geek would like to see on the site?

    Toby

    Here's what I'd like to see I guess...

    - Bitters (to purchase)

    - Menus

    - Photos

    - Videos

    - Links to Glass/Bar Ware

    And I agree with Bryan, I like D&Co's website as well. Especially how they list the types of alcohol they have available.

  6. Finally. 

    I've always wondered why Michael Smith doesn't offer a cheese course.  40 Sardines (as far back as I can remember) did.  It was wonderful. The selections were novel and always well-presented.

    I was recently at Michael Smith, and was delighted to find "Artisinal [sic] Cheese Plate" ($14).  The four printed offerings were: Burrata, Petit Basque, Forme d'Ambert, and 18-month white Cheddar.  Not that I had the slightest hesitation to order this without thought, I did take a moment to review my sweet choices.  A few appealed to me, but I really wanted cheese.

    I've had three of the cheese before (I've had aged white Cheddar, but not sure which artisan this was from) and love 'em greatly.  However, I RARELY see burrata, a cheese I dearly love, on a Kansas City menu, and, definitely, not on a cheese plate.  (Besides 40 Sardines, and maybe bluestem or Room 39, I don't think I've ever seen it in this city.) And, given the choice, I'll usually spring for cheese over sweets. 

    I must say, for $14, you get a very nice assortment of fine cheeses.  However, I note, there was no burrata.  Instead, the progression was Petit Basque, Manchego, Forme d'Ambert, and 18-month white Cheddar.  This was particularly disappointing because the server had not notified me of the substitution.  (I *think* I even mentioned that I was especially excited about the burrata - but maybe that was my enthusiastic inner dialogue).

    Regardless, it was most enjoyable.  The generous cuts of cheeses were lined up (it's probably enough cheese for two or three people), with an entourage of almonds in honey, slices of shaved pears, a wonderfully red wine-reduced fig compote (especially good with the white Cheddar), and a good heap of toasted baguette slices drizzled with olive oil.

    On one minor note, I'm not sure I agreed with the progression.  Here, the white Cheddar is quite sharp and aged, and on most cheese progressions would probably be last. But I think here, the Forme d'Ambert (a creamy pungent blue) was more aggressive-tasting and should have followed, instead of preceded the Cheddar. 

    I'm thrilled to see one more restaurant in KC putting out a great cheese plate.  The others that come to mind are bluestem, 40 Sardines, JP Wine Bar, Aixois, and 1924 Main.

    Yum, I'm going to have to hit Whole Foods today for some cheese and stop by Lukas Liquor for some wines.

    Also, were you able to determine whether or not Extra Virgin! was open yet or when it might be coming?

  7. Heidi Van Pelt plans to open Füd, a organic vegan restaurant in Kansas City.

    There's a brief web video interveiw with Ms. Van Pelt on her website. 

    Does anyone know anything about this restaurant?  Opening, location, etc???

    NICE! It just keeps getting better around here...

  8. I know they are making them

    I hate to be presumptuous, but just curious... do you not spend much time there anymore, Toby? Are you working on another project now that this one has launched? I only ask because it seems like a lot of your responses lately have been from afar (e.g. saying 'they' instead of 'we').

  9. I started getting serious about cocktails this summer. In that short time, I've found that my taste in drinking has changed dramatically. Basically, I find the idea of drinking wine unappealing and, dare I say, gauche.

    Don't get me wrong, I still love wine with food. And occasionally I do enjoy a glass. And aperitif wines and sherry are as appealing as ever. But normally the idea of sitting around drinking wine just doesn't thrill me. Without food it seems so astringent, so unbalance, and with ever sip I keep thinking how much better a well-made cocktail would be.

    I've also found that most American beers now strike me as incredibly sweet.

    Anybody else had this transformation?

    I do know what you mean... Ever since I got into cocktails, my beer consumption has almost dwindled to zero. After a long hard day at work, all I can think about is coming home and mixing myself another Last Word cocktail.

  10. i'm not sure of the slovakian gentleman, but this is the japanese man Kazuo Ueda who I believe is credited with inventing the hard shake.  it's nice to finally see video....

    Thank you. I actually did a little research and the guy's name is Stanislav Vadrna.

    http://www.stanislavvadrna.com/

    http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendid=10317013

    http://www.talesofthecocktail.com/2007/per..._info.php?id=84

  11. Very interesting little clip. I love seeing things like this. What are the names of the two gentlemen he references? Also, I'm curious to know why he recommends leaving the small pieces of ice that chip off during shaking in the drink. I prefer to fine strain any drink I hard shake so that it is completely smooth. Other than that, I'll definitely try to work on this shaking method in the future. Not sure it's really going to change the taste of the drink that much, but it's fun to learn new techniques anyway.

  12. I'm not sure how many times you have too eat at Alinia in a year to get the invite to thier x-mas party.  Twice? maybe three times a week?    Get on the phone and start making rezos now. 

    Toby

    Hahahaha... $8,416.14 later and you get to go to the Christmas party at TVH with Grant. And all you had to do was eat there four times.

  13. I've searched around but haven't found an answer to this question, so here goes.

    My wife's favorite drink is a Pisco Sour, and my technique and results are pretty good these days, starting with the dry shake Toby describes before adding ice. However, I've consistently noticed a strange phenomenon that happens with egg whites: the seal on the Boston shaker always seems to allow a bit of liquid to leak out midway through the dry shake.

    This doesn't happen with any non-egg-white drink, and I tend to use the Boston shaker for just about everything. Don't bother suggesting a tighter or drier seal, as I've tried both repeatedly and it still happens. I've taken to wrapping the area where the glass sits in the base of the shaker with a towel to prevent spray.

    Does this happen to anyone else? Any explanations? I've been wondering if egg whites are sufficiently viscous to break the seal or something.

    This is a great question and one I'd also like to know the answer to. When I dry shake my Pisco Sour, the same thing happens every time. EXPLOSION! The only way I can really keep it from squirting out on to my shirt is to hold my shaker extremely tight when I shake it.

  14. I forgot to say that there is Grapefruit bitters on the Hush & Wonder .

    Hey Toby -

    Couple questions:

    1) What are your thoughts on the Creme de Violette by R&W? I finally got mine delivered to the house a couple weeks ago and have been somewhat underwhelmed by it.

    and

    2) Is the Hush & Wonder really sweet? It appears to be unless the acid and bitters are in large enough proportions to cut through the sweetness.

  15. Yesterday I visited my local (enormous) liquor store which usually has about everything on the planet and I asked if they had St. Germain. The clerk responded, "No, but you're the third person this week to ask for it." The word must be getting out. Hopefully it will become more readily available soon.

×
×
  • Create New...