Alchemist

I have been using cracked ice instead of crushed in my swizzles. Is that wrong?

I agree, with the general sentiment, but maye we can think of the Roshka as a gateway cocktail. If you can go from a razberry Roshka, to a raz Rissima, to a regular Rissima, maybe we can impress some one with a new experiance.

Quite right, cant start with bad ice and turn it into nice cracked or crushed ice. Kold-Draft RULES! You must excuse the slaughter of forthcoming Portuguse. A caiparina is cachaca, caiproshka(russian) is vodka, caiprina(tilda) is with rum (YUMMM!). Sinse this discussion, was started about muddlers, can I say that PUG muddlers are gods gift to bartenders.

i've never heard of shaking with crushed ice. I will do a short gentel shake with regular cubes if I'm pouring onto crushed ice so as not to introduce room temp liquid to crushed ice which seems to blow any wash line and instantly dillute the cocktail. I shake my caip- drinks (Roshka, ect.) thrice with the cracked ice then roll into the glass. I don't know if one would consider this educated ice, but it seems wicked smart to me. I am starting to really love the way cracked ice behaves. With the variety of sizes, you have some ice melting instantly, mellowing, and chilling the drink then larger bergs who see you through the end of the cocktail. Also I like the way it looks. So charmingingly rustic, yet a hint of proffesionalism (it's not easy to hand crack ice).

There is a couple of dashes of orange bitters in the Fitty as well I belive.

There is a Hungarian digestive called Unicum. Collage for porn stars?

You could call it the "Ironweed" cocktail.

Which ever it looks better in. I would guess that the washline will look healthier in the cocktail glass. Does he have ice in his sours? And do you have egg white in your sours? I like my sours with eggwhite, and no ice to damage the intensity. I like my fizzes the same way, w/egg/w/o ice.

It's saturday night, I'm sitting with a wicked cold P.B.R and a double Monte Cristo 12, one small cracked cube. Heaven.

That sounds wonderful. I love Earl Grey tea. I'm not so crazy about foamy drinks, though -- what's the texture like? Does the egg white make the whole thing like a light mousse, or is it more subtle than that? With advance apologies to Audrey, could I make it without the egg white and get a good drink, or is the texture key? Hmmm... Hard to say. The foam more or less rises to the top of the drink -- so it doesn't stay foamy throughout. I have to think that the egg white also adds some silkyness to the mouthfeel. ← And don't forget the froth, with egg whites make sure you use really cold, fresh ice and a jackhammer shake. There should be a cold souffle on top of that drink.

What is gin other than a grain spirit, infused with botanicals, and citrus? It is just a wonderful, complex uber-mixable infused vodka. Yes sense memory is very powerful. But peoples palates change. I didn't like beer or scotch when I was thirteen. My palate has become more sophisticated. Good dining, and drinking experiances can be ephiphinys. There are times for comfort food and drink but there are times to have adventure and challange yourself. The phrase "aquired taste" denotes that there are things you don't like the first few times. Campari, Fish Sauce, Guiness, Kim Chee (Something that I am still trying to like, so I keep having it at every oppertuinity) Unicum ect. Also, there are people who have not had something done right. If I had only had a Martini made with rotgut vodka, stale, or rancid, vermouth improperly chilled, served in a dirty, chipped glass, I wouldn't be a fan. I have made many a convert. I have taken hardcore vodka drinkers and brought them into the light. Now they drink gin and rye. We in the service industry are sometimes the Virgil, to the Publics Dante. When I go to a resturant, I ask the advice of the staff, because they have the knowlage. I give them some ideas of what I'm looking for and they (I wouldn't ask on a slamming Sat. night) inveriably steer me right. A good server can with a few questions understand what your tastes are and, after a little honing in, will bring you the PERFECT thing. It can be lovely to put yorself in the hands of a professional, fasten your seat and enjoy the ride.

Joy of Mixology, is amazing. I like to get compare the recipe's with the ones in Bartenders best friend (pardon the spelling it's early on sat. morn). One gets a well rounded, venus/mars, view of a drink. And sometime you must wonder if the marriage was on the line over a quarter ounce of Benidictine.

I think that so many people love the juniper, citrus infused vodka, and don't like gin has do do with bad high school assotiations. Pardon the spellin it's early on a sat. morning. It seems like most people somehow got a handle jug of (need I say cheap) gin, and some atrocious mixer, when they were 17, got snotflying drunk (and mean, because they didn't hold their licker well) and are left with a bad memory of gin. Good juniper/citrus infused vodka, in a well balanced cocktail is ambrosia. Oh, for the cosmo drinker who has a little adventure in them I like the Pomagranate gimlette. 2 Oz. Juniper Citrus infused Vodka, I like Plymouth .75 Oz fresh lime juice A shy .75 Oz. simple syrup barspoon Pomagranate molasses Wicked yummy, And if you sub Rye for Plymouth you have a sublime Ward 8.

If you like an ice cold martini straight up with a 3/1 : (gin/dry vermouth ratio) try cocktail onions. ← I like the fist size yellow olives that you just squeeze a bit of the skins oil into the cocktail.

If someone says they want a cosmo I would recomend a southside cocktail, made with the special juniper and citrus infused vodka, I would recommend Plymouth, muddled mint, lime juice, and symple syrup. A french 75, also with the infused vodka is a good bet. I just tryed it in a collins, with a bit more champers than classicly, and big shards of ice. It was sublime. For a true beginner, how about a Bramble? Juniper infused vodka, lemon, and simple built on crushed ice with a beautiful, purple float of creme de muir. Edited for spelling

Any flavored rum. Mango, Pinapple and orange, made by a respectable rum company recently are the atrocities that come to mind.

It's such a dense, viscous, strongly flavored cocktail that I assume the water is necessary just to provide additional dilution beyond the normal 20% you'd get from shaking. Many of the ingredients are so intensely flavored that the drink really needs to be thinned out quite a bit. Think about what you're getting in each serving minus the water: 2/3 ounce genever, 1/2 ounce rich simple syrup, 1/2 ounce Chartreuse, 1/2 ounce heavy rum and a teaspoon each of orange curaçao and Angostura bitters. That's just too much strong flavor and too much sweetness without taking extreme measures to thin the drink. It's incredibly strongly flavored even with the additional dilution. That's my guess, anyway. It is odd, though, isn't it? It's the only recipe I can recall that calls for water. ← Many of the old recipies called for shaking with cracked ice. Do you think they had a big block of ice then cracked (Picked) a good size chunk off or was it real shards of ice like the cracked cubes @ M&H, Little Branch, Angel Share, East Side Co. or Pegu? Would shaking with shredded (that is a new definition of Ice between cracked and crushed) Ice bring the H2O content up enough? Since Gormet Mag. came out with that Ice Review this month should we get a topic devoted to water anyone can walk on? Edit 'cause I forgot... I have seen a few recipies that start 55 gallons of water and a bathtub. Proibition era books, needless to say.

I do belive you are corect. Is there a name for a cracked ice Mojito? If not I propose Mojito Clavar. I am taking some poetic licence, but I like that clavar sounds like cleve, and cleaver, and has a certin onomonopeic(SP) quality. Oh, Clavar means nailing. I'M EDITING BECCAUSE I FORGOT TO ADD... Have you heard of the Mojito called (this is not a joke) "The Beard" As I heard Castro likes his Mojitos toped with beer. I'm not sure what Cuban beer tastes like but I'v tried it with both Corona and Presidente, and it's not as bad as you'd think. I know that isn't the type of review to get ones saliva glands going into overdrive, maybe I should have tried Negro Modelo?

What purpose does the H2O have?

Can we add bars and cocktails as well? Vodka martini comes to mind along with all BLANK-TINI drinks.

I just did an experiment, on my mentor's sugesstion, to see the difference between cracked and crushed ice. The cracked ice, I belive it's called a Mojito -- I am going to spell this phoneticly instead of slaugherring it in spanish -- "Kre-yo-yo." What a difference. Neferious Dilution didn't raise his evil head. And it was beautiful, rustic, screaming "DRINK ME NOW!"

Three ounces of liquor, don't forget about water content. which should be about 20%of total content.

Have you tried Vietnamese cinnamon? It's got more pop than any other I've tried. You've got me thinking about five spice now. Maybe mulling some wine, or infusing some rye? Maybe mulling the wine then making a NY sour with rye. Sounds wicked fallish.

This is a variation on a marg. Not user friendly to the average bar cause you need a stove. First roast a poblano pepper. Stem the charred skin off by putting it in a plastic bag. De seed and stem, and puree till smooth. 2 Oz. Tequila 1/2 Oz Cointreau 3/4 lime juice 1 Oz Prickly Pear puree 1 bar spoon roasted poblano puree MMMMMspicytequilagoodness

Apples in the Gravy, not in the pie. Last year in a quest for the juiciest turkey I threw caution and tradition to the wind. I brined the turkey for two days. Then I cooked three apples in butter, sage, white wine and Calvados. I put that on top of the turkey, Layered a pound of bacon on top of that and then covered the bacon with cheese cloth that had soaked in melted butter and white wine. An hour befor the turkey was done I removed the apple/bacon mixture, so the turkey could brown. When the bird was done I put the roasting pan on the stove top wisked stock, blond roux, and the chopped apple/bacon mixture togather for the gravy. The gravey was the best part of the meal. This year I am going to cook the apples with sausage, sage, fennel, white wine and calvados. Cover that with bacon. Then call a cadiologist.