Keith Orr

I came here looking to see if anyone had one or if there were some reviews. I pulled the trigger on it and ordered one from Costco. I will do my best to report back.

I've made the LaNell version a couple of times and really enjoyed it as an after dinner sipper instead of an amaro. I like the horehound component. This thread may get me off my duff to make it again. It's the perfect winter tot.

I contacted Sansaire vai their twitter account late last week and finally got a response. I was told that I could get a replacement unit for the one I have if I provided some information. I provided it promptly and am awaiting a response. I'll post updates as or if appropriate. At this point I'm still up in the air, but I have a glimmer of hope.

Count me as a very unhappy Sansaire customer. Several calls and emails over a period of two months have gone unanswered while trying to get it repaired or replaced. The adjustment wheel works a gear and potentiometer on a circuit board. The assembly is pretty flimsy. My Sansaire was standing on end and got knocked over on the counter and it's kaput. A friend of mine has an Anova and it's design appears to be much sturdier. The new Anova has a bluetooth interface. I'm planning on buying an Anova. I'm not impressed with the durability or the customer service from Sansaire!

Bulletproof sells coffee sourced from Portland Roasting (Costa Rican if I remember correctly) and their house brand of MCT oil. They're supposed to be "Premium" selections. I bought some MCT oil at a local food coop, used some good coffee from another Portland roaster and used some Kerrygold butter (it's labeled as being made from grass fed cows) from Costco. Made 8 oz coffee in an Aeropress with an Able disc metal reusable filter. I believe the Bulletproof recipe calls for using a French press. You're not supposed to use a paper filter because it traps the valuable natural coffee oils. Used approximately a tablespoon each of MCT oil and butter and blended it all with a hand blender. The verdict. Not bad. It was obviously much richer than the black coffee I usually drink and it wasn't greasy or oily like I expected. I didn't take a shot at myself so I don't know if I was Bulletproof after drinking it. I wasn't able to leap tall buildings. It was a pleasant and rich cup of coffee. BTW, I did it for seven days running to see if I felt any different and I can't say I did. YMMV.

I've seen some other old milk punch recipes that call for isinglass. It's probably the way to go if you want to cellar some of your milk punch. Another thing that might help is being very gentle with the mixture after you combine the ingredients so you don't break up the curds and put more particles into suspension.

The pH of the cooking liquid affects the way beans cook. One of the reasons beans don't soften properly is if the pH of the liquid is to low. Baking soda will raise the pH and help the beans get tender. Here's a Cooks Illustrated Article that addresses acidity a bit. I didn't watch the video so this may just be repetitive. Several recipes I've used for beans call for adding the acid ingredients into the beans later in the cooking process after they've already started to get tender. You'll need to read the article online - my previous attempt at posting quoted too much of the article. Personally,I think more beans are ruined by too little cooking liquid than any other reason.

The reason that baking soda works that it raises the pH of the pot of beans. Likewise adding tomatoes or another acid ingredient will lower the pH and increase the cooking time. Here's a Cooks Illustrated Article that addresses acidity a bit. I didn't watch the video so this may just be repetitive. Several recipes I've used for beans call for adding the acid ingredients into the beans later in the cooking process after they've already started to get tender. Here's the pertinent text: "Troubleshooting Hard BeansFinally, if you’ve cooked your beans for hours and found they failed to soften, chances are they are either old and stale (and will never fully hydrate or soften), the water is too hard, or there’s a acidic element present. Food scientists universally agree that high acidity can interfere with the softening of the cellulose-based bean cells, causing them to remain hard no matter how long they cook. Alkalinity, on the other hand, has the opposite effect on legumes. Alkalines make the bean starches more soluble and thus cause the beans to cook faster. (Older bean recipes often included a pinch of baking soda for its alkalinity, but because baking soda has been shown to destroy valuable nutrients, few contemporary recipes suggest this shortcut.) But how much acid is too much acid? At what pH level is there a negative impact on the beans? We cooked four batches of small white beans in water altered with vinegar to reach pH levels of 3, 5, 7, and 9. We brought them to a boil, reduced the heat to a low simmer, and tested the beans every 30 minutes for texture and doneness. The beans cooked at a pH of 3 (the most acidic) remained crunchy and tough-skinned despite being allowed to cook 30 minutes longer than the other three batches. The beans cooked at pHs of 5, 7, and 9 showed few differences, although the 9 pH batch finished a few minutes ahead of the 7 pH batch and about 20 minutes ahead of the 5 pH batch. Acidity, then, must be relatively high to have any significant impact on beans. So in real world terms, season with discretion and don’t add a whole bottle of vinegar or wine to your beans until they are tender." Finally, I think that it's easier to screw up beans by not using enough water than any other way I can think of.

I've made peach infused bourbon. One each: 750ml bourbon, pound of peeled, pitted sliced peaches, cup of sugar. All together in a half gallon jar. Shake daily for two weeks. Let sit for another two weeks and strain through cheese cloth and then a coffee filter. It was pretty good stuff.

I've made this in the past using a recipe from Aperitif by Georgeanne Brennan. It's worth making a large batch if you like it. It gets better with age. My favorite way to drink it is to drink it anytime you'd serve port. As far as using it in cocktails; you can substitute it for sweet vermouth or port. In the summer I like mixing it with sparkling water. It lacks the bitterness of vermouth so you might want to give it a few shakes of bitters.

I've never had an issue with orgeat curdling. I wonder if it's a brand specific thing.

The Malacca is a pleasant enough Gin, but overall I find the Ransom Old Tom to be more to my liking. That being said, I think more is better and it's good to have options like this. Today I made a cocktail in honor of a perfect Portland Oregon Spring day. We've had black clouds and torrents of rain interspersed with bright sunny patches. The Malacca mixes nicely with grapefruit juice. March Showers 3 oz Malacca 2 oz fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice 1/2 oz St. Germain A couple of dashes of homemade citrus bitters Stirred and strained into a coupe and garnished with a grapefruit twist.

BA keep these coming please!

It's not a bad thing to get happy over the little things in life. Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2

Interesting. I acquired a bottle of the Dickel Rye recently and while it wasn't anything extraordinary it was not bad. Typical LDI/MGP rye that was perhaps a bit sweeter and maybe with a hint less of the typical LDI minty/dill sort of taste. Yesterday I was finally able to acquire a couple of bottles of the rereleased Tanqueray Malacca gin. Now I just have to figure out what to try first. I retasted the Dickel Rye today with some friends. After my rant yesterday I researched it a bit and realized it had been finished in Tennessee. It reminds me of Jack Daniels and the other Dickel Products. If you like Jack Daniels, this is the rye for you. I don't and the rye tended to exaggerate the qualities I don't care for. I do agree that it has less of the minty/dill thing. We tasted it against the Bulleit Rye that is the same raw rye spirit to start with as well as a bottle of Rittenhouse BIB. The Rittenhouse was everyone's favorite by far. The Bulleit was a ways back in second and way back was the Dickel. For the Money the Rittenhouse is the way to go in my book. It's getting harder to find, but when I find it I stock up.