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.

It's Lent and many of the fast food chains have specials on fish sandwiches. In Portland Oregon the four chains that have fish sandwiches that I've tried are McD's, Arby's, Jack in the Box and Burger King. Arby's has them at 2 for $5. I haven't been by a Jack in the Box this year, but in past years they've been 2 for $4. Burger King is my current favorite. One of the things they do is include pickles on the sandwich which seems to amp up the tartar sauce. Edited to add pricing.

I hit up one of the Oregon Liquor Control Commissions finer stores today to stock up on some of the more inexpensive Bourbons available. Some of these are "Special Listings" meaning they're not widely available in Oregon and you may never see them again. With the exception of the Dickel Rye they're all good to excellent. The Old Charter 10 is quite nice and the real sleeper in the group. The Dickel Rye is the foulest bottle of whisky I've ever purchased. Not a hint of rye spice, rather it reeks of petrochemical smells. I don't believe there is any mechanism for returning defective liquor in this state, but if there was I'd do it in a heartbeat. I've included OLCC inventory codes and prices. $18.95 - Item 7331B: OLD CHARTER 10 YR $10.60 - Item 7326B: HEAVEN HILL OLD GREEN 6 YR $18.95 - Item 8256B: FIGHTING COCK $15.95 - Item 0130B: OLD EZRA 7 YR.101.0 $17.65 - Item 7392B: OLD CHARTER 8 YEAR $19.95 - Item 1635B: GEORGE DICKEL RYE

I live in Portland OR. Our water is pretty much mineral free. I just boil the water to get out the chlorine and then let it cool before using it. Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2

I've had the Lindberg's Baby made with Chris's recipe and Ransom Old Tom and I had no urge to pour it anyplace but down the hatch. It's a keeper for me. It also makes a fine Tom Collins though you may want to cut back on the sugar just a bit. I'm a big fan of the Ransom Old Tom Gin. You have the added bonus of supporting Tad Seestedt, the owner, one of the nicest people anywhere. Tad's been around the Oregon Wine and Spirits business for years, but finally found overnight success with the Old Tom. He also produces some fine Oregon Wines.

Thanks Katie! Tried it yesterday. Filled the jar with half cut jalapenos. Tasted it 3 hours in and it was perfect but could not believe it was done that quickly so let it infuse for a few more hours. Unfortunately now it's a little too spicy. Having some friends over to try it. Might mix 3/4 ounce of it with 4/3 ounce regular tequila and 5 ounces pineapple juice to make 2 cocktails. Will experiment and see how it goes. For the rest of the bottle the plan is to make 1 or 2 cocktails like one I read about which mixes 2 ounces of tequila with 1 ounce of dolin blanc and pechauds and orange biiters. For the remainder I intend to go to trader joe's and look at their dried fruits selection and pick something from there to infuse it with. Current top contenders are dried strawberries or dried chili rubbed mangoes. So with half of the bottle I tried infusing it with dried mangoes. I left it for a day and now I have a syrupy infusion that is 1/3 or 1/4 of the volume I put in and some alcoholic tasting plump mangoes. Is this the cost of doing business with dried fruit or am I doing something wrong. I didn't know there was going to be a substantial mangoes share? Any tips or thoughts? This could become very expensive if 3/4 of the liquor goes into the dried fruit. I've made homemade apricot liqueur in the past using dried apricots reconstituted by covering them with boiling water and letting them plump up for a couple of hours and then draining off the water and proceeding as if you are using fresh fruit. Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2

I was fortunate enough to acquire five pounds of sloe fruit (prunus spinosa) in late September. There are a few patches of them naturalized in the Willamette Valley here in Western Oregon. Scanning a few online recipes for homemade sloe gin, I did the following. Combine in a large Cambro 2 - 1.75 bottles Seagrams Gin 4.5 cups evaporated cane sugar 5 lbs sloe fruit. Stirred daily for two weeks and then weekly after that. Some of the recipes I read called for adding a bit of almond extract. After I strained off the infusion, I added a1/2 tsp to 1/2 the batch. It added some depth without coming across as almond, so I added the same amount to the other half. I've tucked away three bottles as it's supposed to improve with age. The rest is being consumed at a rapid rate, neat and in coctails. Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2

What was the ratio of Tequila/Orange/Lime that you used? I liked the Pierre Ferrand in a 2/1/1 ratio with a nice blanco tequila. It was richer and a bit softer than a margarita made with Cointreau, I thought. More of an after dinner margarita. I'm not a fan of Grand Marnier in magaritas.

I've had some tequila cocktails with some smoky mezcal added in that were quite pleasing so I guess it doesn't surprise me that this one works. I'm not much of a smoky, peaty scotch drinker, but I think I need to have a bottle on hand for things like this. I wish I could get my hands on a bottle of the Sangue Morlacco. I'm a fan of the Luxardo line of booze.

FrogPrincesse - can't believe you haven't sprung for a bottle of the real stuff. There's a lot of magic in a bottle of Absinthe. It adds so much more complexity to a Sazerac than Pernod. There are a few Tiki Drinks that call for it too. It really brings on a whole new dimension in the nose and on the palate. As always I enjoy your posts and photos!

There's a big difference between infusing with oak in a glass fermenter and aging in an oak barrel. The infusion will give you oak flavors but none of the other benefits of aging in a barrel. I'm not even sure that most bitters would benefit from aging in a barrel though.