David Santucci

I loved this, my wife thought it was too bitter: 1 1/2 oz. Reposado Tequila 3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth 1/2 oz. Cynar Mezcal Rinse Float a thin slice of cucumber on top of drink The aromatics of the cucumber with the Cynar, Vermouth and Mezcal is really wonderful

This game is way too hard with only 10 bottles! First off, it seems like there are six bottles that are pretty much indispensible: Gin, Rye, Dry & Sweet Vermouth, Aromatic & Orange Bitters. That leaves 4 slots. For a beginning bar, aimed at making classic drinks, you probably want to have: Cognac, White Rum, Maraschino and a Curacao. Though Absinthe and a herbal liqueur like Benedictine might be subbed in. But hey, cocktails are American, right? And we measure our drinks in ounces, our distances in miles -- why use the decimal system to choose a number of bottles? Twelve is a much more noble number, divisible by 3 and 4. And liquor stores have boxes that hold twelve bottles (plus a couple bottles of bitters). Personally, I would have to include Aged Rum and Cynar. I could live without White Rum, Curacao, Absinthe and Maraschino. If I get 12 give me Tequila and Arrack or Rhum Agricole. If we don't count the bitters, throw in Peychaud's, and I'd have to make a tough choice at the register whether to leave out Scotch, Apry or an Eau de Vie.

No Orange Bitters?

I think a basic list is a great idea, but I question the value of a giant list, cataloging all bottles you could possibly want for a "killer" bar. To my mind the perfect handout would not only list killer ingredients, but tell you a little bit about them, basically why they are killer. I propose a format something like: NAME Brief description. Why you need it. Brands to look for. Recipe The descriptions, as well as the recipe, will really help people in trying to figure out what bottle to pick up next. Examples: LONDON DRY GIN Unaged spirit flavored with juniper and other botanicals. Dry gin is one of the most versatile spirits behind the bar: it combines well with vermouth, citrus, bitters, other spirits, just about anything. Brands to look for: Tanqueray, Plymouth, Junipero. Hong Kong 1 oz. Gin 1 oz. Dry Vermouth 1/2 oz. Lime Juice 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup dash Orange Bitters CAMPARI Bright red, sweet and very bitter Italian liqueur. While hardly subtle, Campari adds an unmistakable bitter kick, and red color, to many a cocktail. Negroni 1 oz. Gin 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth 1 oz. Campari

14 dashes is a whole lot less than an ounce or ounce and a half, especially in a champagne cocktail. You might want to try Don Lee's Little Bitter (or DLB).

1968 Fins Bois from Jean Grosperrin. 40 year-old, single barrel, cask strength. Fried pig ears at Cochon. Raw distillate from Hendricks and Bols. Corenwyn. Rooftop pool.

It is interesting, at least, in that it suggests that perhaps peach bitters were once something quite different from what is on the market now.

Speaking of Tequila drinks, I found this combination to be particularly delightful: 1 oz. Reposado or Anejo Tequila (I used Orgullo de Pueblo Viejo) 1 oz. Islay Scotch (I used Laphroaig Cask Strength) 1 oz. Honey Syrup (1:1) 1/2 oz. Lemon Juice 1/2 oz. Dubonnet

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.

Holy crap that is the biggest load of hogwash I have seen in years. ← Wow, how amazing that they can maintain that tetrahedral structure at 24, 42 and 56 percent -- must be some kind of golden ratios or something.

Yeah, what's the deal with his 8:2:1 ratio for everything? Those are some boozy Daiquiris... ← To be fair, if you look at his simple syrup recipe, he calls for you to dissolve as much sugar as you can -- not the 1:1 syrup a lot of people use these days. I have to disagree, and agree with Sam. In a lot of cases, his recipes are quite good, and much better than the Savoy-style recipes her revises. But, other times his anti-sweet absolutism absolutely ruins a recipe (prime example, the Bronx). I know lately 2:1 spirit:vermouth ratios are popular, but there a lots of good ratios for a Martini or Manhattan, and, in my book 7:1 and 5:1 can be absolutely delicious (though one wouldn't want to go much drier). He also is completely anti- Scotch and Champagne cocktails! So, yeah, when I say that it is the Bible, I mean that not as an Evangelical would. It is certainly not infallible, but it is a great place to start.

The Bible. Welcome to the fold, Chris. And yeah it does make one kind of proud to be an obsessive home mixologist to be in the company of Embury, who was "never ... engaged in any of the manifold branches of the liquor business" and whose experience was "entirely as a consumer and as a shaker-upper of drinks for the delectation of my guests". I was lucky enough to start out with this book when I was first getting into classic cocktails (along with Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century, Esquire Drinks, and, of course eGullet). I originally got it from Interlibrary Loan (I believe it came from Auburn University, hats off to their librarian) and lovingly scanned every page to PDF. Now I have a copy of the British paperback edition. A great thing Mudpuddle Books has done for us all; I had often thought somebody ought to do just that. Unfortunate about all the typos; hopefully somebody will take up the job of editing it and they will release a corrected edition. One of my favorite drinks that I discovered through the book is the Pink Lady, and I still like Embury's recipe for it: 1 part Grenadine 2 parts Lemon Juice 2 parts Apple Brandy 6 parts Gin 1/2 of an Egg White

Perhaps this was the intended presentation of the drink: Take a glass of Absinthe and shake with ice, serve in a goblet in front of drinker and recite the following lines: "Yet markt I, where the bolt of Cupid fell. It fell upon a little western flower; Before, milk white;..." Stir in a dash of grenadine and continue to recite: "...now purple, with love's wound, And maidens call it, Love in idleness. Fetch me that flower: the herb I showed thee once. The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid," Add a dash of bitters and continue: "Will make or man or woman madly dote, Upon the next live creature that it sees." Drinker slugs down drink and, his courage thus bolstered, goes off to pursue the woman of his fancy...

I am really relishing the return of Florida juice oranges to my favorite produce market. The zest on the oranges I got this trip is just bursting with flavor. I thought this quite dry drink featured it very nicely: 2 oz. Irish Whiskey 1 oz. Manzanilla Sherry 1/4 oz. Green Chartreuse 2 long strips of orange zest

Here is a really tasty whole egg drink I posted a little while back: 1 1/2 oz Pear Eau-de-vie 3/4 oz Sloe Gin 1/2 oz Brandy 1/4 oz Simple Syrup 1/2 of an Egg dash Aromatic Bitters I think it's fruity enough to serve this time of year.

Benjamin at Drink made me quite an interesting whole egg drink the other night: a Cynar Flip -- Cynar, an egg, and that's it.

I don't remember what they were, but I remember seeing two drinks in a row with the same recipe -- with just the order of ingredients different.

Ain't nothin' wrong with good old American Rye.

Funny you weren't so hot on the Opera, I have always been a big fan. `Course I tend to make it in a 2:3/4:1/4 ratio. `Course I also tend to substitute Rye for the Gin (and call it the Opry). Good cocktial, though. Think I might have to get me a bottle of Dubonnet and make a couple of these...

I've been toying around with this recipe recently and am very pleased with the result: Amaryllis 1 3/4 oz. Gin (Tanqueray) 3/4 oz. Bianco Vermouth (M&R) 1/2 oz. Apry 1/2 tsp. Orange Bitters (Hermes) Since Hermes Orange Bitters are not exactly easy-to-find, I tried it out with all the other Orange Bitters I had on hand (Angostura, Regan's, Fee Bros.), and it worked nicely with each. Also presented an interesting chance to compare the different brands: Angostura was significantly more bitter than the others; the bitter notes in Regan's and Fee's were pretty much identical; Hermes and Regan's have a bit of color, while Fee's and Angostura are nearly clear; Fee's and Angostura have the most pronounced orange notes; Hermes is quite different from the rest and quite complex; Regan's has that pronounced secondary flavor/aroma that is so present in the nose (one could argue it is the primary flavor/aroma) but that I don't know what it is. As you can probably tell, I am pretty excited about this drink. Give it a try and tell me what you think!

I think the big culprit in making the bitters look unpalatable was the powdered benzoin resin. I know others have found a more resinous version -- what have you managed to find?

One possible caveat with my experiment: the stuff from the jar with oak chips was unfiltered, while the stuff I bottled was run through a coffee filter. Unfiltered stuff looks quite a bit less attractive, like water you washed your brush in after painting something black. Maybe in the ugly blackness lies the secret to better flavor.

I'm pretty sure that quinine is odorless. ← I can say, from some experiments I did as an undergrad, that rats can tell the difference between sugar pellets and sugar pellets doped with quinine. They taste the quinine pellet once and they never put one in their mouth again.

I think a salty Martini can hit the spot, `specially on a hot summer day.

Worth it. Did this comparison: 2 oz WT Rye, 1/4 oz. simple, split in two, 6 drops in each, found the one made with stuff that had been with the oak all this time much more enjoyable. I think the oak kinda tones down the prickliness of all that clove. I say leave it in/with oak as long as you can. Bought the chips in a homebrew store. They were "American Oak, House Toast". They are not as charred as bourbon barrels I have seen. You might want to have a look around your local brew store; as I recall mine at the time (American Brewmaster in Raleigh -- great store) had a few different choices: definitely American and French, and maybe different levels of toast.