FrogPrincesse

Nice typo. Department of Redundancy Department! Thanks. This is just inspired by how Sam Ross garnishes the drink (except he uses crystalized ginger - I had to make do with a dried mango).

I've been in Tokyo for the past week. I bought a bottle of Yoichi single malt whisky at my little neighborhood grocery store and started mixing. I started with an Old Fashioned with Boker's bitters. Intense. The Yoichi has a lot of smoke and a ton of flavor overall. The next day I stumbled upon a farmer's market and bought a very aromatic dogwood honey, fresh ginger, and a couple of lemons. I thought that, with its smoke, the Yoichi would work well in a Penicillin. I found a really cool coffee shop/cocktail bar/vintage design store in Shibuya and they made me a textbook perfect Negroni. Also a Whiskey Mac with blended whiskey, stone ginger wine, and lemon peel. The next day it was time for a visit to the Park Hyatt for a Lost in Translation moment. We ordered their house Manhattan (Templeton, Carpano Antica, and Abott's bitters), and a Brandy Sour with Earl Gray-infused brandy and fresh yuzu. The cocktails were good; it's too bad that their bad menu is not up to par (fish and chips, mini sliders, etc).

I grabbed a few bottles of Nikka whisky at the local grocery store and decided to have a little tasting. I had tried Japanese whiskies from Suntory in the US (Yamazaki 12, Hibiki 12, Hakushu 12), but not Nikka. At the little corner grocery store down from where I am staying in Tokyo, they have small bottles (180 mL) for about $10 a piece, so it's a good occasion to try them. Single malt "Yoichi", 10 years The nose is light (caramel, leather, smoke) but the taste is intense: tobacco, leather, spice. Long finish. Single malt "Miyagikyo" Nose is caramel, vanilla, green apple; taste has more green apple, almond. Some smoke in the finish. Pure malt "Taketsuru" 12 years Nose is very light. Taste is the less intense of the three (although it's the darkest). Honey, vanilla, green apple. Finish is very faint. It was interesting to see the wide diversity of these whiskies. The third one is probably what I had in mind when thinking of Japanese whisky - pleasant, but not especially memorable. Clearly there is a lot to explore.

It would not feel like Christmas without pain d'epices (the French version of gingerbread). I really like Suzanne Goin's recipe from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. It's moister and more flavorful after a day or two.

These hedgehogs are adorable, curls. Chocolate bark. From the bottom left, counterclockwise. Coconut, strawberry pop rocks, purple sprinkles (created by my daughter) Coconut and cocoa nibs (my husband's pick) Almonds and cranberries (mine) Mini marshmallows and strawberry pop rocks (my daughter's second creation)

The Bensonhurst looks really nice Plantes Vertes. I have no idea why I haven't tried that one yet; I tried to visit most of the Brooklyn neighborhoods, but missed that one apparently. Happy Flatmas to you, and Happy Festivus to the rest of us. Apple Spice Mule at Luce, a local restaurant. Meh. Nice copper mug, but too much ginger beer and not enough bourbon. Their Gin Gin Mule rendition is better. Tiki and the Pyrats (Michael Mas, ECC): Jamaican rum, lemon juice, falernum, Laphroaig, absinthe. Another meh. The falernum tried to bridge the gap between the rum and the Laphroaig, but did not succeed. The absinthe (St. George) got lost in the mix. Moving on to our maple series. Starting with the inspiration, the Applejack Rabbit from the Savoy Cocktail Book (made with the specs from PDT, but I substituted Calvados for applejack). Calvados, orange and lemon juice, maple syrup. All the ingredients enhance the apple flavor from the calvados. Very nice. For those of us who enjoy bitter things, Follow that Black Rabbit (Kristian Kramp): London dry gin, Fernet-Branca, orange and lemon juice, maple syrup. It's the digestif version of the above. Lionheart: calvados, rye, maple syrup, allspice dram, Angostura bitters. Closely related to the American Trilogy and its applejack/rye combo. The Lionheart enhances the spice in the calvados rather than the apple. I feel that it would be better with an older calvados that can better stand up to the other ingredients. Red Maple Swizzle: Smith and Cross overproof Jamaican rum, lemon juice, maple syrup, Peychaud's bitters. Gorgeous aroma from the S&C, very drinkable... Delicious, as most things made with S&C. Don Lockwood (Abraham Hawkins, Dutch Kills), an Old Fashioned with bourbon, Islay scotch, maple syrup, mole bitters, and an orange twist. I did not know that Dutch Kills had recipes printed on their menu; this is cool even though it's not up to date. Anyway, I don't know what Islay scotch they use at Dutch Kills, but pairing bourbon with Laphroaig is not an easy task. This is a slow sipper for sure, because the Laphroaig overwhelms at first. Not bad, but I suspect that my choice of brands may not have been optimal. I am still scratching my head about the name. It's Gene Kelly's character in Singin' in the Rain, but what is the connection? Maybe it's that glorious feeling...

Pliny the Elder double IPA from Russian River. SO worth the hype (if I were smart I would keep my mouth shut!). Beautiful IPA bursting with hops, with also some really cool stone fruit and citrus flavors. Eminently drinkable.

Just a side note that Krogstad also makes an aquavit aged in French oak wine barrels, which is more in line with the Linie.

Korgstad was a deliberate choice. I had a chance to try it alongside other products made by House Spirits, and liked its flavor enough to invest in a bottle. Linie is indeed available here, but is completely different. As it's aged in sherry casks, it is more mellow and has a noticeable sweet sherry finish. It was used in the White Lady variation mentioned above but I imagine it's best for sipping, if you are really into aquavit. The spices are less prominent compared to Krogstad, which was by far the most fragrant of the ones we tried that night.

Mine will be late as well. But it should be worth the wait, I promise...

I got challenged to bring an aquavit drink to a Norwegian-themed holiday party, so I used the occasion to finally try Jeff Morgenthaler's Norwegian Wood. I bought Krogstad aquavit since it is what Morgenthaler had developed his recipe around. I had to go with Calvados instead of applejack for the French touch. Here is the home practice run with Daron fine calvados and Cocchi vermouth di Torino. Pretty solid drink but I was not wowed. It fell a little flat (note that I am being super critical). For the party, I upgraded to Daron XO* and the host provided a fresh bottle of Vya vermouth. The calvados on its own has a pretty rough start, but finishes beautifully. I was really curious to see how it was going to work in the drink. The cocktail was a big hit. It was perfect to end the evening. Beautiful cocktail with an amazing finish courtesy of the calvados & yellow chartreuse. I will make it again using the Daron XO. I also made Jeff Berry's Peg Leg punch with aquavit, vodka, grapefruit and lemon juice, homemade orgeat. This was pre-batched and was the first drink of the night. It was ok, but I think that it would need some tweaking to be more memorable/ less one-note (the Krogstad has a very strong caraway and star anise flavor). Maybe simply adding some angostura bitters a la Army & Navy would make it more interesting. Other drinks served included a White Lady variation (aquavit, lemon juice, triple sec, sans egg white), and, the wild card of the night, a cocktail pairing aquavit with Lillet Rose, maraschino, and absinthe. Fun party. We got to try half a dozen different aquavits. (*)Sounds spendy but a friend alerted me to a ridiculously low-priced cache in a local liqueur store...

This article about packing liquor just came up on alcademics.com. Teflon tape and ziplock bags to avoid leaks, mini bottles in shoes, larger bottles wrapped in pants or sweaters. Personnally, I like wine shippers (polystyrene inserts in a cardboard box that Bill Klapp just mentioned) although they are a little bulky. They give me peace of mind.

Polite Provisions was just named Cocktail Bar of the Year by Imbibe Magazine. Congrats to Erick Castro and the rest of the team!

They have St. George too. I've been very happy with it, by itself or in cocktails. Give it a shot. After the Gastown, last night I tried another creation from Happiness Forgets, this one by Johan Ekelund. Absinthe as the base (the original recipe was created with Pernod, I substituted St. George), grapefruit juice (I used Oro Blanco instead of pink grapefruit), lime juice, simple syrup, mint, and egg white. Egg white emulsified by hand; I had pretty good luck this time (this was a very fresh egg). Dapper Man Sour (original recipe here, converted to oz in the Kindred database) The egg white tamed the absinthe quite a bit without covering its flavor. It reminded me of other cocktails marrying absinthe with egg white, for example the Swiss Mist in PDT, although that one has gin as the base and absinthe as an accent. It's a very nice way to enjoy absinthe. Oh, and that made me smile - "I don’t believe in fine straining but if that is how you (the reader) like it I have no objections." So I did not bother double straining.

That's because the recipe was converted from metric (1 3/8 oz ~ 40 mL).

Same here. I will be out of town from the 25th until Jan 9th.

Here is one from a couple of nights ago, Seizoen Bretta, an organic farmhouse ale made by Logsdon in Oregon. Very sour & dry, and similar to some (good) Breton apple ciders. Not what I was expecting. It would be great with crepes but I don't recommend it with roast chicken.

Gastown from Happiness Forgets in London (Geoff Robinson). It's mezcal with a touch of Cynar, Fernet, Angostura and Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters, plus a little bit of maple syrup to sweeten up the deal. Quite rogue/beta cocktail-like and quite good actually. Smoke, orange, bitter, and savory.

Any purpose to this other than shock factor? I am trying to imagine the taste of toasted crickets and what that could bring to a cocktail... some people say they taste like sunflower seeds.

Just keep in mind that some of us are not on facebook...

From Mauritius. Very cool.

It looks delicious. Did you participate in the Pâté en Croûte Championship this year? I read that Anthony Bourdain (who was knighted to the brotherhood) and Daniel Boulud attended the event.

Will you be my mommy? That might be more of a commitment than I can handle at this time, but in any case, you are welcome to my stash if you are ever in San Diego.

Rafa posted something on Kindred yesterday about the Michigander, a creation by Jason Schiffer of 320 Main in Seal Beach, with apple brandy, Cynar, lemon juice, and honey syrup. On Cocktail virgin slut it says that it is reminiscent of another cocktail combining rosemary and Cynar, Rosemary's Baby from Rogue cocktails, so I decided to try that instead. It's not included in beta cocktails. First you have to light up a fire with fresh rosemary and Grand Marnier. It was fun and burned for a long while. I used 1/2 oz of Grand Marnier (instead of 3/4 oz) since someone had mentioned in the comments that the cocktail was a little sweet. It's actually not a good idea to do this in your mixing glass, because it was very hot by the time the flame had died off and I had to transfer the rosemary-infused Grand Marnier to another vessel for stirring. The other ingredients are applejack (I went with calvados), Cynar, orange and grapefruit bitters. The orange flavor of the Grand Marnier was not detectable. The rosemary flavor was subtle and completed the cocktail, which tasted like a caramel apple with a little bitterness. Rich but not too sweet.

This one was crazy good. The Crafty and Elusive Elk (Daniel Warrilow from Son of a Gun, one of my favorite restaurants in LA): tequila, mezcal, maraschino, falernum, lime juice, orange bitters. Very improbable combo but the ingredients just clicked together, and it was delicious.