FrogPrincesse

Powering through the backlog. Here is the Eclipse Cocktail by Leo Robitsheck: añejo tequila, aperol, cherry liqueur, lemon juice, mezcal rinse. There is some orange flavor from the Aperol. To me it tastes a bit like a smoky and slightly bitter margarita.

Rafa's silence speaks volumes... Anyway, here is an Angostura Sour that I made the other night: Angostura bitters, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white; a variation on a Charles H. Baker's recipe. Egg white shaken by hand ("dry" first with the lime juice) which worked great this time. Aesthetically it's not the most-pleasing; the cocktail is very dark with a maroon color and the foam is colored as well. Flavor-wise, mostly cinnamon and lime. Bitter but less than you would imagine. Good digestif for an upset stomach.

Yeah, it tends to disappear fast. Plus it was only $39 for a 1.75 L bottle.

It's not replaced. Both are available now. Not in America, but in the only two stores that sold Noilly Prat in my area. Both places have moved exclusively to the Extra Dry.That's really too bad. It's good to have both options. The "new" extra dry is probably my favorite of the two for martinis. The dry is excellent on the rocks.Recent purchases: family size Buffalo Trace bourbon (restock), a couple of High West items that I am excited to try (Son of Bourye and Double Rye), a bottle of yellow Chartreuse that was missing in my collection, and Krogstad aquavit for a Norwegian themed party I've been invited to.

It's not replaced. Both are available now.

I make cavatelli dough in the KA. It is not very dense so it is not hard on the KA.

From the Rogue (now beta) Cocktails thread: I think it's time to revisit this Apricot Brandy thread so I am responding to Dan here. I currently have a bottle of the R&W but am not crazy about it. To me it tastes rather sweet and candy-like in cocktails. Re-reading this thread I realized that Marie Brizard had lowered Apry's proof some years ago, so maybe that's not the way to go if I am trying to "upgrade". Diffords reviewed various apricot liqueurs in April 2012 which included De Kuyper (4/5), Monin (4.5/5), Bols (4/5), Gabriel Boudier (5/5), Giffard (5/5), and De Kuyper XO (5+/5). The review, interestingly, did not include Marie Brizard's Apry. De Kuyper XO is not available in the US as far as I can tell, and seems quite expensive, so that is out. Giffard retails in the US for about $30. I am not sure about Boudier. Paul Clarke on Serious Eats wrote an article in 2011 where he discussed Marie Brizard, Giffard, and Rothman & Winter. According to him, "Any of these three do an excellent job in cocktails, though the Rothman & Winter is probably the most natural (and natural-tasting) of the bunch." Jason Wilson had a detailed article in the Washington Post in January 2011. The two that he seems to like the best are Marie Brizard and R&W. There is also a product by The Bitter Truth, although Jay noted on Oh Gosh! that it was not the best product for mixing purposes: I don't use apricot liqueur very often, but I was hoping I could change from R&W to something I like a little better. Boudier may be the way to go if I manage to track it down. Otherwise I am considering Giffard or Briottet (I have their peach liqueur and it's great). Lejay-Lagoute mentioned upthread sounds like a good option, but I don't think it's available in the US. I really wish I could try various brands before committing to a whole bottle.

Experimenting is perfectly fine and actually encouraged. I was objecting to the fact that he was not sharing his findings with us, that's all. I feel left out.

Rafa, Briottet peach liqueur is very good and tastes natural (official name is "crème de pêche de vigne") . It's nice in champagne cocktails and also in Fish House Punch. What do you use your peach liqueur for? (Are there a bunch of girly drinks that you make on regular basis and don't tell us about? I am concerned!)

If you like Negronis (I believe that you do), you owe it to yourself to try a White Negroni. Still plenty bitter, while being lighter in feel. Not a replacement for the "real thing" by any means, but a really great variation nonetheless. In the PDT Cocktail Book which has Wayne Collins' original recipe, they use 2 oz Plymouth gin so it's a bit less intense, which some people may prefer, and they serve it up.

The Affinity Cocktail looks very nice, Plantes Vertes. It looks like it's a favorite of Erik too. What type of scotch did you use? A couple of classics from this weekend. A mini Old Fashioned with Elijah Craig bourbon, simple syrup, and Angostura bitters. OK - I drank part of it and then remembered to take a photo. This was very good with a quick weekend lunch. A White Negroni with Sipmith London dry gin. I prefer mine with 1.5 oz gin, 1 oz Lillet, 0.75 oz Suze, on the rocks, with a lemon twist. With this gin the cocktail reaches perfection level. So much flavor.

I've been researching aquavit lately and came across an article that lists all the aquavits available in the US, with some tasting notes. Linie has the particularity of being aged for about four months in sherry barrels and is described as being very smooth. http://aquavitweek.com/aquavits-in-the-us/ How was the Occidental?

I decided to finally crack open my bottle of Sipsmith London dry gin to celebrate Repeal Day yesterday. I tried it neat and it was love at first sip. Very flavorful but restrained at the same time. Juniper, lemon, some coriander in the finish, almost sweet. Overall really smooth and harmonious. I considered having more just neat, but ended up with a Gin Fix: gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, persimmon garnish. I panicked for a moment thinking that I would need to go all the way to London to buy more once this bottle runs out. But thank god it's available in the US (HiTimes and DrinkUpNY both have it in stock). I notice though that my bottle has red wax and a dark blue label, versus the green label & wax on the website. I wonder what that is all about. Maybe it's just the duty free version of their packaging (I got it in Heathrow). The only bad thing to report about this gin is that the closure has a quality issue - the top piece detached from the artificial cork right away.

I'm in. Grabbed the last spot.

Last night was an attempt at reverse-engineering a cocktail I really like at the Lion's Share, The Federal Buffalo Stamp (Has Mahmmod). It's an addictive whiskey sour variation with ginger and maple syrup. Here it is with its candied ginger garnish, from a recent visit. The menu lists it as bourbon, lemon, ginger root, maple syrup. I am pretty sure that they use a homemade ginger syrup but 1) I was feeling lazy last night and 2) I have a bottle of Canton ginger liqueur that I hope to get rid of one day to make room for bigger better things, so I just used that instead. I went with 2 oz bourbon, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 1/2 oz maple syrup 1:1 syrup, and 1/4 oz ginger liqueur. I am missing the ginger garnish but otherwise it was spot-on and filled my craving. The bourbon-ginger-maple combo just works.

My cocktail last night was the Bitter Giuseppe. Less bitter than I remembered. This is the version published earlier this year in Imbibe magazine, which differs from the one in beta cocktails with an increased amount of sweet vermouth (1 oz vs. 3/4 oz), orange bitters (6 dashes vs. 2), and lemon juice (1/4 oz). This updated version is also included in the Art of Shim. Stephen Cole uses Carpano Antica Formula, but it's very good too with Cocchi vermouth di Torino, which plays well with the chocolate notes in Cynar.

I was at Bar Agricole earlier this year and got a chance to try the Leopold maraschino liqueur. I did not realize at the time that it got developed in part due to Bar Agricole's idea to source small-batch craft liqueurs (article here). In any case, it is indeed more subtle than Luxardo but it still has the profile of a maraschino liqueur. It has plenty of character. Some people use low amounts of maraschino in their Hemingway Daiquiris because the maraschino tends to take over. I think the Leopold would be good in such a case. Bar Agricole uses the maraschino in the Turf Club cocktail (gin, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, absinthe rinse, orange bitters). Note that Leopold also makes a cherry liqueur, but that's a different product which is more similar to cherry heering.

Blether's cake looks delicious. I wish I had a slice with my tea! A very rustic tart with Granny Smith apples. I had pastry dough in my freezer (I typically make a double batch and freeze half), so this did not require much effort.

A Moment of Silence (Maks Pazuniak): rye, apricot liqueur, Averna, Angostura bitters, apple brandy, Campari rinse. For the apple brandy, the recipe calls for Lairds bonded; I substituted calvados. I find that the taste of Rothman & Winter apricot liqueur can be candy-like and unpleasant in cocktails when used in large quantities. In this cocktail, it disappears and blends harmoniously with the other ingredients. (Note that the original recipe specifies Marie Brizard which is what I plan on buying when this bottle is empty.) I got a very pleasant bittersweet orange flavor from the cocktail, with a great "bite". Tons of interesting flavors from the Averna and Angostura, without a heavy feel. Great drink for a contemplative mood.

I think it's just a ploy to get our addresses. I expect a knock on my door any time now. Better hide my good stuff asap.

Probably right. The rationale for the name was that it was based on another drink called the Diplomat. They substituted Pimm's for the sweet vermouth, making it a British Diplomat.

I tried another light-weight cocktail from the Art of Shim; this one failed to wow me. British Diplomat with dry vermouth, Pimm's No. 1, maraschino liqueur, and aromatic bitters (I used Boker's). It was very much dominated by the French vermouth (I used Noilly Prat extra dry), with subtle undertones from everything else. I upped the bitters but the drink was not that interesting.

I'd be up for it but we'd better get started soon. Shipping stuff internationally during the holiday season can easily take weeks.

Tonight I had a Bicycle Thief, a Manhattan variation & close relative of the Little Italy, with rye (I used Rittenhouse 101), sweet vermouth (Cocchi vermouth di Torino), Cynar, and Bonal. Great showcase for the Rittenhouse rye, with a lovely bitter orange flavor, plus caramel and herbs in the finish. I did not do a side-by-side, but purely from memory, I think I may prefer it to a Little Italy.

Thanks Rafa, I try.The recipe was from The Art of Shim by Dinah Sanders. 1.5 oz Bonal 1 oz Dolin dry vermouth (I used Noilly Prat) 0.5 oz calvados Dash aromatic bitters Lemon peel