FrogPrincesse

Stone RuinTen IPA. Five pounds of hops per barrel, "a stage dive into a mosh pit of hops". 110 IBU and 10.8% ABV. What amuses me with these bold macho IPA hop-bombs is that they always remind me of grandmother herbal teas. Beer with a intense dose of chamomille. Of course there is the bitterness too. This one has a good malty backbone so there is something to balance out the hops. Reading material.

Another Old-Fashioned variation, Nate Dumas' Nth Degree with rhum Clement VSOP, calvados (the original calls for bonded applejack), green Chartreuse, demerara sugar, and Fee Brothers whiskey barrel aged bitters. This one was not completely successful in my view. The 1/2 oz of green Chartreuse overwhelmed the other flavors of the drink, including the beautiful rhum agricole, which is a shame. Also it tasted too sweet. It should work better with less Chartreuse. Too much of a good thing...

Speaking of Bonal, last night I tried Jeff Hollinger's Whimsy Shim. Bonal as the base, with dry vermouth and Calvados to up the flavor and richness, bitters (I went with Miracle Mile forbidden bitters). He says you can use half Lillet half Carpano Antica and a dash of bitters, if you don't have Bonal.

KD1191 - This looks great. Could you please describe the Anchor genevieve in comparison the dry rye gin, and to something like the Bols genever? I've been eyeing the genevieve for a while now but haven't had a chance to try it.

So, if there was ever any doubt, by his own admission Jeff Morgenthaler is just a lazy bastard and he has illustrated his oleo-saccharum vacuum technique in a new video for Small Screen Network. Some people painstakingly muddle their lemon peel and sugar bny hand; lately I’ve been processing mine in a stand mixer. I like his approach. I don’t have a vacuum sealer but was going to throw everything in a ziplock bag for my annual Fish House Punch, and see what happens. http://youtu.be/wbrzL9LQTaM

As Rafa said. Bonal and Suze have gentiane in common, but the gentiane root flavor is much more prominent in Suze. Suze is sweeter and much more bitter than Bonal. Bonal is a quinquina, so technically it's in the same family as Lillet and Cocchi, although it's got a very different vibe. Bonal reminds me of a slightly bitter and more herbal sweet vermouth, like something you could obtain by mixing sweet vermouth with an amaro.

I've found that 3-2-1 gin-Cocchi-Suze works a little better for me in that drink, the Suze can definitely be a beast. For the White Negroni, I like a 1.5/1/0.75 gin/Lillet/Suze ratio, on the rocks. Typically I go with Beefeater gin. PDT has a version that is a little less intense, with Plymouth gin and a 2.0/1/0.75 gin/Lillet/Suze ratio, which is served up. By the way, you may want to try it with Lillet rather than Cocchi. The Cocchi version is not bad but after a lot of experimentation I came to the conclusion that the orignal version with Lillet is a little more interesting. By the way, which Suze are you using, the original one or the new Saveur d'Autrefois?

And we shall thank San Diego Bartender Erick Castro of Polite Provisions for his efforts!

After learning that Rumdood/Matt Robold was going to end his Sunday run at 320 Main, I was inspired to try his Jaunty Angle. It has a mix of demerara rum and rye as the base, with a touch of Chartreuse and gomme for the sweetener. Angostura aromatic and orange bitters. It's supposed to be served neat a la Sazerac (oops), with an orange twist. It's very intense and flavorful. Every sip is a little different so it's a very interesting cocktail. First it's all about the rye and Chartreuse, then the caramel and butterscotch from the rum become more pronounced towards the end. Matt has detailed notes on his blog together with recommendations for the rum & rye combo.

I tried this last night with Flor de Cana for the white rum, Plantation Barbados for the aged rum, and homemade orgeat. For the beer I went a little overboard and used Stone RuinTen IPA ("A Stage Dive into a Mosh Pit of Hops", IBU 110). Well, this was surprisingly delicious and refreshing. The IPA added a bitter element and grapefruit notes, with the hops contributing some crazy herbal/floral flavors. I will make this again for sure.

Please, please, please, let's have a look at your tiki mug collection. Regarding the paper straws, they are nice and feel much better than metal straws, the other environment-friendly option. Thanks for providing the inspiration.

Thanks to Rafa (again) for recommending the Doe's Path (rye, dry vermouth, Cynar, Benedictine, rosemary garnish). It's delicious indeed, plus it helped me complete my entry for this month's MxMo Resin challenge.

Sounds interesting. Do you have the ratios by any chance?

Rafa - a peach Margarita, really. So much for Cynar then; you are into girly drinks now? Speaking of which, I had a very nice Audrey Saunders-inspired Guava Sour last night. Her original called for soursop/cherimoya; I made a variation with fresh guava from my CSA (I used 1 ounce of homemade nectar). Really lovely, and pairing gin with exotic fruit is interesting and unexpected compared to the obvious pairing (rum). It brings out different flavors from the fruit. I have two versions: a plain one, and one for Dan with Tiki accoutrements, so he does not have to spend his free time photoshopping.

Last night's cocktails. I wanted to make something else with the dry rye gin, and chose a recipe from the St. George website. I picked the Winter Sun with Gran Classico and Lillet. I hardly ever use my bottle of Gran Classico so this was an added bonus. The recipe sounded very sweet, but I went against my better judgment. The beautiful gin was the best part of the drink (thank god it was front and center). The candy-like flavor of the Gran Classico did not do anything good in that cocktail. I added a generous dash of Boker's bitters to mask that flavor, which was pretty successful. Still, this was a disappointment. A nice collection of pretty labels though. Anybody want that bottle of Gran Classico? This one is my CR2 variation with rye and Bonal, You Only Live Twice. I still like it very much. Next time I will do a lemon twist for contrast and go a little heavier on the absinthe.

I have to stop buying books. In the Kitchen with Alain Passard, Christophe Blain The A.O.C Cookbook, Suzanne Goin The Curious Bartender, Tristan Stephenson The Art of the Shim, Dinah Sanders And, a little late, Lucky Peach Issue 8 - The Gender Issue

Another one from Maks Pazuniak. Growing Old and Dying Happy is a Hope, Not an Inevitability (aka Growing Old for short): Cynar, Rittenhouse rye, salt, absinthe rinse, lemon peel. This cocktail was actually the precursor to the Italian Heirloom. It's a very nice cocktail with Cynar as the base and a pinch of salt to control bitterness. Absinthe nose (I used a spray of St. George - original recipe calls for Herbsaint). First I tasted the lemon oils and the herbal notes from the Cynar, then some sweetness and caramel. The finish is nicely bitter and the cocktail feels very fresh.

Ok. When I read Ketel One, I automatically assumed vodka based on what is available in the US. I did not realize that they also made a genever.

Indeed these are beautiful shots. Worthy of a book, for sure. A question for you, Adam - for your Improved Holland Gin Cocktail, you said that you used a mix of Bols genever and Kettle One vodka (3:1). Why not use straight genever?

Toronto with gin. Sounds interesting. What gin did you use, Rafa? For now, here is just a glimpse of my legendary backlog - last night's Negroni variation with St. George dry rye gin and Dolin rouge. Really, really good. The dry rye gin changes the feeling of the drink quite a bit. It feels a bit crisper/lighter/drier. The gin has tons of juniper and also some pepper and caraway. The resulting Negroni tastes a bit malty, almost briny/savory, and then the botanicals and bitter finish take over. It's different from the classic Negroni but it's great in its own right. Will do again, for sure. I think next I want to use this gin in an old-fashioned.

Thanks rotuts. The 72% is more versatile and I always keep a block in the pantry. I don't mind the extra workout needed to turn it into small chips, and it's fun to have a mix of larger and smaller pieces in the cookies. I think they melt at lower temperature as well, which is a bit messy but very nice.

I love palmiers. These look really crispy and nice. I made a large batch of David Lebovitz's chocolate chip cookies this weekend (the recipe from Ready for Dessert). I used Trader Joe's 72% chocolate. I think that I cut the pecans a little too small, but otherwise the cookies were quite nice.

An assortment of beers, including a few interesting saisons, from Bottlecraft in North Park. Also a little souvenir from London, which I have yet to open. I read that Sipsmith was now available at Bar Keeper in Silverlake/LA.

Believe it or not, it looks like this monstrosity originated from the Savoy Cocktail Book. Thank god I am a brunette, otherwise I'd be pretty upset.

Sounds very French. Love it.