FrogPrincesse

Swedish punch + white rum reminds me of this from the Savoy (which has potential, with its CR2 resemblance). Curious to see what you come up with.

I think you are onto something...

Midnight Moon from Cypress Grove, a very nice goat gouda. Excellent with first-of-the season Fuyu persimmons (and a Gold Cup tiki cocktail).

I forgot - also a Trader Vic Mai Tai with my usual rum combo after the discussion on the origin of the Mai Tai. I keep smelling apricot when I mix this one, I have no idea why.

That sounds really good, Chris. I have a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 bourbon, but sadly not the rye. More drinks (going through the backlog). For a dinner party, I made Corpse Revivers No. 2 for my male friends & Sunflowers for their dates (I was too busy to take photos). Sunflowers were prepared with the last of my homemade elderflower cordial. The next day I was still in the mood for a Lillet/absinthe combo so I went with David Slape's Paddington. A couple of nights ago, this terrific Manhattan with St. George Breaking & Entering bourbon, Dolin rouge, Angostura bitters, brandied cherry. Grab this bourbon if you can find it.

Nice choice! Can't go wrong with this one. Had a couple of beers at California Kebab & Beer Garden in Pacific Beach. They brew they own beer on the premises in their "nanobrewery", Amplified Ale Works. I was very tempted to order the Habanero Sculpin but was told that it was really hot so I passed. I tried the Soul-Less Ginger wheat but did not care for it. We ended up ordering a Modern Times Blazing World and a Köstritzer Schwarzbier.

My term but it's essentially a hollow half cone of ice. A good example is from the Luau cocktail menu - fifth photo down. Jeff Berry describes it as "an ice shell forming a hood over the glass".

I made a pair of Gold Cups last night, a recipe found while looking for orgeat + absinthe combos in the Kindred Cocktails database (Demerara rum, lime juice, maraschino liqueur, orgeat, simple syrup, absinthe, mint garnish). I decided to try it even though it would not have the proper ice veil garnish... but life is too short for this kind of nonsense. This was delicious and a great use of St. George absinthe. I ended up using only 1/4 of simple syrup as my homemade orgeat is quite sweet already. The recipe from Jeff Berry calls for gold/amber Jamaican rum but I went with the 5-year El Dorado demerara rum from the Clio version. The mint garnish was a nice touch too.

Thanks for sharing this. I made it with a homemade elderflower cordial and Buffalo Trace bourbon. Still haven't got around to making a batch of falernum. It does have a certain tiki vibe to it as you wrote. It's a very nice cocktail; I made it two nights in a row! And I liked it much better than its inspiration the Ward Eight...

Making dis. Of course, I'm out of Campari, which makes me just as bad as FrogPrincesse, who I believe is still out of Cynar. ETA Friday for the Cynar, but I would like to point out that I am ahead of you two regarding the "Red Lantern". It's a Kingston Negroni with a different name.

Good thing you liked it since you made three of them! What brand of vermouth/gin did you use?

That's right. There is this comparison below from Erik in the Creme Yvette thread, and this detailed one which concludes that creme de violette is preferred for classic cocktails, although Yvette may work in some cases. But keep in mind that intensity, taste, and even color (Yvette has a reddish tinge) are different.

Here you go - http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/product/searchResults.do?ITEM_NAME=260331&ITEM_NUMBER=260331&language=EN Isn't crème Yvette a bit different from crème de violette though? From what I read, it's more berry and vanilla-forward and may not be a good substitute. See for example kindredcocktails and imbibe magazine.

Rafa is always ahead of the game.

Delicious. Enjoying it now. Any references. Ratio. Bar name, year, etc? It's a tough name to google for. Dan, Glad that you like it (I don't dare ask about your wife this time!). It's from the Bartender's Choice app, credited to Benjamin Schwartz, Little Branch, NYC, 2010.

Maybe I should rename it the Overshare. Well, we did ask... I was going to say that I'll have what she's having, but am very unfortunately sans Cynar at the moment. This week is not starting well at all. Anyway, back to the weekend fun. Tried a De La Louisiane and its diametric opposite, Michael Madrusan's Deep Blue Sea - light, crisp and slightly salty. If you have a bottle of violette languishing somewhere, give it a try.

Finally got around to making a La Louisiane last night. There was no good reason why I waited so long. It's in the Creole/Vieux Carré family and it's very good. Rye, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, absinthe, Peychaud's.

I've been a different bar and had the waiter tell my female companion a drink was "strong". I put it down to staff training, really. I trained my staff previously to refer to drinks as either "spirit forward" or "easy drinking" rather than "strong" and "light". I really would like to see more effort put into training floor staff at decent cocktail bars. So used to this. Here people warn you if the beer is sour, if the cocktail is bitter, contains a raw egg, etc... They will even take your wine glass away if you are a woman and seem pregnant... No such nonsense at the Sycamore Den. This relatively new bar in Normal Heights looks like your dad's man cave in the 70s, complete with wood paneling, banjo, shotgun collection, and period-appropriate music selection. Kind of fun although somewhat crowded (as expected) & loud on a Saturday night. Too busy hipster-watching, I opted not to take photos. Eric Johnson formerly of Noble Experiment designed the cocktail menu. I had a Swiss Bank, a mild daiquiri tempered by pineapple juice and a touch of absinthe, Swiss-Mist like (but with rum). It would have been a more logical choice for my first drink (starting with something subtle) but instead I went for the Dovetail Julep, a great rendition with gin & cognac, a hint of peach from the bitters and more of that Kubler absinthe. It looked like a snow cone piled into a little tin camping mug. Really nice. Also a Monk Improved, an improved cocktail with Maraschino & Chartreuse. It will be good to go back on a weeknight when things are a little calmer.

Hmmm. It's one way to get noticed I guess (it worked - I am now following his blog). The history of the Mai Tai was detailed by Jeff Berry in Remixed and seemed well supported. I will have to refresh my memory regarding the specific details (good thing I have some homemade orgeat left in the fridge).

If you have access to Appleton, I would go with that. Although I use the 12-year at home, the V/X is what I have seen many bars use for the Jamaican component. I have tried it and while it's lighter than the 12, it's still a very nice rum for mixing.

Franci - I kill them with a knife and grill whole for a few minutes, then cut in half and grill further, basting with marjoram-infused olive oil. More details here. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/131552-cooking-with-the-babbo-cookbook/#entry1895668

Thanks for mentioning it on the beta cocktail thread a while back. It's an interesting cocktail for sure.

So, what did you wife think about it? Don't leave us hanging. Has she recovered? Looks like they are no longer on speaking terms.

Very well done Shelby, and Happy Birthday! (Everything looks amazing, especially the duck foie gras...)

Oh, so that's where you get all of your recipes from...