FrogPrincesse

Last night I made a simple French 75 with Beefeater and Crémant de Bourgogne for the sparkling wine. Don't skimp on the gin, I think that's the key.

Hassouni -Your Zombie looks great. I am intrigued by the Barcelo Imperial. I see that it has a great review by Matt Robold and seems reasonably priced (less than $30) so now it's on my wishlist (even though my rum collection is already out of hand...).

I've been using the cinnamon syrup from BG Reynolds which I just found out is a blend of cassia and Ceylon cinnamon.

It's called Breaking and Entering. It's a blend from a large number of distilleries. I have a bottle and it's delicious.

Thank you Franci. Your rabbit dish looks fabulous. I was going to ask you for details but I found the recipe on your blog. I haven't had rabbit in ages... Now I have a craving for it!

Some catching up to do to cover the past month or so... Grilled chicken al mattone (Mario Batali), coconut kale (Vikram Vij), baby purple artichokes braised with saffron, black olives and almonds (Russ Parsons). Not super-photogenic, but this was a delicious lamb burger (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall) with cucumber raita (Vikram Vij) served with sauteed zucchini with mint, basil and pine nuts (Deborah Madison). Marcella Hazan's lamb chops fried in Parmesan butter; sugar snap peas with saffron and thyme (Suzanne Goin) Poutine with duck confit from our trip to Niagara (The Syndicate brewery) Corvina seabass with chermoula (Joyce Goldstein), grilled zucchini, yoghurt with za'atar Butternut squash ravioli with brown butter and wild sage, onion focaccia, 2009 Zaca Mesa chardonnay Pork ribs braised in Vietnamese caramel sauce (Molly Stevens) with a sweet potato mash and black kale My favorite recent meal - all shellfish. Crayfish boil Linguine con vongole (Mario Batali)

Trader Vic's Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (1947) with the ratios from PDT. Rum, lime juice, Cointreau, falernum. I was out of Barbados rum so I used Barbancourt 8. It's a very good cocktail that would be fun to try with various rums. It's interesting that this lime + falernum + Cointreau combo was also used by Donn Beach in the Test Pilot (1941), which adds Angostura bitters and pastis to get a completely different feel to the cocktail, from crisp and clean for the RBYC to complex and exotic for the Test Pilot. Very illustrative of their respective styles.

For me it's a Daiquiri Naturale with rhum agricole. Perfection.

So the Anvil list is now at the 2.0 version (here) which is now organized into categories rather than alphabetical. Makes more sense. The categories are: Sour and ShortHerbal and SpirituousBoozy and AlluringLight and LoooooooongBitter + BoldTropical & TikiOdds & EndsThe Painkiller makes an appearance as the Brandkiller... clever. My count is 58 for the new list, 65 for the old list (the link to the old list in the first post no longer works, but I found a copy here). It looks like I have some categories well covered - 100% for the Bitter & Bold and Tropical & Tiki categories! On the other end, I haven't much tried in the Odds & Ends category.

I bought my first bottle of Bénédictine only recently and have been playing with it quite a bit. I posted my results on various threads but thought it would be good to start a new topic. Last night I made the Cock'n Bull Special (an old recipe found on the Bartender's Choice app): bourbon, benedictine, cognac, cointreau, angostura bitters. It's very aromatic. If you like the Vieux Carré you will like this one.

Found a new cache of Saison de Lente at $9.99 so I feel much better... I tried this saison by Le Merle a couple of nights ago. We did not care for it. First sip, it almost tastes like a light Breton cider with a lot of apple notes. Then as you go it's very fizzy, hoppy and feels thin. The finish is bitter and almost tinny. It's a bit high in alcohol for a Saison and you can feel it. Overall, it was unremarkable and did not have a lot of flavor. The label looks cool though...

Ira Koplowitz's Six Corner Sling. The drink has a lot of aroma; it's a little sweet but still well balanced. Compared to the Singapore Sling, the base of gin + brandy is replaced with rye. In the Singapore Sling the cherry liqueur and Benedictine give it a ton of flavor. It's interesting how you can get something with a similar vibe with this Punt e Mes/bitters/Chartreuse combo. It has a very tiki-esque feel to it. Another great spring drink. Thanks again to KD1191 for the recipe. I don't have the Bittercube orange bitters (which I read have a caramelized aroma), so I used Regan's and flamed the twist. My rye was Bulleit.

The Last Mechanical Art (Maks Pazuniak): equal parts Campari, Cynar, Punt e Mes, mezcal; orange zest. Burnt rubber, gasoline, smoke. Another slow sipper.

That's no big deal Plantes Vertes. Essentially you reach saturation when you can no longer dissolve sugar in water and some of it just remains as undissolved sugar crystals in the solution, which happens slightly above 2:1 at 25C. It is possible to dissolve more sugar if you increase temperature (or pressure). Then with subsequent cooling, a supersaturated solution can be obtained.

Oaxaca Old Fashioned (Phil Ward): tequila reposado, mezcal, agave syrup, mole bitters. I used this recipe but I don't see why it could not be just built in the glass. This one packs a punch, especially the first few sips (wow). Then it mellows and you can finally appreciate all the aromas, spice and smoke. These cool little OF glasses are a find from Kerry - thanks again Kerry!

KD1191 - you are amazing. Thanks a lot!

Great to see you Franci and I agree with mm84321, your food looks great (as always)!

A lot of nice drinks in this thread which I stumbled upon (hic!) while researching the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned I was drinking last night. Troy Sidle's list a few posts upthread looks amazing but I am having issues finding recipes for some of them. A bunch of them are covered in Rogue/Beta cocktails: Cynar Flip, Art of Choke, Broken Shoe Shiner, Juliet and Romeo. I can't find a recipe for Toby Maloney's Rangoon Fizz other than it contains gin, ginger, lime, mint and tonic. It looks like a close relative of Audrey Saunders' Gin Gin Mule. Pulque by Phil Ward - is there an actual cocktail by that name or is that just a reference to fermented agave? Ira Koplowitz's Six Corner Sling sounds like a winner with Old Overholdt Rye, Lemon, Punte Mes, Grapefruit Bitters but what are the ratios? I am sure that I can approximate these drinks based on the ingredient list and general common sense, but if there is an "official" recipe out there, I would love to know. Thanks!

On the topic of reverse-engineering, it's been mostly brainstorming and day-dreaming on my end as I haven't invested in any equipment or new gadgets - yet. But since the eG workshop I've been visiting various shops (See's Candies and Chuao a local chocolatier) in an effort to guess what technique they use for their products. Some sampling may have been involved. And now I always check to see if their chocolates have smooth and shiny bottoms!

For spring I like to transition to more fresh citrus juice and maybe a touch of honey to keep things comforting and tone the citrus down a little. For example something like a Bee's Knees (gin, honey syrup, lemon juice) or a Gold Rush (bourbon, honey syrup, lemon juice) can work. A Brooklynite is a good transition drink too (aged Jamaican rum, lime juice, honey syrup, angostura bitters). A Brown Derby if you are in the mood for grapefruit (bourbon, grapefruit juice, honey syrup). Refer to the Mixed Drinks with Honey thread for more ideas. A touch of jam can add a touch of fruit but I like to keep it subtle. The Talbott Leaf in PDT (bourbon, lemon, Chartreuse, cynar, mint, strawberry preserves), Cavalier also in PDT (cognac, lemon, cointreau, orgeat, apricot preserves, orange bitters). These are good transition drinks because they have an element of richness which is brightened by the citrus and fruit. Lastly, Juleps are always good. Yes they are crushed ice drinks which you thought may not work for the chilly springtime in your area, but they are warming enough that they should be considered. I really like the Thomas Mint Julep (cognac with a touch of Smith & Cross Jamaican rum).

Just a note that simple syrup (1:1) is not saturated with sugar, not even close. You can even make rich simple syrup (2:1) and you would still be (slightly) below the saturation point.

It's funny, I've never considered speculoos as a nut-free cookie. Some of the better examples actually have slivered almonds which are part of the appeal. I understand that this is a special request though.

The peas sound delicious. It's interesting to read your report about Ma Peche. I went there last year and had a disatrous experience. I did not like the cavernous space; the service was bad and the food was insanely expensive for what it was. I am still upset about it and am doing my best to forget, but your post brought back painful memories!

Interesting choice of rums, I would be curious to try it. The closest I could do at home would probably be Coruba for the dark Jamaican + Sagatiba for the cachaca. I would still stick to Cointreau or Creole shrubb though; not a fan of Grand Marnier in Mai Tais. Enquiring minds want to know, what is the story behind the vanilla? (at least you are not using grenadine! )

We had a mini heat wave in San Diego last week (32C/90F), so I used the occasion to make a Montego Bay (Donn Beach). Typical flavor profile with dark Jamaican rum, allspice dram, grapefruit, lime, honey syrup, angostura, pastis. I used Appleton 12 for the rum. It would be fun to try with other Jamaican rums.