FrogPrincesse

I do mine by volume and I don't even measure the volume anymore; I just fill my container with the sugar and add an equal amount of water (visually) for simple syrup.

Could not agree more. Oranges are very tricky in cocktails and so is grenadine... Use with extreme caution!

I had a fantastic time this weekend and so did the little princess. Big Giant Thanks to Kerry for organizing such a fun event. Also, my thanks to all the other people who helped organize this, including Anna and the staff at the Culinary Institute. It was a treat to meet everyone and get my hands "dirty" with chocolate. Kerry asked us to mention what we had learned - I started practically from scratch with my only experience being simple hand-rolled & dipped chocolate truffles. The main thing I learned was how to use chocolate molds (decorating, lining, filling, unmolding, etc).

Oops. My cover is blown! There is supposed to be thick foam on top. If you are getting a soft meringue it means that your shaking technique is good! In my experience, the egg white foam does not have much taste. Its main function is to bring all the flavors together as it softens the rye and the absinthe/pastis a bit. It creates a creamy/foamy texture that I find very pleasant. Below is a typical example (achieved by dry shaking/shaking with ice). Eggs drinks can take some getting used to but after a while they make a lot of sense.

I forgot this one... It was quite hot in San Diego this weekend so we just had some Lillet on ice to cool us down.

The Harlot, Belgian Extra (Societe). Not earth-shattering but this was super pleasant with a fish taco and a cup of chowder. Saison de Lente (The Bruery). This is the Bruery's spring saison with a psychadelic label. A lot of flavor (hay/grass, spices). Crisp/acidic and deep at the same time. Love. I was going to grab a few more bottles but it seems very hard to find already... As a side-note, Societe Brewing which is located in San Diego (about 15 min from where I live) was founded by a couple of ex-Bruery employees.

A couple of recent cocktails. This very nice Manhattan for my husband with Templeton rye, Cocchi vermouth di Torino, Boker's bitters, brandied cherry. The Rolls Royce from the Savoy (ratios from Bartender's Choice): gin, sweet & dry vermouths, benedictine. A perfect Martini variation with a touch of Benedictine. I used a lemon peel because I was out of oranges but orange would be best.

I tried Don Lee's DLB last night (rhum Barbancourt 8yr, Fernet-Branca, lemon juice, simple syrup, Angostura, orange, and Peychaud's bitters). It's a good thing that I had only made a half cocktail, because all I could taste was burnt rubber with a touch of grapefruit. The flavors were way too crazy for me. I had to drink it very slowly because there was too much going on and my brain could not process all the weird sensations. I forgot to add that it managed to mess up my taste buds because when I tried my husband's Manhattan after a few sips of the DLB, the Manhattan tasted overwhelmingly bitter.

Covered in detail here.

Camus is a good brand but tends to be pricey. Regarding Raynal, I got a bottle from Trader Joe's a while back but did not care for it at all. I used it in punch but it was vastly inferior to Landy.

That's a tough one because there is no good substitute for rhum agricole and it's what makes this drink. Do you have access to Barbancourt? That is probably what I would try. Also aged cachaca if you can find it.

I would love to but it looks like I have a very limited baggage allowance with United, so I don't think this will work. Way too much rum in my collection already anyway.

Still in tiki mode here. Don the Beachcomber's Three Dots and a Dash with La Favorite rhum vieux "coeur de rhum" + El Dorado 5 years. I tend not to make this drink very often because I am not sure how easy it will be easy to replace this bottle of La Favorite, which is my favorite aged rhum agricole. This drink requires 1.5 ounces of it which is a lot. Here is another recent rendition of the Three Dots and a Dash by rumdood aka Matt Robold at 320 Main, with a 1934 Zombie Punch on the left. What can I say - this is beautiful. Well worth the drive from San Diego. He uses Clement VSOP for the aged rhum agricole. Last night I was in the mood for a Nui Nui, which calls for "amber Virgin Island rum" (code name for Cruzan? I don't care at all for Cruzan). Anyway, I decided to use Barbancourt 8 years and was not disappointed. It has enough kick to do great with all the spices. As a side note, I decided it was not worth the trouble to use a blender for these drinks. I just use crushed ice, shake, and pour. I like them better this way.

I like ED5 in tiki drinks. I haven't tried LH 80 and don't remember ever seeing it in stores, but ED5 has a rich taste (caramel but also some spice and complexity) that mixes very well with Jamaican rum in an Ancient Marineer/Navy Grog or even aged rhum agricole in a Three Dots and a Dash, for example. I also have ED12 but feel that it gets easily lost in tiki drinks. It's a beautiful rum but I prefer it in simpler drinks where it can shine.

Just make sure it's not TOO cold... Brain freeze?

I heard from a reliable industry source that Landy has been temporarily pulled off the market for rebranding in a collaboration with Snoop Dogg/Lion. Look for new packaging -- and a higher price -- when it returns. Too bad, because it was a great value. Too bad about the Landy VS because there aren't many good options at a low price point. Agree it is a good value (~$25 at BevMo when you can find it). I like it better than Courvoisier VS (closer to $30) or even Remy Martin VSOP (~ $40). I've been using it to make Fish House Punch lately. I really like Pierre Ferrand 1840 for mixing but that's $40. As Rafa pointed out, it's true that Armagnacs are a generally better value compared to Cognacs. However they are quite different. In general they have more "funk" and are rougher around the edges (think rhum agricole vs. rum). I love Armagnac but substituting it for Cognac will result in a different drink.

Regarding Champagne, if it's for mixing I would go with a Cremant. It's a sparkling wine from France and there are a few good ones out there, typically around $10 - $15 a bottle. If you have access to Trader Joe's they usually have one or two different brands in stock.

Here is what I would buy if I were starting from scratch: Gin (Beefeater) Rye (Rittenhouse) Bourbon (Buffalo Trace) White rum (Flor de Cana) Aged rum (Appleton 12 years) Tequila blanco (7 Leguas) Dry vermouth (Noilly Prat or Dolin) Sweet vermouth (Dolin or Vya) Campari Cointreau Maraschino (Luxardo) + Angostura bitters (bitters should not count!). Even excluding the bitters, that's 11 and not 10. Based on our (low) usage it would be logical to cut the tequila, however being located in San Diego it's not really an option (I need to be able to make margaritas!)... I would probably have to cut the maraschino although it is very sad not being able to make Hemingway daiquiris. No cognac, not scotch as they are not as versatile in cocktails... No Chartreuse... No rhum agricole but I would be tempted to switch the Flor de Cana for La Favorite or rhum JM. No aged rhum agricole for a proper Mai Tai... This is a bit depressing. It's very hard to keep it to 10 bottles!

I would also recommend reading the The Ten-Bottle Start-up Home Cocktail Bar. Some great advice about how to set up your home bar.

I was going to suggest checking out thrift stores as well. It should not be too hard to find a suitable glass pitcher there.

You are very welcome Tina. Great photo! I am glad that you enjoyed this soup. It's so simple and so interesting at the same time. I love recipes that are deceptively simple but end up surprising you. For me they are a source of inspiration.

Who else is drinking beer? I went to a Monkish beer tasting this weekend at a local restaurant. Monkish is located in Torrance and, as their name indicate, they specialize in Belgian-style beers and I noticed that they use a lot of herbs/flowers. Here was the menu from lightest to darkest. They were out of the second one (Oblate) so we skipped and got a pour of AleSmith's Speedway stout instead (the darkest one in the series), an old favorite which is spectacular by the way. These were all on tap. Crux, the lightest, was refreshing and the elderflowers were discreet but added something really nice. Lumen with jasmine was very good as well although I think I preferred the first. Feminist with hibiscus was ok but I was not completely convinced about the hibiscus in the beer. Triplelist with rose hips and hibiscus - ditto. Anomaly was good and the most interesting/complex of the bunch. Also sampled Stone's 16th Anniversary IPA with green tea leaves (also on tap; not pictured). Glad it was only a sample because we did not care for it. It was sweet and weirdly herbal with the green tea (I love green tea, just not in this beer).

I would include Relae. More suggestions here, here and here.

I tend to pair this one more with gin or bourbon but it works well with rum too (see the discussion here). It's very good in a Daiquiri No. 2 for example. I haven't tried it in a proper Tiki drink yet.

I guess it all depends how often you use orange liqueurs (and how much room you have in your liquor cabinet!). For me the Creole Shrubb and Cointreau are different enough and I enjoy the variety. It's nice to have the Creole shrubb for tiki drinks, but Cointreau works great too.