FrogPrincesse

Lots of tasty-looking drinks on this thread. Last night I made this simple variation on a Caipirinha but with tequila instead of cachaça, the Caipirita (tequila, lime, brown sugar cube, simple syrup). I used limes from Schaner Farms that were extremely fragrant - the oils from the peel scented the whole kitchen with the most intoxicating fragrance!

Thank you rod rock!

Good catch! I find that Trader Joe's has a good selection for everyday wines.

It feels good to be back on this thread. Gorgeous food as usual - mm84321's avocado roulade looks delicate and refreshing; C sapidus' Panang curry is mouthwatering (is this hard to make? I looove Panang curry); ScottyBoy's whole seabream is rustic and refined at the same time, the type of food I always crave for. Giant backlog alert! Sorry for the flood of pictures, but here are some of my August dinner meals. Pasta alla Norma, aka eggplant sauce. Based on a recipe from Jamie Oliver. Pretty good, but the eggplant took forever to cook. Roasted Brussels sprouts from my CSA with shallots and prosciutto. Before After A little sandwich with leftover merguez, crusty baguette, garlic mustard, arugula and cotija cheese (this may have been lunch). A chopped cucumber and tomato salad with plenty of mint from the garden... ... followed by this delicious Mahi mahi with creme fraiche and Meyer lemon salsa, fingerling peewee potatoes (a slightly simplified version of the recipe from Lucques). The most succulent lamb I've had in a while - from a local butcher shop, Homegrown Meats - with a little bit of pesto, asparagus & fresh goat cheese. Opah with beurre blanc Les Halles; red chard with olive oil and garlic (a la April Bloomfield). It's been a good month!

Lemon thyme fettucine with Marcella Hazan's pesto (the food processor version). The pesto seems to keep very well in the fridge (the leftovers were still good after close to 2 weeks). I have no idea why I don't make this more often. It is so good and takes very little time to prepare.

The Tomato Salad from Les Halles. The tomatoes are liberally pre-salted, peppered and degorged to concentrate the flavors. The salad bowl is rubbed with garlic. This is the olive oil/balsamic vinegar/basil version of the dressing, but the olive oil/red wine vinegar/parsley version is also very good (and much more French). There is also a very thinly sliced red onion in there (red shallot for the French version). I love this so much I usually end up drinking the juices from the plate as a special treat once I have finished the salad.

But that is not Champagne! :-) At least get your mom a real Champagne from France.

At around $50, I like Veuve Cliquot and Nicolas Feuillatte rosé.

First, a couple of melon-based drinks from the book. Melon in a cocktail does not really appeal to me but I was curious. I did not care for the Melon Stand, a long drink with Plymouth gin, watermelon juice, lemon juice, aperol, simple syrup. It is not that it was especially bad; it was just a little one-note. I was hoping for some kind of surprise but it was not particularly interesting, the kind of drink that you get from the first sip and does not get better over time. It would probably work well for people who are afraid of Aperol though, in a way similar to the Introduction to Aperol. The Aguila Azteca on the other hand... What an improbable list of ingredients on paper: tequila blanco, melon juice (I used a very ripe cantaloupe, the recipe called for honeydew), ginger liqueur, crème de violette. Very odd. But it made perfect sense after the first sip. It is complex and a little spicy (the ginger in the background), the sweetness from the melon is balanced by the tequila and ginger. The floral notes of the violette contribute to the finish but are subtle enough to not be cloying. The melon + ginger + violette combination works really well. The Mexicano (tequila reposado, Campari, cucumber, champagne) was very good too - something to try if you like Campari. It reminded me of a Negroni Sbagliato, but the interplay between the spice of the tequila reposado and the bitterness of Campari was where this cocktail got memorable for me. And last but not least, the White Negroni that I discussed in the Lillet thread. The extra 0.5 oz of (Plymouth) gin in the PDT version makes it is a little less intense than what I am used to. Typically I use a 1.5/1/0.75 gin/Lillet/Suze ratio (PDT calls for 2/1/0.75). But since the drink is served up so the proportions make sense. It's such a great drink; with this version it makes me think of a very elegant bitter Martini.

All this talk about Lillet made me crave a White Negroni. Usually I have it on the rocks, but tonight I was looking at the recipe in PDT and they serve it up, so I decided to try that for a change. Regarding ratios, PDT does 2 oz Plymouth gin, 1 oz Lillet, 0.75 oz Suze. There is a little more gin than the recipe I am used to, and it feels more martini-like. Very nice, and the color is simply striking. In the past I tried White Negronis with various gins including Junipero for an extra kick, Beefeater or Plymouth. They each have their merits. Junipero is probably a little over the top considering that there is already a lot going on in that drink; nothing too subtle but that can be fun sometimes too. This is a good time to mention the White Negroni flights that I have done a while back with some friends. After falling in love with Cocchi Americano in a Corpse Reviver No. 2, we decided to compare Lillet and Cocchi head-to-head in a White Negroni. The ratios were the same for both versions: 1.5 oz gin, 1 oz Lillet/Cocchi, 0.75 oz Suze, lemon peel (a grapefruit twist works well too). I also included a third version, the White Negroni from Dutch Kills with Dolin blanc. This one has slightly different ratios: 1.5 gin, 0.75 oz Dolin blanc, 0.75 oz Suze. I wanted a fairly neutral gin so I went with Beefeater. The same flight was repeated at a later date with Plymouth to confirm the conclusions. We did the tasting blinded first, and then unblinded. The conclusion was not what I expected. The clear winner was the Lillet version, which was also the most balanced. It starts with some spice/funk from the Suze combined with aromas that are almost floral, syrup/honey and citrus from the Lillet but nothing overwhelmingly sweet, and then the bitter finish, with what I call the "suck on a tree branch" flavor from the Suze (which I love). The Cocchi version is more bitter and has less citrus. It is not bad but not as interesting as the Lillet version. The Dutch Kills version has a split personality and does not quite know what it wants to be; it oscillates brutaly from intensely bitter to sweet and citrusy, with nothing in the middle. I thought that it was fun but nobody else cared for it. For the sake of completeness, I should note that last year I also tried a White Negroni with Bonal (1.5/1/0.75 ratio) and this was by far my least favorite, it did not work at all. Given the fact that this cocktail was created with Lillet, the conclusion is quite logical. Clearly, cocktails designed recently with the modern Lillet do not work as well with Cocchi. More experimenting will be in order with the new Suze formula!

It was reported a few days ago by Troy Johnson and Keli Dailey that Arsalun Tafazoli and Nate Stanton, the team behind Noble Experiment and Craft & Commerce, were working on a new project. Polite Provisions will be a bar with an adjacent restaurant, Soda & Swine, located on 30th & Adams. Chef Jason McLeod (who trained under Raymond Bland and Marco Pierre White) will be the executive chef, while Erick Castro (ex Bourbon & Branch) will be working on the bar program.

Try BevMo. You can check their inventory online before you go.

Sam - Do you think that the new Suze formula (saveur d'autrefois) is inferior to the old one? And which cocktails did you use for your side-by-side comparison?

I think that I will have to get the book eventually, but in the meantime through various ruses I found additional information that is not normally visible in the preview pages... quite interesting! Lillet, 1862-1985: Le pari d'une entreprise girondine by Olivier Londeix

Going through the book excerpts again and it mentions that in 1956 the following products were available: "Kina-Lillet Apéritif", "Français", and "Dry Export". Lillet "3 ans de vieillissement" (Lillet vieux) is mentioned later on, an aged product similar to Jean de Lillet; it is said to have been available at least since 1963 and is described as Lillet "goût français" from a very good vintage. Maybe "Lillet vermouth" mentioned by Embury is actually "Lillet français" rather than the "dry export" product...?

I think that falls under the category of "Champagne cocktails" (aka "Champagne with stuff added in") rather than "cocktails with Champagne" (cocktails with Champagne as in ingredient), but that sounds delightful nonetheless!

It looks like there is an entire book devoted to Lillet that covers the 1862-1985 timeframe (in French). According to the book, Kina-Lillet was originally created under the name "Amer-Kina". The book describes how the formula was adapted to the taste of the public in the early 1900s ("originally it was more bitter, but ladies would not drink it"), with an adjustment to its quinine content and resulting bitterness. It later mentions that two different formulas were available at some point, the "dry export" (English formula) and an "extra-dry" version that is more recent. Somewhere else it mentions that both the original formula (aperitif classique) and the English formula (Lillet goût anglais) were both served at the Cafe de la Paix in Paris in 1938 depending on the clientele. Unfortunately only a few pages are available online.

I've been craving this very nice variation on a Manhattan created by Sam Ross and called the Cobble Hill since trying it at the Varnish earlier this year. He describes it as a summertime Manhattan. It contains rye, dry vermouth, amaro Montenegro, and cucumber. It's really worth trying.

Thanks Erik. It's interesting that Harry Craddock calls for the (now defunct, more "bitter and syrupy") Kina Lillet, although Lillet Dry was already available at the time the Savoy Cocktail book was published, when David Embury's specifies "Lillet Vermouth" that we understand as being the "Lillet Dry" product, the predecessor of the current Lillet Blanc product (assuming I got this right...).

I am wondering what the conclusion was regarding the Lillet composition and speculation about changes in formulation. The official line from Lillet is still that, even though "Kina" was dropped from its name a while back, the product did not change and still has the same quinine content. Is the summary below from Robert Hess' website close to the now accepted version of events? Note that this does not mean that certain drinks originally calling for Lillet cannot be improved by other products - personally, I prefer Cocchi Americano in the Corpse Reviver No. 2 for example. I would just be interested to hear if any new information surfaced on this topic that was the subject of much discussion in the past on eGullet.

This weekend I made the Airmail cocktail per the PDT specs using Banks rum. I had tried the Airmail before with Flor de Caña (see the Champagne thread here) and had been delighted by this drink. It was very light with subtle stone fruit undertones, a great interplay between the light rum and the Champagne. With the Banks rum (same brand of Champagne), the character of the drink changed completely. I used a slightly more assertive honey as well which worked well with the spice in the rum. In the end however, I felt that the drink was heavier and less charming with the Banks rum. The Banks rum is a departure from a typical white rum. Some people have compared it to a rhum agricole but I don't think that it has the characteristic intense grassy notes; for me the batavia arrack flavor in it is prevalent. I think that it could work well in some tiki drinks, especially the ones that already have a lot of spice. It seems like an unusual rum to specify in many recipes of the PDT cocktail book including the classic Daiquiri and its variations though. I will have to try it. I don't believe that this is disclosed in the book, but I read that Jim Meehan had been involved with the creation and promotion of Banks rum.

Keith, Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it! Regarding the Jimmy Roosevelt recipe, it is true that the sugar cube is not mentioned in the interview. However I believe that both the rinse and the Angostura-soaked sugar cube are used at Pegu Club where Jim Meehan used to work (see Sam's description here). I am guessing that this is the version referenced in the interview, but I could be wrong. I've noticed the same thing about the PDT cocktail book - the ingredient listings are incomplete and Champagne is not included with the other ingredients, only in the instructions. I had the pleasure of proof-reading the indexing entries for this book for Eat Your Books, and unless you read the instructions for each recipe, you can easily oversee a critical ingredient.

One of the first flops for me was PDT's take on a classic cocktail called the Jimmie Roosevelt. With V.S.O.P. Cognac, Champagne and a float of green Chartreuse I was expecting something exceptional. The brown sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters took a while to dissolve so I was hoping that maybe the cocktail would improve over time. The cocktail was balanced but fell flat and did not have an interesting/distinctable taste unfortunately. I don't think that it's my choice of brands because I used the same Cognac that is specified in the recipe, and a perfectly decent French Champagne. I am a bit puzzled because Jim Meehan says that it is one of his favorite cocktails to make (see this interview for example). It is fun to assemble but why bother if the end result is not up to par? The interview mentions a demerara rinse that I did not see in the book. There may be other tricks to making this cocktail that are not included in the book and would improve the recipe.

For Labor Day I kept things simple. The green figs at the Little Italy farmers market were too flavorful to miss, so I made a little appetizer with buffalo mozzarella, Parma ham and basil drizzled with balsamic vinegar. This was based on the recipe from Jamie Oliver with the silliest name of "The easiest sexiest salad in the world" (just don't tell your guests about the name, or be ready to joke about it...!). We had an Airmail cocktail which is a Champagne cocktail with rum, lime juice, and honey syrup (I used Banks rum per the recipe in the PDT cocktail book). It's a very festive and elegant cocktail, but maybe a little strong considering the heat we've had recently in San Diego. We also had the Marcona almonds that Trader Joe's currently carries. Hopefully it's not one of these items that they suddenly decide to discontinue as it often happens there, because I really like them. For the main course, we had duck sausages from Homegrown Meats, a local butcher shop which has great meat (local grass-fed beef, lamb, wild boar, etc) and makes delicious sausages - last year I had made my own sausage but theirs is far better than what I can produce. With the grilled sausages, a couple of refreshing salads: a yellow peach and arugula salad with fresh goat cheese, and the lobster salad from Lucques with cherry tomatoes, avocado, corn and home-cured bacon. Live lobsters at $6/lb - I had to take advantage and it looks like many had the same idea (see upthread). Their shells were soft so they were easy to prepare. With the food we had a couple of wines from the Santa Barbara area: a rosé from Zaca Mesa and a surprisingly crisp and almost effervescent unfiltered riesling from Demetria, both really nice. For dessert, we had a chocolate/cocoa nib Racines cake with homemade vanilla ice cream - both recipes were from David Lebovitz - Ready for Dessert and The Perfect Scoop - followed by espresso. I can't wait to read about what others have prepared this weekend!

Hassouni, Actually I got the Laphroaig 10 at Trader Joe's. For some reason it is priced at $50 or higher everywhere I've looked, but only about $30 at my local Trader Joe's. Everything else was from drinkupny.com. The Banks rum is good and quite distinct from other white rums. It's a blend of rums that includes Batavia Arrack, and you can really taste it. It will make interesting drinks I am sure. I noticed that several recipes in the PDT cocktail book call for it; I was using Flor de Cana as a substitute but clearly the flavor profile of the Banks is very different, so I am starting to revisit these recipes.