FrogPrincesse

Although I haven't tried the Blackwell, Kevin at 5 Minutes of Rum, whom I trust, feels that it is an acceptable option for dark Jamaican rum. He even has a full episode on the Blackwell rum.

I am guessing "off the shelf".

Did you omit the Angostura bitters intentionally?

I agree that there is room for more than one orange liqueur in a bar or home bar. I almost never use Grand Marnier in cocktails; I think it's hard to mix with (but I love it for crepes Suzette). Cointreau makes a beautiful Corpse Reviver No.2, and is an essential for a classic Margarita. Clement Creole Shrubb is a must have for Mai Tais. And Pierre Ferrand is fabulous where you have ingredients that are a bit richer, and you need a dryer orange liqueur to balance things out. It does super well in the classic cocktails that @Reed & Thistle is interested in investigating... That is precisely what it was designed for!

I don't think so. I think it's just a matter of time if you enjoy bourbon already. It's too bad that you didn't keep the Rittenhouse to experiment with it a bit more. I know that one of the first drinks that made me love rye was a Rattlesnake made with Rittenhouse. The egg white foam tempered things considerably and I was able to really enjoy the flavors of the rye. Another one was the Brooklyn because the sweetness from the maraschino liqueur balances out the spiciness of the rye very well. These were easier to love in the beginning compared to a rye Manhattan which I absolutely love now, but would consider an "advanced" drink because the rye is so front and center.

Which Rittenhouse was this, the 40% or the bottled in bond (50%)? I use the 50% all the time and I don't find it overly dry or spicy. Actually I find that it is quite lush and rich for a rye. Sazerac rye is a great one if you'd like something sweeter/softer. Given that you are a bourbon fan you should like it.

It was braised. It's a really great recipe.

Get all three! More seriously, I would start with J.M since it's available locally to you. Then if you fall in love with rhum agricole, start collecting them!

He didn't say it was an option, but if it is, this is another great one!

Hello @abenc85! La Favorite is excellent! I concur with Death & Co. As for a substitute, in your list I've tried Trois Rivieres blanc, Clement Canne bleue, J.M blanc, and in my opinion J.M is the closest as far as the flavor profile is concerned (and for use in cocktails), Canne bleue second. I don't care much for Trois Rivieres. With the J.M make sure you get the higher proof version (50 or 55%, not the watered down 40% version). They are indeed all different, but the differences are subtle. The good ones are all super grassy/vegetal, and then some are more briny than others, some have coconut notes, etc, etc. You can read the Rhum Agricole thread on eGullet for more information/discussion, or Inuakena's very thorough rhum agricole review (he reviewed all the white agricoles that are accessible to us in the US, but note that the flavor profile he goes for isn't necessarily everyone's cup of tea - for example he isn't a fan of La Favorite!).

By some coincidence I made the same cocktail recently, and I think the devil is in the details with this one. The final result will depend on your ratios of course (you are using a small amount of maraschino liqueur which I think is a good idea as it tends to overpower things), and the quality of your ingredients because it's such a simple drink. Can I suggest that you share the brands of the ingredients you are using? PS A great source of historical recipes is Martin Doudoroff's very handy Cocktail app; it's a great tool! And it's a somewhat curated list (which means he included the recipes of interest from his references, the ones that are "mixologically interesting or historically important", not every single recipe under the sun...). Referring to it, you would have seen that this recipe first appeared in this form in Harry Johnson's Bartender Manual (1900), and that it originally contained Boker's bitters (not Angostura). I guess that Boker's bitters were already extinct/hard to find by the time the Savoy was published.

I forgot to report on my sous vide steak here. This was a Delmonico (bone-in rib eye), about a pound so not very thick (about 2 cm / 3/4 in). I referred myself to the excellent ChefSteps cooking guide (on my phone there are videos showing meat texture in great detail) and went with 54C / 129F for 1 hour, which is also what is recommended by Serious Eats for medium-rare, and finished the steak on a hot grill. I was concerned that it was going to continue to cook on the grill but it was fine except for a small spot where the grill was apparently hotter. The first thing I noticed compared to grilling was that there was no need for a resting period, and this was great because the steak tends to cool down a bit during that time. Also I noticed right away when slicing that it wasn't losing the juices that it usually does. Lastly, it was cooked very uniformly which was really nice (except for that one small spot where the grill was hotter). I really like this technique; I imagine that it would be a fool-proof way to cook a very thick steak perfectly, which is always a bit tricky on the grill.

A few recent meals I didn't get a chance to post... Butternut squash ravioli (from Trader Joe's) with brown butter and foraged sage (it grows everywhere around here). It's such a wonderful pairing. Chicken breast (cooked sous vide) with chard gratin (recipe from Anne Willan in the Country Cooking of France) Delmonico steak (aka bone-in rib eye), cooked sous vide and finished on the grill, with braised green cabbage (recipe from Molly Stevens in All About Braising), potato and celeriac puree

Salad rolls with romaine, mint, sous-vide chicken breast, red carrots, radishes Croque Monsieur with a béchamel sauce (I used porchetta from Trader Joe's in mine so it wasn't completely traditional), with some tender greens on the side (with a walnut oil and balsamic vinegar dressing)

Manchego anejo (from Trader Joe's) with homemade quince marmalade. This is delicious!

Chicken breasts (bought without the skin unfortunately; that's all I could find at TJ's at the time). 66C for 2 hours with lemon zest, rosemary and garlic. They were tender and perfectly cooked throughout, but in an almost too perfect way where the meat didn't really look like real meat to me anymore! I didn't care very much for them on their own, but I repurposed the leftovers to make fresh salad rolls which were terrific (and super fun to make with my 10-year old daughter).

@blue_dolphinThat looks great and may be the little boost of motivation I need to try this technique! Are you doing all the Food in Jars challenges? I am thinking of joining, even though I am late to the party obviously. Years ago, I had done most if not all of the Charcutepalooza challenges and it was a great experience!

I ended up making crêpes for Mardi Gras. Crêpe de froment jambon oeuf fromage (wheat flour crêpe with the classic ham egg & cheese combo) Not pictured: plenty more crêpes with granulated sugar, nutella, homemade saffron peach jam...

Here it is - 1794 Variation with 1.5 oz Rittenhouse rye whiskey, 0.75 oz Campari, 0.75 oz Margerum amaro, 2 dashes xocolatl mole bitters. So freaking good.

Nice. Do you plan on using this like you would another orange liqueur? Same brand, I really love the wild peach liqueur. It tastes exactly like the fruit.

Chicken drumsticks (cooked sous vide 74C for 4 hours) with potatoes Sarladaises (ie, cooked in duck fat with garlic & parsley). The potatoes were the real star of the plate.

Chicken drumsticks, 4 hours @ 74C with some garlic, parsley, thyme & a bay leaf. Very tender, but they could have been a bit more juicy.

@Craig E That looks tasty. I think I am going to make myself a 1794 tonight to stay in this family of drinks.

Like an Americano but without soda water and with Margerum amaro instead of sweet vermouth (it's a wine-based amaro that isn't very bitter at all). This was simple and very good! 1.5 oz Margerum amaro 1 oz Campari

Ti Punch with 1.5 oz J.M XO rhum agricole, 0.5 barspoon J.M cane sugar, lime coin. I am still not in love with that rhum.