FrogPrincesse

@Chris Hennes is this for mixing, sipping? Del Maguey is a good brand, El Silencio, Fidencio...

@tanstaafl2 Rather than the barrel-aged Peychaud's I was very tempted to get the Bitter Truth creole bitters which are supposed to have a slightly different flavor profile. They are used by Death & Co in their "house Peychaud's " (2 parts Peychaud's to 1 part creole.)

The New Fashioned Old Fashioned (Jens Kerger via Gaz Regan) with Elijah Craig 12 bourbon, marmalade, The Bitter Truth xocolatl mole bitters, The Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters. I used homemade yuzu marmalade (that has a touch of Hibiki 12 in it, because why not...). In the same vein as the Omar Bradley with the cinnamon smoke (aided by the bitters) making it spicy and smoky at the same time. It is pretty good although I got a lot of cigarette ash from the cinnamon.

I was looking for something gin-forward the other day and tried the Pink Elephant. It reminded me of an elegant Bramble with the alliance of gin and blackberries. There is also a Hemingway daiquiri inspiration there with the lime, maraschino and grapefruit combination. It called for blackberry liqueur, I subbed blackcurrant syrup (blackcurrants taste similar to blackberries but are very tart and have a slightly tannic flavor that I always loved). You really need a juniper-forward gin like Tanqueray for this to really work. And it works - it is a simple yet really great drink. Pink Elephant (Brian Miller) with Tanqueray London dry gin, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, syrop de cassis/black currant syrup, Oro Blanco grapefruit juice, lime juice.

@QuadrigaExactly... I have good balsamic already but I've been waiting for strawberry season to try this drink! This one is pleasant but honestly the cocktail doesn't do justice to this tequila. The book called for Azul, I used Ocho plata La Magueyera which is a first rate tequila, vegetal with a touch of smokiness. The cocktail wasn't bad, but it wasn't especially remarkable. Gilda Cocktail (Brian Miller) with single estate tequila Ocho plata 2014, lime juice, pineapple juice, cinnamon bark syrup

Thanks @Rafa !

Brian Miller's take on the traditional Bumboo is a beautiful rum old fashioned. I didn't have the Santa Teresa 1796 that is specified in the recipe and chose what I felt was the closest rum I had, El Dorado 8. All the little additions (vanilla & demerara syrups, 3 types of contrasting bitters) make the rum shine. Bumboo (Brian Miller) with El Dorado 8 Demerara rum, demerara syrup, vanilla syrup, Peychaud's bitters, Abbott's bitters, Jerry Thomas' bitters, nutmeg

Pineapple and Fernet in a base of Lemon Hart 151 rum, with some Benedictine & Angostura marrying all the flavors together. Winner!!! And fun too. Free Rider (Billy Helmkamp via Gaz Regan) with Lemon Hart 151 demerara rum, Benedictine, Fernet-Branca, pineapple juice, lime juice, demerara syrup, Angostura bitters.

A killer Daiquiri variation with batavia arrack. The pomegranate and mint manage to tame the batavia arrack somehow. Arrackuiri (Phil Ward) with Van Oosten batavia arrack, lime juice, simple syrup, pomegranate molasses, mint.

Well, I have to admit that I got really excited for a moment when I first hard about it. Lol. When my current bottle runs out (I am close), maybe I will switch to that one. Same with the new Cynar (that one I tried) - it's fine, but not a must-have in my opinion.

I read a few reviews when they came out and didn't feel compelled to get them...

I felt that it was a missed occasion to talk about beer seriously. The flavor profile of each beer was mentioned but not the particular style (golden ale vs. wheat beer vs. stout etc) which would have been an important factor in a food-pairing challange. The whole thing seemed very superficial to me.

Come on. Stone and Ballast Point don't add "flavoring" in their beers. I mean anything is possible, but I have my doubts...

Do people truly believe that there was banana in Tom's wheat beer? That is hilariously funny, but it is also disturbing that they didn't do a better job of explaining things on the show. Wheat beers typically have esters in them that form during fermentation, and banana esters (amyl acetate) are absolutely typical of this style of beer. So it is a subtle banana flavor, not actual bananas. It's a good thing they didn't give them a saison beer full of barnyard funk, because Mr Man Bun guy would for sure have used the excuse to incorporate dirty hay into his dish again... But I digress. By the way I tried the golden ale that Padma inspired at Stone Brewery last week and it is absolutely great. Fabulous beer with food, multi-layered, interesting. Stone did a really good job on that one.

I am aware it's been mentioned elsewhere... I was just surprised it hadn't been mentioned here, of all places!

I like living on the edge...

A Rattlesnake last night with the ratios from PDT. So good. Rattlesnake (Harry Craddock) with Rittenhouse bonded rye whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, St George absinthe, egg white.

@ananth I may not be a very good judge because I am so used to bitterness by now. So this is slightly sweet from the Campari, but I didn't feel that it was overly sweet. It was bitter but felt balanced overall. I thought it was a great drink. I got into the "zone" as soon as I had the first sip, which is usually a good sign. Everything seemed to really come well together.

Well, Cockscomb is actually only 10 min away from the Moscone Center. Just saying...

Has Eeyore's Requiem really never been mentioned on this thread? How odd. Or maybe the new search function is out of whack... Who knows. Anyway, here it is. All bitter things together create this beautiful thing. Eeyore's Requiem (Toby Maloney) with Campari, Tanqueray gin, Cynar, Fernet-Branca, Dolin blanc vermouth, Fee/Regan/Angostura orange bitters, expressed orange peel (x3)

Well, how often do you juice/strain pineapple? I have done it a few times, and while I agree it's delicious, it is not exactly a quick process! I am very glad to have the can as an option when I come home after a long day...

Cockscomb which was on Eater's heatmap last year. I've been to Chris Cosentino's previous restaurant, Incanto, a few times and absolutely loved it (also his small place Boccalone at the ferry building market). Casual atmosphere, nose to tail eating, amazing charcuterie, a black board with interesting specials that change everyday. The new place has seafood as well and I am absolutely dying to go. Then for cocktails you have to visit Martin Cate's new place Whitechapel which is devoted to gin...

@ananth You know, this canned juice from Trader Joe's is actually very decent. It's not made from concentrate so it tastes "fresh". I made the cinnamon bark syrup per the specs in the book and used cassia bark. I have large chunk of it from a trip to the Carribbeans.

This is rather wonderful. I typically shy away from drinks with pineapple juice, but that one felt like a Daiquiri with subtle elements highlighting this incredible rum - I got a lot of banana! The Great Pretender (Thomas Waugh) with Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, lime juice, pineapple juice, cinnamon bark syrup, vanilla syrup, cinnamon-sugar rim.

@Craig EVery cool! How do you like the Bonal? It took me a while to figure out what to do with it, but once I did I became very fond of it.