FrogPrincesse

The Gershwin from the Bartender's Choice app, which is the lemon version of the Ginger Cocktail above, with a touch of rosewater. I reduced the simple syrup to 1/8 oz and it was perfect. It's interesting how the ginger teases out the herbal flavor from the gin. It almost felt like this cocktail contained a small amount of Chartreuse. Gershwin (Becky MFalls) with Beefeater gin, lemon juice, B.G. Reynolds ginger syrup, rosewater.

Sounds wonderful. Have you tried one with Aperol (Ortensia)? It's great too.

Speaking about tasty treats, the Clove Club in London makes bonbons/hard candy inspired by Fergus Henderson. It's a very nice way to end a meal! (One of them is partly visible under the card in the picture.)

Basler Läckerli, little spice cookies from Basel in Switzerland. Very tasty and not overly sweet. This was a good pairing!

(From the cucumber thread) I tried it. Much more a Fernet drink that a cucumber drink, so I am responding here. Cantina Band (Perla) with Fernet-Branca, gin (Perry's Tot Navy strength), lime juice, ginger beer (Bundaberg). I reduced the amount of simple syrup quite a bit since Fernet is already plenty sweet. Ok, so this is essentially Fernet with a little bit of this and that added. Fernet as a long drink. It's fine but the gin (even Navy strength), cucumber and even the ginger beer don't stand a chance. It works as long as that is what you expect. Otherwise the first few sips are a bit brutal.

From last week - a Cobble Hill (Sam Ross), aka Summer Manhattan, with Rittenhouse rye, Dolin dry vermouth, Amaro Montenegro, cucumber.

Great sense of observation! I hope I still have enough left in the Fernet bottle! I might have had a shot or two last night after the Remnants of Summer.

Cucumber and Fernet, who would have thought? Remnants of Summer (Matt Seiter via Gaz Regan) with 7 Leguas blanco tequila, lime juice, maraschino, Fernet-Branca, muddled cucumber, Champagne. This is wild and delicious. A great end of summer drink.

From this weekend, a round of Captain's Blood with Appleton 12 Jamaican rum, lime juice, simple syrup, Angostura bitters. It was a hit. Sometimes simple is best.

I love Owney's rum. I wish we could get it in San Diego!

Luau Daiquiri (Jeff Berry) with Plantation 3 Stars rum, lime juice, orange juice, vanilla syrup. I had to add 1/4 oz lime juice because the drink was too sweet. It was very meh. A diluted Daiquiri with orange juice. I guess I will have to do more research for the orange juice challenge.

Well after the Gordon's Cup, the next logical step was its brunch counterpart, the Gordon's Breakfast. And wow. It is super tasty. Savory with a kick. It turns out tomato juice doesn't add much to the Bloody Mary/Red Snapper. Gordon's Breakfast (Sam Ross) with Beefeater gin, muddled lime and cucumber, Worcestershire, Cholula.

Josh at Inu a Kena likes Chairman's Reserve spiced rum too. He rated his own spiced rum (made using a Martin Cate recipe) against the commercially available ones, but he still preferred Chairman's Reserve by a wide margin. I think it's funny that Chairman's Reserve makes a spiced rum. I never saw it in St Lucia. Because there, everyone makes their own. At the farmers' market there were bottles after bottles of homemade spiced rums, stuffed with a bunch of local spices. If I remember correctly this was mostly cinnamon (or cassia bark), mace, vanilla, cloves, star anise, bay leaf, allspice, etc. Maybe top it off with some falernum.

I made a variant of this drink last night. I used half Old Tom gin, half samphire vodka to continue to take this Martini to the ocean side. I skipped the dry curaçao and used a generous amount of orange bitters - Regan, Fee, Angostura. It was exactly what I needed after a long swim. Variation on the Surf and Turf with Tanqueray Old Tom gin, Kis Kangaroo Island samphire vodka, Dolin dry vermouth, Lustau fino sherry, Regan/Fee/Angostura orange bitters.

Exactly. And speaking of Denizen, I didn't get a chance to post this photo. This was during TikiO.

I know. That's what made me think of the DiMaggio last night actually.

More Old Fashioned fun. This time I recreated the DiMaggio from Craft & Commerce, their Old Fashioned variation with rye, amaro Montenegro, and absinthe. I didn't have the specs and went with 2 oz High West Double rye, 0.5 oz amaro Montenegro, 6 spritzes St. George absinthe (using an atomizer), 1 barspoon simple syrup, and a lemon twist. I really like this. The spice of the rye goes well with this amaro which is relatively mellow but very interesting. The cocktail reminds me of the Monte Carlo (rye + Benedictine + Ango). OMG I just looked at the current C&C menu and they have a new version of this drink - the Sadie Hawkins with rye, Montenegro, coffee liqueur and orange bitters. I am going to have to try that one. I am curious about the coffee & Montenegro pairing.

You are right of course. And I should know since I attended Martin Cate's seminar at Tiki Oasis last year that dealt with this exact topic. Long day!

It's pretty good but only 40%. La Favorite is still my favorite.

* As recommended by Rum Dood after a lot of experimentation (see here for his elucubrations). Note that I am pretty sure he uses Appleton V/X when he works at 320 Main... Or just use Denizen Merchant's Reserve which is already a mix of Jamaican (like the Appleton) and aged agricole (like the Clement). Developed in collaboration with Martin Cate, with Mai Tais in mind. The Clement VSOP that is often recommended for Mai Tais is an aged rum, so it's amber in color. It's from Martinique and it's a rhum agricole, therefore made from fresh cane juice, which makes it different from most other rums which are produced from molasses. But you should try your own rum mixes and see what you like. There are many, many permutations that have been tried on this forum if you feel like reading the 14 pages of discussions!

A friend gave me some fresh passion fruits and I was looking for something that could do them justice. I found a recipe for a Daiquiri variation with fresh passion fruit juice that I thought would be nice to try. Golden Prestige (Nicolas Michel via Gaz Regan) with Bacardi Superior rum (Plantation 3 Stars white rum), fresh passion fruit juice, lime juice, Monin gomme syrup (Small Hand Foods), orange blossom water, saffron. I used 1/2 barspoon of orange blossom water per cocktail which was plenty, and I reduced the amount of gomme a bit. It is very refined and delicate. It's floral, refreshing and light, but then the saffron gives it an earthiness that anchors it. It's complex and the taste keeps changing with every sip, so you feel like going for another one immediately after the first one.

Last night was an Irish-whiskey based Old Fashioned variation, the Wild Rover (Jimmy Hillegas via Gaz Regan). I went with Redbreast 12 for the Irish whiskey, a barspoon of simple syrup (it was Monday and I could not be bothered muddling a sugar cube), and Miracle Mile toasted pecan bitters for the nut bitters. Lemon peel for the garnish because a lemon wedge felt wrong. Its creator mentioned that a flamed orange peel would work great as well. Not too bad for a Monday.

I ended up making a Fernet Old Fashioned, because you can never have too much of a good thing. Fernet-Branca, simple syrup, Regan’s orange bitters, Fee Brothers’ whiskey barrel-aged bitters, orange peel garnish. I am craving one as I type...

Another rendition of the My Oh My Ty, the white agricole/absinthe Mai Tai created by Brian Miller, this time with Kō Hana Kea (white) Lahi for the rhum agricole. This rum is made from freshly pressed cane juice from a single varietal (Lahi) grown in Hawaii. Glasses by Michael Uhlenkott.

I had a fabulous meal at Les Bouquinistes earlier this summer. Unstuffy and elegant; memorable food. I highly recommend it. The wines were great as well. Is it anti-Michelin and David Chang-esque? Probably not. But excellent food for sure. I think chef Inaki Aizpitarte's Le Chateaubriand might fit your description to some level, but I've never been and it's quite hard to get reservations. Another place that I really liked was Au Passage which offers small plates in a very casual setting. It was reviewed last year by Ruth Reichl. I would check Paris by Mouth for more ideas, although their reviews are not always current.