FrogPrincesse

Fyi- Bonal and Suze are two completely different beasts

It's nice in a mezcal Negroni (if you have Bonal!).

Variation on the Raucherkerzen (Caleb Linton via Gaz Regan) with Laphroaig 10 scotch, Cruzan blackstrap rum (Smith & Cross Jamaican rum), cinnamon syrup (homemade, D&C recipe, reduced to 1/4 oz), St Elizabeth allspice dram, Angostura bitters, orange twist (which was supposed to be discarded - oops!). No idea why but although I have blackstrap in my home bar, I reached for the S&C (and did not regret it). The end result is smokey/spicy with orange undernotes. A big glass of frankincense. Love it.

You are correct. The 4-year is very hard to find in any case, probably sold out.

If you send me samples, I promise to provide a full report

Get the 4-year if you can find it. It's amazing.

It's a good one for sure. It makes a butt-kicking OF (I had to increase the simple syrup from 1 to 2 barspoons) that made the Martini taste like water in comparison :-)

For the Mad Men premiere last night - an Old Fashioned with Willet 2-year rye & Miracle Mile Forbidden bitters, and a Martini with Sipsmith gin, Dolin dry vermouth, Regan & Fee Brothers bitters.

Thanks. If you are trying to finish your Captain Morgan, Captain Vadrna's Grog is quite good.

Oh god, I have a huge craving for this now. I need to make a batch of orgeat ASAP! :-) What rums did you use?

It's a nice article. It's always fun to read about people who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their profession. Thanks for sharing.

Well deserved indeed. I was happy for him when I read the announcement a few days ago. So many bartenders have been influenced directly or indirectly by him. He's a legend.

Look in your Death & Co book. Several recipes call for poire eau de vie: the Hallyday, Coralillo, Vanderbilt. Also Rafa's California Widow.

I've used the same method to make pectin from green apples. I ended up with more than what she had specified (and used the leftovers in another jam). What you have is probably fine. I would just proceed and test as I go.

It's from the Bartender's Choice app. 2 oz rye, 0.5 oz dry vermouth, 0.5 oz Montenegro, 3 slices cucumber. Muddle, stir with ice, strain into cocktail glass. It's described as a summertime Manhattan which is quite accurate.

Chris,Have you tried Sam Ross' Cobble Hill (rye, dry vermouth, montenegro, cucumber)? That's why I bought my bottle originally. Good stuff. It is also great in small touches in an Old Fashioned. I've been going through my bottle pretty fast.

Dolly Dagger (Alex Day) with Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, Williams & Humbert dry sack medium sherry, lime juice, vanilla syrup. That one essentially tempered down the Smith & Cross with a load of sherry and a touch of vanilla. I think it's just a shame because S&C should never be tamed, and although the cocktail was well balanced, I could not get used to a swizzle that tasted like wine.

Personally I like Adam Elmegirab's recipe. It's pretty complex but it tastes wonderful and gets better with age. I keep it in the fridge and my current batch made in September is still going strong. See here for a review of published falernum recipes.

The Last Wynd (Sian Ferguson via Gaz Regan) with Havana Club añejo 3 rum, yellow Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur (Luxardo), lime juice, honey (local sage blossom honey, Mikolich family). I reduced the honey by half and it was still quite sweet. It would be better with less Chartreuse & maraschino.

The US version (labelled "dark" instead of "original blend") is 40%

I "cheat". I use a stick blender in the large tin instead of dry shaking by hand. Works every time; beautiful foam with no risk of leaks.

Dan - where is the mezcal? :-)

It's a nice app indeed, with a good collection of cocktails. Also it's being updated as new things are being published on Gaz Regan's website, which is nice. The PDT Cocktails app, also designed by Martin Doudoroff, just came out today. It has the recipes from the book plus a few new recipes and updates.

I thought for a second that you had gone to the dark side and made a powdered Art of Choke. Love the bitterness and metallic notes of that one. What did it taste like with a blocked nose?

New potentially interesting book: Cocktails on Tap by Jacob Grier, which covers the topic of beer cocktails.