FrogPrincesse

There is also the discussion on Shrubs for more ideas.

Based on these other sources, it looks very much like a typo. Which is good, because I am not sure how I feel about vanilla in a Zombie.

Amazon tells me that my copy of Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence has shipped! Hopefully it makes it before I leave town.

Ah ok, thanks for the clarification. Not sure why you would use steam if caramelization is the goal... but I don't have a steam oven so I should probably keep my mouth shut! In any case, a regular oven is fine for this.

I found an article on the same topic in Conde Nast Traveler with this quote from Paul McGee.

Oh come on. The Beachbum version with (0.5 oz) OJ is plenty delightful already. Mr Rumdood and my local source of tiki drinks concur on this. We need a touch of juice in our tiki drinks, not just all booze! I will try the curacao version too for research purposes, of course. Regarding ED5 vs. ED8, I have both (also have ED12) and opted for ED5 for contrast. My scientific method goes as follows: mix all the other ingredients, perform a thorough sniff test, and decide what other rum to use. ED5 was the brightest against La Favorite vieux. I find that ED12 tends to get lost in cocktails so I don't mix with it much, but I've been happy with ED8 .

Anna - I can attest that roasted parsnips can caramelize a bit and are delicious (drizzle with olive oil and honey as needed. Wait, is that cheating?). Don't give up on them yet!

I season mine with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbes de provence (pre-roasting).

Thanks Rafa! I haven't tried the Duquesne. Curacao instead of orange juice? Interesting.

Do you know what brands of rums they use? Very curious.

Oh dear. Only a couple of months left. I've checked confitures and falernum off the list, but still have to make sourdough bread, caramels, vinegar, and get more batches of ravioli under my belt. And the Anova should be arriving soon...

The ...- is one of my favorite tiki drinks. The only reason I don't make it more often is that it calls for 1.5 oz of aged rhum agricole, and I have a hard time seeing my hard-to-replace inventory go down (I just realized that Hi Time no longer had it listed online, and I'm already feeling a panic attack).

Has anybody else noticed that the Zombie recipe was a little odd? It calls for Don's Spices #2, a mix of vanilla syrup and allspice dram (which is an ingredient in the Nui Nui), instead of Don's Mix, the typical grapefruit juice and cinnamon syrup combination. Typo?

Tailspin last night from the Classic & Vintage section. I realized while making it that it's a Bijou with a Campari rinse. They make it Chartreuse (and vermouth) heavy with 1.5/1/1 ratios (I am used to 2/1/1, although historically this may be an equal-parts drink). I substituted Dolin sweet vermouth for Carpano Antica. It's pretty but a little busy.

A bargain compared to this (seen at Costco this weekend).

Breakfast for dinner and an Eastern Sour (Trader Vic) on Saturday night. Buffalo Trace bourbon, orange & lemon juice, homemade coconut orgeat, simple syrup. A great brunch drink. Last night I wanted something with more spice. Being out of cinnamon syrup stumped me for a while. Then it occurred to me I could make a Three Dots and Dash (Donn Beach). I used La Favorite rhum vieux (coeur de rhum), El Dorado 5 demerara rum, lime & orange juice, homemade falernum, allspice dram, honey syrup, angostura bitters.

I did a walnut infusion in rum and let the walnuts infuse for 5 days. If you wait too long, it becomes unpleasantly tannic.

See discussion pages 9 & 10 of this thread. It's a good book. A lot of good info about technique.

More details on DandeLyan's beer vermouth courtesy of BarChick. How do you make yours, Rafa?

Rustic tart - plum edition. I used three different types of plums - medium-sized pink, oblong dark purple (damson?), and large dark red. Very nice with a scoop of homemade Blanton's bourbon ice cream.

A niçoise-inspired salad improvised with things I had on hand - baby romaine, parsley, cherry tomatoes, leftover boiled fingerling potatoes, a poached egg, and a can of albacore smoked in olive oil. Dressed with arbequina olive oil, red wine vinegar, kosher salt, and plenty of black pepper.

Essentially, I make orgeat using this recipe (which I got from Beachbum Berry Remixed) but I use the flesh from a coconut instead of almonds. I will write up a more detailed recipe eventually, I promise. At first I was a little reserved in my use because I was worried that the coconut flavor would be a distraction. Now I just use it in drinks that call for regular orgeat. It changes the flavor from regular almond orgeat, but it's been a nice thing so far.

I usually don't like Gran Classico Bitter in Negronis (very sweet, not bitter enough), but it worked in this one, probably because of the bitterness of the Bonal. It's also my first Negroni with mezcal and I am a fan. Mezcal Negroni: Vida mezcal, Gran Classico Bitter, Bonal gentiane-quina.

Midnight Marauder (Joaquín Simó): Vida mezcal, Cynar, Bonal, mole bitters. Bonal and Cynar go well together (see the Bicycle Thief, Boulevardier Riff, L'Iguana, etc) and so do Cynar and Mezcal (The Man Comes Around, Gastown, Last Mechanical Art). So, logically, Bonal + Cynar + Mezcal is another winning combo. The Marauder is bitter but not ridiculously so, smoky, with a slight metallic edge. When the flavor develops, you get lots of chocolate notes.

I already like Sam Ross' Conquistador (and the Army & Navy) so I had to try Rafa's variation, the Capitán. I used 7 Leguas añejo, El Dorado 5, homemade coconut orgeat, lemon, lime, Angostura bitters (per the recipe in Kindred - should I have used mole bitters?), egg white, nutmeg. Good stuff.