FrogPrincesse

Shruff’s End (Phil Ward) with bonded apple brandy (Daron XO calvados), Laphroaig 10, Benedictine, Peychaud's bitters. Like an apple enjoyed by a campfire. Very nice.

The Conference - I had one quite some time ago and thought it was fun, but hadn't felt compelled to make one again (the American Trilogy, on the other hand...). Maybe it's time to revisit. I would upgrade the cognac & calvados selections.

Drinks with mostly booze (old fashioneds and the likes) that benefit from some dilution are served on the rocks, with the Sazerac being one notable exception. Long drinks (including tiki drinks) are served on the rocks for a practical reason - so they stay cold until you finish them. Drinks with egg white are served up because most of the texture of the egg foam would be lost with ice cubes. I don't know why you would serve a whiskey sour with egg white on the rocks; it looks pretty terrible and you are just left with some residual foam on the ice cubes, so why even bother using the egg. Some drinks indeed work both ways and it's just a matter of preference in that case. I've seen Manhattans served on the rocks or Negronis served up - not my preference, so in some establishments it's best to be very specific when ordering! For margaritas, I've never seen them up in bars or restaurants (although it's my preference) - the options are generally blended or on the rocks, and I go for rocks in that case so I can at least taste the tequila.

What substitutions did you make, Leslie?

My goodness you are fast. Thanks again for test driving these various recipes. Step 1 for me - look for stem ginger at the supermarket!

Thanks to everyone for the ideas and recipes so far. You are amazing. Kerry, you are incredible for going the extra mile and testing a recipe for me (with a photo too)! Appearance-wise, you are on the right track for sure. (The F&M photo makes the cookies appear very thin, but they were more similar to your photo.)

Very nice series of articles. Eater published a feature on one of St. John's most iconic dishes, the roasted bone marrow, for the occasion.

The Joy Division, a Martini with a touch of absinthe (à la Third Degree) and some Cointreau. I absolutely loved this one. It is crisp like a Martini, but I also got a touch of richness in the finish, almost like vanilla oil. I liked it so much I decided to use it as my template for the Mixology Monday Perfect Symmetry challenge. But the original is really the way to go.

I try to heat my orgeat as little as possible. Most of the sugar dissolves at room temperature, and I don't need to warm it past 35C or so. My thought is that the heat may destroy some of the volatile flavors.

I've become addicted to these "stem ginger biscuits" that I bought in England. They are little cookies that are relatively hard, crumbly, with a very nice butter flavor and an even nicer ginger flavor ("fiery" as the description reads). And they are absolutely perfect with tea. But it's an expensive habit - ~ $12 for a 200 g tin. Plus my supply is long gone. So I am looking for a good recipe. Does anybody have one? For reference the ingredients are: wheat flour, salted butter (22%), sugar, invert sugar syrup. stem ginger (9%), eggs, ground ginger, sodium bicarbonate.

Not necessarily that they add nothing, but too little to justify the extra time the staff has to spend. At home, this kind of passive prep time is not really an issue though.

Then you are due for a visit. The food is better than what it was, and the cocktails are outstanding. I always have a great time sitting at the bar, ordering a few small plates of food to share and some cocktails. The Jet Pilot is especially fabulous; also the Sherry Cobbler is an excellent lower octane option. Or just ask Christian to come up with something based on your mood.

Starlite has a good whiskey list. That's what I get when I go there. Regarding the 2014 list, I concur on Noble Experiment, Fairweather/Rare Form, and Ironside. From last year, Polite and Sycamore. But they really missed the mark by not including Bankers Hill. I am also surprised that Craft & Commerce was omitted.

Eater San Diego has updated its Cocktail Heatmap for Cocktail Week. Here was the 2013 list Polite ProvisionsCoin Op Game RoomBang BangPriority Public HouseCat Eye ClubSycamore DenCannonballVenga VengaThe Pony RoomSaltbox Dining and Drinking And the 2014 edition. StarliteGrant GrillPanama 66Común Kitchen & TavernJsix RestaurantNoble ExperimentDon ChidoFairweather/Rare FormIronside Fish & OysterTable No. 10ZymologyPuesto

Hot Buttered Rum is a favorite during ski season. Lots of other ideas here.

I am surprised that you did not comment on the 4 sugar cubes...

For a second I thought that you had made most of the recipes already, and I was really impressed. I did not get that impression regarding ingredients. It does not seem worse than the PDT Cocktail Book for example.

The Monroe (Scott Teague), a pretty pale pink gin old-fashioned cocktail with orgeat and crème de pêche as the sweetener. Junipero gin, crème de pêche, homemade orgeat, Peychaud's and orange bitters, club soda. Looks girly but means business.

From the AOC cookbook - arugula and autumn grapes with goat cheese, pecans, and saba vinaigrette.

No day drinking, just some daydreaming while looking at Dandelyan's beautiful cocktail menu (it's the new bar from the White Lyan team, at the Mondrian hotel in London). A lot of cool ideas. The Evil Manhattan and its botanical beer "vermouth" has me particularly intrigued. There is a nice night/day rich/light decision matrix at the end that's a bit reminiscent of Pouring Ribbons'.

The Death & Co party continues - first stops in LA and San Diego.

Well, it's a perfect 75F in San Diego today... Great after a very warm weekend in Palm Springs (100F) where Tiki drinks were definitely de rigueur!

Not really; the lavender was discrete and the Suze had the upper hand.

Yes, like a good girl. It's going to join the Stone Vertical Epic and Anniversary releases in the spare fridge.

The Voyager (Robert Hess) with white Puerto Rican or light Virgin Islands rum (Plantation 3 Stars), lime juice, falernum (homemade), Benedictine, Angostura bitters. I think this one overdoes it a little bit with the spices; between the Benedictine and the falernum, it ends up being a little busy. I got it from the Total Tiki app, but he also did a video of it a few years ago.