FrogPrincesse

I was being a bit facetious. Layered drinks don't particularly appeal to me. But apparently this one is good (and horribly expensive). I was reading an interview of Jeff Bell earlier where he was raving about it. What's your go-to recipe for grenadine? Morgenthaler?

Lots and lots of prep time I am sure.

I saw this beauty by Charles Joly of the Aviary and immediately thought about you, Hassouni. A Jungle Bird, pousse-café style. Description here. Enjoy!

On the first question - I can't think of a reason why flambeed calvados would make the foie gras taste bitter. I've used armagnac with foie gras, but of course calvados would be perfect for your theme. That sounds like a wonderful idea.

The 12 bottle bar is a good concept, but I almost got the impression that they made some unusual/controversial choices to get people talking. And it's working. Because who in their right mind would include genever and vodka in their essentials; it does not make any sense. We have lists that make much better sense in our discussion on The Ten-Bottle Start-up Home Cocktail Bar . Anyway, there are more exciting things to spend our $/£/€/etc on. The Death & Co book is out soon, in October, and Dave Arnold's book, Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail shortly after, in November. I feel that there is really a niche there, on science & cocktails, that Kevin Liu had only started to fill.

Going through some photos from a few weeks ago. Here is a special England travel edition. One of England's many pubs claiming to be the oldest, this one in Nottingham. Supposedly Richard the LionHeart stopped to have a beer on his way to the crusades. Beer options are pictured below. They also had some weird fruit-flavored ciders which apparently are "very popular with women". I took note and went with the Robin Hood ale, which is brewed locally by Nottingham Brewery. Easy drinking and very slightly bitter. The pub itself is pretty cool. A series of little caverns, all connected, like a hobbit house. All local people. 99 Red Baboons from Blue Monkey, a brewery in Nottingham. Porter-style. Thick and malty. Burned malts, coffee. Probably not the best way to start a meal (although I had tongue, so I needed something robust), but I enjoyed it anyway. I had a taste of this much lighter weight option, Extra Pale Ale from Nottingham Brewery. Hepworth Curious IPA. I had it a couple of times (not by design, but sometimes there were very few "local" beers available), once in Nottingham and the other time at the London Heathrow airport. The first time I thought it tasted a bit metallic and only slightly bitter for an IPA, but it grew on me. I liked the grassy hops with the malty notes. In the end I think I like it. It's highly rated by Diffords. Meantime London lager. I tried this one in London (of course). Refreshing, with citrus hops.

They are both quite hard to find these days, at least in my area.

No crab in the beer? (I've seen oyster beer before.) How was it?

Cool. Thanks for the correction!

Jo - This was a limited release in 2012. I've had it at Stone, but it's long gone from the stores. Maybe your son was smart enough to stock up on it! I am so behind on my beers notes it's not even funny. Here was the beer board at Tender Greens, one of my favorite ultra-casual lunch places, a few days ago. All local brews. I had tried everything already except for the Saint Archer white ale, so I went with that. Saint Archer is another craft brewery in San Diego located in Miramar, close to where I work. It's a typical white beer, coriander and orange, nothing offensive, and refreshing. Nice with my salad.

FauxPas - nice-looking salad, very autumn-like with the apples and the nuts. Summer is still in full swing in San Diego. Yesterday I made this quick salad for a picnic with baby tomatoes, grilled corn, feta, tarragon (homegrown). The dressing was kalamata olive oil with sherry & red wine vinegars, and plenty of back pepper. Today for lunch I had this one with heirloom tomatoes, avocado, feta, tarragon, olive oil, red wine vinegar (and a glass of Zaca Mesa Chardonnay).

Mini Willet rye tasting from a few nights ago, 5 year vs. 2 year. The 2-year is the first Willet-distilled rye in years, so it's pretty exciting stuff. 2 year (right) Nose: vanilla, orange. Tastes quite hot at first. It takes a few sips to get past this, but then it's great: vanilla, orange, leather, mint. A bit all over the place, but in a good way. Pretty fiery and almost immature at first, and then surprisingly deep and interesting. A very cool mix. 5 year The nose is pretty faint. Mostly caramel. Much more approachable. Tastes more sweet, much more tame. Develops into beautiful butterscotch and spice. Sadly for me this one has an acetone aftertaste, so it's not my favorite (I prefer the 4). Still, it's pretty solid. A few nights later I tried to sip on Bulleit rye neat, just to see. But I could not finish my glass. I still love it for mixing, though.

I'm with you, Leslie. In the same vein, my G&T was enjoyed with homemade fried chicken. Here is the drink at the park, enjoying the fresh air. There was coconut water from a freshly cracked coconut in the tiki cup, which I ended up adding to the G&T at some point, because why not. This morning I had a Benton's Old Fashioned. Instead of bacon-infused bourbon, I used a few drops of Gangsta Lee'n bitters, which taste like smoked almonds with bacon. A fantastic brunch drink because it's breakfast in a glass, with maple syrup, orange, and bacon.

Teenage Riot (Tonia Guffey) with Cynar, rye (Bulleit), dry vermouth (Dolin), dry sherry (Lustau Jarana), orange bitters (Regan's), flamed lemon twist. Lemon aroma, bitter, herbal, dry. It did not last very long. On an unrelated note, my bottle of sherry seems to possess superpowers. It fell from the top shelf of the fridge to the (stone) floor which it hit, but then just rolled without breaking (this is what happens when I try to carry 3 bottles out of the fridge at the same time). A small miracle.

I choose mostly based on mood, season (summer = more clear spirits, more tiki drinks; winter = more brown spirits), what I have available, a new ingredient I am researching, variations on a theme I am interested in, creations or recommendations from my favorite bartenders and/or eG members, cocktail books I've acquired, a specific flavor profile or ingredient combination, etc, etc. I have a running list of things that I want to try, so it usually does not take me very long to come up with something every night.

"Bottle rested". Love it. I made a Mai Tai punch last week for a tiki party that my friends were hosting. My challenge was to use ingredients I already had on hand, and to clean up my liquor cabinet(s) as much as possible. The BevMo Classic Mai Tai would have been perfect, but I had not realized it at the time (also I wanted my friends to still be my friends after the party). I did not want to use one of my precious aged rhum agricoles, so for the rum mix, after some experimentation, I ended up with Leblon cachaça (based on good results obtained previously), Coruba dark Jamaican, and Barbancourt 8 year, in a 2:1:1 ratio. The cachaça fills the space with such a great aroma as soon as it's poured, it's really nice. For the rest, I went with freshly squeezed lime juice, Trader Vic Mai Tai mix (I have plenty more, if someone's interested... It tastes like simple syrup with lime, orange, and a touch of orgeat. Not something I would buy nowadays, but the vintage label is lovely.). The orgeat flavor was pretty faint, and I did not have time to make a batch, so I shamelessly added some from an old bottle of Torani (that stuff seems to have an infinite shelf life). Mise en place Tasting and adjusting the recipe I ended up with the following recipe, for a yield of a little over 1/2 gallon: 14 oz Leblon cachaca 7 oz Coruba dark Jamaican 7 oz Barbancourt 8 year 14 oz lime juice (~ 1 dozen limes) 18 oz Trader Vic Mai Tai mix 7 oz Torani orgeat 6 oz water In retrospect, I should probably have added a bit more water. Maybe twice that amount? I never quite know what to add for punches, and went with ~ 10%. The whole thing was transported into a Stone beer growler which was really convenient. I brought garnishes too. The punch was served in a large glass bowl over a giant block of ice. Of course I forgot to take a picture. But not a single drop was left, and my friends are still talking to me afterwards, so everything is good.

I have a bottle of Tanq Old Tom on the way (from K&L). Here is the bourbon & rye selection at one my local grocery stores, Bristol Farms in UTC. There is one more shelf above with higher end bottlings, plus a glass cabinet with even fancier stuff. It's always tempting to grab something - the liquor section is conveniently located by the cashier. Although prices tend to be high compared to other stores. I was shopping for sherry though, not whiskey. They had about 4 shelves worth, including the whole Lustau line, nicely arranged from driest to sweetest. I got the fino Jarana ("very dry").

If someone volunteers, I can provide the Bacardi white. I inherited a bottle, 1.75 L size, and it's taking up space. Maybe the fact that the cocktail is served in a hurricane glass is a clue, because the recipe looks like a mash-up between a Hurricane and a Mai Tai. Otherwise I am not sure how to explain the passion fruit. It's just missing a touch of grenadine.

No, just a large (white) grapefruit peel.

"Classic" Mai Tai in a little Summer Party Guide from BevMo, a Californian liquor store chain. Not sure what to say, other than it seems pretty robust with 6 oz of rum.

Glad you enjoyed it! Tonight I had a Choke Artist with Cynar, añejo tequila (Siete Leguas), fino sherry (Lustau Jarana), orange bitters (Regan's). It starts slightly salty and bitter, continues with some wood and pepper from the tequila. The finish is surprising - very long and dry, with even more bitterness. Some drinks with Cynar can be a tad heavy/sweet, but this one was really light and interesting.

Gin and Tonic, picnic edition (for today's lunch at the nearby park).

In keeping with a Savoy theme tonight (although this recipe may have been lifted from Robert Vermeire*), after a White Lady twist, I made a Sensation Cocktail with London dry gin (Beefeater), lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, and mint (homegrown). If you are wondering what sensation, the first sip was one of bracing sourness. So I went with Erik's recommendation and added a 1/4 ounce of simple syrup. This is what I ended up with: 1.5 oz gin 0.5 oz lemon juice 1.5 barspoon maraschino liqueur 3 mint sprigs It's a Southside with maraschino and it's very very nice. Crisp and refreshing. (*) I haven't suddenly turned into a cocktail historian, I am just putting Martin Doudoroff's new Cocktail and Mixed Drinks app into good use!

Steve Schneider's Steve-O's Tuxedo, a twist on the classic White Lady, with simple syrup and a dash of Regan's orange bitters replacing the Cointreau. It's good. Not sure why, but it had a very pale green tinge underneath the white foam.

You should have done the thrown cocktail demo for Diffords. They just posted one and it could use some improvement. His technique might be fine, but I don't want to have to see the bartender's underarm tattoos (at first I thought he was incredibly hairy), or his fat and hairy belly, when he is throwing the cocktail. It's a huge distraction.