FrogPrincesse

Casino Soul (Mike Treffehn): demerara rum (El Dorado 12), cynar, white vermouth (Dolin). At first it was too sweet, but it grew on me. The name is a bit confusing because the cocktail bears no resemblance to a Casino Cocktail. It seems related to the Right Hand, the Negroni twist with aged rum.

Another scotch-based aperitif cocktail from a few days ago, this one fine but probably not worth repeating. Fair Isle (Kathy Casey) with barolo chinato (Cocchi), scotch (Highland Park 12), grapefruit juice (white), grapefruit bitters (BDW). I am not sold on the combination of barolo chinato with grapefruit juice, or maybe the ratios should be tweaked a little to my taste (less chinato, more scotch!).

I went all agricole for the MxMo coconut challenge. I made a Piña Colada with La Favorite white rhum agricole, fresh pineapple and coconut water from a freshly cracked coconut, based on a recipe by Jason Wilson in Boozehound. Then I went with Le Chien Chaud (Wondrich/Meehan), which to me is like a Ti Punch as a long drink, with Neisson white, coconut water, yellow Chartreuse, and Angostura bitters.

The Graduate (Daniel Shoemaker). It's an aperitif cocktail with sweet vermouth (Dolin) as the base and scotch (Highland Park 12), curaçao (Pierre Ferrand dry), and tonic water (Fever Tree). Quite nice with bitter and smoky notes.

All this talk about Fernet just makes me crave it more. This cocktail only has a touch of it but you can definitely taste it in the finish. I doubled the amount that was called for, because I wanted to make sure to feel it. None More Black: bourbon (Buffalo trace), Cynar, Aperol, Fernet-Branca, chocolate bitters (Bitter Truth xocolatl mole), coffee. It tastes like very strong coffee in booze form. I need to try this on my friends who still drink espresso martinis, although the bitterness may surprise them. It's pretty Fernet-light to my taste buds though; I think I am practically ready for Fernet shots at this point.

I think it refers to angostura bark, not the brand.

Eric Johnson of Sycamore Den and Christian Siglin of Bankers' Hill have been profiled in a new series on local bartenders.

Excuses, excuses. Here is Rafa's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot with rye and little touches of Fernet and Benedictine, just enough to echo the mint and spices in the rye, and Angostura bitters to tie everything together. I used Willet 5-year rye. I just realized I had tried another tango-themed cocktail by Rafa not so long ago. What's the story I wonder?

I have tried it too. Cardamom and lavender notes. Although it's very nice, I did not feel compelled to buy a bottle. Instead, I got the coffee liqueur and the aquavit made by the same company, House Spirits. There is some discussion of this gin in the thread about New Generation Gins.

Fun video, although I kept hoping that you would end up dumping the drink on each other’s heads, instead of (valiantly) drinking it.

That one is crazy off the charts, in a good way. Last week at TikiO, I had a chance to meet Bryan Davis, the distiller of Lost Spirits, and try a few of his creations. Really good stuff. Indeed. Like a lot of things in life I suppose. Probably best to run with them and not ask too many questions? My latest purchases. The Dolin white & red vermouths are restocks. The Willet rye is the new 2-year. I bought it without realizing exactly what it was, too excited to have found a stash of Willet at a local BevMo. It's the 4-year I was on the hunt for at the time. The 2-year, recognizable by its foil seal (no wax), is a new release and the first Willet-distilled rye in years (they restarted their distillery in 2012). It's really good on its own - I like it better than the 5-yr but not as much as the 4-yr. I was going to experiment with sherry-based aperitif-style cocktails and dry sherry proved surprisingly hard to find. I am not sure what this one is supposed to be (dry sack sherry - $20 on sale for $16 at BevMo). It's not very good, too sweet. I made a cocktail with it but did not dare serve it to my friends. I need to find something else; this one will be used to cook clams or something like that. Stone Bastard in the Rye is their Arrogant Bastard American strong ale aged in Templeton rye barrels. Unapologetic IPA is double IPA made by Stone in collaboration with Beachwood and Heretic that uses a bunch of experimental hops. More info on the Stone blog. Habitus is a rye IPA made by Hess in San Diego.

Oh dear, the Mixology Challenge is due in 3 days. Coconuts. Any brilliant ideas? Also I've been tasked with coming up with a tiki punch (or two) for a party. It's going to be a busy weekend for sure!

Here is a pretty well researched article/infographic on San Diego microbreweries. For those who were not paying attention, it's official - San Diego is considered the craft beer capital in the US. It's pretty amazing to see how the scene changed in the last 15 years. At the time Karl Strauss was the major playor, with Stone, AleSmith and Pizza Port starting to make themselves known. Today there are 88 microbreweries in San Diego County according to the article.

After the Naked and Famous, it seemed only logical to delve into the Hot and Heavy (still trying to boost my flickr views...). This one is by Troy Sidle, recipe obtained by Rafa (thanks!). I went with Siete Leguas for the tequila, Del Maguey Vida for the mezcal. Mint from the patio (spanked as per instructions). I was too impatient to waste any time infusing honey with hot peppers, so I used regular honey syrup that I supplemented with a generous dash of BDW serrano cocktail spice. I am not sure that the cocktail lives up to its name, but it was vibrant with a hot bite. I have to say that the delicate tequila got a bit overpowered by the mezcal and spice, but it was good anyway. As a side note, my friend is working on launching his serrano cocktail spice commercially. Here is the information if you are interested in supporting his project.

These were pre-TikiO drinks from last week, to get us in the mood. Dolores Park Swizzle in the front (made with La Favorite), and Hart of Darkness in the tiki mugs (1 oz each Lemon Hart 151 and El Dorado 5, Australian costal honey, skipped the soda water). Two diametrically opposite drinks (on purpose). The first one fresh and grassy, the second deep and almost tannic, both with lots of intriguing flavors.

No photos - a couple of Mai Tais courtesy of Ballast Point last Saturday at Tiki Oasis. Their Mai Tai mix has received some press and a prize at the San Francsico spirits competition. Well, it has a pretty pinkish color and a fresh guava taste, and it yields a nice tropical drink, but not an authentic Mai Tai. It does not have the required acidity and I could hardly detect any orange. They use their Three Sheets rum in a 1:2 ratio (rum to mix). I should have remembered that I did not care for their gin before ordering a Singapore Sling, but it was too sweet to be palatable in any case. I also had a Mai Tai at Bali Hai at the opening party. These are never very good, although they are quite strong as advertised. Their rum combo is Coruba + Ron Rico Light. They don't measure so there is a huge variation between drinks. A friend got a Zombie that she had to send back. The Goof Punch is usually a safer bet. Sadly they no longer have the Missionary's Downfall on their menu. Bali Hai (see here for more/better photos of the restaurant, which is quite stunning).

Witch's Wit from the Lost Abbey. A very good example of witbier with the typical esters, coriander, orange peel. From recollection alone, similar to Hoegaarden but with more character. It kills me to think that I haven't been to their brewery yet; I don't know what I am waiting for. They are located in Stone's old facility in San Marcos.

Sorry it did not do it for you. You know, you can always adjust the sweetness level to your taste. What I found exciting was the combination of the funk from the rhum agricole and the batavia arrack. It's not something I had experienced before. Here is last night's Daiquiri 10:3:2 with Damoiseau rhum agricole from Guadeloupe.

Cynar That Time We Last Drank Manhattans? - from the Drinks thread. The entry is sweet and chocolatey and not just from the bitters; the combination highlights the cocoa notes in the Cynar. Then the bourbon takes the stage, together with a very pleasant crisp refreshing taste from the Punt & maraschino. The Son of a Bourye from High West, which is a blend of bourbon & rye, was a good fit. The finish of the drink has a bitter edge that makes you go back for another sip. My kind of drink, totally. As far as the drink being an original recipe, the closest thing I could find is Toby Maloney’s Maloney No. 2, but it’s much lighter on the Cynar with the vermouth as Cocchi VdT and no mole bitters, therefore a different result overall. Well done for an apéritif-style cocktail. These are not easy to get right.

That looks pretty good, Dan. It reminds me of Jim Meehan's El Puente, another tequila-based drink with mezcal and elderflower, where the grapefruit flavor is contributed by the juice rather than Campari. A bartender friend, who apparently doesn't know me that well (or knows me too well and is trying to push my buttons, I am not exactly sure...), just gave me a bottle of St Germain. So it is time for me to revisit these elderflower drinks...

Here is the Tiki concoction which concluded for me the celebrations of Tiki Oasis on Sunday. Don the Beachcomber's Cobra Fang (~ 1937) with Lemon Hart 151 as the base, lime juice, orange juice (blood), passion fruit syrup (B.G. Reynolds), falernum, absinthe (St. George), Angostura bitters. Shaken on ice, strained onto fresh crushed ice. I did a spray of absinthe on the finished drink in addition to what was already specified in the recipe. As a side note, the drinks in the "Fang" family seem to contain passion fruit as a common element. Although it is pretty nice, it would be improved by the use of homemade falernum (I was out). Also I think that I am tiki'd out after 4 days in tiki-land, at least for the time being.

That Fer de Lance/Diamonback variation seems pretty deadly indeed. Oh yes, very free, although just recovering from the festivities of Tiki Oasis.

No doubt it would, but with 'normal' gin it is just a Turf Club I think (aka Tuxedo No. 2).

No you're not, I can assure you. But apparently you are the only one who has the time or energy to post between drinks. That Yacht Club looks tasty. I may attempt a variation with St George dry rye gin as I am sans genever at the moment.

Fairweather, the patio bar above Rare Form, opened last weekend in the East Village. The opening menu conceived by Anthony Schmidt is heavy on tiki. Can't wait to try it!