FrogPrincesse

Beautiful photos. I went in April and found it a bit touristy as well, but it's worth checking out for sure. It's a good area to explore, with Wright Brothers nearby for a nice lunch, and the Whisky Exchange just around the corner...

Based on this article from Wired published last year, I started storing opened bottles of vermouth and wine under inert gas (always in the fridge). For wine the improvement is noticeable right away - I can keep bottles for a week and hardly notice any difference in quality. For vermouth, it's harder to tell because the decline in quality is not as dramatic and much slower too. But it helps.

Corpse Reviver No. 1 variation (Jackson Cannon) with armagnac (Delord Napoleon), calvados (Daron XO), sweet vermouth (I used Margerum amaro which is very close to a sweet vermouth). It was nice to have the apple notes intermingle with the armagnac.With the Margerum the finish is slightly bitter which I enjoyed too.

San Martin (Robert Vermiere via David Wondrich) with gin (Plymouth), sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes), yellow chartreuse. I liked it with the Punt e Mes. It felt light and was a good option for an aperitif.

I appreciate your concern. You are right, my mint is not singed like the one in the cocktail virgin slut photo - I did not want to risk burning the whole kitchen down, so I poured the chartreuse near the base and only the bottom leaves were singed. I still got wonderful caramelized aromas from the flaming chartreuse.

No need to worry - after the kitchen countertop pyrotechnics, I set another 1/2 oz of chartreuse on fire and finished preparing the cocktail properly. I did not attempt taking a picture of the process that time, just the finished result.

I forgot to post this nice Daiquiri variation a while back, Phil Ward's DWB. It's a white rhum agricole Daiquiri with a touch of Batavia Arrack. I would not mind having one now.

Chartreuse and falernum is a winning combo. After an attempt at setting the kitchen on fire, ...I was able to enjoy being At Peace With What Once Was (Jonny Almario), a Vellocet-inspired cocktail (itself very similar to the Chartreuse Swizzle discussed above), with vermouth. Green chartreuse, sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes), falernum (homemade), mole bitters. I have to admit that I am sometimes guilty of picking cocktails not based on ingredients alone, but also names (I know, that sounds awfully superficial. It is what is inside that counts.). An interesting name is always more intriguing, plus it's easier to remember. Also it's fun to serve to other people, and even better if there is a good story that goes with the name. No idea what the story is with that one though. I will have to make something up.

Trying again to revive the corpse, this time with Greg Best's Re-Animator (not to be confused with Audrey Saunders' creation of the same name). Equal parts absinthe verte (St. George), American dry gin (Blue Coat or Aviation were specified, I used Dorothy Parker), Cointreau, lemon juice (barspoon). Better use an absinthe you really love, because there is a full ounce of it in the drink. There is a hint of louche but barely. The alcohol content is quite high. After the shock of the first sip, you start tasting things other than just the absinthe, although the Cointreau remains remarkably subdued. It's pretty good version of the CR2 on steroids, and a slow sipper for sure.

A very nice Greenpoint with Bulleit rye, Margerum amaro, yellow chartreuse, Angostura and orange bitters (Fee + Regan).

Cool. I think it's one of the first drinks that Anthony made for me. It also works without the egg white.

A smash of my own invention with armagnac, plum eau-de-vie, and pluots, which was my entry for the MxMo Challenge. It was inspired by the traditional French dessert pruneaux à l'armagnac (dried plums with armagnac).

The beer board at BLAH this weekend. For the first round, went with Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, a German-style sour ale from The Bruery (front) and Seizoen Bretta from Logsdon. Didn't care much for the Bretta (good thing, it was not mine). Very dry and almost austere (drier than the bottled version). The Hottenroth, on the other hand, was tart and crisp, interesting, and refreshing. Milk combined with tart fruit and citrus. It did not help that they were polar opposites. Second round - Ritual Hellion (Belgian strong pale ale) (back - excuse the messy table). Yeasty, apricot, with a dry, slightly bitter finish. Overall smooth. For my dessert I picked Consecration from Russian River (right). Consecration is a Belgian sour aged in Cabernet barrels. The cab influence was obvious with a lot of red fruit in the beer. It was rich, thick, potent, delicious.

Clearly you are missing out - see this thread for an in-depth discussion of cocktail spoons.

I am surprised I haven't talked about this one already, so let's take care of this omission asap. Lightning Amber Ale. Lightning ("Better Beer Through Science") is another brewery in San Diego (Poway, to be exact). They've been around for about 10 years. This specific beer is an English Special Bitter (ESB) done the SD way. So it has a solid malt backbone combined with more hops than you would expect for this style. It remains well balanced with a pleasantly bitter finish. Very nice accompaniement to a plate of halibut tacos.

I went with the usual 2:1. You are right, mixing with another sweet vermouth seems to be the way to go. I also suspect it may be something with the Bulleit rye and Punt that did not click, so trying a different rye is another option.

To me it reads as a perfectly written parallel structure and you simply missed his point!

A Manhattan with Bulleit rye, Punt e Mes, Boker's bitters, brandied cherry garnish. Not a success - metallic notes (probably from the Punt e Mes) were distracting, and the finish quasi inexistent. Maybe best not to use Punt e Mes in Manhattans? It's excellent in Negronis however.

Rafa's Tango 'til They're Sore with rye (Bulleit), Punt e Mes, Peychaud's bitters, maraschino liqueur (Luxardo), (blood) orange peel. With 3/4 oz Peychaud's bitters, I was bracing myself for a bitter licorice kick. But instead it was only slightly bitter, the maraschino liqueur dominating the first few sips, and the Peychaud's hard to detect at first. The flavor is a bit hard to describe; it was a bit "minty" as mentioned in the notes on Kindred, with the anise from the Peychaud's getting obvious in the finish. It took a while to get accustomed to the unfamiliar taste and every sip was slightly different.

Actually this is getting more and more common. We have the same trend in San Diego with craft breweries such as Modern Times and even Stone releasing some of their beers in cans. The advantages being convenience, ease of transportation, longer shelf-life, cost, etc. NPR wrote a little article on this trend of craft beers in cans a few weeks ago.

Funny, right? The reality is that I travel with an open mind and just try whatever knowledgeable people tell me to try! So far it's worked pretty well for me. I tried to find out what the five hops in the Yakima Red were, but no luck so far. I am curious as well.

It's Monday and I sure can use some comic relief. Instead of continuing to contaminate the Crafty or Crappy cocktail thread, I am starting this one to collect cocktail parodies. Each year a bunch of videos are produced for TOTC, and I know there are plenty more out there. Please share your favorites. Here is one about the Art of Spooning. And this one for Best Synchronized Cocktail-Making.

Another vote for The Man Comes Around.

I was running out of space and ended up just drinking mine before realizing there was a new edition coming.

The previous edition was available in many states, including yours, so surely it's just a matter of time?