FrogPrincesse

Polite Provisions (see Post 12) won for Best American High Volume Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail last week (full list of winners on Difford's). It's great to see San Diego be recognized. The other super exciting news from this weekend is that Stone has announced that they will be opening their first European brewery in Berlin in 2015-2016. It's been years in the works. Similar to the San Diego set-up, the facility will include a production brewery, a restaurant, and gardens. See here for the official press release.

I like carrot soup. What spices did you use?

Very cool. I am always excited to try new amari. Josh at Inu a Kena published a detailed amaro guide that is pretty useful at navigating the different styles. 101 covers Aperol, Averna, Campari, CioCiaro, Cynar, Fernet-Branca, Ramazzoti. 102 Braulio, Meletti, Montenegro, Nardini, Nonino, Zucca, Santa Maria al Monte, Vecchio Amaro del Capo 103 Bigallet Viriana China-China, Branca Menta, Fernet-Vallet, Gran Classico Bitter, Lucano, Abano, Sibilla, Suze (a personal favorite), Tosolini. He is working on a fourth edition. In San Diego there are a few restaurants that stock interested amari, so I've been trying a few that way. Cucina Enoteca has a respectable selection of amari, and Pizzeria Mozza offers amari flights.

Rich syrup, 2:1.

A new amaro is being introduced by Cocchi - Dopo Teatro Cocchi Vermouth Amaro, based on their barolo chinato. It looks very promising (see the reviews in Difford's and Imbibe).

Difford's just published a nice Daiquiri history and recipe roundup a few days ago.

I was reading the chapter on citrus in Morgenthaler's book, saw the photo of the Daiquiri No. 3 (aka Hemingway Daiquiri), and had to have one immediately. I used his ratios. First with Plantation 3 Stars; just the rich touch of grassy sugar cane. Then with El Dorado 3 for a richer version.

That's right. Much easier in metric!

Rafa - sell me on Branca Menta. As much as I learned to love Fernet-Branca (which I could not do without), I am not sure that I would be interested in a sweeter, less bitter, and intensely minty version (at least according to this description).

I used: 1 2/3 oz gin 1/3 oz lemon juice 1/3 oz maraschino liqueur 1/6 oz violet liqueur Similar ratio to what Adam had posted upthread.

A gin-heavy Aviation with St. George dry rye gin, Luxardo maraschino, R&W violet liqueur. I think it might be the best Aviation I've ever had. The violet was just an accent and the different elements highlighted the malty character of the gin beautifully.

It looks like it's finally available in California! http://www.hitimewine.net/product.php?productid=79453&cat=&page=1

Michael Dietsch has a new book on Shrubs that will be coming out in a few months. He had written a couple of detailed articles for Serious Eats on this topic: How to make shrub syrups, More complex shrub syrups. This winter I made a pear shrub but haven't shrubbed since then. Maybe it's time to revisit.

Thanks - that's the one I was reading yesterday. It's also in his book.

Make your own?

It tastes a bit medicinal as expected, not very bitter relatively speaking, very licorice-forward. It did not feel particularly strong although it is 44%, but it's a very small bottle - 20 mL or 0.68 oz. The bottle is adorable by the way. I really wish I could get the truck, but I would need to drink another 335 more bottles and that is quite unlikely as I don't care much for licorice. Also at $2 a bottle it's not cheap.

The Eastwood (Marc Haines) with añejo tequila (7 Leguas), Punt e Mes, Benedictine, aromatic (Fee Brother's whiskey-barrel aged bitters) and orange (Fee's and Regan's) bitters, expressed lemon peel. It's similar to a Preakness cocktail or a Bobby Burns with aged tequila instead of rye or scotch, respectively. The initial impression is bitterness and wood, then it develops some really cool aromas including chocolate, and a touch of citrus. Good use of a very nice aged tequila.

In the past I've just used olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sumac, salt and pepper, and plenty of herbs (mint, parsley), Here is a recipe from AOC (Suzanne Goin) that is a little more elaborate.

Nice. I went with a shot of Underberg (ok, not a beer). It was either going to be that or Fernet, so it was win-win. ... and, later in the day, this very nice Shegöat Weizenbock style beer from The Bruery (more info here). Also grilled sausages for good measure.

In celebration of Bastille day I went all out yesterday - Bone marrow, lemon and thyme gremolata, chive salad. The bone marrow was cooked (from frozen) on the grill in a cast iron skillet. The gremolata and chive salad (dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar, s&p) is a vague attempt at cutting some of the richness from the marrow. I was already comatose after this but so happy. Then I had a hanger steak with Bordelaise sauce. I used the cast-iron skillet that still had the marrow juices to cook the steak. Once it was done (which took about 5 minutes - just enough time to get a good sear), I put the skillet back on the grill while the meat was resting, added a ton of thinly sliced shallots and a good amount of butter, caramelized the shallots a bit, deglazed with red wine vinegar, added red wine that I reduced, added more butter to emulsify the whole thing, finally adding chives, and the juices from the meat. Sounds complicated but this only took a few minutes. I really like hanger steak - it's flavorful (some might say, slightly gamey) and tender at the same time. This one from one of my favorite butcher's shops was a prime example.

From the long weekend a couple of weeks ago. A perfect Gin and Tonic with Sipsmith London dry gin and Fever-Tree tonic water. A Queen's Park Swizzle with El Dorado 8 demerara rum, lime juice, demerara syrup, mint, Peychaud's and Angostura bitters. It was my first time trying the El Dorado 8 (I have tried the 3, 5, and the 12). I picked that up when I realized it was actually cheaper than the 5 ($18 vs. $19). It makes a great swizzle. Neat, it's infinitely better than the 5. I don't think the 5 makes a good sipping rum although I like it for mixing. With the 8 you are getting there with some really nice caramel and raisin notes, and it does not seem to get lost in mixed drinks like the 12. Tiare has a detailed review of this rum on her blog from a few years ago.

Toronto with St. George dry rye gin. Yes.

At the end, it was a tie between Cocchi and Lillet in the Corpse Reviver No. 2 (see here). The CR2 with Lillet has more lemon notes, while the Cocchi is more orange-forward. A lightweight libation from last week, Marseille Can You See? (Sean Hoard): white vermouth (Dolin), pastis (Pernod), orange juice (Valencia), lime juice. Better in my opinion than just drinking pastis (I like anise as in absinthe, but not the strong licorice flavor in pastis). And as opposed to what the cocktail notes say, people don't drink pastis neat in France, it's always diluted with water!

Here is a 10:3:2 daiquiri with La Favorite from this weekend. No surprise here, I am still a huge fan. As a side benefit, the rhum starts releasing its fragrance as soon as you open the bottle, and perfumes the whole room by the time the drink is ready.

Fauchon - nice. Last night, the Noah Calhoun cocktail (apparently another Ryan Gosling reference, although I haven't seen the movie in question) by John Mayer & co, courtesy of cocktail virgin slut: equal parts bourbon (Blanton's single barrel), cognac (Pierre Ferrand 1840), amaro Montenegro, with a dash of Bittercube cherry bark vanilla bitters. The Montenegro contributed a lot of spice and fruit, mostly orange and mandarin peel. Very likeable.