FrogPrincesse

Next up, a wild card. A Trappist beer from... Austria: Gregorius from Stift Engelszell (that's a mouthful). There is only a small number of beers that fall into that category. The International Trappist Association recognizes the following from Belgium: Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Westvleteren. Engelszell was entered into the category in 2012. And the first American trappist beer with Spencer from St. Joseph's Abbey was just launched earlier this year. Back to Gregorius. It is very dark, almost black in the glass, and has little carbonation. The taste is slightly acidic with quite a bit of malt. Overall the flavor is quite flat. A disappointment.

Since you are in Europe, have you had a chance to explore Belgian beers? I imagine that a Belgian farmhouse ale would be something you may like. Try Saison Dupont for example. It's leagues above Fat Tire and has a little bit of that coriander flavor that you are looking for. As you may know, Fat Tire was inspired by Belgian beers, so you may as well go with the original!

Going through the backlog. I thought I would start with beer for a change. First things first, the superb Matilda from Goose Island, a Belgian pale ale (that Hassouni mentioned earlier). It has stone fruit, citrus, spice, some sourness, and a dry finish. It feels light and crisp, but has so much interesting flavors that it's gone in no time. My favorite butcher shop has it in stock these days, which makes me very happy (it does not take much).

I tried a sample this weekend and thought that it was rather good. It did very well in a tiki drink too. It had a good level of funk with caramel and banana flavors, with a slight bitterness as you mentioned.

Hendrick's may work here - it is delicate, quite floral, and does not have much juniper.

Somehow I am feeling sad at the idea of WhistlePig with orange juice and grenadine.

I've got two suggestions for you - Hotel Room Temperature and Heart of Glass. Both from beta cocktails and both completely ice- and Fernet-free.

Heart of Glass for me last night. Interesting room-temperature drink created by Troy Sidle. For this one, first you coat a glass with bourbon (the recipe calls for Eagle Rare 10 years, I went with St. George Breaking & Entering). Then you mix separately 1.5 oz bourbon with 3/4 oz each Cynar and sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica is specified, I used Cocchi vermouth di Torino) and 17 drops of Angostura. I only made a half cocktail so I used 8 drops... The whole thing sounded a little OCD to me but I went with it; I transferred the ango into a suitable delivery device and patiently counted each drop. This is all done without ice, so a little bit of water is added for dilution (~ 1/2 oz). The mix is added to the coated glass and a bunch of orange oil is added - I used three fairly large pieces of orange peel, and you can see the oil sheen at the surface. It's close on paper to Audrey Saunders' Little Italy (rye vs. bourbon, etc) but the vibe is very different because of the serving temperature. I really liked it. It did not feel bitter to me at all except a bit in the finish, but I am so used to Cynar now that I may not be a very good judge. Of course the song is still stuck in my head, even the morning after.

Boudreau has something in the same vein with flamed rosemary (using green chartreuse as the fuel) - see his Rubicon cocktail. I haven't tried it but have been intrigued. Sadly, my rosemary plant has died since I've made the Rosemary's Baby.

Clearly you are the epitome of coolness. Otherwise we would not be talking to you (let's see if I can get you to send me some stuff too! ;-) Regarding Picon, is that the one with the red label (Picon Bière) or the black one (Picon Amer)? In France I see the Bière all the time in stores, but the Amer seems more elusive. I've always wondered what the difference was; I believe the Amer has a higher in alcohol content, but is the flavor at all different?

You are correct. Dubonnet is an aromatized wine, but not a vermouth. It's a quinquina.

As one Does, I found myself in the mood for something bitter again last night after a long day at work, so I went for this Joaquin Simó creation found in the Kindred Cocktails database. Cynar, blanco tequila, Fernet-Branca, mole bitters, mint. It's a low-alcohol drink that goes down easily. The bitterness is very apparent at first, but then the accent ingredients pull all the other notes from the Cynar.

Carpano Antica ≠ Punt e Mes which is more bitter and does not have that vanilla flavor. The grapefruit juice is for the tiki drinks, correct? In that case the ruby red should be fine. It's just a small amount.

It's a good one. It got a little write-up a while back in LA Weekly (Best Negroni Variation) and Serious Eats (although they were using Salers at the time).

Newish Japanese cocktail gear bought at a restaurant supply store in Tokyo (Kappabashi, near the fish market): a few tall metal straws and a mixing glass. The mixing glass is a bit smaller than the other I got from Cocktail Kingdom because the glass is quite thick and it has a smaller internal diameter. It is not as pretty as mixing glass #1 from CK that I unfortunately broke (it was a seamless model), but nicer than #2 (a seamless model with yellowish glass ordered when CK apparently had some consistency issues). New glass on the left; CK glass #2 on the right I took a few snapshots in the stores. Prices were reasonable compared to US prices (100 yens ~ $1)

Nightcap from a few nights ago. Bourbon ice cream (I think I can do much better than this commercial ice cream; the bourbon flavor is very very light) with St. George Breaking & Entering bourbon on the side. I love this bourbon; it's not too sweet and has a ton of personality.

The mix of bitters is good in this drink, especially with a dark rum like a Demerara or Appleton. You cannot really taste the Peychaud's by itself, but it gives another layer of spices to the drink.

These past few weeks the Varnish in LA has been celebrating its five year anniversary with a month-long celebration where past bartenders come to serve their creations. I haven't been able to attend but I am there in spirit... Last night Chris Bostik served the Nice Legs cocktail, another delightful Negroni variation. This one is the red version of the White Negroni. Suze for the bitter element, and barolo chinato for the aromatized wine (it's a quinquina made from Barolo wine). Nice Legs: 1.5 oz Beefeater gin, 0.75 oz suze, 0.75 Cocchi barolo chinato, rock(s), orange peel.

Speaking of heat and crushed ice, it was summer in San Diego this weekend, so I decided to make a Queen's Park Swizzle. I used J.M rhum agricole (it's the 40%) which works great in a daiquiri but got lost a little in the swizzle. I want to try it with an aged agricole next.

Indeed it's a pretty straightforward process. When it's warm I like absinthe with crushed ice, frappe-style.

I forgot to thank KD1191 for reminding me about this drink. Your version with Willet rye was phenomenal, I am sure. (I am currently hoarding my Willet. I have decided it is too good for mixing.) From the Drinks! 2014 thread:

One of my favorite dishes for dinner the other night - linguine with clams. Noilly Prat extra dry for the liquid. Little bits of pancetta; a lot of pecorino. I was out of parsley and used leaves from the celeriac root I just got in my CSA. Served with plenty of homemade buckwheat bread.

Not wanting to stay on a bad impression with Fernet, last night I made myself something else that I really liked. The Fernet-lemon-mint combination was a refreshing change from the usual Fernet-ginger. The Wry Grin (Sam Ross) with Bulleit rye, Fernet-Branca, lemon wedges, simple syrup, mint.

That was campus five - here.

I did not care for this one at all - it's the dry version of the Hanky Panky, named the Kemble House (Beefeater gin, Noilly Prat extra dry vermouth, Fernet-Branca). It just tasted like Fernet diluted with gin.