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thirtyoneknots

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Everything posted by thirtyoneknots

  1. Hm well contemporaries almost certainly didn't make the distinction, sure. I don't know if that means it isn't real or not.
  2. For my own part, I found the Glenmorangie Signet to be very forgettable, especially given the price. Now the Astar, that's some nice stuff, though I don't know if they are still making it.
  3. DeGroff addresses this question directly, but not (to my mind) satisfactorily in the book. Essentially, it boils down to "real pomegranate grenadine is hard to find, so make the Bacardi with sugar and add a touch of [presumably artificial] grenadine for colour". To me, the more vexing question is: Why lemon juice instead of lime? There has been some discussion about this before, apparently this is common in English translations of recipes that were originally in Spanish, since the terms for lemon and lime are very similar. "Lime" has been taught as "lima" in most every Spanish class I ever took, but I've read that in some time or place it is/was a "limon verde", as opposed to a "limon"--lemon.
  4. Erm, you mean apart from the Balance & Columbian Repository? That, at least, punctuates the word that way. Personally I think it is a useful shorthand for discussing the proto-Old Fashioned, ie the original cocktail, without having to qualify what is meant every time.
  5. I think you'll find it most pleasin'
  6. I don't think I'd be alone here in saying I'm going to agree to disagree on that. We've had this discussion in this very thread time and again, no need to rehash it. But the idea that both of those drinks are equally entitled to the name "Old Fashioned" is by no means universally accepted. All power to those who like fruit paste in their whiskey, no offense to them intended. But then what do you do about the fact that many people think of the newer style complete with mangled fruit salad as The Old Fashioned? Maybe it's the fact that I'm in WI, where the new style reigns supreme and everybody knows the drink, but unless they're initiated into some of the cocktail trends of the past seven or so years, the garbage OF is The OF to them. You have to explain at length why what you're serving them is in fact an Old Fashioned. I'm not sure you can beat back the tide of the many people for whom that is an OF. As for me, last night I had 2oz Genevieve, 2 dashes of Bittercube Jamaica#2 bitters, a squirt of syrup, some ice cubes and a thick swatch of blood orange peel weeping profusely its aromatic oils, and I call that an Old Fashioned. But I wouldn't serve that to somebody, call it an OF and that's that. I'd have to explain why I am entitled to call it an OF. In that case, the shoe's on the other foot even if I think they're mistaken in what the true ideal of an OF is. For this reason, I like to say Old School OF if I'm talking the true version and Old Fashioned when I'm talking the new school version (and explaining to them why I'm giving them the Old School version!). Old School Old Fashioned [Whiskey Cock-tail] seems rather redundant to me. I've never refused to mash up fruit in the bottom of someone's drink (and believe me I've done it in all manner of drinks upon request), I just wouldn't offer that as an Old Fashioned, without qualification. My standard position has been to make it without fruit and add it in later if demanded. I've rarely had an involved discussion if neither me nor the customer wanted it. Something along the lines of "this is the original, and I think, best way to make this. Give it a shot, but if you don't like it I'll gladly add fruit or soda if you'd like" has sufficed. Usually not an issue down here, though I can understand why this might be more of an issue in WI where the drink never really went away and sort of became it's own ideosynchratic thing. As for other spirits, I'm all for it. At Fino we had an "Oldest Fashioned" which allowed a choice of Rittenhouse BIB, Ransom Old Tom, Smith & Cross, or Laird's Bonded. It's a great way to explore any quality spirit.
  7. I might. I'm both an iconoclast and a heretic, no mean feat I tell you.
  8. I don't think I'd be alone here in saying I'm going to agree to disagree on that. We've had this discussion in this very thread time and again, no need to rehash it. But the idea that both of those drinks are equally entitled to the name "Old Fashioned" is by no means universally accepted. All power to those who like fruit paste in their whiskey, no offense to them intended.
  9. Perhaps you might prefer to take the whole thing French: Le Bois Blanc (or Blonde). That's close anyways, someone will surely make it more correct.[Moderator note: This topic continues in Drinks! (2012, part 2)]
  10. My understanding is that it is a natural flavoring derived from molasses, not actually molasses. Certainly there is some apparent sweetness in the product but not what you would expect from adding straight molasses to the rum. Fair warning, we are teetering on the brink of my knowledge on the subject, and even this post includes some amount of informed speculation. I still think it's a lovely product, especially for the price.
  11. Cruzan Blackstrap has molasses flavoring added after distillation. So far as I am aware, LH151 comes by its distinctive profile naturally.
  12. In the way that "silver" in a drink name used to indicate use of egg white, the much less common "golden" would belie a yolk. Gin fizzes, whiskey sours, and others can be done with an egg yolk. It will of course add a richness to the drink, and is really sort of more of a novelty in my mind. But I've played around with Golden Arrack Fizzes before and that was fun.
  13. No help on your general topic but I would suggest using Google Chrome with translate enabled to search through some of the French sites. Google translate is not perfect but if you need some info that's mostly available in another language, I've found it very helpful. Thanks for the suggestion. I do use Chrome but the first time I tried that on this topic it came up with a lot of info on...butter, I think? Something else that the term demi-sel applies to. I'll try to tweak the search results later and see what I can come up with.
  14. Dan, of everyone on this board, this is most your kind of drink. The big ice is clutch. Sombra should be fine.
  15. Not really relating to this book, but since this also seems to be the de facto generic charcuterie discussion I'll ask this here (feel free to move to a more appropriate place). I'm planning ahead to do a large choucroute garnie sometime in February and decided that I ought to go all in and include a demi-sel, which to my understanding is sort of a piece of pork butt cured in a ham-like direction, then soaked to remove the salt and braised--in this case, in the kraut. My question is twofold: One, does anyone here have any firsthand experience making such a thing who could offer some hints, and Two, what would be other uses for such a thing and is it really unique enough to go ahead and maybe make a second one while I am at it. A cursory Google search came up with something similar cooked in lentils, which sounds lovely, but otherwise not a lot of info in English, at least the way I searched it. The recipe I'd be using is from Peterson's Glorious French Food. I would have expected Grigson to offer some wisdom on this but unless it also goes by a different name, it doesn't seem to be included.
  16. If your local store is stocking Zirbenz and Nux Alpina, they should be able to order Kronan soon as well. And if anyone is wondering what to do with those two bottles, here's another treat from my friend Josh Loving of Fino Restaurant in Austin: Ghost of the Pine 3/4 oz 100/101 proof Rye 3/4 oz Zirbenz 1 oz Nux Alpina dash orange bitters Stir everything together with cracked ice and strain into a rocks glass with a big cube that has been sprayed with about 4 mists of Lapsang Souchong-infused Mezcal. Garnish with a couple of more sprays on top of the drink. I believe Vida is used for the mister--it's a quick and simple infusion that only requires a couple of ounces to make. I'm sure the drink would still work fine with uninfused Mezcal. The name is a subtle reference to the devastating fires in the Lost Pines area near Austin last September http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastrop_County_Complex_fire
  17. Yeah I think a lot of the cessation of complaints about Campari has to do with the fact that it's not going to change anything. While it would be impossible to taste "new" and "old" Campari bottles of the same age, I can definitely pick out the difference in a neat pour. Not nearly so confident in my ability to distinguish in anything even as complex as a Negroni, however. But yeah just look at Unicum/Zwack. I don't have my finger on the pulse of the college bar world, but I'd be surprised to learn they were making significant inroads on the Jaeger drinking crowd, which was the goal. And in the process they have transformed an utterly fascinating product into just another perfectly decent also-ran.
  18. If you read around enough you'll see roughly equal support for cognac heavy vs rum heavy, either way could be considered correct, and either will give good result if the spirits are all evenly good quality. Smith & Cross is distinctive, yes, but it is made for this type of application. You could cut it with a somewhat milder rum if you desire, but there should be significant spiritous character in the punch--the Cognac will do a good job of rounding out rough edges. I didn't catch the brand of Cognac you used but any tolerable VS bottling should work fine. The use of VSOP will yield dividends but is not, in my experience, crucial to the production of good FHP. As for the other brands, I don't have firsthand experience with Plantation 20th Anny, but Scarlet Ibis would work fine. A 50/50 mix of Appleton V/X and Lemonheart 151 would be lovely as well. Rum blending is fun! Oh and +1 to Dan's applejack rec. 1/2 cognac, 1/4 rum, and 1/4 bonded Laird's with no peach makes lovely punch.
  19. Hardly surprising it didn't blow your skirt up if you were using Meyers's--a waste of the precious Kuchan! What recipe did you use? I used this fairly simple recipe from Splificator in Esquire. It calls for only a small amount of the Kuchan so I didn't feel too bad about using it, especially as it was my only peach brandy handy (and I noted when I got it that I had found it a bit underwhelming anyway. I guess I have an unsophisticated palate...). Myer's is a brand that seems to have been in our household for as long as I can remember (the early 70's at least!) so I have a certain fondness for it even if others don't much care for it. I thought it did a fine job holding up the punch but I have never had any version of this punch before. I will have to make up a couple of versions of individuals portions at some point using different rums just to see if I note any profound differences. The guests seemed to like it so that is what counts! I guess they have similarly unsophisticated palates like I do... Ah well perhaps I can help guide you to a better result for your next Fish House foray, having made it many times myself. The Esquire recipe is sound, though the problem here is that it is reformulated to use the only type of "Peach Brandy" that existed in the 70 or so years before the Kuchan came out, which is to say a sweetened, peach-flavored grape brandy. Apart from being very sweet, these liqueurs also have an overwhelmingly strong flavor relative to the type of peach brandy originally called for in Fish House Punch, which would have actually been a distillate of fermented peaches that was then barrel-aged. Kuchan fits this bill, but won't make it's presence felt when used in small amounts. The original FHP recipe's liquor component included a hefty dose of peach brandy--1 part out of 4. A substitute recommended by Dr. Wondrich himself is to recreate this part with a 3:1 mix of bonded Applejack and peach liqueur (he has written much about Fish House Punch since the article linked to). So next time you are thinking to make it, try a mix of 1/4 Kuchan, 1/4 Jamaican Rum, and 1/2 Cognac. Owing to the price and limited availability of the Kuchan you may not wish to or be able to make a full bowl like this, so see what quantity of liquor you come up with, divide that by three, and add that much each of fresh lemon juice and raw sugar. Then add as much water as needed to roughly double the volume. Add an ice block and some good company. As for using Myers's--drink what you like of course, but Myers's has been on a long, sad decline since the 70s, when it was by all accounts a premium product. Appleton V/X or Plantation Barbados 5 yr (or for maximum authenticity, Smith & Cross) would work just as well or better and result in fewer headaches. Never seen a bottle of liquor so inclined to give headaches as Meyers's. But do give the punch another try!
  20. Hardly surprising it didn't blow your skirt up if you were using Meyers's--a waste of the precious Kuchan! What recipe did you use?
  21. Alex, since you're only taking off the barest outside oily layer of the peel, there is not an appreciable amount of pectin present in citrus bitters. At least not that I have ever noticed. Strawberries, on the other hand, will precipitate a nice big glob of pectin in any liquor they are infused in, if left long enough.
  22. That's what my bottles says on the back, but my bottle is at least a year old since it took me a while to get around to opening it. It would appear that Vergano Americano is not licensed for sale in Georgia yet so no local opportunity to try it that I know of. It was suggested that Cocchi Vermouth di Torino might be a decent sub. I have that but without the Vergano to compare to it is hard for me to say if that is so. Anyone have any thoughts on that? Vergano Americano is pink, not red, so in a basic way they are not going to be terribly similar. It would probably work ok as a highly imperfect substitute, certainly in the case of the Campari Swizzle it's fine.
  23. Argh. I really hate it when I enter a cocktail into my local development server Campari Swizzle entry should be all set. Let me know if there are any corrections. Gotcha on the substitutions, but I it's a very fine cocktail and deserves being made where Vergano Americano isn't available. BA is right, it's quite sweet. I hadn't noticed it before because it has an alum-like astringency, like the tannin in red wine, which hides the sweetness. Correction from Josh, as originally envisioned this had different proportions and used Carpano Antica Formula, so he personally didn't think subbing something else for the Vergano would adversely effect the drink. He switched to the Vergano when it became available because it works better and as an excuse to put the product on the menu. So the substitutions you suggested would probably work swell.
  24. Nightcap tonight was an Old Fashioned with an on the fly blend of Lemon Heart 151 (1/2 oz), Smith & Cross (1/2 oz) and Plantation Barbados 5 yr (1 oz) on a 2" cube. Lubricating the yawner quite nicely.
  25. Dan, that mix would probably work fine though I think the drink was originally built around the Vergano. Definitely in the mercurial climate of a Texas winter we could probably sell a few swizzles, but we have to have a break sometimes you know! PS When I clicked your link to the Campari Swizzle it didn't work.
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