thirtyoneknots

My cohort at Jeffrey's has a thing for Fernet infused with Sumatra coffee beans, and while it's kind of fun on its own, this effort might make it onto the menu: 1.5 oz Sumatra-infused Fernet 1 oz Carpano Antica 1 fresh egg Shake very well, strain into whatever glass is handy. I'd like to give it a spin with Bonal before finalizing it but it's definitely one of those drinks thats more than the sum of its parts. And with coffee and eggs there you've got your complete breakfast going as well.

Cognac. Or Iberian brandies, if you can get a decent one. I've done a Manhattanish thing with Sercial Mdiera and Foie Gras washed Cognac before...didn't suck. Peychaud's was the bitters I used.

Yeah I'd love to know too, both to credit the guy (or gal), and to congratulate them. It's a great drink, a fantastic introduction to gin and campari for the uninitiated, and a model for elegant and friendly drinks with interesting flavors. This is all reminding me I haven't made anybody one in months, I ought to be doing that.

That may or may not be the original "Bitter Elder" that seems to be more commonly made with Campari now. I can't actually remember anymore Made them something like this at the last gig: 1.5 oz Beefeaters .75 oz St Germain .5 oz Campari .5 oz lemon Up, no garnish. Sold like it had the cure inside. Ok just to clear this up a little, this post from the Cocktail Chronicles has a nearly identical recipe to what Chris has posted above, though with a different brand of gin and sans grapefruit bitters. My earlier confusion, I believe, stems from the earliest source for the Bitter Elder (as made above) comes from the comments section of the same post, where some unnamed genius tweaked a very good recipe into a great one.

That may or may not be the original "Bitter Elder" that seems to be more commonly made with Campari now. I can't actually remember anymore Made them something like this at the last gig: 1.5 oz Beefeaters .75 oz St Germain .5 oz Campari .5 oz lemon Up, no garnish. Sold like it had the cure inside.

I've been messing with the following, getting good reactions from customers, based on the Charles Lindbergh: half Beefeaters, half Cocchi Americano, barspoon R&W Apricot, 2 dashes Pummelo bitters, up with an orange twist. Probably going on a menu soon.

Color me flattered! Glad to hear others are having success with that combo--I confess I haven't played with it much lately myself.

Working now in a 35+ yr old cornerstone of the Austin dining scene, and change isn't easy even with all the bosses in favor of it but we did recently change the well from the Jim Beam white that's probably been there since day one, to the Old Fitzgerald BIB--at wholesale prices we can price them the same. I haven't priced the Jim Beam lately but the Old Fitzgerald retails about $16, and oh man it is a treat.

Still pondering this but I'm coming down heavily in the camp of an Old Fashioned made with Weller 107. A most soothing combination...might even make me feel bad for what I done. 1200 gallons of punch would almost certainly make me repent.

Well then. I'm going to need some time to think.

So I'm thinking here...by drink I assume you mean distilled spirits here. And much as the prison system wouldn't go for making you some Tournedos Rossini, would this ultimate cocktail have to be made with more or less rail-level stuff? Or are we walking to a white collar chair where the Warden's bar is stocked with Martell Cordon Bleu, Handy Rye, Jade Edouard? Or better yet, is the warden John Deragon, with a hoard of defunct goodies? What are the parameters here?

On my last day at the old job back in September I was gifted a bottle of a Charbay Pomegranate Aperitif Wine, which is sort of like a pomegranate-y Lillet (though 21%), by some dear regulars. I've been drinking it mostly on the rocks or mixed with other wines (Lustau Medium Amontillado is one I've returned to more than once) but tonight was my first earnest attempt at a real cocktail with it. Not terribly imaginative, but if it ain't broke... 1.5 oz Laird's Bonded 1.5 oz Charbay Pomegranate wine 2 dashes Peychaud's More or less a Star Cocktail variation. I did it over the rocks and skipped the usual twist because I was being lazy, but I'm glad I did--the nose on this is amazing and it really brings out the fruitiness of the Laird's. I could probably use the rest of the bottle like this.

Highland Park is not a Speyside, being from Orkney. But by God, buy a bottle if you're not firmly committed to having a Speyside (or if you have the budget for both). I recognize that my tastes in Single Malt are fairly pedestrian, but Highland Park is one of my top 3 bottles. Second, Highland Park is a purchase you won't regret. A friend's restaurant I used to drink at frequently before I moved had some sort of Lone Star Cask barrel proof Highland Park. One of my all-time favorites, no idea how he came by the stuff.

Glenrothes Select Reserve is a delicious textbook speyside and runs around $40 (and sometimes less) in Texas. Not that there's anything wrong with the others you named.

Second the recommendation to do Feast at lunch if you want to go there. If you end up going to Brennan's, you'll be only a few blocks away from the huge Spec's on Smith St, a liquor store nearly the size of a wal-mart. A more or less comprehensive seletion of the spirits available in the state, huge fine foods selection and a wine area larger than both of those put together. Worth a gander.

Living near Austin now I don't get to Houston nearly as much as I'd like but Haven has been one of the most talked-about new restaurants in the state, I think it even got on Texas Monthly's 10 best new TX restaurants of 2010. I do know that eG member and Anvil co-owner Bobby Heugel consulted on their bar, and last I heard there was at least one Anvil alumnus working at their bar. When are you going, Chris? Do make sure you check out Anvil, but be sure to get there early, especially on the weekend, unless you want to be knee-deep in hipsters.

Surely this is a typo?

I would actually challenge the notion that drinks with appropriate amounts of sugar to make them accessable to the general public are looked down upon at all. Indeed, successful bartenders must strive to hit this mark with the lion's share of their standard recipes, a restriction home enthusiasts do not have. Of course as we've been discussing lately on this board, tolerances for sugar, acidity, and bitterness are highly subjective and all over the board, but its fairly straightforward to make something in the sweetness range of a coke. I would in fact say that most of the recipes I've seen from the powerhouse cocktail bars tend in this direction when made as written. That said I think that boards like this, made up of professionals and dedicated amateurs alike, tend to place a significant weight of discussion on dry, bitter, challenging drinks simply because they are novel and sort of "in vogue" right now as waves of adventuresome drinkers search for the next novel flavor to un-jade their palates. When you stand in the service well for 6 hours slamming out all manner of pleasing, "balanced" drinks for the public, you don't necessarily want to go home and get on egullet to write about those kinds of drinks, wonderful though they may be. Most cocktail bartenders I know don't actually drink many cocktails outside of testing them for the work environment (or visiting peers at work). Beer, whiskey, wine is the order of the day once the last tab is closed.

My favorite glass to use for an OF, much like my favorite whiskey and indeed my favorite Old Fashioned itself, is the one in front of me. I do have some glasses I particularly enjoy for Sazeracs though. They came with some Crown Royal I was gifted many years ago and their small size, sloping sides, and very heavy bottom makes them perfect. Old Fashioned though I'll take what I can get, so long as it's not too big.

I doubt that will have positive results in a country with a government liquor monopoly.

Sweetness is present in all cocktails, though it may not necessarily be detectable. If there are ingredients other than spirits and ice it is essentially impossible to avoid sugar in some form. I'm not so sure he's saying that sweetness alone elicits a favorable reaction, but that an appropriate level of sweetness, ie a "balanced" level, is what does the trick. Dan, from what I've seen a lot of your favorite drinks often include considerable amounts of sweet ingredients, though you typically seem to like them balanced with rather significant amount of acidity or bitterness. From my very casual obsevance of your tastes I'd say you have more of an "acid tooth" or "bitter tooth" than a "dry tooth". Myself having gone through all three of those stages at various times I think it's a fairly natural place to be in the course of cocktail exploration. I also fairly early on had an "herbal tooth" but as those drinks are often rather rich it's hard for me to drink many of them nowadays, rewarding though their flavors may be.

Looks like a kissing cousin to the Bennett, which would use gin and Angostura (and is technically unsweetened!). Hardy is my go-to at home but something a little rounder and fruitier like Martell or Kelt would play with Peychauds in a pleasing way as well. Sounds like a winner.

May I ask what a sugar ethic is? I guessed it was a gastronomy term, but couldn't find any definition other than the obvious ones. Or are you saying that it is right in some way (ethic) for the drink to be quite sweet and that you enjoy it (excellent)? Thanks. If I may be so bold as to try to answer on Mr. Bostonapothecary's behalf, I think he typically uses the expression to talk about the ability to (or outcome of) having precise control over sweetness in a drink, ie keeping the sugar on the low side, while still being able to draw flavors out (which sugar is often used to aid in). I'm sure he'll have a more thorough explanation but that's always what I've taken his use of the term to mean.

I don't know if I'd say it's a staple, but my limited successes have also been mostly from mixing it with other spirits as an accent. I haven't played with it much or recently, and nothing I came up with was particularly memorable so I don't have recipes to offer, but I did a couple of times make an Old Fashioned with the BT White Dog, using a melange of more old-time kinds of bitter (more soft, Peychauds-type stuff), minimal ice, and nutmeg vs lemon. Not a blockbuster but it sure was interesting. To my palate the BT White Dog has a distinct hazelnut note (or the sample I had did), and I think hazelnutty qualities work well with orange liqueurs. Not sure if that helps but there you go.