thirtyoneknots

What a great idea! I got hooked on the trick that was suggested somewhere around here a while ago which involved using orange marmalade if you've got no fresh oranges on hand. I've also suggested using Wild Turkey American Honey as a quick and easy sweetener for Old Fashioneds. Your friend's idea make so much sense. Just to be a voice for the curmudgeons here, I think the idea of having a "mix" for Old-Fashioneds sort of misses the point of the drink. It is supposed to be done the "Old Fashioned" way...there's a great rant somewhere around here from Mr. Wondrich on the subject that sums it up for me. The name refers to a time when even syrups were looked upon with suspicion by at least some of the drinkers of the day, hence most early recipes specifying loaf sugar.

I have two nips of Forbidden Fruit, one seemingly in much better condition than the other. I've always been curious about it but none of the few cocktails on record calling for it looked interesting enough to sacrifice it for just once taste on a whim...anybody know which would be a good bet? I seem to recall one which was sort of like a sidecar with the FF in place of Cointreau, probably the one I would try if I were going to open them. I also saw those rumours of Forbidden Fruit and Creme Yvette coming back to the market but the rumoured introduction dates have long come and gone so I'll believe it when I see it.

At a launch party for this stuff about a year ago I found a relatively high-up guy on the food chain and cornered him with some hard questions. Long story short, this is, for all intents and purposes, Unicum now. If the original is made anymore, it is not going to be imported to the US. The stuff was basically reformulated and rebranded to compete with Jagermeister, essentially made much sweeter and less bitter. I still think it is pretty interesting, but the marketing angle made me want to gag. There was some load of hooey about how this is actually the original formula and the other was the commie formula, but I'm not buying. edit: grammar

Milk Punch is not something that I have experimented with extensively, but I consider Jerry Thomas' version to be sufficiently delicious that I consider it a standard against which to measure other such items. If normal whole milk is used I don't see the need to dry shake (though I admit this is not a process I engage in as a matter of course anyway). Presumably the milk would be going into the shaker cold, and the amount of ice the Professor calls for is I think about right, measured more against the capacity of the drinking glass than anything. I normally use smallish ice, either crushed in my Waring at home or the regular (lame) bar ice at work on the rare occasions that I make one there. I just serve it with the ice it was shaken with. The Milk Punch that survives with us today is not such a noble drink worthy of contemplation though...the White Russian and its bretheren. Whenever I want to roll my eyes at such an order though I stop and remind myself that it is descended from a completely legitimate beverage tradition.

You seem to have figured it out on your own in the subsequent post, but I'll just say anyway that Vya, while fine on the rocks with a twist, or in a plain Martini or Manhattan, is not very good cocktail vermouth. The dry in particular is going to make most drinks taste quite whacko. Bianco vermouth is wonderful on the rocks with a twist and also can be fun to sub for Lillet in many drinks calling for it. Anvil in Houston was doing a pretty brilliant drink some time back with Chamomile-infused Pisco done up 2:1 with bianco vermouth and orange bitters (I think they use Angostura).

This is a tremendous drink, and has been a best-seller for us for nearly a year--a Jasmine, perfected. If anyone out there is the creator of this or knows who is, I'm very interested to know, as we like to credit people's creations when they appear on our cocktail menu.

I would lay a week's earnings on Vya being the culprit. Try again with Dolin or Noilly Prat...though it's a strange drink regardless.

Whether snowstorm or heat wave, Hurricane or draught, that will put you in the right frame of mind no matter what is happening outside.

Playing with possibilities for a regular tonight, came up with this at a request for something with Tequila and "that apricot stuff" (Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot). Inspired by the Lucien Gaudin: 1.5 oz El Jimador Blanco .5 oz R&W Orchard Apricot .5 oz Campari .5 oz Dolin Dry I think with Dolin Blanc this could be something special, though we currently don't stock that at work. It just needs a touch more sweetness, the R&W stuff being considerably drier than Cointreau.

Well, chocolate, cold and up pretty much defines a choco-tini... I would add sweet to that list. Dry/tart/bitter applications of the chocolate flavor don't really seem to satisfy the needs of the "chocolate martini" crowd. They want to drink their dessert, often before dinner. My minor protest is to sneak Cognac into them...they wonder why it tastes better.

The fact that a multiple homicide did not result shows remarkable restraint on Mr. Shaw's part. Or he's very clever at pulling it off.

I can't say what about this confuses others but for my own part I'm missing the advantage to doing this over just making the drink properly to begin with. If you can measure dilution with such precision that you would know the exact amount of water still required by the drink to come to full volume then certainly you can just stir or shake the drink until the ice has provided this water without adding an additional (and seemingly cumbersome) step.

A normal ice bin that would be used in a bar or restaraunt should be draining water off the whole time, indeed I think this is a health code requirement. I think that chilling glasses is a must for all 'up' drinks, using as much ice as possible (which usually means making drinks one at a time) and lots of practice and tasting drinks along the way while acclimating yourself to the conditions to produce proper dilution are all good things to do when working with inferior ice. Higher proof spirits and more concentrated (ie, 2:1) syrups can both tolerate dilution better as well and can be a help when applicable. Hmmm...there was something else I was going to add here but I lost it.

I question that. Just because the thermometer reads 0C, doesn't mean the internal temperature of each ice cube is 0C (if it was, all the ice would very quickly turn to water in an ordinary room). The drink gets to -5C because the ice is colder than that. Enthalpy schmenthalpy. This is incorrect on the science, but also has been disproven experimentally by the guys at the Cooking Issues blog. For their experiments, they tempered ice in a calibrated freezer so that the entire cube of ice was at 0C. They were easily able to shake cocktails down to -10C with between 20 and 25 seconds of shaking. See: http://cookingissues.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/cocktails-the-science-of-shaking/ and http://cookingissues.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/tales-of-the-cocktail-science-of-shaking-ii/ Regardless of the reasons, isn't it heartening to know that cold drinks can be made with inferior ice? As I said above, technique wins.

Was it ever imported at 100 proof? I feel like I have seen the VSOP at this strength before in a store with some old inventory, if this is plausible I will definitely go check again. Didn't get it when there last since it is still not exactly cheap :-\

Experience in the environment is indeed key. I would be hard pressed to explain it in writing, but there is a level of melt I am looking for in the mixing glass (when stirring) that tells me with some reliability that I have hit appropriate dilution. If my ice changed size or shape I would have to relearn this (it is, indeed, subtly different at home than at work). I think most "cocktailian" bartenders would actually say that they can "feel" dilution but I think this is really just shorthand for a series of subliminal cues that are taken together when making a drink that signal that the dilution (among other factors) is good.

The stuff I've been using is actually labelled as 'Pomegranate Concentrate' I think, but I don't see that on the website. In either case that stuff should work just fine employed in the manner in which you suggest.

Pom isn't going to give the color saturation that normal grenadine might, which is part of the reason I've been basing my last few batches of grenadine on Monin Pomegranate Concentrate. Easier (and far cheaper) to get the flavor and color intensity you want from grenadine without sacrificing the flavor at all. Recipes that call for a barspoon or dash of grenadine simply cannot be made as written with 1:1 pom:sugar if you want any flavor or color in the drink. Since switching to the Monin concentrate we've been able to modify several recipes at work (where color was the primary objective of the ingredient) from using a generous barspoon to a scant dash--and still getting better color than before. May work for you, too, since you liked the ginger syrup.

Thank you. Everyone is agreed that if possible, Kold-Draft is what you want, but Kold-Draft is not a substitute for appropriate technique. Due to the demands of the kitchen, we have shell ice at Veritas and while I like it better when I don't have to use that (machine seems to go out on a regular schedule, necessitating purchased/borrowed ice from elsewhere) I've never been ashamed or apprehensive about serving someone a cocktail made with that ice. Rocks drinks can't be lingered over as long, true, but if you adapt your technique to the limitations that shell ice presents I don't think it really matters. I would go so far to say that in the case of 'up' drinks, kold-draft doesn't make better drinks possible, it just makes them easier. In fact in my experience, unless it is extremely warm (which it often is in this part of the world, from roughly late March through early December) once your ice has sat in the bin a lot of it will dry off and harden up somewhat. On that same note, choosing ice from different locations in the bin can affect your quality to a critical degree. Of course I would still like to have Kold-Draft, but that just isn't going to happen for me where I work right now.

If you still have the cherries maybe try putting them in a bowl with sugar to make a syrup/cut the booziness? Seems like they could then be put into a dessert or maybe even some sausage or gallantine/terrine/whatever.

Educate me if you would on how the system works: I was under the impression that "pareve" meant "neutral" or something similar and was therefore allowed in most circumstances...is this not the case? Or can you just not find the Monin syrups?

Am I missing something here? That sounds like a Margarita to me.

Drink tonight was all three of the 2009 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection's cask strength offerings at a dinner we had at work with them. After tasting them all we started making cocktails and things got really crazy. Some of the world's finest whiskies and the only guy who didn't have fun was the Scotch partisan who clearly just doesn't understand American Whiskey and can't enjoy things he can't be the expert on. Best part was before everyone arrived though, with 6 glasses of whiskey poured for over 60 people...the smell in the room was incredible.

Can't tell you what the rules are in CA but I know one Texas bar owner who is ready for them when they come to tell him he can't do infusions. Apart from carefully documenting license numbers on the bottles he is also ready to take them to task for allowing a margarita machine in every other place in town but busting them for taking cocktails seriously. I mean really the concept is the same--pre-prepped alcohol that is not in the container it was sold in.. I think it's a brilliant way to look at it.

For what it's worth I think Torani syrups are kind of sketchy at best. Monin a much better bet in general, I think. I just checked a bottle I have and it has a symbol that says "KSA Pareve". ETA: I haven't actually had the Monin ginger syrup but I know they make one.