thirtyoneknots

From what I've heard about it, I wouldn't think there's any reason to cut Inner Circle Green with anything, just use it and some handy arithmetic to arrive at your desired proof by diluting the infusion with a syrup of some kind.

Cheers, Mr. Amirault. I think the Wray & Nephew adds something marvellous to the party, though my last batch was made with it alone and is, ah...intense. The funk is as always beautiful, but sometimes steals the show. Personally I think it's pretty hip but it doesn't work for everyone. Kent, most pumpkin pie recipes call for a variety of spices including allspice and clove. If you really want to add something cool to your pie try a tbs of Angostura. Stole that from an old Abbott's brochure (though those are far too precious these days for that purpose) and haven't looked back since.

I think there are many good reasons to use syrups over tinctures for some applications. The most immidiate for me is that the rules regarding in-house infusions in Texas are quite restrictive and while there are certainly places that work around it, my management is not interested in arm-wrestling TABC for something like that and so I use flavored syrups of all kinds with regularity, and the spice flavors are strong enough that the syrup can be used in small barspoon amounts to add a layer of spice if I want, without adding significant sweetness. They are also great for using in nonalcoholic applications. Third, from my experiments in bitters manufacture, I feel comfortable saying that flavors express differently in alcohol than in water (syrup). While the difference is usually subtle, sometimes you may desire the more round expression of spice that a syrup provides, vs the sharper expression a tincture offers. As for what I've used them for, well early this year I started making a syrup whose flavor was based off of the spice flavors in Don the Beachcomber's Nui Nui (in Sippin Safari, p 92) which includes Angostura Bitters, cinnamon syrup, and 'Dons Spices', itself a mix of Pimento Dram and vanilla syrup. Apart from a variation on the Nui Nui using said syrup, we also had pretty good success with something we call a 'Greater Antilles' which is essentially a Mojito sweetened with the aforementioned syrup and swapping out the Flor de Cana 7 yr for the rum. Pretty good. Our next drink menu is coming out soon and it will feature a made-to-order eggnog based off of Jerry Thomas, using Buffalo Trace Bourbon for the spirit and the same spice syrup for the sweetener. Oh yes.

I've never seen Sangaree as a warm drink...do tell.

Most things are worth trying with that substitution actually. I haven't been drinking much of it lately but St. James Ambre has got to be one of the most interesting and intense spirit for the dollar out there.

Yeah if we can get Laird's Bonded in College Station you can definitely get it anywhere in Texas. Weirdly the local Spec's doesn't carry it, just the small guy.

Yeah thats what he 80 proof runs at Specs as well. It's nothing particularly special imo, especially when Overholt can still be had for about $13.

I'd be buying that by the case for $11/btl. It's not actually particularly cheap around here--runs around $20, maybe a dollar or so better than the Wild Turkey which is far more muscular. Of course only one place actually even carries it so I wonder if these could be related

Where I've seen this done, it doesn't seem to work quite as well as you'd think, since someone inevitably camps there, deafeating the purpose.

Sometimes there is around my house And the choice between the gin going in a Ramos for me or a Bloody Mary for a guest...well, thats not really a choice at all, is it? Priorities, I say.

I've had it both ways and don't really have a preference but then again if I have 3-4 bloody marys in a year that's quite a lot for me, I guess in general I'd rather save the gin for other things most of the time. I did use it in winning an impromptu in-house contest once though.

Yeah this is one of the few places I almost always use vodka but I did once have the surreal experience of having a guy complain that he couldn't taste the vodka in his Bloody Mary

I want to reiterate that to the best of my knowledge I never said Angostura bitters and Vermouth are amari, but rather that in my way of thinking, amari fit into a spectrum of bitter beverages that encompass both of those items as extremes. Your other point is an interesting one, though. When I started learning about serious cocktails in early 2005 I was a little behind folks such as yourself on the learning curve, and there were hints of other bitter beverages such as Fernet starting to make appearances on the scene. That, coupled with seeing recipes on Drinkboy.com (an early favorite resource) calling for Campari and Fernet in dash amounts, probably helped shape my concept of bitters as a spectrum...a little after some would have formed a very different notion.

I've been priveleged to get to taste most of the Glenrothes line and though I prefer Islays in general they are very good. Here, briefly, are my opinions on the ones I've had: (Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure of the bottling dates of all of these) Select Reserve: Great value (<$40) single malt, very representative of the house style with orange peel and some subtle, mellow sweetness. Malty notes balance the fruit in a nice way. 1972: Actually probably my favorite, especially if you're buying. Rich nutty raisiny notes that suggests the sherry cask it was aged in had been from PX. Richest of all the lineup, quite decadent in it's way. Fruit more subdued probably from the extended aging. 1979 Single Cask (bottled c. 2007, 519 bottles): 57% alcohol. Absolutely cerebral. Layers of intense flavor including the obligatory orange peel and nuts but also with layers of minerals and sulfur, like a match. This brings the smoke forward in a very subtle way, helping to balance it out. Nutmeg, touches of balsamic...the complexity is mind-blowing, and really quite impossible to describe (I also tasted this last over two years ago). The guy leading the tasting said this run came off of brand new stills, alcohol that would normally be sold to rectifiers but was barreled because it was the 100th anniversary of the distillery. Apparently this contributes to the extremely distinctive character. 1984: As an American Whiskey drinker, this one was most delicious outright to my palate...apparently in the 80s Glenrothes was aging in Bourbon casks, no idea what distillery they came from. Basically add a layer of Wild Turkey flavors to the Select Reserve notes above. As far as I know this one is no longer available. 1985: Raisins and toffee, touch of tawny port on the back end. Very nice and relatively reasonable. 1987: Lightest of the vintage bottlings I have tasted. Similar to the 1984 but a little less interest. Not terribly memorable--but cheaper. 1991: Sort of a compromise between the Sherry cask 70s and the Bourbon cask 80s. Lighter and less rich than the 70s while retaining more of the fruit. I think by this year they had reverted to Sherry casks so the relative lightness could just be a function of the relative youth. Not the most detailed notes and most of these are from two year old memories but hope this helps a bit. When spending my own money on single malt I like Laphroaig Cask Strength with a splash of water.

It isn't what you might call common around here, but seems to be available still in the venues that carry it. Sazerac, though, has disappeared.

Big fan of the Darb as well. Not a fan of the name, though. Andy, what was the recipe you settled on for the Jimmy? If I'm recalling this right I was doing a bitters-soaked sugar cube in a tall glass, fill with cracked ice, then pouring in a scant jigger of Cognac and a scant 1/2 oz of 1:1 simple. Top with Champagne (we were using Piper Heidseck) and flot a 1/4 oz or so of Chartreuse. Also cool is adding a horse's neck in the glass. Edit to say: I actually think Extra Dry champers works better here than Brut. If using, I omit the simple.

I came across something similar to that back in the spring though without the lemon or sugar and it was damn fine (can't recall the name, could have been the same). Good Sloe Gin is distressingly rare around here so I didn't make a habit of drinking them but mmmm.

Thanks for that clarifying--extra sweetening was one of the things I also decided the drink needed, though when I was making more of them they were definitely scaled down to fit in a 12 oz glass. And quality sparkler is a must.

The Jimmie Roosevelt is a drink that I've never thought works quite right as written but has awesome potential if tweaked (though this is sort of the rule for >80% of Baker's drinks). I had what I thought was a decent version of it worked out and we talked about putting it on our menu but decided against it in the end for a variety of reasons. But it's a fun drink to pull out on folks who like intellectual beverages. How is everyone making these? One of my recent faves is the Darb, from the Savoy. I'd also nominate most of the contents of Imbibe! as great lost cocktails...though we all should have seen them. The Improved Cocktail's reintroduction to the drinking public is a service whose value cannot be overstated.

A vacuum stopper, like a vacu-vin, would yeild results similar to simply sticking a cork in the neck, or worse, since the seal would not be as good. Keep in mind a sparkling wine is generating gas as it sits, so any vacuum you pump out of the bottle will be equalized quickly. Then you have equilibrium, then internal pressure which escapes since there would be nothing then holding the stopper in place. Then your wine is flat. Yuck.

My favorite variations (not a drink I willingly make often) are to throw a few leaves of fresh basil in the shaker and/or replace all or part of the plain vodka with some that has been infused for 24 hours with some fresh cracked black pepper. Imo, the most clutch ingredient is the lemon juice though.

Yeah, those stoppers work great. Though I find it's not so much the time, as the number of openings that is the factor. At home I've opened a bottle once, stoppered, re-refrigerated and had it be fine later the same week. However, once you open the bottle a couple times, the fizz drops off pretty exponentially. You are absolutely right, that has a much greater impact on the longevity of the wine. Thanks for clarifying.

Never seen it in any size other than 750ml but I have been enamoured for most of this year with the Francois Montand NV sparkler. It is from France (not a Cremant though) and sells for about $10-11/btl. Blind you would think it was a $40 Champagne, I actually prefer it to many real Champagnes I've had. I was buying it by the case though of course the TX distributor dropped it so it is getting increasingly rare but it may still be available in your neck to the woods. I'll add here that I've had decent successes with champagne stoppers at work, as long as you're not trying to keep the bottle more than 24 hrs or so. The ones that have little wings that grab on two sides seem to work best. (Don't know if that makes any sense).

Boy does that bring back memories of the gracious olden days of service. Not only did they transfer the bar tab, if you were a lady, or if they even suspected that you might be, they carried your drink to your dining table, too, so you wouldn't have to traipse through the dining room with a mittfull of booze. It was automatic. Now, if you asked somebody to do that, they'd look at you like you had just grown a third eye in the middle of your forehead. Something I know from experience. That is absolutely as it should be...I mean assuming you aren't at Friday's. As a bartender I'll always close out at the bar before moving to a table, but certainly noone should be expected to.

Good point. How do bartenders expect to get tipped if they don't make change? When I was starting out I didn't do this mostly because it was something that always annoyed my father--he doesn't like having a wallet full of small bills and figured if he needed some for change, they could always be traded out later. It sort of stuck with me for a while and though it doesn't come up often where I work now, every time it does I feel a small pang of guilt for giving lots of ones back in change. I like getting a mix of bills, especially if the amount is in the range where the larger bill would be a slightly overly generous tip - that's presumptuous. I don't think I would mind if someone asked if I wanted some singles. I think the thought process here was that assuming there would be a tip would be presumptuous to begin with, which is the only point in giving extraneous small bills. Not that I consider a tip optional when I am the customer, nor does he, but the setup for a tip could be interpreted as a sense of entitlement on the bartender's part--and I'm fairly certain there are a lot of bartenders who feel like they are in fact entitled to a tip. Tipping should indeed be customary--though I'm not trying to hijack this into a tipping discussion--but so should exemplary service from the other side of the bar. It's not too far from the coffee refill question: do you want your cup topped up all the time to keep it warm or only when empty so it is as hot as possible? Everybody has a different notion of what is correct, you can't please everyone.