thirtyoneknots

So I been kicking something around all evening in response to a managerial requirement for a vodka drink on the new menu. Finally had it down enough to make, heres the first attempt: Strawberry Fix (tentative name) 1.5 oz vodka .5 oz St. Germaine generous 1/2 oz lemon 2 tsp 1883 strawberry syrup standing in for fresh berries muddled in simple Shaken and strained onto new rocks, scant 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar floated on top. Of course with the name 'fix' it should be built in the glass, which it probably would be in field conditions. I though about incorporating the balsamic as a rinse or float, but since the flavor improved as the drink sat I'm thinking it should be upped to a full spoonfull and mixed in with everything else. Next time I make this for myself it's going to be with pisco. Stay tuned.

A question for Mr. Glasser: Upthread you mentioned that your experience showed that proof of higher than 100 was necessary to get satisfactory extraction. How much higher would you say it needs to be? I assume you've also found longer steep times inadequate compensation for a lower than optimal proof?

According to the press sheets that BT releases, the inaugural 2006 Handy was aged 8 years, 5 months, while both the 2007 and 2008 iterations were aged 6 years, 5 months. ← Thanks for the info, I think I've had this question answered before but couldn't figure out where.

The one I have is the 2006 bottling, which I seem to remember anecdotally described as taken from casks between 10-14 years of age. It does clearly come from the same mashbill as the Saz 6 though, the character is unmistakeable. Did the older releases of Handy come from different lots of different ages than the more recent ones?

No, most Canadian whisky is not a 100% rye mash bill; it's actually a distinguishing characteristic of the Alberta Premium/Alberta Springs line. Personally, I get a weird rum-like feel out of the Premium 25-year-old. I'm generally a fan of Alberta Springs, which is the 10-year expression, but I don't really drink Canadian whisky that often. ← I guess I'm not being very clear, I was curious as to wether Canadian Whisky that would be contemporary with the Savoy recipes was commonly of a mashbill like this. Would at least make sense as to why it came to be known as 'rye'.

Canadian Whisky experts can correct me, but it is my understanding that this is more or less the way almost all Canadian Whisky is made. Similar to Scotch Blended Whiskys. I believe there is almost no "single malt" or "straight" whisky bottled in Canada. ← I was referring specifically to the 100% rye bill and the 'malty' character I inferred from the comparison to the Irish Wiskey.

Is this method representative of historical Canadian practice in any way? Sounds like nice stuff at any rate.

I don't know if I would say that the Saz lacks spice, but that it has a different spice; more in a white pepper, nutmeg, nutty direction in contrast to the dark earthy spice of something like Wild Turkey. Sazerac also has wonderful fruity notes that are absent in most ryes that I've tasted, making it delightful to sip with a few chips of ice and also great for many cocktail applications where more finesse is desired. I can understand perhaps feeling ambivalent about Saz if you have a ready supply of Rittenhouse BIB but in places that don't its a nice tool in the arsenal. That said, WT 101 is still my favorite (well, apart from Handy).

Much of the flavor an apple will impart on an infusion is in the skin, so definitely leave that on. I've done apple infusions before, using 2-3 apples per 750ml, cored and sliced and I think put in for about 2 weeks. Apples will contribute some water to the spirit, so it may not fit into the same bottle again, I seem to recall running into that problem. Be sure and let us know how it comes out. ← Not so good. I used Pink Lady apples which are a red variety. Result was a little sweeter, more acidic, but just a tiny bit of apple flavor. Definitely can't stand up to mixing. But it did make the Famous Grouse very drinkable; I downed half the bottle straight. Should I try a green apple? What if I only put the peels? ← I would expect a green or yellow apple (or combination) to impart more flavor. Most of the red apples available at the store seem to be relatively mild in flavor.

I take it the pieces of citrus peel were stirred with the drink, not used as a garnish? Do you think shaking would have imparted some bitterness to mitigate the sweetness that looks to be present? Glad to see this project up and running again! And that is indeed a fabulous glass. Edit: misread post.

Junipero makes terriffic wet martinis, as mentioned above. I also find that it responds extremely well to the "Improved Cocktail" treatment as per Imbibe! (and before that, Jerry Thomas). I'll admit that apart from some occasional tinkering here and there I've never really found any other applications that I go back to. Part of the reason is that I like it so much in those places, and that, along with the relatively high price tag, keeps me from branching out into areas where more moderately priced gins will work.

Really? A teaspoon of sugar weighs 4 grams. Many people seem to think that lemon juice and 1:1 simple syrup "balance" at more or less equal volumes. That would mean, more or less, 13 grams of sucrose to balance the 3/4 ounce of lemon juice in Dale's drink. This would all depend on the sourness of the lemon, of course, and the inherrent sweetness of the base spirit. All of which is to say that 4 grams of sugar with 3/4 ounce of fresh lemon juice in a 2 ounce base drink doesn't seem as though it would "balance." Rather, I would expect it to be "tart" to "very tart." Now, that might be pretty good (for example, I like a Daiquiri with a half-ounce of lime juice against somewhat less than a teaspoon of sugar) -- but I would expect it to be quite sour. More of a bracer than a sipper. I perhaps overstated the degree to which this would be "balanced" which is of course subjective, but I find that equal parts citrus and simple to be too rich for my palate in most cases and in fact find that a tsp of rich syrup/superfine sugar or a quarter oz of 1:1 is sufficient to balance half a lemon or lime, which locally typically equates to 1/2 an ounce, in the case of a whiskey sour or something similar. Bourbon in particular I would find cloying with 1/2 oz of 1:1, since the spirit is already naturally rich. I plead guilty to liking my drinks tart for the most part, but perhaps this is to a fault; to me 1 tsp sugar to half a lemon is pleasant, less than that is tart and bracing. More than 1.5 tsp would start getting into something I could only have one of, unless there were other mitigating ingredients. Interesting. I actually think that we're seeing a trend in some NYC cocktailian circles towards a fairly austere "brown spirits stirred with bitter flavors" style that, while having great appeal to me personally and the cocktail geek crowd in general, perhaps doesn't have as broad an appeal. I'd be curious to know which cocktails you're thinking of. One thing to keep in mind is that, for example, some of Audrey's most famous cocktails (e.g., Tantris Sidecar) were developed perhaps as many as ten years ago or more, during an entirely different era of American mixology. Certainly this is true of just about all of Dale's iconic drinks. One that springs to mind is the Old Cuban, which is a terriffic drink and is hard to deny it's delicious quality and innovative combination of ingredients, as well as it's roots in the classics. However the recipe which I have most often seen quoted as original (seen here) is, when made verbatim, almost soda-pop sweet to me, and while it is easy (almost too easy) to drink it quickly and want more, I find that the richness makes this something my stomach has difficulty with. On the other hand I have often wondered if the extreme drinkability ("smoothness") was a goal in the formulation of drinks like this -- if the customer drinks it fast enough and enjoys it enough, they are likely to drink more of them and the bar makes more money. Certainly this was the case for us when we featured this on a cocktail menu a couple of years ago, we could barely keep the rum in stock. Two good points there. Obviously one needs to create and serve cocktails that the public will buy and enjoy, but at the same time being mindful of the fact that we'd like to evolve the public palate and also that sweetness shouldn't be a crutch. At the same time, I belive that a palate that is biased too far in the direction of sour or dry can also sacrifice complexity. For example, one isn't able to appreciate the suave smoothness of cognac in a Sidecar where the lemon juice still "bites" in the mouth or leaves behind that "raw" citrus aftereffect. Similarly, I feel that drinks which would like to use minute amounts of modifiers miss the whole point of the cocktail. (Not that you are advocating any of these things, I should hasten to point out.) ← The Sidecar is a great example of a drink that should not be to tart to achieve balance, although even here the issue of what constitutes balance varies somewhat. I favor 2:1:1, though I find that even a slight overpour on the lemon can wreck this: it is most precarious in balance though more rewarding to drink because of it. No less an authority than Gary Regan favors the 3:2:1 ratio, which removes both spirit and citrus, making a drink that is acceptable but to me not as interesting. And then Mr. Hess of Drinkboy fame champions the 4:2:1, which is a different balance again, boozier and sweeter at once. Clearly there is room for difference of opinion here but I find it is a rare bird indeed who cannot tolerate the acidity present in a 2:1:1 Sidecar, especially once it has had time to warm a bit. On the other hand, sugar by itself or in the form of syrups adds apparent sweetness faster than liqueur does, as it has alcohol to dry it out, and so is something of a different animal when talking about sweetness level. I guess I would have to say that among the giants of drinks writing, my palate seems to agree most with Mr. Wondrich, and I also agree with his precept that it is better to start with a dry/sour drink, since making it sweeter is a fairly simple affair in most cases, but making a drink more tart is tricky to do while maintaining balance. And all this is not to say that I don't enjoy some drinks that I consider sweet: Stingers, Vieux Carres, Mai Tais, East Indias, and so forth are just a few of my favorites that tend towards the richer end of the spectrum.

I think the extra 3.75 grams is likely to be quite significant, being as it is nearly an entire extra tsp of sugar, and many, myself included, would consider a tsp of sugar nearly sufficient in itself to balance out half a lemon. I have often marvelled at the apparent sweet tooth evidenced by the recipes coming out of the NYC cocktail scene. For my own palate I can often easily cut the sugar in half as a starting point and still have a drink that is plenty rich and balanced. I did have to learn the hard way the lesson Mr. DeGroff explains in the linked article, that my palate is not the palate of the public, but I do find often that the heavy use of simple syrup can sacrifice complexity in the name of drinkability ("smoothness").

Wow great news about the Nouvelle Orleans, thanks! Any intel on when the rest of the line will be available?

I was looking today on the Liqueurs de France website today since the bottle of Jade Edouard I bought almost 3 years ago is nearing depletion, and I noticed that of the Jades they list on the Verte Suisse 65. Does anyone know why this might be? I loved the Edouard so dearly I'm sad at the prospect it may no longer be unavailable. I've had the Lucid and St. George and found them tasty but perhaps not well-suited for cocktail use (at least in the dash/drop/rinse sense). Are there any imported alternatives with the pungency of the Jades?

I reread recently about Mr. Clarke's misadventures with Baker's Fraise d'Amour here and decided to see if the promise of a wonderful drink waiting in the combo could be realised. I found success with the following: 2 oz Cognac (Hardy VS) 2 tsp Strawberry Syrup (1883) 1 tsp Maraschino (Luxardo) 1 heavy dash Orange bitters (50/50) Mix and pour over small glass heaping full of finely crushed ice. Yes. Perhaps an experiment with strawberry nectar is in order to giver a fresher flavor? I also couldn't help feel how marvellous this would be with the addition of some lightly muddled mint to take into julep territory. Cognac is an underrated warm-weather drink.

Had the afternoon off and spent a nice bit of it sipping on Old Weller 107 and water. Sometimes even lemon and sugar is too complicated. Sometimes even bubbles are too complicated. Lazy Wednesday afternoons with the weather just so are one of those times.

I recently broke down and bought a Waring Pro ice crusher and the size it makes is pretty large for 'crushed' ice. I'd say that depending on how you want to look at it it's either a coarse cush or fine crack. Either way I don't think it's an inappropriate size for stirring cocktails with...the average size is about that of a marble or maybe a little smaller.

Went on a manufacturing spree a few weeks back, various flavored syrups and a few hastily-concieved liqueurs. One thing I made was cinnamon syrup as called for in Sippin' Safari, and on a whim I bottled a small amount of it cut 50/50 with Flor de Cana 4 yr Gold rum. The other day I smelled it, much more integrated than previusly, and tonight to cap off a nice night of socializing with future family I mized up 1 oz of this cinnamon liqueur and 1 oz of brandy--feeling frugal, I went with the Masson VSOP, and poured this over crushed ice. Sort of a cinnamon stinger, and very subtle; just what the doctor ordered. Might have to work on this "cinnamon liqueur"

I should hasten to add that their orange bitters are my favorite out of the 5 or 6 that I have, though the expense at obtaining them means I try to use them sparingly, for special occasions and such.

Thought about this one all afternoon, then all night at work, then got off early and came home to try it. The combo of apricot and anise was what originally got me thinking, which then sort of presented a name (inspired by the presence of those flavors in N. African cuisine) and then the drink: 'Night in Tunisia' 2 oz Sazerac Rye .75 oz M&R Sweet .25 oz Apry 1/2 tsp Jade Edouard Stirred with ice, strained into cocktail glass, lemon twisted then discarded. This combo has some serious mojo potential, but as the astute will notice the relationship to both the McKinley's Delight (intentional) and the Slope (not intentional), this is perhaps not surprising. I think it needs a little tweaking on the preportions, but I'm certainly not disappointed for a first go-round.

I've not had the JT Decanter Bitters you speak of, but the shortcomings sound like my own complaints about their Aromatic Bitters I ordered some years ago. Nice profile, but lacking in concentration (only 20% abv, which may be part of the problem). Some folks thought they were the bees knees, but I found that their flavor had trouble standing up to robustly flavored dark spirits like American Whiskeys. Never did try them much with gin though, maybe thats the ticket.

This may be an inappropriate place for this, but it was my best guess. I learned yesterday that the reason Anchor Junipero has become scarce around these parts is that the distributor (Horizon) dropped most of their spirits accounts. I was wondering if anyone out there in egulletland had any info on this or when it might get picked back up and by who. This is very distressing to me, before we were finally informed of the situation we bought every bottle in the county and sold it all. Anyways hopefully when Anchor products come back to Texas Genevieve will be with them. And hopefully that's not too far off.

Much of the flavor an apple will impart on an infusion is in the skin, so definitely leave that on. I've done apple infusions before, using 2-3 apples per 750ml, cored and sliced and I think put in for about 2 weeks. Apples will contribute some water to the spirit, so it may not fit into the same bottle again, I seem to recall running into that problem. Be sure and let us know how it comes out.

The distributor in Texas is (or was last time I checked) Glazer, and neither of their two local reps are actually aware of the brand's existence, which says as much about their ambition and competence as it does about the brand and it's relationship with the distributor.