thirtyoneknots

Speaking of, anyone know what's up with Brizard right now? Their products seem to have disappeared from liquor stores. Change in US distributor or importer? ← Hm that is strange, we're still getting them in Texas (to the limited extent that we ever were).

What about making syrups from things like Kearn's Apricot nectar and cutting with brandy or Wray & Nephew rum? I've not used it in proper cocktails much, but the Masson VSOP has been a great choice so far for liqueur projects, and the price is very right as well.

That is indeed their achilles heel. We can barely get them for home use here, so dealing with shortages on the commercial level never even comes up :-\ I do still think that the DIY route will not be sustainable in the long run, but I guess I don't really know. I have heard consistently mediocre results with homemade apricot liqueurs though.

Any particular reason? I've been pleased as punch with pretty much everything from them I've tried (ok well maybe not the Grand Orange, but that was a mistake on my part). I'm pretty sure that for the reasons you list (labor cost, etc) and others you didn't, this is not really an economically viable option. Even an expensive line of products like Marie Brizard, or even Grand Marnier, etc, have the tremendous advantage of economies of scale working in their favor. When you're buying your spirits by the train car then it becomes hard to compete.

A deplorable state of affairs, but easily remedied by wetting a napkin with bonded whiskey and wiping down the glass.

The distribution for Martinique Rum in general seems to be very quirky at best but the good news is I picked some Ambre on sale in Houston last weekend for like $17/fifth!

i haven't had the pussers in years but i have a bottle of the goslings 151. delicious stuff if diluted appropriately. i think i'm going to use it on the cocktail menu with my new supply of kola nut tonic. ← Agreed, Goslings "115" is my favorite rum of the moment, along with St. James Amber.

I'm 99% sure this is the class the local Republic rep was supposed to being me back some info on a few weeks ago, of course he never did and I couldn't get a hold of him as the deadline to register came and went. At the time I didn't know what was at stake, now I'm really going to have to rake him over the coals. It's like backstage passes to the cocktail rock concert!

bostonapothecary-- I noticed you seem to enjoy funky high-ester rums. Some commercially available ones I've enjoyed are the Goslings 151 (cut by half with the standard 80 for a killer punch rum) and the Pussers, though I've never seen you mention either. The Goslings 151 is not exactly common but I was curious if you had any experience with the Pussers.

Lemon maple juice? As in unrefined maple sap is involved or is this like a sour mix involving lemon juice and maple syrup?

"The taste of this whiskey will never change" How depressing. Anyone have any idea when the proof was lowered?

This may be completely off-base, but something makes me think the size of Sherry casks (at least the authentic Spanish version) is relatively invariable; you may have trouble finding anything "small"

There never has been bonded Old Overholt. It's sold at 80 proof. We're saying that we'd like to see it at 100 proof ("bottled in bond"). And, as Andy points out, it's literally a matter of changing the labeling and reconfiguring the process to add less water (I'm sure there are also some minor legal hoops to jump through with respect to introducing a "new" product). In my opinion, if they brought out Overholt at 100 proof, it would take the place of Rittenhouse as the mixing rye of preference. I've been thinking of ways to make a 100 proof version out of the 80 proof stuff, either by fractional freezing or using a rotavap. ← Actually as far as I am aware, Overholt was sold as a Bonded product for much if not most of it's history (or at least the part of that history where distinctions like that existed). I'd be curious to know when the proof was lowered, but my hunch is that it correlates with the acquisition of the brand by Jim Beam. I know for sure I've seen a picture of a label somewhere that proudly states "100 Proof", "Bottled in Bond" or some similar legend.

Got a Waring ice crusher on ebay last week and it is to die for, the only and I mean only drawback is the lack of adjustment for the relatively coarse crush--more like a fine crack--but this is easily rememdied by passing the Waring ice through the hand crank job (which is thus much easier to turn) when finer ice is desired. Used this procedure to produce several ice cones and used one to enjoy a Luau Grog from Sippin Safari this afternoon, mighty fine and to my taste more elegant and better balanced than the Navy Grog it is only slightly tweaked from. This was also only my second use of the El Dorado 5 yr Demerara and so far I have to say it is smoother and more friendly with other spirits than the Lemon Hart I'd previously used. Add to that that it's more than 20% cheaper and has far wider distribution in TX and the problem becomes easy to solve.

Sorry I didn't mean to imply that at all, merely that they weren't "quality mixing spirits". Wether that means that it is too pricey or too bland, distinctive, sweet, or crappy to make cocktails with differs on a case-by-case basis. And this doesn't mean that the whiskey doesn't have other merits, even if it's a low-end one, merely that one of it's merits is not that it makes great cocktails. Jim Beam Rye is the same way in some regard; it is not awful, and can be pleasant by itself or in simple highballs, it just doesn't have the presence to work well in cocktails. Being priced similarly to Overholt makes the choice an easy one. Many Bourbons fall into this same category.

Around here the Sazerac hovers around $25 so it's still priced for mixing but I've been thinking about this lately; when it comes to Bourbon in the under $30 range, there are only a handful of different ones that are commonly mentioned on this board as cocktail spirits, though there are at least 100 different bottlings on the market. It seems the ratio of quality 'mixing' ryes to all ryes is about the same as quality 'mixing' bourbon to all bourbon. It's just that there are a lot fewer ryes to begin with. That said, I think it's sad and unfortunate that the spirits producers think that focusing on high priced sippers is the way to go, at the exclusion of something cocktail-appropriate. The refrain of Bonded Overholt hardly needs repeating, but the fact that it still doesn't exist and Ri1 does is highly indicative of the pattern that appears to be developing (especially in light of the fact that Bonded Overholt would require nothing more than a reprint of the label and a change in setting on the bottling apparatus). Similarly, the joke that 'Rye is the new vodka' suddenly isn't so funny anymore when Beam releases overpriced and underwhelming whiskey in a slick bottle with lots of ad press about how 'superpremium' it is. To me, both of these trends sort of go against what attracted the cocktail crowd to rye to begin with. Not trying to hate on Ri1 or Jim Beam, but it's something that has been on my mind lately.

I dunno, The Northern Swede sounds pretty good to me... ← Seems like there's an implication that the Stockholm guy is not that far from the northerner, he just dresses a little nicer, trims his beard more regularly, and doesn't laugh as loud in public. They both sound pretty cool.

Ah yes, all that that Mr. Kinsey says. Didn't read the original questions carefully and missed that aspect of the query; thought you were asking why Swedish Punsch was also called Caloric Punch.

Could it have something to do with Scandanavians drinking it to warm themselves up?

The formula of spirit, Cointreau, sour is a classic combination which forms the foundation of many of the greatest classics as well as familiar modern cocktails. For example... Sidecar: cognac, Cointreau, lemon Margarita: tequila, Cointreau, lime Between the Sheets: rum and cognac, Cointreau, lemon Cosmopolitan: citrus vodka, Cointreau, lime (touch of cranberry) And so on... ← are these all made in the 3:2:1 combo...? I will look into JoM by Gary Regan..i need to build a better library... ← 3:2:1 is his preferred ratio, or at least starting point, but the Between the Sheets, for example, is nearly equal parts, going scant on the lemon (in his version). As far as the others go, I think the 2:1:1 ratio for Sidecars and Margaritas is more favored, at least on this forum, but it really is a matter of preference. As for myself, I find the 2:1:1 very well balanced and slightly rich, but trying to make a more tart version than that takes things out of balance I think. Those with a preference for sweeter drinks can cut back on the citrus or add a sugar rim.

True that this one is hard to screw up too bad, but a milk punch with Cruzan Single Barrel is to die for. I'm out of milk

bacardi eight year with its "rum oil" sort of character... (and it doesn't break the bank!) other heavy spirits have too many stuck flavors like vanilla or caramel. ← just to clarify..not just rum...what about other spirits brown or white... and the "names" if any exist... ← The delicious and classic White Lady subs gin and I believe typically adds an eggwhite. Most other formulae involve a switch to lime juice so I'm not sure if thats what you are looking for. Gary Regan's classic Joy of Mixology has an extensive section on cocktail "families" -- essentially the structural relationships that cocktails have centered around a theme such as (for example) sours with orange liqueurs as the sweetener. A must-have, even if you might not agree with all the precise recipes (I don't).

Also much like pancakes, an imperfect one is still pretty good (provided its a lemon issue and not the use of dekuyper tripe sec, christian brothers brandy, and sour mix).

I also stock those same two brandies, along with the Kelt VSOP and occasionally the Martel VS when Hardy is unavailable or the price is right. I love both the price, versatility, and balance of the Hardy and while I don't make Sidecars with the Masson, it works tolerably well for many by the glass Jerry Thomas-type punches, Tiki applications, and liqueur making (and I suspect a drinkable stinger as well). It's youthfulness can take a toll in the morning if you're not careful though. Not that I would know anything about that.

I think the whole Crusta connection to the Sidecar and similar drinks is a red herring--evidence points to the Crusta as an evolutionary dead end, a fancy cocktail with a citrus accent that we may never have even noticed much if it hadn't cought Jerry Thomas' fancy. I'd be very curious how popular these drinks actually were in their heyday. As far as the actual parentage of the Sidecar (and Margarita), I think Mr. Wondrich makes an extremely compelling case in Imbibe for thos drinks being derived from the Daisy, which had no connection to the Crusta in the 19th century drinkmaking paradigm. My copy is loaned out so I can't cite the specific pages or anything, but if memory serves the Crusta was about the booze; a true cock-tail. The Daisy was about the blend of spirit, liqueur, and citrus, which fits the notion we have of a Sidecar today. Once it lost it's leavening splash of soda and began to be served without ice in the glass, then I think you can say the leap to Sidecar is straightforward.