thirtyoneknots

I'm assuming you're using more than 2 tsp of maraschino in the original recipe then? My main gripe against St. Germain is how easily it gets clobbered when used in small amounts, say, less than 1/2 oz in most drinks. Seems to be its main limitation.

Interesting observation. Dr. Cocktail in his Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails remarked that Swedish Punsch is to rum what Drambuie is to Scotch. I wonder if there is a name for the specific classification of drinks (I don't think this is one of Gary Regan's drink families, unless it's covered in Duos), wherein a liqueur is mixed with the same spirit that is used as the base of the liqueur, e.g. Rusty Nail, B & B, French Connection #2 (Grand Marnier and cognac), and even rum and Punsch would be included. Are there others that follow this formula? ← I believe he lists them as "Duos and Trios"

So far as I could ever tell, it didn't, just cheaper packaging.

There is a drink we have at work, which frankly embarrasses me, created by another bartender, which is nothing but a more boring version of the Cosmopolitan (didn't know that was possible did you?) that is also overly sweet. The final steps are to sink some pure Chambord into the bottom of the drink to create a layered visual effect and to float an orchid on the surface of the drink. It tastes like shit, but you wouldn't believe how popular it is, and even more amazing is that the flower is the selling point. Sometimes when busy I forget the flower and the particular type of customer who orders these never fails to remind me. It's kind of disturbing to see how excited people get as I place a flower in their drink. It's probably mostly as a reaction against this kind of thing that I am so minimalist with garnishes. My rule, in general, is that if it isn't contributing something to the flavor of the drink, then it doesn't belong. If making a Jerry Thomas Brandy Punch, I will of course use the berries and orange slices, but that's about it. I guess with the occasional Tiki punch I'll toss on an orange slice or something, but that's a little different for some reason.

It doesn't seem any worse than Benedictine, Drambuie, or whatever, espcially if chilled. I could see 2 parts Martinique rhum and 1 part Punsch as sort of a weird Rusty Nail translation that would work after dinner.

I've got some Goya Passion fruit juice in a bottle, lists water, sugar, passion fruit pulp, citric acid, ascorbic acid, and acacia gum. I think that's about as pure as you're going to find the stuff. It works really nicely in drinks, and the bottle helps it keep better than the canned by virtue of being recloseable. I think it costs about $1 for a 16 oz bottle. ← but how tart is it? its probably balanced as a drink not as a modifiable kitchen product... your getting "passion fruit cocktail" like "cranberry cocktail" not nearly unadulterated passion fruit juice... ← I've never had straight passion fruit, but yeah, it's roughly analagous to cranberry juice. However I think in both cases those juices are made into sweetened cocktails due to excessive acid levels in the fruit. With the possible exception of the various purees (particularly the Perfect Puree one) I doubt that any of the products mentioned here are pure, unadulterated passion fruit, which I think would probably be prohibitively expensive.

I've got some Goya Passion fruit juice in a bottle, lists water, sugar, passion fruit pulp, citric acid, ascorbic acid, and acacia gum. I think that's about as pure as you're going to find the stuff. It works really nicely in drinks, and the bottle helps it keep better than the canned by virtue of being recloseable. I think it costs about $1 for a 16 oz bottle.

It would simply be a fortified wine, no? Sounds more related to Sherry than anything else. Very interesting experiments you have going there.

That would be the Caipirinha, no?

I might get banned for this, but I've been exploring a bit with Islay Scotches. Not exactly mind bending in it's originality, but the following is quite an interesting look at the Rusty Nail, in my opinion: 1.5 oz Scotch (at home I keep Balmore Legend, at work Ardbeg 10) 1 oz Drambuie (needs a little more than 1/3 to balance the intensity) build over rocks, add lemon twist. The smoky iodine character really does neat things with the honey and herbs. I'd normally rather have American Whiskey, but this is dang tasty.

What if you started with a Demi-sec? You might not need any sugar at all.

I don't make many egg white drinks at home and even fewer at work, but I do more often use the spring off the hawthorne strainer to whip heavy cream for coffee drinks, I'm sure it would work for this as well.

They must have been remarkable indeed if putting them in a Manhattan would have been wasting them

Especially interesting, in that the Gradeal Cocktail is pretty similar to the "Culross Cocktail". ← Presumably also a cognate of 'griddle'? Pretty interesting, but the real mystery is how is it connected to apricots?

So thanks on several levels to eje I've got s shiny bottle of homemade Swedish Punsch and I tried it out a few different ways, first, before work, in a Doctor Cocktail. I used the recipe from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, which credits Trader Vic; it differs from the Savoy by adding some rum: 1 oz Jamaican Rum (Appelton V/X) .5 oz Swedish Punsch .5 oz lime shake/strain/up Nice, but kind of nondescript. Also tried the Biffy, which is similar, but subbing lemon for the lime and gin for the rum. I used Beefeaters, which I consider reasonably assertive gin, but the Punsch. I was surprised at how dominant the liqueur was. I took the bottle up to work and ended up talking to a regular about the stuff and he said ok make me something with it. I had been looking this morning at recipes calling for the stuff and while I couldn't recall any other specific ones, I remembered that many, maybe even most, of them included either apple brandy, grenadine, or both. So I gave the following a spin, more or less (didnt really measure, but this is close): 2 oz Laird's Bonded .5 oz Swedish Punsch .5 oz lemon (or a little more) .25 oz Grenadine (give or take) 2 dashes Angostura shake/strain/up Now this is some tastyness, I ended up making another one for a manager and I really wanted one myself, but showed a little restraint, as there was a wine tasting group meeting after close. It may actually be something from the Savoy (if it looks familiar, please chime in with the name), but eiher way this drink alone made the expense and effort of Swedish Punsch worthwhile.

Ok so I gave it another taste and it's much more mellow and integrated, the lemon rind flavor moving to the background and I can only assume it will continue to do so as it rests. Very peculiarly flavored stuff, can't wait to give it a spin.

I've no inisght on the source of this recipe. About all I can tell you is Grace's Delight is verbatim in the Savoy Cocktail Book and Patrick Duffy's "Official Mixer's Manual". To me, flavor aside, raspberry liqueur seems more likely than raspberry eau-de-vie, just because the eau-de-vie doesn't seem like it would be a common bar ingredient. No facts to back that up, though. ← Excellent point, it had actually occurred to me, but you know, I always have to be the iconoclast. Or whatever it is I'm being.

I was sort of thinking that, seems like it is sweet enough anyway. Would take it in a completely new direction, though (as they always do) ← that much dry vermouth is alot of acidity... an orange is more or less self balancing... so to get any vibrancy out of your spices you need sugar... else they would taste flat like they were barely there... my cousin gave me an old family recipe for "peach brandy"... it was basically peach beer... the term doesn't seem to mean much in certain cultures... ← True it might not taste as good, but I think by now we've got enough evidence that the fact that an ingredient will create an unbalanced drink doesn't mean that that's not what Craddock (or his sources) intended. Not sure if the stuff existed commercially at the time, but a dash of Pimento Dram could sub for the spices, and add the tiny bit of sweetness.

I was sort of thinking that, seems like it is sweet enough anyway. Would take it in a completely new direction, though (as they always do)

Last night I went ahead and made an attempt using this recipe, using Mt Gay Eclipse for the rum, as per eje's suggestion, combining everything this morning. I couldn't resist a taste, and when I did I surprised by the intensity of the lemon rind flavor; before sweetening it was quite bitter, and afterwards it was still very prominent, though I am willing to accept that I was focusing on that aspect due to having tasted it unsweetened. I'm not sure it was still bitter after sweetening, just very rind-y. Did I do something wrong, or will the rind aspect mellow, or is that just part of the flavor of Swedish Punsch? -Andy

I wouldn't count on most bars being able to make a decent sazerac in New Orleans. Pretty much any good restaurant, though, will mix you a good one. It's one of the most popular pre-dinner drinks. I doubt too many restaurants in other states would even recognize the name. Like you, though, I wonder if this is a mixed blessing. Will we see all kinds of bad sazeracs sold to tourists? If it passes, will the frozen daiquiri machines on Bourbon Street starting selling a sazerac flavor? ← Two words: Mango Sazerac

As cool as this sounds on the surface, I could see it being abused. I haven't been there since I was of age, but the tales of New Orleans Sazeracs are not usually reassuring. Or maybe I'm just being a fuddy-duddy. Unfortunately if Texas were to have one it would undoubtedly be "Crown 'n Coke" feh ← Hmm... I think we may do better. Margarita, maybe? Of course, the way a lot of the margaritas are made leaves a lot to be desired. ← Imbibe! indicates that California (being closest to Tiajuana) might have the better claim on that. Beats my suggestion tho.

As cool as this sounds on the surface, I could see it being abused. I haven't been there since I was of age, but the tales of New Orleans Sazeracs are not usually reassuring. Or maybe I'm just being a fuddy-duddy. Unfortunately if Texas were to have one it would undoubtedly be "Crown 'n Coke" feh

Anybody know if a gas grill (ie the one in a restaraunt kitchen) will work, or does it need a wood/charcoal fire?

← Historical authenticity aside, does this recipe produce something resembling the modern commercial product? Most of the other recipes contain tea; this does not. The kindness of a co-worker travelling in NYC has yielded two bottles of Batavia Arrack van Oosten...I'd like to proceed with some Swedish Punsch, but I've only got one shot at it. This certainly looks easy enough, but it's significantly different than the other recipes given...has anyone made this and compared? -Andy