thirtyoneknots

I agree with that. It's quite tricky to avoid getting that herbal note when you're juicing it for a drink. I've often thought that I'd managed to do so and then, when the drink hits my tongue -- blech: there it is. ← Maybe if you peeled it before juicing? Of course this may be a lot more trouble than it's worth, but that rarely stops any of us.

I assume this opinion applies only to the full-strength Tanqueray? I've only ever tasted it at 40% abv, and I find it pretty bland, especially when compared to products like Plymouth or Broker's. The same goes for Beefeater. One of these days, I'd love to find out what I'm missing... ← Never seen these bottled at less than 94 proof, but I think the other brands you mentioned are also excellent. Not ssure if Broker's is a completely new brand or if it's just recently been imported but I like that it's not afraid to have a more traditional profile. Not to get off-topic about Negronis or anything...

Most, but not all of them, created with vodka-drinkers in mind, IMO. ← Agreed. Juniper is the hottest flavored vodka going

The nice thing about gin is that extraordinary quality levels can be had at such reasonable price points, since it requires no aging or anything like that. I'f you're paying more than $15 or so/bottle for gin, chances are it's pretty good stuff. The ones that are over $25 or so for a bottle are typically (with notable exceptions, see Junipero) of a softer more modern style that doesn't always work well in old-school cocktails, sicne they were more often than not designed to be drank by themselves. I think Hendricks is tasty as all getout, but Tanqueray would be the one I'd reach for in a Negroni. Of course, as in all things, make it how you like. Me? I've been on a Beefeater's kick lately.

Since it sounds mixologically more like an orange than a lemon, what about trying a Bronx or Ward 8 variation with it? Re: calomondins, yeah it was pretty interesting but man that juice is dominant, I found it very tricky to deal with, took me two weeks of tinkering to get something I'd make more than once.

Not 100% relevant to the Meyer lemon discussion, but not entirely unrelated either: I recantly had some modest success creating a drink with Kolomondins (I think thats the name), a tiny, intensely sour type of orange that a regular brought in as a challenge to me. They're about the size of key limes and have a slightly bitter edge to the juice (esp when not fully ripe). The flavor is something like a corss between lime and tangerine. I ended up using 1/2 of the juice (which took like 7 of the fruit to make) with 1/2 oz of Frangelico and 2 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre, up. Now I'm not super-familiar with Meyer lemons but from the description here it sounds like somthing similar could be made to work? Maybe use 2 oz gin, 3/4 oz meyer lemon, 2 tsp Frangelico and a short dash of bitters (tiny amounts of Angostura are good at controlling the dominating nature of nut liqueurs, and very complementary too). Hmmm....on second thought, maybe rum is what you need instead of gin.

My copy is currently loaned out, so I can't check this myself, but I recall the Gibson from Imbibe containing no onion, leading me to believe it was a later addition and the source for the Savoy's recipe is from an earlier time.

Actually, yes, among other things.

I believe that I have of late finally at long last perfected my Hurricane recipe, after a long and ardurous quest (it was especially ardurous the next morning). I have found all published recipes wanting in some way, but the one that got closest for me was the one from Grog Log, but it was waaaaay too sweet and rich. After some tinkering with that formula I came up with the following, which is far from the dry sophistication of the Daiquiri, but the sweetness is pretty well balanced I think. Emminently drinkable, if I do say so myself. 3 oz* dark rum (I like the Appleton Extra, or your favorite) 1 oz* white rum (Flor de Cana for me) 4 oz lemon juice (fresh, duh) 2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup (1883 is my favorite here, as it is usually) 1 oz, give or take, of grenadine (homemade; I've actually never measured this, I just add enough to catch the color...this is my best guess) Pour all into a mixing glass with no ice and swirl or whatever to mix. Pour into whatever big-ass funky glass you've got handy (Hurricane glass is standard, it needs to be at least 24 oz tho) filled at least most of the way with crushed ice. Stir to chill (the glass should frost) and top off with more crushed ice. Try not to hurt yourself. *These amounts work, I think, for those brands, but if using a less rich dark rum you may wish to omit the white, or conversely, if using something even more powerful like Demerara, you may want more white rum. Just make sure that the total amount of rum is around 4 oz. Edit to add: This drink would actually be illegal to serve in the State of Texas, as it contains more than 3 oz of liquor, but I have been making them in half size versions at work when it's slow and I have time (we're not really set up for this kind of thing).

I enjoy the nightcap as well, including the East India (which recipe are you using?) and the Widow's Kiss. I also like the Japanese Cocktail and the Stinger as last call-type drinks. The De La Louisiane is another. As you can see, I also favor the sweeter drinks at this time as well.

The recipe is hidden in the text of post 65, up above, but there you go, Erik has the full article and everything. As an aside, I know Joy has some Chartreuse drinks in it, the Alaska, for one. Could be the only one, though. Sorry about the mix-up. ETA: Does anyone have McElhone's Tipperary recipe? Maybe that's where the Maraschino is coming from.

This is very possible, though I always interpreted it as an attempt to balance out the very strong flavor of the syrup. Most modern orgeats have a relatively delicate flavor: at 1/4 oz of it it's nearly lost. I really like orgeat so I use the full 1/2 oz as noted and use a very powerfully-flavored brand.

Try Mr. Regan's version, too. I don't always agree with the tinkering he does with recipes, but here it works very nicely indeed.

A mixture of Lillet (or Americano) and Peychaud's bitters? I cant help but think that there must have been some sort of anise characterstics, however subtle, for it to be misremembered as an absinthe sub.

Hm I'm not sure it's that simple, but I could be wrong.

Rewarded myself for accomlishing some yardwork with a Ghurka G3, which I'd never tried before. The sharp, dry, peppery intensity of the cigar was quite different from the type I am used to (although I am, at most, an occasional cigar smoker). I was about 1/3 of the way through it when I had a thought, went back inside, and created the following: 6 dashes (3/4 tsp) rich Demerara syrup 3 dashes Angostura 2 oz Cruzan Single Barrel (great rum at a great price) built on rocks, twist The woody-smoky-spicyness of the rum, and slight sweetness of the drink made it a perfect compliment to the cigar, and much more enjoyable for my palate. Fun experiment. Anyone else ever have success pairing cocktails with cigars?

Old recipes, particularly ones calling for syrups, are tricky. I know how sweet I like my drinks and how rich my syrups are and can typically look at a recipe then adjust it to suit me while making it. I must admit that this often entails dropping the simple syrup completely from many of the recipes in Mr. Berry's books. Without access to contemporary samples of syrups, the best we can do is guess. If, as indicated in Sippin Safari, the recipes are using a 1:1 syrup, I know that since I use a 2:1 syrup, I can, at the very least, safely cut the amount of simple syrup by 2/3 in most recipes. Of course again the crushed ice question comes up: In a Mai Tai, for example, the greater dilution afforded by crushed ice not only makes the drink extremely cold, inhibiting perception of sweetness somewhat, but stretches the flavors and textures of the ingredients enough that a relatively hefty dose of syrups are needed to ensure the right mouthfeel and flavor balance. I, for one, skip the simple entirely when making Mai Tais and instead use a full half-ounce of Orgeat (1883 is my favorite). This makes out of 4-4.5 oz of ingredients, 2 oz of rich, sweetish rums, a half ounce of liqueur, and a half ounce of very thick, rich syrup. Even 1.5 oz of lime (my preferred amount) can't quite balance that right. That's where the crushed ice comes in, adding just the right amount of water.

I should note that while perhaps not quite common, the Waring Blender wasn't unheard of in prewar mixology -- The Gentleman's Companion, for one, is quite hip to it (published 1939).

I don't know about way off, if it works for the drink then it's fine. Even if it's the case that they were using immersion blenders in the 30's and 40's, certainly by the height of popularity in the 60's they had carafe blenders? Some of the recipes in Berry's books are clearly meant to be "slurpee" textured frozen drinks, and in others it's more open to intepretation. Unfortunately a cold front blew in here the other day (snow in Texas in March!) so probably won't be doing any tiki punch experiments this weekend.

Agree about Cordon Bleu, that's probably my favorite sipper in Cognac, and Martell my favorite of the big four Cognac houses. Can't wait to try and get my hands on some of this Royer stuff, gonna start checking on friends headed out of town soon!

As I first encountered it [in a book by Mark Kingwell which is more theme and variations, more text with accompanying drink than the usual drink dictionary format] I think the recipe called for 'Gin'. No mention of Old Tom. Our usual is Tanqueray. Preferring many of my drinks on the sour side of perky I don't miss the sweetness. Try 2oz Dry Gin, 1 oz Rosso, 1/2 oz lime juice and 1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino. I don't mind 'odd' - I'm odd enough to like it ← The preportions and combo of red vermouth and lime calls to mind the Oriental, I bet this Emerson is dang tasty.

I've a hunch that the original blending instructions were perhaps for immersion-type blenders, perhaps like the ones used for milkshakes and the like. In that case I think the shaking with crushed ice is perhaps more appropriate than a carafe-type blender (although I normally just dump it into the empty glass, not bothering to pour it over fresh ice).

Highly indicative of the "relative intellectualism" no?

Ah, but how was the drink? Very interested to hear how your 'Hercules' is performing.

I came across one in The Gentleman's Companion the other day, if I can find it tonight I'll post it, but it was essentially (as I recall it) a Manhattan with a dash each of Angostura, Orange, and Celery Bitters. The ________ Regiment Cocktail, or something to that effect.