thirtyoneknots

As far as anyone knows, it isn't artificially flavored, only artifically colored. The source of the difference in flavor profile has not been conclusively determined.

The Savoy's own Oriental Cocktail, as well as the other mentioned above.

Tell that to Jeff Berry! I know a **lot** of purists when it comes to tropicals, people who are as uptight about promoting and sticking to the 'real' recipes as any martini snob is. ← I think the point Alchemist was making is that many of the products called for in the older 'tiki' recipes are no longer available in the form they were when the recipe was created, and so one must interpret the recipe to find something suitable on the market today. Jeff Berry does the same thing. Even the great Trader Vic followed this method when finding a substitution for the original Mai Tai rum, and he did it by blending two other rums on the fly. In all facets of mixology, substitution and improvisation has a long and distinguished history, it's not always a bad thing.

It's true that there is no legal definition for 'gold rum' but to me it means lighter bodied Spanish-styles, like the Flor de Cana 4 year (gold). The minimal aging and lack of color filtration I guess kind of define it, along with the lighter body. For dark rum, see Goslings, Meyers's, Appleton Extra, etc. If you can't see your hand through the bottle, it's a dark rum. For all the types that fall between dark and gold (as I defined it here), I call them amber rums. You could call them gold rums, but I think most recipes calling for gold rum want the lighter style, whereas recipes calling for amber maybe want the medium-bodied types. Of course I could just be talking out of my hat. It's all pretty subjective.

I dont think Damrak is quite the same thing. I haven't tried it, but the impression I get is that it's something closer to Boomsma And I did list Bacardi 8! I like the stuff, but I like Flor de Cana 7 better.

Not to crush said dream (and I guess this doesn't actually refute the possibility that other bottles exist), but the rum in question was created specifically for this publicity stunt (spade = spade) by the master distiller at Appleton Estates, allegedly from the original blending notes from the 17 year Wray & Nephew. I'm sure someone somewhere around here has a press release handy.

Dutch gin, aka "Hollands" is a lightly sweetened, old-fashioned style of gin made in pot still on a base of what is essentially unaged whiskey. Or so I'm told. None is currently imported to the United States, aside from Boomsma, which those in the know say is not terribly indicative of the style.

Ok I named a few things earlier but this is too much fun not to throw down and list my whole inventory. I would say this excludes sipping grade but I have so little that I consider in that way and practically nothing I haven't made a drink with at some point. Here we go: -Gins: Plymouth (wish this came in 1.75s), Tanqueray, Junipero (rounding out the most used brands), Beefeaters, Boodles, Tanq10 for rare occasions, Bellringer for when my dad visits and wants a G&T, and I think there's a dusty bottle of Sapphire somewhere around here. Oh yeah, most of a bottle of Citadelle, too. -Bourbon: WT 101, Weller 12, Evan Williams with a vanilla bean in it, AH Hirsch 16yr being reserved at this point. -Rye: WT 101 (go-to), Saz6 (other go-to), Old Overholt, Rittenhouse 80 and 100, Thomas Handy -Blended: Crown Royal as a Christmas present from 05. Still have most of it. -Scotch: Famous Grouse, JW Black, Balmore Legend cos my girl likes malts. -Irish: Powers, theres a little Bushmills somewhere too. Redbreast is on my to-get list. -Cognac: Martell VS, Hardy VS, Kelt VSOP. -Other Brandy: Fundador, Raynal, Quiero Pisco -Fruit Brandies: Caron Calvados, Laird's BIB, Laird's Applejack, Barack Palinka, Schladerer Kirschwasser. -Tequila: A little Sauza blanco and some Tequila por mi Amante in the fridge (made with Hornitos). Finally coming around to tequila, so probly some Hornitos Plata in the near future. -Rum: Flor de Cana 4 yr white and gold, 5 yr dark, 7 year coming soon, Appleton V/X and Extra, Goslings, Meyers', Barbancourt 5 star, Mt. Gay Eclipse, Lemon Hart 80 and 151, Cruzan Amber, coconut, Single barrel, Pussers, 10 Cane, W&N Overproof, Bacardi Gold, 151, 8, St. James Hors d'Age, Pitu Cachaca. (Think I got them all) -Vodka: Some Tito's my dad left here. I confess to having some quantity of lemon and vanilla Smirnoff vodkas, though I had actually forgotten about them til now. Probably a splash of plain Smirnoff hiding somewhere as well. -Wines: Cinzano Rosso (at the moment), Noilly Prat dry, Lillet blanc, Dubonnet Rouge, Gautier Pineau de Charantes, Punt e Mes, Dow's Ruby Port, Savory & James Sherries do double duty for cocktails and cooking, open to brand recommendations on sherries. -Liqueurs: Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Luxardo Maraschino, Green & Yellow Chartreuse, Marie Brizzard: Curacao, Apry, Poire William, Parfait Amour, Cassis de Bordeaux, Grand Orange, DeKuyper (for shame): Cacao, Menthe (G&W), Blackberry and Peach brandy, Razz, Hazelnut, Peppermint, Sloe Gin, Cassis, Blue Curacao, and perhaps a splash of triple sec, Bols Banana, Boulaine Peppermint (dont ask), Van der Hum, Benedictine, Cherry Heering, Drambuie, St. Germain, Gilka Kummel, Denise Klanguer Liqueur de Violette, Pimm's No. 1, Starbucks coffee liqueur, SoCo 80 (from the way-back machine), Licor 43, Tuaca, Wray & Nephew Allspice and my homemade too, Henri Bardouin Pastis, and I'm pretty sure some Herbsaint somewhere. I think I have a bit of homemade limoncello around as well. phew -Potable Bitters: Campari, Ramazotti, Fernet Branca, Cynar, Torani Amer, Jade Edouard Absinthe, and tiny amount of Jaegermeister procured for one drink. -Dasher Bitters: Angostura, Peychauds, Regans, Fee's Orange, also a 50/50 mix of these, Fee's: Aromatic, Peach, Lemon, Mint (why?), The Bitter Truth: Aromatic, Orange, Hermes: Aromatic, Orange. I could list the syrups I have, too, but that would just be excessive -Andy

Courvoisier?

Morgan, do you have a source for the Laird's 7 yr in Houston? I can't even seem to get the Bottled in Bond anymore. What's happening here? ← I picked up the Laird's Brandy a week or so ago at the Downtown Spec's. Most of the Spec's around here, even the small ones are carrying the Bonded Apple Jack. Spec's went through about a 2 month period where they weren't carrying it though which is dissapointing because I like it so much better than the regular Applejack. A friend of mine who lives in Waco said he picked up a bottle of the Bonded at Dicorte's. Definitely call before you go though, just in case. ← Glad to know they have it again, the last two times I was downtown they were out of it. The one here in College Station doesn't carry the bonded...yet, although to put it in perspective it took them 3 months to stock Angostura bitters! Thanks for the heads-up. edit: grammar

Concur. I have to admit though that after having a friend bring me some back from Chicago I think I still prefer the Wild Turkey overall. I think the Rittenhouse is probably a bit more versatile, however.

Morgan, do you have a source for the Laird's 7 yr in Houston? I can't even seem to get the Bottled in Bond anymore. What's happening here?

I was asking Jeff Merrill (Houston-area manager) from Glazer's about that last week, he wasn't sure but said he'd check into it again since he'd tasted them all recently at the distillery and was impressed (get the impression he may b hearing a few more requests for it too). I also told him to check out your place, he seemed very interested. Very cool guy, good man to know.

The 7 year is also excellent, perhaps my favorite aged rum by them I've tried so far (which includes the 18 year).

Not familiar with Cluny, but for a blend Famous Grouse seems to be the favorite around here. I don't drink a lot of Scotch, but the Balmore Legend isn't bad for an everyday-priced malt.

I don't have a "house" bourbon at my house, but at work we pour the 8 year old Jim Beam, which I like quite a bit. My go-to rye is the Wild Turke, Rittenhouse BIB not being available in Texas. For that matter, Carpano antica isn't either, but I find Cinzano and Martini & Rossi more than adequate for everyday use. For white rum, definitely the Flor de Cana 4 year for me and lately I've been getting a good deal on the Hardy VS cognac, but otherwise I like Martell. I think dark rums vary so much that it's hard to put out one that works well in all, or even most, situations, but Appleton Extra is very good, and a go-to for me for punches and the like.

I especially enjoy fooling around with the 2:1:tsp format, lets call it the Manhattan Spoon The format for the original 1916 Aviation has been fun lately as well, merely your third formula adjusted slightly to 2 oz spirit, 3/4 oz citrus, 1 tsp liqueur (or syrup, I suppose), 1 tsp other liqueur/syrup. Bitters optional. I personally find the 3:2:1 too sweet, 2:1:1 or 4:1:1 being more enjoyable in most applications, except where it pays to up the acid and cut the sweet to dry the drink out (or to control a powerful ingredient, as in the Aviation). Seems like there's another one that I'm forgetting at the moment, but there you have it. Edit to add: Remembered it; the Negroni/Bijou/De la Louisiane formula: equal parts of a spirit, a wine, and a liqueur, bitters optional. Works best when the liqueur in question is not too sweet and/or is high in proof (or is a bitter aperitif in its own right, eg Campari). In my experience these often result in rich drinks that are beautiful showcases for the liqueurs in use. Of course they don't work every time (sorry, but the Old Pal tastes like a train wreck to me, and I love all those ingredients).

Made more real cocktails at work last night than I probably had since December. Towards the end of the night people were just telling me to make them whatever I wanted, and I recalled a concept that bostonapothecary had posted about and started playing with it, coming up with this: 2 oz Flor de Cana 4 year gold 1 oz (or a little less) M&R sweet vermouth barspoon Kahlua 2 dashes Angostura stir/strain/up/twist Pretty neat drink, actually. Complex and bizarre; we were picking up orangey and white chocolate-type flavors, and once the drink had warmed a bit and the lemon oil on the surface dissapated some, the thing smelled remarkably like cola. Weird, and quite tasty, enough to make it again.

The Tipperary from the Savoy (apparently via Hugo Ensslin) is as follows: How did Maraschino get subbed in for vermouth? Also, sounds overly sweet. ← At those proportions, I'd say the "variation" sounds considerably drier than the Tipperary. It's only a splash of Maraschino, after all, and 2:1 on the whiskey to Chartreuse... Christopher ← I guess I find the apparent sweetness of Maraschino to be far greater than that of Chartreuse, which to my palate adds richness faster than sweetness, if that makes any sense. Not necessarily related to actual sugar content I suppose, at least the way it's percieved. FWIW the original Tipperary also looks a bit over the top to me. I must confess to never having actually made it that way. -Andy

I worry about those kittens.... ← The kitten's will make it, I'm worried that the rum is going to burn off before I get to drink any.

Well, my brother is the CFO of a pharmaceutical company, and a Campari drinker. Now I just need to convince him that this is a good use of company resources. ← Sent my brother an email, and got a frantic call back (after he'd just checked his own bottle and been to the Bevmo down the street from his house to check their labels). Long story short - tomorrow I'm sending him a couple of mini bottles of the bug juice formula, and he said that he'd "put the boys in the lab on this." ← I'm glad Science is finally getting its priorities in order.

The Tipperary from the Savoy (apparently via Hugo Ensslin) is as follows: How did Maraschino get subbed in for vermouth? Also, sounds overly sweet.

I have all of that at home. Except my Chartreuse is green one, not yellow. Do you think it would work OK with the green? (the egg yolk is an interesting twist. I know that whites in sours is "common") ← Green is significantly more intense, so if you give it a try and don't like it, don't rule it, just grab some yellow and try again. Also, with the green you may want to reduce the chartreuse slightly. ← thanks for the tip. I am new to Chartreuse , and so far have only used it to make The Last Word (really, the reason I picked up a bottle). I was watching Alberta Straub's video podcast, and she had a drink that used Chartreuse with whiskey. Called the Tipperary. Could be a winner for St. Patrick's day. ← Tipperary is a pretty decent drink, donno how Ms. Straub makes them, but I like them as such: 2 oz Irish whiskey, 1 oz or a little less of red vermouth, stir and strain into glass rinsed with Chartreuse. I think this is from Joy of Mixology. Some older recipes call for equal parts. No.

I have all of that at home. Except my Chartreuse is green one, not yellow. Do you think it would work OK with the green? (the egg yolk is an interesting twist. I know that whites in sours is "common") ← Green is significantly more intense, so if you give it a try and don't like it, don't rule it, just grab some yellow and try again. Also, with the green you may want to reduce the chartreuse slightly.

Wow, Andy that's cool information. Thanks for writing it up. Ice or no ice for you in the French "75"? ← I used to do them in a flute, but after trying them the other way I realised I really like mine tall and strong, and so they need ice. I typically do something resembling 2 oz gin, juice of a lemon or a little less, scant tsp sugar or simple, shake and strain into glass 2/3 full of largeish ice cubes and top with whatever sparkler is on hand. Cava is the frugal (and tasty) choice. I can usually get 5-6 drinks from a bottle, making about 3 drinks each for you and a friend, and by the end you're both thoroughly pickled and having a fine old time. The French 75, being of military origin, should be used with utmost caution by civilians -Andy