thirtyoneknots

For what it's worth, I've been using 190 proof grain alcohol in my limoncello for some time with good effect. I add sugar and water to reduce the proof to about 60. With all that, plus the fact that these liqueurs are served at freezer temperatures, it works just fine. I have very limited experience with commercial limoncello, but friends who have tried it say its better than the store brands (of course they could just be fishing for another bottle). The one thing I did notice a slight difference in was using Everclear brand vs generic (Mohawk on the first try) grain alcohol. The Everclear did seem to make a somewhat smoother end product. -Andy Edit to add: Have you considered other bases? Peaches in brandy or melons in gin sounds good to me.

Correct, the alcohol is added to preserve the syrup at room temperature. Here in the states Pomegranate juice is sold in regular grocers, marketed more or less as a health food. -Andy

So I have no reason to be awake before about nine or ten tomorrow and so am having a bit of ongoing Mardi Gras revelry. The wonderful weather we're enjoying this week means the following drinks were/are mostly being enjoyed outside on the porch. First up, for Mardi Gras, a Vieux Carre: 1 oz Cognac (Martell VS) 1 oz Rye (Wild Turkey) 1 oz Vermouth (Cinzano) 1 tsp Benedictine 2-3 dashes each of Peychauds and Angostura Build on rocks, garnish with twist. Then, to celebrate the weather, a Gin Fizz: 2 oz Gin (Bombay Dry) 1/2 oz Lemon juice 1 tsp simple syrup (2:1) Shake and strain into chilled tall thin glass and top with soda. And now, to try something new and bizarre, a Dubonnet Cooler: 1.5 oz Lemon Syrup (Monin) 3 oz Dubonnet Rouge Pour into tall thin glass with ice and top with soda. Now that last one is a bit odd but something compelled me to try it (and purchase lemon syrup in the meantime, despite having pretty good homemade limoncello around). Now this is not something that I necessarily am going to be having every day, or even every week, but suffice to say that he nearly empty bottle of Dubonnet that I was considering 86'ing will now be replaced. The resulting drink is delicious, refreshing, and somehow not quite so sweet as it sounds. Definitely a good one to have in the file. If Mr. Wondrich sees this, I'd be interested in any history he may be able to offer on this. -Andy PS: Hurricanes and Sazeracs yet to come :-P

Pomegranate and OFW are both part of Middle Eastern cuisine, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch to combine them. The vanilla just adds a bit of je nais se quois.

Do you have a recipe for home made grenadine that you can share with us? I've been using some French Grenadine Syrup made by Teisseire which I don't find to be as sweet as some of the others I've tried. ← To avoid getting off-topic I've posted my recipe here. -Andy

In response to a query on the Stomping through the Savoy topic, here is my recipe (adapted from others): Grenadine makes 3 quarts 2 quart jug of pomegranate juice - I use the grocery store brand 8 cups sugar 1/2 cup vodka OR 1.5-2 oz grain alcohol (Everclear) 1.5 oz Orange Flower Water .5 oz Vanilla Extract Heat pomegranate juice over low heat and add sugar. Stir to dissolve and remove from heat. As it cools, add the vodka or everclear, orange flower water, and vanilla. Bottle and store. Should be shelf stable indefinitely. Contains approximately the same amount of sugar as a 2:1 simple syrup, though this would presumably depend on the brand of juice you were using. The vanilla and ofw make a world of difference in the complexity of this grenadine. The ofw should give it a wonderful floral quality while the vanilla lingers in the background, it should be barely noticeable. This recipe makes quite a bit, but you can certainly scale it down if you wish. -Andy

Homemade grenadine is an improvement over Rose's that cannot be overstated, and the cost is about the same in the end. I would recommend retrying it with some homebrew. -Andy

While in Houston this weekend I picked up a bottle of Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser (along with other fun stuff like Apry) and set out making two of the drinks from Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails that use it: The Rose (also on the Esquire site) and the Blackthorn: Rose 2 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat) 1 oz Kirsch 1 tsp Raspberry Syrup (1883 de Philbert Routin) Stir/strain/up What a delightful aperitif, mellow, nutty, and slightly sweet. Definitely one to have again. Blackthorn: 2 oz gin (Plymouth) 3/4 oz Kirsch 3/4 oz Dubonnet stir/strain/up; garnish with twist I liked this one, too, but not nearly as much. I think I might like it more if I was just in a different mood. I'd probably try it with another gin next time, too. Also, this Kirsch is pretty decent stuff, I'm going to taste it neat soon, but I was hoping someone could give me a bit of guidance on what the traditional/preferred method for drinking Kirsch is. Thanks in advance. -Andy

No Cointreau?

Had myself an Old Fashioned with Wild Turkey Bourbon (101) tonight. It was nice, but after not having had a Bourbon Old-Fashioned in a while, I now remember why I prefer Rye. And while this would probably fit more under wine, the real treat this evening was a glass of Yulumba Antique Tawny [Port] I enjoyed at my place of employ (went in on my night off). Lots of raisins and maple, absolutely wonderful. -Andy

Re: Bacardi and good replacements. To replace Bacardi, color for color, I'm infatuated with Flor De Cana. Smooth and flavorful, aged and filtered it is truly wonderful. I haven't gotten into their higher-end stuff but I can personally vouch for the white and gold, both aged 4 years. The best part about them is that they are almost always (a little) cheaper than Bacardi. Insert pointed observation on liquor marketing here. -Andy

I keep refilling my old ones -- Victory or Death :-P

Doc indicates in several places that he takes "dry cherry brandy" to mean kirsch.

Trust me, it's the Vya. I had the same experience the first time I made it. Give it another spin with Noilly Prat. One of the things that cemented my decision to never buy Vya Dry again. -Andy

Thyme and red vermouth tastes good in my head. Of course, I get called crazy regularly :-P

Ok so I got off at 12:30 and gave my MxMo entry it's actual taste test while watching the final three episodes of Arrested Development with my roommate and eating smoked sausage (yum). Hence my excuse for the very late posting, but it's still Monday somewhere on the globe. I drink a fair amount of Whiskey, mostly rye, since it is more fun to mix with, although I have a deep and sincere love for Irish whiskey that for some reason rarely manifests itself. Canadian is meh, ok, but rarely called for in cocktails, and Scotch is something I find myself with only an occasional taste for, despite my very first "real" cocktail being a Rob Roy. My favorite drink of all-time is definitely a Manhattan (rye, of course), and liberal quantities of Old Fashioneds (roommate's fave) and Sazeracs are consumed around the house as well. But with all this whiskey flowing I still wanted to try something new for MxMo, as a chance to broaden my own horizons while having them broadened by everyone else's entries as well. A search through my books and favorite online resources and I settled on the Suburban from Mr. Dave Wondrich's Esquire Drinks (though that book alone made picking one difficult). 1.5 oz Rye (Sazerac 6) .5 oz Jamaican Rum (Appleton Extra) .5 oz Ruby Port (Dow's) dash Angostura dash Orange bitters (Bitter Truth) I made the recipe 50% larger to split between 2 small glasses, worked well. Interesting drink, I must admit. I didn't really expect the rum's flavor to shine through that way. The flavor was not quite what I was expecting, but on the whole rather pleasant. As I made it here not quite good enough to enter the regular rotation, but it definitely shows promise. I think next time I try it (soon, or it won't be winter here anymore) I'll go with either A: a stronger flavored whiskey, like Wild Turkey, B: a less assertive rum, like Bacardi 8 (new addition, eager to try it out) or Appleton V/X, or C: both. I think the rum definitely is meant to be much more of a background accent. Here I kept finding myself thinking "Hmm, everything about this is like a nice deep rich whiskey drink, except for the persistent aftertaste of rum--how odd." Definitely one worth trying and if I get around to fine-tuning the brand choices I'll be sure to post it somewheres around here. -Andy Edit: Because the theme was not "Whikey"

Esquire Drinks writeup on the Metropole. Hopefully I can get something in here by tomorrow, though it may have to be by midnight Alaska time :-/

De La Louisiane, Metropole, Vieux Carre, and Widow's Kiss are definitely worth having on the radar, the 1st and 3rd listed are definitely on my short list of favorites (obvious weakness for rye and Benedictine). -Andy

I think Classic is such a subjective idea. You might read a book or see a car that came out two months ago and consider it a classic. Or it might be The Old Man and the Sea or a '69 Corvette. I have read many books considered classics and not cared much for them, though I have probably enjoyed the majority of them very much. I think drinks are the same. If it's old and you like it a LOT, then it's a classic for you. If it's new, but reminds you of an old drink, and you like it a lot, then hey thats a classic for you. For me, in the subjective sense, Margaritas are not classic, because I don't care for Tequila. But in any objective sense, it's definitely a classic, and probably the only drink being ordered by all generations where you can actually taste the liquor. Of your list, I enjoy the following (thus making them classics in my eyes): De La Louisiane Dr. Blinker. -- Perhaps this is the same as the Blinker? East India Cocktail Liberal Metropole Rose Straits Sling Vieux Carré Widow's Kiss The others I have either never heard of, have yet to try, or--didn't care for. -Andy Edit: Punctuation

I've yet to try Punt e Mes but it's high on my to-get list. Personally I don't typically care much for orange bitters in my Manhattans, though I very occasionally use them in Bourbon Old Fashioneds. To me, Angostura is everything I could want in my Manhattan, with two caveats: 1) The bottle of Abbott's has yet to be cracked, and 2) I sometimes add a dash of Fee's in addition to the Ango when I'm feeling frisky. 2b) Still planning on a further exploration of The Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters. -Andy

That's exactly where I'd begin. Sample recipe: 1.5 oz Wild Turkey 101 proof Rye (for both its excellence and ubiquity) .75 oz Italian (red) Vermouth (Martini & Rossi is acceptable, or your favorite) 1-2 dashes Angostura bitters Stir and strain into chilled cocktail glass, garnish with fat twist of lemon peel. You really haven't had a Manhattan til you've had one with Rye.

Yeah, unfortunately, unless you live in places like London or New York, Vodka is still the new vodka. We go through at least a bottle of vodka per bottle of anything else behind the bar (excepting beer and wine, or course). Although in just 3-4 weeks the solitary bottle of Wild Turkey Rye that I petitioned for is almost half gone, which I find encouraging. -Andy

But was it as good as advertised?

Unfortunately, the flavor of Bacardi still needs disguising at least as much today as it ever did :-\

It does seem, at the very least, to demonstrate a lack of understanding of what these original cocktails were. To me, the thing that makes it completely un-sazerac-like, though, is the lemon juice.