tkd7

Bought Elijah Craig 12 today. I've developed a real taste for it and it mixes well in the right cocktail.

So have there been any Suze sightings yet in the States? I've read it's coming back.

I prefer a dryer version of this drink as well - 2 parts gin, 1 part chartreuse, 1 part vermouth. Give it a try with those proportions. I think you will enjoy it.

I just bought a bottle of this myself. I played around and made this variation of a Bijou 2 oz gin (Gale Force) 1 oz Punt e Mes 1 oz St. Germain 1 dash Peychaud's lemon peel Not bad for my first time playing with this cordial.

I recently received a bottle of Gale Force Gin as a gift. It comes from Nantucket RI. It is a classic London Dry Gin at 88 proof. It is light on juniper and botanicals. It makes a nice dry martini, but doesn't mix well in other gin cocktails. I haven't seen it in the NY/NJ area, so I'm guessing it isn't widely distributed.

I was already being pretty generous with both the whiskey portion and dash size; but, go ahead, sounds good to me. Adding the Wray & Nephew, you might need to call it Brain-Cell Eraser, or something... The Brain-storm is an example of a single serving, volume based recipe. Allowing that the "Wineglass" measure is indeed about 2 oz, this would, as written, be a very small cocktail. By the way, I do find some Brain-storm Cocktail recipes which call for Scotch instead of Irish. These usually use Italian Vermouth instead of French. In addition, in "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks", Embury makes this cocktail with Rye instead of Irish Whiskey. ← I may try the Scotch version. I love the Bobby Burns, so why not this. I don't have a bottle of Irish Whisky right now, this might be a reason.

The Brooklyn has become one of my favorite cocktails, although I do use a traditional rye like Sazerac or even my Van Winkle. I probably use slightly more Amer and Maraschino, but nonetheless, I like this as a nice foil to a Manhattan. I'll have to try to brighten it with a lemon peel next time.

I bought a bottle of this and I'm looking for ways that people have incorporated it into cocktails. I look for places where replacing orange bitters with lemon may be a nice twist. Wondering what others are doing.

I typically use Martini & Rossi sweet and dry vermouth for my cocktails. I will also try Punt e Mes in cocktails calling for red vermouth to experiment with the taste. Without locating and buying the different vermouths on the market, I was wondering what the different flavor profiles of the brands are and any personal recommendations. Thanks

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Rye, Jeff. The first time I had a proper Manhattan, it was an eye opener. Now, it's the only way I roll. ← The only thing that stinks is that you'll have a tough time ordering a Manhattan when you are out, since most bars haven't seen a bottle of rye in 50 years.

Thanks for the redirect. I'll have to give D & C a try on a weeknight.

Just curious if anyone has been there and has any observations. The top three Pegu Club bartenders left to work at Death & Co. I was at Pegu last night and it wasn't quite the same. Its hard as a customer to break in new bartenders.

Agreed. Most cocktails start somewhere around 3 parts spirit, one part sweet, one part sour (or bitter). Tweak it from there. Many new creations are unbalanced to the sweet side to match the taste of this generation. If 6 year old would like the cocktail, its probably not a drink I would like.

Thanks, Katie, for the strategy about air travel. I re-read my message and it sounded like I haven't tried Bluecoat. I have been lucky enough to try it, once. The not-so-widespread blue bottle got an honoroable mention in the gin tasting in our current issue. ← Cool. Not surprised it did so well in competition. I find it quite delicious and well balanced. I confess I'm not a lover of the juniper "piney-ness" in many gins, but love the citrus-forward flavor of the Bluecoat quite a bit. ← I bought my first bottle of Bluecoat and I really liked it. I was in Philadelphia last Saturday for much shorter than planned but I stopped into the liquor store on Chestnut and bought two bottles. I made a martini last night and it really stood apart from gins like Ten and Hendrick's. I'm not a big citrus gin fan but the Bluecoat still had enough dry hints to make for a tasty martini. I'm looking forward to mixing it in other cocktails.

Sample bottles? I want your job.