Tri2Cook

I use CamelBak Podium Ice bottles. I bought them for the 300 - 400 km a week I bike during the months when the ground's not covered with snow and ice but I use them whenever I need a way to transport water. My drinks stay cool longer in them than in any other bottle cage compatible bottle I've used.

Thanks for the suggestions. Macallan and Glenrothes are not local options but they are LCBO options if nothing local fits the bill. Highland Park 12 is a local option as well but I'm not sure if that's considered a Speyside or not. Still new to this stuff (just to state the obvious). Matt, I was leaning towards the Cragganmore before I decided to ask here so it sounds like a fine suggestion to me.

So I've begun adding a couple single malts to the cabinet. I now have an Islay and I'm looking into adding a Speyside as well. At my local LCBO store, Cragganmore 12, Dalwhinnie 15 and Glenfiddich 12 and 15 are available. There are most likely others available as well, they seem to have a semi-decent selection for a small town LCBO, I just remember seeing these during a recent visit. Anyway, if any of these are good choices it would be convenient since I can get it local but I'm open to digging deeper at the local store and even searching the LCBO in general if they're not good choices. I'd like something that is a good example of the region that definitely and obviously sets itself apart from the Islay. Edit: failed to mention for comparison purposes that the Islay I have at this time that I want to vary from with the Speyside is the Laphroaig Quarter Cask.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not going to say price is of no concern but it's of no concern to the friend. I'm paying for it, she's just the means of transportation.

Oh man. That was so funny we couldn't stop giggling about it. The idea was definitely the cross between the Widow's Kiss and the Harvey Wallbanger, but I don't think the Galliano was the only swap out. I'll have to look at both recipes side by side again and see if the same streak of inspiration strikes me again...But the name HAS to stay the same. That was the funniest part! The name is hilarious. I'm actually hoping you recall what you did just for that reason... well, that and the fact that it's been proclaimed a tasty drink.

A friend is supposed to be taking a trip to Cuba in the relatively near future. Keeping in mind that I can get Havana Club blanco, reserva, 7 year and barrel proof through the LCBO, is there anything I should ask her to bring back for me? She offered but I really don't know if there's anything worth adding to what I already have or can get.

I haven't seen that video but I'll check it out tonight after work. I read the grapefruit comparison on one of the many cocktail blogs I check regularly, I just don't remember which one. I have Aperol coming in in the next day or two so I'll definitely try your suggestion when it gets here.

I was pretty young in the 70's and can't really remember much particularly special. I have some good food memories from that time but not of anything directly related to the time period that I couldn't get now (other than mom's cooking ).

Still playing with the Campari. Did a Jasmine tonight. I'd read that the gin, cointreau, campari and lemon juice add up to something remarkably similar to grapefruit juice. I would somewhat agree but I got more of a grapefruit juice with a twist of grapefruit zest impression from it. I found the bitterness to be a bit above that of the average grapefruit juice. Could just be me though. Tasty drink regardless.

I'm going to chop a bowl of salsa and knock back a cocktail or three while I watch the game alone. I had to decline a couple of invitations to watch the game with friends and lots of good food to be able to enjoy some peace and quiet after a very busy week at work. It was a tough decision but the food didn't win this year.

So far I've been using it to keep dust from getting on the part of the shelf where it sits but I didn't buy it in the first place. It was in a little gift pack of bottles a well-meaning friend gave me when she found out I was putting together a home cocktail bar. Apparently the guy at the LCBO suggested it. I guess he wants that part of his shelf back.

Tonight's post involves a drink that didn't particularly hit the spot. It was a stupid mistake. I don't know where my head was. I was thinking about a Martini when I got home from work. Then I decided on a Perfect Martini. Then I thought no, I'll do a Fifty-Fifty instead. Somehow I got my wires crossed and wound up with a Perfect Fifty-Fifty in my glass. Half gin, half an equal split of sweet and dry vermouths. The result wasn't something I would put the word "perfect" in front of. I toyed with tossing in more gin and going with the traditional Perfect after all but I was already at 4 oz and 6 oz wasn't sounding tempting. Oh well, I still drank it.

Looking at my post from last night, working 14+ hour shifts for the past 14 days straight must be taking it's toll. That was a rambling post that concluded on a completely different idea than it started on. Anyway, I get it that everybody enjoys a different level of sweet. I think what I was getting at was that I've come across people that write a drink off based on the ingredient list or will only order Scotch neat or something like that in a public place even if they drink Cosmos at home when nobody is looking. I don't think that's a sugar ethic, I think that's another category entirely. I just have no idea why I brought it up in this thread.

This is an interesting discussion for me because I've been wondering about "sugar ethic" (though I didn't have an actual term for it before reading this) and cool factor. I frequently see, both in person and in online discussions, the words "there are too many sweet ingredients in that, I wouldn't like it". Being a novice at this and basing many of my ideas on food-related thinking, my first thought is always "don't knock it 'til you taste it". I assumed it was a "cool" thing to look down one's nose at anybody not drinking liquor neat or something very dry. I'm not saying there are not people, even large numbers of people, that have a preference for the low end of the sweet scale. I just find it interesting that some can instantly write something off simply by reading the ingredient list (and I'm not talking about some beginners crazy experiment, I'm talking about widely recognized drinks created by professionals). So basically, once you know your "sugar ethic" and your ingredients, creating something you will at least find drinkable becomes much easier... but don't be surprised if the person sitting next to you completely disagrees. Does that sound close to correct?

Thanks for the information everybody. The others mentioned are available through the LCBO but not through a store anywhere near where I live. Even the three I mentioned aren't available locally but are available at a store about 5 hours away where I'm having some things picked up by a friend next week. I can sometimes get things ordered in to the local store but they don't always love doing it so I try to save that for something really special (like when Luxardo Maraschino and an actual rye, Sazerac 6, made appearances in the recent past). Sounds like I'll probably grab the Lucano this time around since it's primary purpose will be for mixing and maybe add more down the road.

Nope. That was the suggestion Chris Amirault gave me as well and it's a good one but not an option where I live. As I told him, my home bar is far better stocked than any bar within at least 5 hours of where I live. It's better stocked as far as range of booze types go than the liquor stores in my area. I accomplished that through careful special ordering and people bringing me things from other areas when they visit. I live in a very small, remote town in Ontario, Canada, a true cocktail bar doesn't even exist for hours in any direction. I'm open to eventually getting them all, I just didn't want to get them all just to find out they were different labels on the same thing. You've answered that question for me.

As an Amaro novice, I'm faced with the decision of choosing Montenegro, Lucano or Nonino Quintessentia as the options available where I live. I don't know anything about them, their similarities, their differences or whether there's good reason to have more than one of them but would very much like to learn. The Nonino goes for about double the price of the other two through the LCBO but that's not an important consideration. I don't mind spending more, I just mind spending more for no good reason. Anyway, please educate me.

Can't help you with different. Lime or lemon work for me, I've never tried anything else in a G&T. I'm not trying to hide anything though, I like gin sans garnish or tonic.

If you're at a Waffle House, they just walk to one of the order marks on the floor on each side of the cook and call it out.

I prefer plain white most of the time but I also have some plain black that work well in some cases.

Famous Grouse is my standard mixer and the only Scotch currently in my cabinet (though I intend to add a single malt or two in the near future just for fun). I spent some time with it last night after reading your comment. I think I understand a bit more now what briny may mean in this context. It's not going to be a forward splash of the ocean or anything like that. I was intrigued with the idea of tasting the sea in the spirit but I'm guessing now that briny in the Scotch world refers to something other than the image I had in my head or that it's a subtle thing that the more experienced find among everything else that's going on. Anyway, I appreciate the information everybody has contributed. I'm trying to do a lot of catching up in a relatively short amount of time so questions are constantly popping into my head.

Chitlins. Tasted every bit as bad as they smelled cooking. Maybe it was just the way the person prepared them but I seriously doubt they'll ever get another chance to prove themselves to me.

I enjoyed it. I don't think I immediately enjoyed it because I had to do a mental reset of my perception of bitter. It took some tasting and thinking to dig the complexity from beneath the bitterness but once I got it, it was there to stay. I began to understand what was going on and I enjoyed the drink very much from that point on. Chris: That was a nice read, thanks for bringing it to my attention. Just for the record, I did equal parts Beefeater, Campari and M&R Sweet Vermouth (the only one available where I live).

Still exploring what's old-hat for most here. Tonight I went with a Negroni.

Somehow missed this. Thanks for the heads-up but I'm almost as far from Quebec as it's possible to get without leaving Ontario. I could probably walk to Manitoba faster than I could drive to Quebec.