haresfur

I'd have to agree with you although I like other styles, too. Makes a great French 75 variation. I need a trip to Harcourt soon. Here in the country, blokes still get a bit of a sideways look ordering a cider at the bar. Invariably Bulmer's. Still it's better than Victoria Bitter.

Happy Australia Day! Celebrating with a Knickerbocker: 1 1/2 oz Inner Circle Green 1 1/2 tsp Cascade raspberry cordial 2 tsp Cointreau (don't have any curacao) juice of 1/2 lime Shaken with the lime peel and strained over fresh ice I think I'd cut back even more on the cordial next time.

Thanks for the tour of the CBD. Several times I've found myself there with no idea where to eat.

1 1/2 oz Beefeater gin 1 1/2 oz Amontillado sherry (Australian) 1/4 oz black currant cordial I like this. It seemed to me that the sherry had a bit of acidity that needed some sweet to round it out and the gin adds some herbal elements as well as some punch. I tried adding some Scrappy's orange bitters but that took things in the wrong direction. Still some more layers might be nice. Can't figure out what, though. Hops? Cardamom?

Great blog, Chris. I'm going to have to refer back often. It's really great to hear what's out in the suburbs. So many choices!

The term confuses me, too. I think they are more similar to Rose's so I would think pretty much synonymous (sp?) with syrup. Although barley cordial seems like it would have more in common with Orgeat (I haven't tried it). Part of my interest is from wondering what the alcohol component of Cassis brings to the table. I like the idea of using locally available items in my drinks from a philosophic and cost perspective. The Cassis choices here are a mass market line of various flavours (kind of like a Bols knockoff) or quite expensive import. In any case, without a detailed comparison it seemed to me that the cordial made a decent drink, although you probably wouldn't see any reason to sweeten up your wine. I think rum is a good bet. Maybe something like a knickerbocker. I haven't seen agricole here.

I'm fascinated by the variety of cordials available in the grocery stores here. So what do people do with lemon-barley cordial and all the others? So far I've used raspberry and black currant in mixed drinks, but are there others I should try? Insights from other parts of the world are welcome, too, of course.

Nir White wine with a splash of black currant cordial.

I won't get into the legalities, and I certainly wouldn't hesitate on using oven cleaner at home if I had to. Lye (sodium hydroxide) and other strong base/caustic/high pH chemicals are IMO more dangerous than acids and particularly dangerous to eyes. Not something to joke around with but safe enough if used properly. You are right to ask questions. When I was using sodium hydroxide in large quantities in an industrial setting the emphasis was on eye and skin protection. On a side note, sodium hydroxide dissolves aluminium.

Well done. How about a sequel on the shit said by the people pouring the tastes?

Too many, but number 1 is Batavia Arrack. And it's made practically next door...

Mangos? Not Victoria.

We could start with eating more seal - Seals blamed for lack of cod recovery. I'm not big on eating game. I very occasionally cook kangaroo but really only have access to the prepacked supermarket brand, which may be why I haven't been too impressed. My partner doesn't really like meat at all, so we mostly stick to chicken and a little red meat. I have no problem with people being vegetarian or vegan - personally I find it too hard work to cook healthy tasty vegetarian food but I'm happy when I do. I generally don't have a problem with people eating game if it is sustainably managed. I have moral objections to eating certain species, though.

I'd like to see the evidence that this is what's really happening and is the major effect, rather than a dual solvent extraction. Especially since the above article shows a difference with different infusion time but no difference with slow vs fast relief of pressure. What's the solubility of CO2 in alcohol?

There's your trouble!

I thought that for a Bacardi cocktail you substituted grenadine for all the simple, that's what I'd do. ...of course I'd substitute Cuban rum for the Bacardi.

Aren't we talking about N2O, not nitrogen? I would guess it's ability to enhance extraction of flavour compounds has more to do with the pressure allowing diffusion in and out of the material and its resonance structure giving favourable polar/non-polar attributes to transfer the compounds to the alcohol/water phase.

Not a Cruzan Blackstrap fan, but Barbancourt 5* is still one of my favourite sips.

Sounds good! I'd try right away if I hadn't just started sipping a Sazarac.

Not the best picture, but note the text at the top of the lid:

KISS. Campari, tonic water, a sliver of lemon.

I'd guess that means the wine is so overboard/dominated by tannins that you might get equal enjoyment if it had been filtered through dirty athletic socks.

Mr. Negroni is agunnah beeah sooooo maddah. Campari sure loves Pineapple. Have you tried The Riviera? (I mess with it, swapping the ratios of Campari (more) and Maraschino (less), and skip the simple and egg white (just add lemon juice)). For some reason, the gin/Campari/Maraschino/Pineapple infusion works better than just mixing with pineapple juice. I love this drink. I'll have to try that. Today's version had a float of Inner Circle Green and a few dashes Fee's Orange bitters. Not bad.

2 oz Campari 2 oz sweet vermouth build over ice top with pineapple juice to taste contemplate the swirling red and yellow colours then drink.

Docklands Costco 2 weeks before Christmas isn't to be recommended but I braved the crowds. Mostly bought North American supplies like maple syrup, pumpkin pie, salsa, craisins. I bought some Yarra Valley goat cheese for the partner. I'm not much for goat cheese but I think this is pretty nice and goes well with the pumpkin ravioli I picked up.