haresfur

Gage Roads Wahoo Kolsch. It's decent although the beer web sites seem to give poor reviews. Certainly better than your average Australian lager if you are after a lightish beer.

You do make me feel better about the cost of drinking here. But I'm sure your mai tai still costs much less than making them with our highly taxed liquor.

I like Senica Drums Not too much juniper IMO

Colour has some complicating factors like oxidation (that's why they pack some meat under nitrogen, IIR). Within the same muscle I think it might also be related to how fast the blood drained, how fast it cooled (interior or near surface of the carcass) or how close to the surface or how much tension during hanging. Some of those may be related to the flavour but some may not be. I'd just use some caution on assuming colour = flavour.

Mainly M&R and Cinzano. I don't think my Dan Murphy's has Punt e Mes anymore and I've never seen Dolin. I can get Nolly Prat but it is about twice as expensive and I wasn't impressed when I was first getting into cocktails. Since I can only get large bottles and am reluctant to buy a bottle to have it go bad, I figured I will hold on revisiting dry vermouth drinks for trips to bars. I didn't think Dubonnet was considered vermouth. I used to drink it on the rocks as a kid (ok, my parents used to drink it on the rocks and I sampled).

I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like vermouth much - at least the ones I've tried. So I made a Negroni substituting Dubonnet and was happier. It is sweeter so you may want to dial back but what I found interesting was a spicy note and the Gin coming forward more. No picture - it looks like a Negroni.

I suppose I'm one of the few around here who likes the flavour of tender meat cuts. I think it brings out more subtle aspects of the taste not as being bland.

My suggestion is not to worry about the amounts when you are mixing sours - go by flavour. You can adjust and keep track of the amount to find what you like, but even then, your citrus will vary and could need adjustment. I aim to be compulsive about taste, not round numbers.

It may need more chips, but I don't (and I would eat them if they were there. There were a few more before I took the picture).

Flathead and chips at a Greek cafe in Hastings, Victoria. The best batter I've had here. Lovely.

F the rum, just add molasses to cheap vodka and you are about there. From the above, you can probably figure out I avoid Cruzan Blackstrap like the black death. I usually use Captain Morgan Dark for my darkest rum, if only to remember my youth. I really don't think it is bad at all but I suppose I'll try Coruba sometime.

This is so deserving of a name: 1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin (Traders) 1 tsp Nocino (Miho's homemade) several dashes Chris Taylor' Suburban Asian Bitters Medicinal, complex, bitter, boozy.

As Chris said, I think pretty much anything goes. I wouldn't be surprised if some places use short-cut bacon.

I like small bits of salty ham flavour-bombs to accent the chicken, not to overwhelm it rather than massive amounts of ham. Bonus points for a bit of crunch in the meat to compliment the crunch in the breading. But I'm an FOB immigrant so don't take my word as gospel. Getting the right amount of sauce is the next thing I'll work on, but I'm not sure it is possible to have too much cheese. The cheese needs to be melted and browning a bit IMO.

The results from Parmageddon are in. 2 overseas guests who had never had a parma before. My cousin was skeptical about red sauce ruining the crispy crust so it was a perfect chance to try ChrisZ' method of putting the ham under the sauce. So we did variations 1) SV at 58.5 C with sage in the bag and Serrano under the sauce 2) same but no SV 3) SV with slices of Serrano on top of the sauce and cheese - kind of curled up so it would crisp some 4) same but no SV and no sage. Cheese was a mix of Jarlesberg and Colby (no parmisan because I got lazy) One of the SV had oil in the bag and the other did not but I think it didn't make too much difference. All were good but the unanimous result was that we preferred the Sous Vide with the Serrano on top of the cheese. The Serrano was really better than the prosciutto I used previously IMO. Lovely stuff. Although the sauce does seep into the breading some, the underneath side remains crispy. The SV variation is moist and that contrasts with the breadding (Also easier to cook IMO, especially doing multiples since you can just whack it on highest heat until crisp rather than figuring out when the meat is cooked). Your taste may vary. I think I'm very close to what I'm after. I need to figure out the best type of bread and texture for the crumbs - I think this was too coarse but I liked the seedy whole meal. The crumbs were very dry and that helped them stick. I also need to work on fried sage for garnish I think microwave is going to work if I can get the right amount of oil on the leaves. ETA: Oh judging from the pictures I have used Serrano previously. Maybe this was just a better variety. Whatever, I liked it.

This is good news for the land of overpriced spirits where anything not brought in by the majors is even more overpriced. Maybe Dan Murphy will start stocking Wray & Nephew.

Sure, a haresfur-related drink that contains mostly ingredients that I can't get my hands on. I could probably handle 1/4 oz of Cruzan Blackstrap though (not very fond of it in general and at that rate a bottle would last as long as my absinthe.

I was looking for a recipe for siphon batter and came across this thread and several pages from ISI. On one they compare using CO2 and N2O cartridges and came to the conclusion that CO2 was marginally lighter. p.s. my fusion Hungarian sweet capsicum peppers stuffed with herb-oil marinated feta and beer-batter deep fried rellenos turned out pretty well except I had trouble getting the batter to stick to them and to the prawns I was doing.

An interesting experiment tonight. I'm not quite sure what to think. Not without it's charms, though. Splash and dash so measurements are approximate. 1.5 oz Bianco tequila 2 tsp pimento dram That gave an strong sense of something like maybe gym socks or maybe a dead squirrel dropped down an outhouse as I brought the glass to my lips. But I persevered and the taste wasn't as bad. I added 2 tsp Benedictine. Much better on the taste and aroma but still with a certain je ne sais quois. I have a feeling it is something that either those who enjoy challenging flavours could grow to love or maybe it will be like hitting your head against the wall. With an ice cube it evolved into something much mellower by the bottom of the glass. Maybe I'll have another. ETA: my pimento dram has a fair bit of Inner Circle so it is pretty funky.

I sent the link to Andrea but there is probably still time to sneak in a drink or two.

Looks pretty exhaustive already. Missing silver tequila and mezcal maybe. What is your typical formula for Ti Punch? I suppose pisco should go on the list, too (but would you dare order a pi' punch?-). My typical formula is to free pour a small puddle of syrup in the bottom of the glass, drop in a single ice cube, pour the spirit, lightly squeeze the citrus over and drop in. Stir with a finger. If it's too sweet add more booze. Great suggestion. The only Genever I have access to is Bols old. Maybe a trip to Europe is in order.

You can add a bit of xanthan gum to your simple to improve the mouth feel.

Keeping on the lightly citrus theme, I thought this would be a good place to compile the Ti' Punch variations I've been playing with. Roughly in order from great to vile: Qui' Punch - anejo tequila, agave syrup, lime 'sky Punch - Single malt scotch, honey syrup, lemon. Works surprisingly well with both Aberlour A'bunadh (I suppose that could be A' Punch) and Dalwhinnie Gi' Punch - gin, cane syrup (or simple), lime really nice with Finger Lakes Distilling Seneca Drums gin Ri' Punch - Rittenhouse rye, cane syrup, lime'dy punch - brandy, simple, lemon Miquelon Punch - cognac, sugar, lemon - not as good as a rougher brandy Whi' Punch - Canadian whiskey or bourbon, some sort of sweet, lemon or lime. Not too badV' Punch - Zumbrowka vodka, cane syrup, lime - astoundingly bad A couple from others: Wee Paunch - Irish whisky, barley malt syrup, lemon from Rafa Arr Punch - Batavia Arrack from Chris Taylor Yet to be tried: Ge' Punch - Genever Did I miss anything?

Nice PV. Vanilla and citric aren't things I normally think of together but I can see it. This topic gave me a chance to play around with an idea, too. And it's probably still a work in progress. I have been working on "not very sour" sours for a bit. Basically cut the sour and let it be balanced by the alcohol, not sweet. So think tiny wedges of lemon in stuff or Ti Punch variations (ok some sugar it ti' punch but not as whacked out sour/sweet as many sours). On a whim I bought some verjuice (or verjus if you want to go all francophone). Verjuice has become established as an 'in' ingredient in Australia since Maggie Beer started producing it commercially. Basically you squeeze what juice you can out of green grapes (or in the past green apples were used sometimes). Supposedly makes for a better sour to go with wine than citrus. Apparently it is a way to use the thinnings, too. It is less sour than lemon and really quite like green apple. Don't worry, I resisted the temptation to try to make some sort of apple pucker vodka. I though, that something grape based was appropriate so: Life cycle 1 1/2 oz Cognac 2 tsp Verjuice Build over ice (optional) Garnish CO2 infused grapes Verdict? Not bad but I'm not sure it's any better than using a tiny citrus wedge. Next time I may try using cheap brandy that has a bit more personality.

So has anyone tried white pepper ice cream? If I make it, will it ruin the Cibo Matto song for me?