haresfur

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.

My initial impression was the 28 was nicer but the 33 grew on me. Maybe a little more going on with the flavour. Thanks to Chris for a great evening. I'm a whisky novice compared to him. The Calvados was very nice, too. Maybe Chris remembers what it was. I clearly lean toward the Speysides. Don't quite get the attraction of Islays yet, although they went well with the ribs. Sort of like cultivating a taste for smoke-tainted wine. ETA: Calvados

I was brought up with fi-lay (steak) and fillet (fish or verb). But mostly I think many people take this stuff way too seriously - not that it's bad to know how words are pronounced in their county of origin.

I'm envious of your Ramazzotti!

Gets my vote, too. Use an espresso roast to get something resembling a flat black.

Did they add crushed ice to the rose or did they partially freeze it?

I just made my first risotto (thanks for the help eG!) and I think it was as good or better than any I have had in restaurants. I found the traditional method gave me control over the result. I used a large skillet (ok maybe that's not traditional) and a flat edged wood spatula so it was easy to mix. Adding the broth as I went along meant that I knew how fast it was getting absorbed as I got to the critical end point where you want to have the right thickness when the rice is just cooked. I started tasting at 15 min and stopped when I liked what I had. I can see how parboiling the rice could work but advance preparation wasn't an issue for me. Maybe I could have saved some stirring up front but I can see how there might be temptation to beat the crap out of the rice at the end to get the creaminess. A pressure cooker might work fine, but it seems to me that there would be some work to get the timing and the water content just right for a given type of rice and recipe. Overall, I think the attraction to the traditional risotto is that it is easy. Heck you don't even have to measure the broth. I have trouble seeing a lot of saving in time and effort in the other methods for the home cook doing a single batch. What's 15 minutes in the grand scheme of things? Maybe a better cook could use that wisely to get another dish out but I would probably only be able to do a little cleaning or get the table set.

Not a sazarac- 1.5 oz Old Crow bourbon, 0.5 oz limoncello, 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters. Rinse of absinthe in a glass; build over ice. A bit heavy on the absinthe but that helps cover the weird aftertaste I've found in the Old Crow when used in cocktails. Overall a successful way to use bottom shelf bourbon and I imagine similar to the inspiration for many cocktails.

I confess to using amaretto in tiki-ish drinks as a lazy way of going. Generally shooting from the hip on everything else, though - a bit of rum(s), a bit of fruit juice, a bit of lime, adjust to taste. Only you can decide if it would be up to your standards and suit your philosophy. I don't think I can get Luxardo here.

Could you tell us a little about your work environment? Does the wonderful looking street food influence (flavour?) the other dining options?

My first Ward 8. Rittenhouse rye, blood orange, and new home made grenadine. I think the lemon is too dominant. I'd dial it way back. It's always a bit of a dilema whether to use the precious hard to replace Rittenhouse on a new drink or to go with the easier to replace (but more expensive if you don't count the airfare) Wild Turkey rye. But blood orange season is short here and I wanted to give this one my best shot. Imperfect as always in politics but I'd vote for this one.

Interesting. I thought I read somewhere that Cascade gin was infused spirits and not redistilled afterwards. Anyone know if that is the case? I guess if it works, cool.

Well I hope they at least have some gin!

Whew! I thought it was a red cabbage

I've heard that pee isn't the only bodily fluid to be affected.

These are the ones I have. Need to get more if I see them again.

Seems you are fast moving out of the beginner category. A couple of thoughts. You may want to explore sours more. A challenge with them IMO is to figure out the sweet/sour/booze balance that works for you. And of course that depends on your citrus so recipes are only a guide. Maybe try to perfect your margarita and sidecar. The next challenge with them is how to adjust for other people's tastes (usually add sweet). You seem to like boozy drinks but highballs might be worth checking out, too.

Great read, Scoop. Could you describe the different uniforms worn by various people in the kitchen hierarchy for us outsiders? Are they pretty much universal or vary from place to place? Maybe I'll take up cook-spotting.