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TVC

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Everything posted by TVC

  1. Missed Thomas Waugh from Alembic (in San Francisco) at Death & Co. this week but I did catch this article in the recent Food & Wine (http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/new-must-try-cocktails). I'd be quick to agree with the overall point of the piece that New Yorker bartenders of note are classicists who emphasize technique while Californian cocktailians are more inspired by trips to the farmer's market. However, I would posit that NYC cocktail bars are extremely imaginative in incorporating non-spiritous ingredients into the drinks but in the straight-up, classic cocktail form. In regard to this, I haven't been to the West Coast in a while would anyone on this forum say this is generally true from first hand experience?
  2. More on the acidity of the meyer lemon. It is just a summary of a larger food science article. <http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1965.tb00266.x>. Mean total ascorbic acid, with standard deviation, in 82 samples of Meyer lemon grown in California was 34.7 ± 15.6 mg per 100 ml juice and 54.9 ± 20.3 mg per 100 g peel. The difference in ascorbic acid content between juice and pulp was not significant. The concentration of ascorbic acid in the juice decreased with maturity of the fruit. Ascorbic acid content of the juice, although somewhat lower than in oranges and commercial lemons, compares well with that of other citrus fruit, such as grapefruit, limes, and tangerines. Reducing sugars, as glucose, in the juice averaged 4.6 g per 100 ml; free acidity as citric acid, 3.5 g; pH, 2.65; sucrose, 0. The concentration of reducing sugars increased and that of free acidity decreased as the fruit matured.
  3. I've found meyer lemon to be tart and acidic enough. You may want to tone down the grenadine in the usual Jack Rose recipe, though a half ounce seems to balance it out nicely in my experience. I had a friend bring in some Amargo bitters from Peru this week and decided to make Pisco Sours last night. I didn't have meyer lemons on me but I wonder how they'd turn out in a Pisco Sour. My Peruvian friend told me to use lime instead of the usual lemon in American recipes for the drink, as limon means lime in Spanish and actually limes in Peru are a bit sweeter than the ones we're used to.
  4. Ha. I overheard at Death & Co. once that in New York, we like our cocktails "brown and stirred".
  5. In a Jack Rose...tasty. 1.5 Applejack 1 meyer lemon .5 homemade grenadine (100% pomegranate, reduced half - add equal amount sugar - splash of orange blossom) shake, strain I also remember playing around with a sort of tequila aviation this time last year to some success. 2 oz reposado 1 oz meyer .25 maraschino .25 agave several dashes of bitters (Bittermen's Chocolate, I think I used)
  6. The issue of Hercules being a form of Quinquina may have been addressed before but what if you added a pinch (1/16 tsp) of quinine powder to the Dubonnet?
  7. I've been experimenting with celery bitters based on nothing but my own assumptions of how they may have been made. I first read about them in Tom Bullock's "Pre-Prohibition Cocktails". I heard Ted Haigh has an original bottle. I tried a batch with celeriac with poor results. I now have a batch with celery seed instead. I'll post the results next week.
  8. Anyone ever flip through this... The Gun Club Drink Book: Being a More Or Less Discursive Account of Alcoholic Beverages, Their Formulae and Uses, Together With Some Observations on the Mixing of Drinks http://www.archersbooks.com/bookdetails.as...ok=BOOKS004646I
  9. TVC

    Jack Rose

    Growing up in the pine barrens in NJ, applejack was a staple. I recall the old timers coming in from duck hunting or clamming and having homemade apple cider with a generous pour of applejack. Last night I served up some Jack Roses with meyer lemon. It worked nicely, although the meyer not actually being that tart may make this another creature all together. 2 Applejack 1 meyer lemon .25 homemade grenadine (100% pomegranate reduced 50%, add equal sugar in end, a splash orange blossom)
  10. TVC

    Mezcal

    Here's one I've been working on. It's stiff but nicely balanced. Maybe a dash of agave? 2 oz chamomile/ceylon cinnamon infused Herradura* .5 mezcal (Del Maguey Chichicapa) 3 healthy dashes Bittermen's chocolate bitters dash maraschino stir and strain flamed orange twist * 1/2 cup of chamomile flowers. Sit for several hours. Strain and remove chamomile. Add handful of ceylon cinnamon bark and let sit 4-6 days, agitating daily. Filter.
  11. The first place that comes to mind is LeNell's in Red Hook. <http://www.lenells.com/> You can call to see what amari they currently have in stock. They also do special orders. Ian is especially helpful. He's there most days.
  12. Playing with gum syrup recipe from Imbibe. Somehow the Chartreuse and absinthe work well in the background. The gum syrup does add a pronounced silky texture. Named after Bushwick's soul label, Daptone Records. The Daptone 2 oz rye .5 gum syrup 1 tsp yellow chartreuse 2 dashes Bitter Truth aromatic bitters absinthe rinse lemon twist garnish shake hard with cracked 1" cubes
  13. Hotel Delmano is a gorgeous space and the bartender there made me a lovely old fashioned with Hess' bitters. Brooklyn cocktailians shouldn't forget about Huckleberry. They have a solid classic cocktail menu and creative seasonal cocktail selections. I'm afraid I cannot resist a bit of self-promotion either but I think I should put this on the Brooklyn cocktail radar. I've been working for 2 years to get the old Chickenbone reopen. We hope to launch by early March. Our rather obsessive focus is on cocktails but to venture slightly away from hallowed ground like Death & Co,PDT, etc, we are referencing more of a 19th century and apothecary like vibe in terms of design and atmosphere. In terms of drinks? I can only hope to come close as they set the bar pretty high. I do have six housemade bitters ready and am testing those and other tinctures until the menu is finalized. The Kold Draft is still two weeks away from being installed but hope to do some soft openings/tastings once that is figured out.
  14. I find that the Cerbois is great in a Sazerac. If you try it, try it with this variation...Scraping a vanilla bean onto a teaspoon of demara sugar, dousing the mixture (on the spoon) with absinthe and igniting it until the sugar melts. Kinda like cooking smack (I imagine). Dump the melted sugar/vanilla bean into your mixing glass with ice, armagnac, Peychauds. Stir and strain as usual. Edge glass with vanilla bean pod and lemon twist. It's a fun presentation mostly but the vanilla really works with the armagnac. Just use a spoon you don't mind charring.
  15. If you're in or around NYC, I found a place on the Bowery going out of business. I bought three dozen of old champagne saucer stemware. They only had the 3oz size.They claimed they were in the basement for 50 years and judging by the deteriorating boxes, it sure seemed it. They were about $1.50 a glass. That was last weekend (the 18th). Their location may be closed now but they are merging with Balter (Delancey & Bowery) across the street. So check Balter to see if they incorporated their old stock with Balter.
  16. TVC

    Old Tom Gin

    Can't wait to try it.
  17. TVC

    Old Tom Gin

    Noticed on Hayman's website, dated November 2007 that they are now making Old Tom. I emailed the company about US availability but have not yet received a reply. Anyone know anything more? <http://www.oldtomgin.co.uk/news.html>
  18. Southwark indeed. They have an impressive rye collection. I dropped off a bottle of my sassafras bitters there. I think they've been using them for Old Fashioneds. They have a bottle of Plymouth Navy gin (100 proof) behind the bar too. I heard good things about Amada on Chesnut. Their cocktails are named after Almodovar films.
  19. Long time reader of the forum, this is my first post. For the past two years I have been completely immersed in cocktails. I make weekly sojourns to Lenell's and happily give more than a modest percentage of my paycheck to PDT and Death & Company. I remember first having an Aviation and while, enjoying it, found that my palate wasn't quite ready for some of the old cocktails. They seemed perfumey. Now maraschino liqueur and parfait amour and creme de violette are finding their way to my drinks. Moreover, learning balance in making a good cocktail has informed my tastes in food and wine in that I seem to be able to discern sweet and sour etc. I'll even go as far as to say as that sophisticated cocktails are good examples of the fifth taste, "umami". That may not be the technically accurate definition of the term but somehow a blend of the aromatics of bitters and complicated flavor profiles result in some sort of other taste experience. When it comes to spending time at bars I am often completely uninterested in beer and would love to enjoy a cocktail but unless I'm at one of the upper echelon cocktail bars in the city, I'm in an awkward situation to have to request that a Manhattan include bitters, not be served on the rocks and for it to be stirred. The experience of a skilled bartender building a drink in front of you is inexplicably a specialized commodity.
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