Mike S.

I strained out my strawberry-infused rum (made with Barbancourt White so I've taken to calling this "Rhum pour Mon Amoureux") and I have to say the jury is still out. Smells wonderful and sports a beautiful bright ruby-red color, but the flavor is a little disappointing. Seems weak and somewhat watery; not what I would have expected given the flavor and quality of the strawberries I used. I'll see what it does in a mixed drink like a Daiquiri and report back.

Two recent successes and one not-so-much with the Boker's: 1. The Improved Holland Gin Cocktail is superb with Boker's. In fact, I like this version quite as much (though in a different way) as I like it made with Peychaud's. And mind, I *love* Peychaud's. I used Marteau Verte Classique in place of the Pernod (in part because I don't keep Pernod) and it was fantastic. 2. Last night, I made Whoa, Nellie! (see cocktailnerd) and added about 2.5ml of Boker's to the mix. Wonderful. BTW, if you made this drink, I highly recommend (a) using a bold rye (Rittenhouse bonded or even Thos. Handy), (b) using Coruba rum (much better I think than Myers's at least here), (c ) using equal parts rye and rum (1oz each), and (d) adding a lemon twist as garnish (shown in the picture but omitted from the listed recipe). 3. For the not-so-much, I must say I didn't care for the Pink Gin I made with the Boker's and ended up not finishing it. My favorite way to make this drink is "New Orleans Style", with 4 heavy dashs of Angostura and 2 heavy dashes of Peychaud's. Perhaps the problem was with the gin I chose -- some of my precious stash of Tanqueray Malacca, typically my favorite for this application -- or maybe I've just gotten too used to the Angostura/Peychaud's combo. I haven't done any experiments with Boker's and Punt e Mes, but I suspect Adam's correct -- too much clashing bitterness between the two. As much as I love Punt e Mes, this causes me no worries at all given how well Boker's plays with other more conventional sweet vermouths like M&R, Cinzano and Noilly Rouge. I also plan to try it with Dolin Rouge but have not gotten around to it. Anyone with access tried it yet with Noilly Ambre? We can't get that stuff here in the US (ping me immediately if I'm wrong about that), so it won't be me to test that one. Finally, Adam, I'll give the Captain's Blood a go soon!

Vieux, are you using the grapefruit bitters exclusively in the Pegu Club (that is, in place of both the Angostura and Orange bitters), or just replacing the Orange? And how many dashes? The PC is one of my favorites (that I don't make often enough) so I'm keen to give this a try. Answering your question, I do have both the Fee's and Bittermens (sold through TBT) Grapefruit and can tell you they are, standing alone, very different from one another. On the nose, the Fee's is quite sweet and spicy with just a hint of citrus (I'd be hard-pressed to ID it as grapefruit, or even any kind of citrus, bitters on the basis of its smell alone). The taste is similar, at least to me, sweet and spicy but with a nice bitter edge and a more identifiable grapefruit flavor. I like these quite a lot, but they are not particularly "bitter". The Bittermens Grapefruit is, to my palate anyway and contrary to Mr. Kinsey's comment above regarding TBT's Celery bitters, more intense in every way. Virtually no sweetness on the nose or the palate, with lots of spice and a very strong bitter backbone. On the palate especially, there's no doubt that these are grapefruit bitters. I like these too, but I would think they'd generate a substantially different result in a mixed drink. All that said, I've never run a drink taste-test to compare the two. I'd be happy to do so with the PC if you clue me in to how you're making yours!

I will happily add to the hype. Mine arrived at my office this morning, and all I could do at the time was open a bottle for a quick whiff and a fingertip taste. Needless to say, I was looking especially forward to cocktail hour all day! First taste, dashed over ice and topped with club soda. Wonderfully complex, spicy and a strong bitter backbone, with a lingering hint of warm cocoa that goes on and on and.... As noted above, these bitters have a finish that lasts like nothing I've experienced outside my prized pre-War bottle of Abbott's. Next up, and bowing to the wisdom above: Martinez X2. First one made with 2oz Hayman's Old Tom, 1oz Noilly Rouge, 1 tsp Luxardo Maraschino and 1/2 tsp Boker's, stirred, up, lemon twist. I will concur: Easily the best Martinez I've ever had, bar none. Even my wife loved it, and she, by and large, does not drink. Second one made exactly the same, but with Carpano Antica Formula. Also fantastic, but know what...? ...The first one was better. Like my beloved Abbott's, these bitters make me want to reach for a less complex vermouth so I can better taste the bitters. I have no higher compliment than that. Cheers and genuine congratulations to Adam for a simply outstanding product.

+1 on the big ol' G&T and/or brown spirit (typically rum) on the rocks. Sometimes both, in that order.

I've lately gotten hooked on Aquavit & Tonic. Like a G&T, but the liquor complexity runs off in a completely different direction and lemon works better than lime for the obligatory garnish. I have three Aquavits in my collection (one each from Norway, Denmark and Sweden); all three work very well and it's a different drink with each.

On somebody's cocktail blog I once found a recipe for something called the "Smoker's Delight", a mix of Islay scotch (call Laphroaig) and Mozart Black dark chocolate liqueur with a dash of aromatic bitters. I love Islay scotch and have often enjoyed sipping it in between bites of good dark chocolate, so I was very interested to try this. I even bought a bottle of the Mozart Black (which is excellent BTW) to do so. Dear Lord, this drink is bad. One sip and down the drain. Smoker's Delight? More like week-old ash tray.

I've heard that too, but local liquor stores around me have been unable to confirm. And there seems to be plenty of it around, at least in places that have typically carried it (including Beltramo's here in NorCal). I have a pretty good stock of HdA, Ambre and Extra Old in any event.

I've always thought of the color of St. George as "olive drab". I've never seen a bottle, from any release including the first, have what I would describe as a bright green color. I would say the second release (from early Feb. 2008) came the closest -- it was much lighter in color than the initial releast from Dec. 2007. I still have a few bottles of both.

Adam: Email sent.

I've been contemplating rum as my next stawberry infusion experiment, while the berries are still great. I was thinking of using Barbancourt White, which is very reasonably priced here in NorCal. Perhaps with a supplement of W&N White Overproof to round out a liter of liquid and up the proof of the final product a bit. FdeC is a good idea too, though. Edited to add: St. James Ambre might be great, but it's a bit too pricy around here for my to experiment with an entire bottle in this way.

I suppose I have to agree with this; however, I absolutely love St. George for all its "abnormality" and find myself reaching for it more than any other absinthe in my collection.

These will absolutely sell. Specifically, a bottle or two will certainly sell to me...please!

I filtered out my double-infused TPMA this evening. To say that it's different from the original single-infusion (half of which I saved) is quite the understatement. The color is at least twice as deep, like the difference between bright red quartz and blood garnet. The double-infused product is vastly more aromatic, and smells like nothing less than a strawberry field in high summer. And the flavor, well, there's really no comparison. The single-infused batch was very good indeed; this is simply extraordinary. And I now have a full liter of it decanted into an old dark and de-labeled Carpano Antica Formula bottle for max light protection. Kept in the fridge, I hope it lasts as long as possible!

Interesting twist on an Old Fashioned, made with agave syrup, Fee Bros. Rhubarb Bitters, Tequila por Mi Amante and a thin slice of lime.

Combining two prior thoughts from this thread: Forty Creek Three Grain Canadian Whisky on the rocks + chips of El Ray Gran Saman 70% = Awesome.

Tri2: I'd definitely go with high-quality frozen if the local fresh options are not good. No shame in that at all. I suppose I would defrost and drain them as much as possible to keep the water content to a minimum. Heck, you might even end up with a *more* concentrated outcome doing that! Give it a go and let us know what comes out the other end.

Surely true, but high-quality frozen is probably better than those really terrible factory farm, "ripened on the truck" monstrosities some parts of the country are stuck with.

I've got my second-infusion batch going now, per my option #2 above. I'll report back when it's done, but it already looks great and...viscous! Next up: I'm doing this with rum, maybe Barbancourt White (with or without a splash of W&N White Overproof?), and looking forward to some legitimate strawberry daiquiris. Rhum pour mon amoureux!

JP is the man, and I'm definitely going to try his recipe with the following adjustments: I plan to use Martinique cane syrup instead of corn syrup, and Luxardo Maraschino liqueur in place of the diluted GNS he calls for. So, I guess I'm really trying something vaguely inspired by his recipe....

Three of the most nonsensical words I've read in a long time: "traditional Canadian Vodka".

Yikes, good point Katie! Hadn't thought of that. Hmm...two possible solutions (other than the very sensible one you propose) come to mind: 1. Start with an overproof tequila (say, the Herradura Blanco Mexican Bottling at 92 proof, or even the new 1800 Select Silver at 100 proof). Too late for this option for me at this point, but note to self for next time... 2. Or, bottle some (say, 1/3 to 1/2) of the original batch and supplement the remainder with fresh tequila (perhaps that 92 proof Herradura I forgot to use the first time) for the second infusion. I think I'll run with #2, because I simply cannot resist the chance to try it.

Fair enough!

Two weeks ago I started a batch of Tequila por Mi Amante -- my first attempt at this stuff -- with what were the best strawberries I could easily find at the time (and they were not at all bad, mind). I tasted it this morning and liked it very much. Nice flavor, beautiful color, etc. Although the fruit definitely looks entirely played out to me after two weeks of infusion, I put the cap back on the jar and put it all back in the fridge to wait the last remaining week per the standard recipe. This evening, however, while shopping for dinner stuff, I found some fresh-from-the-field, all-organic, open-pint strawberries that are absolutely out of this world! Better by a mile than the ones I used originally two weeks ago. I bought a bunch of them, thinking I'd start a second batch running just to see how it would compare to the first... ...but then I got to thinking -- what if I strained out the first batch, threw away the spent fruit and started a second infusion using the new uber-berries and the strained liquid from the first batch? Anyone ever tried something like this, a double (or more) infused TPMA? I'm itching to try it, but would hate to ruin what I think is a pretty good batch in the works (and, like I said, my first ever at that). So if this road has been mapped before and found lacking, please somebody stop me!

Perhaps Herbsaint in the French Pearl? I don't really like Pernod and tend not to keep it around.