Barworkz

As far as I know, it's a suggestion David Embury makes in "Fine Art of Mixing Drinks". I don't have the 1948 one, so someone would have to confirm it it's already in the first edition.

Oh, almost forgot... Doesn't presentation play a role as well when looking at a balanced and harmonic cocktail? And if we agree that there is no such thing as "the balanced" cocktail (as it is too much dependent on personal taste) do taste jury's at cocktail competition make sense at all? Do cocktail competition make sense at all? Who is to judge what is balanced and what is not? Sigh, so many questions....

So one conclusion is obvious: balance is a personal thing. We can't rule over cocktails generally as in: "this one is balanced and this on is not". Taste is a highly subjective thing and like in the video, we can only amount clusters of certain taste directions. What came to my mind though is that there might be a chemical formula for the balance of sugar and acidity for example. If there would be such a thing would it not be interesting to see, if this would in fact be one of the popular clusters of human taste? Maybe it would fail miserably... Basically being able to say: "no matter what personal taste you have, the theorethical formula xyz234 is the perfect balance of sugar and acidity.". I also liked bostonapothecary's "overextraction of wine" when talking about harmony in cocktails. I've come across a lot of cocktails lately which had been "overextracted". Too many different aromas used, therefore lots of overlapping of the same and lack of balance (at least for my personal taste ;-)).

I am currently setting up a presentation about harmony and balance in cocktails and I'm curious to know some of your opinions. When we talk about "balanced cocktails" what exactly do we mean apart from balancing sweet and sour (as that combination doesn't come in all cocktails although in many/most)? Is "balance" a matter of personal taste? When talking about "balance" in a sour, what are the ratios you define as "balanced"? Is there such a thing as the "perfect ratio" (thinking of alcohol content, sweetness and sourness as in wine) that will seem balanced to most of the people? Is it David Embury's 8:2:1? I for myself think that a 6:3:2 is "the balance".....but that's my personal taste. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, B

To throw in my two cents.... Leaving the proper hard shake aside (as I only know very few people who actually do this right, me not included) I nonetheless prefer to shake all egg drinks in a 3 piece and I have consistently good results with it. I use double frozen rocks, organic eggs (small to medium) and shake the living shit out of it. The build in strainer through which the mixture is forced while shaking seems to add more oxygen into the drink. There is no dry shake needed beforehand (eats up too much time imho anyways). I do have read that the addition of citric acid and sugar in a particular order add to the stabilization of foams ( might be McGee, have to double check) and if we think of creating a meringue, it should be sugar first to create a stiff but fluffy consistency and citric acid to stabilize the fragile combination of protein, water and air bubbles.

I can confirm the above. I've done some experimentation on that for a training and had great results with Pecan-Makers Mark. I roast cracked pecans in a pan, add a hint of sugar and throw it into melted brown butter. Let it simmer for a coupe of minutes and add the mixture to the bourbon. Let steep 48 hours, shaking it up every once in a while. Freeze, strain through coffee filter or cheese cloth. Nice buttery, nutty flavour that still stands out when mixed.

1939 Floridita Booklet : "Squeeze one green lemon, 1/2 ounce of Elixir Bacardi, 2 ounce stale Bacardi rum, shake well and serve it frappe." "Elixier Bacardi" is supposed to be a "product made by macerating prunes and cherry stones in rum and sweetening it, used mainly as a digestif." Now that looks like another Daiquiri variation using some kind of Maraschino liqueur getting its name from the colour of "stale" rum (which I translate into "aged") and probably the prune macerate. Could one conclude that Creme de Cacao came into the game much later, maybe after Bacardi moved its production to Puerto Rico and stopped producing "Elixier"?

It is in fact a variation of the Daiquiri theme and comes in proportions similar to these: 45 ml Cuban Rum (HC 7 works nicely) 15 ml Dark Creme de Cacao 5 ml Simple (2:1) 30 ml Fresh Limejuice It's been on and off bar menus here in Germany for years and I have come across it in London bar menus as well. But my research has not yet found a legitimate source that can let me guess where it was invented and by whom. I couldn't even put it into a specific time period although I'd guess it would be somewhere in the 20s to 30s. As to the PC: it doesn't seem to be too offending to Cubans...there is after all a Cuban rum called "Mulata"!

I am looking for a historic reference of this drink...anyone in for information? Has anyone seen it come up in cocktail books?

I always go for 3:1:1 when serving guests a traditional margarita (100% Agave Blanco, Giffard Premium Triple Sec, Fresh Lime Juice) - imo its got exactly the right tartness to it. Personally I prefer it 'Tommy's way' with agave nectar as the sweetening agent instead of Triple Sec and on the rocks, no salt. I've been experimenting with temperatures as well and I've come to the conclusion that a margarita at -6 to -8° Celsius (shaken, double frozen rocks) seems to be too tart for my palate but if you let it warm up to about 0° Celsius it will have perfect balance. This is another factor you will have to count in when trying to reach the 'perfect margarita'.

We are open to the public since yesterday, so please go ahead and book a table! Ma is a fine dining restaurant featuring a twist on chinese cuisine and it'll set you back around 100€ per head including wine, etc. whilst Uma is a more casual japanese influenced restaurant. Uma will set you back around 50€ a head. I also strongly advise to check out the adjoining Shochu Bar that features a large selection of japanese whiskies, a wide range of shochu and classic as well as contemporary cocktails. Please let me know if you have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer these...;-) Bastian

So, yeah, sounds like some kind of unaged brandy to me! ← Being German I can confirm your theories. Unaged grape brandy is what it says on the bottle...but I haven't seen this stuff anywhere in Germany before. Does it say 'Korn' anywhere on the bottle?

I just met Ron Cooper at a tasting and have to say that this guy knows what he is talking about. We had three different Mezcals, all of them stroke me with a huge resemblance of Islay whiskys. Rather high in proof, smoky, salty and certainly not comparable to the Tequila you usually see around. We had the Chichicapa, the Tobala and the most odd Pechuga...a triple distilled mezcal using chicken, fruit and nuts as flavor agents!

What is the proof over in the US for Campari? Here in Germany we get it 50 proof but I have seen bottles on the internet with 62 proof also. Now I'm wondering if I always got it 50proof or if they used to sell it with the higher proof...I just cannot remember no matter how hard I try! Any suggestions?