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brinza

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Everything posted by brinza

  1. I would say that the purpose of filtration is to add another marketing label. Having said that, since all American vodka starts out as industrial corn alcohol, I suppose you have to do *something* to it to make it palatable.
  2. Applause for the word "sozzled." 🙂
  3. Hard to go wrong with that rum! That stuff is wonderful. Sounds likes a great recipe, and nice photos, too!
  4. I can say that I'm definitely a fan of the Bigallet. I paid the same price that FrogPrincesse did, $40, but it was well worth it.
  5. Huh. I wasn't aware that it had disappeared. I bought a bottle some years ago, and I recall not being super impressed with it. This year, I received a bottle as a Christmas gift from coworkers. I seem to be enjoying it a lot more this time around. I don't know if it's because a) I didn't pay for it; b) my palate has matured a bit and I appreciate its nuances more; or c) they've altered the blend slightly (not claiming they did, but if they have). I'm going with 'B' because that's what I'd like to believe.
  6. Oddly enough, I don't think I've ever tried it with just a small amount of bitters! I suppose I should. Ted Haigh's recipe was the first time I encountered the drink, so I went ahead and made it that way, and liked it. It's not something I make very often, though. I had it in a restaurant once by requesting "Gin & Bitters," and even though I had no idea how much bitters was used, it tasted fine. I imagine the bartender raised an eyebrow upon receiving the order! Three drops, however, sounds rather minimal. I might have to do some experimenting . . .
  7. For Pink Gin, I usually follow Ted Haigh's recommendation of "six goodly dashes" of bitters. It sounds like a lot, but try it!
  8. Interesting. A friend recently brought me a bottle of Karner Blue gin from New Hampshire, which is also made from apples. Yes, there is a decidedly different taste. I'll have to give it a whirl in a Pink Gin.
  9. brinza

    Aperitifs

    I don't think it is in the U.S. yet. I even checked with the Party Source, and this was their response, " Italicus has not been offered to us as of yet. I checked their website, and it appears current distribution is limited to Europe. We will certainly be on the lookout for it, and pick it up once it's available to us.") Here is another article about it: https://talesofthecocktail.com/products/new-italian-spirit-reviving-long-lost-category
  10. brinza

    Aperitifs

    Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto Liqueur https://www.diffordsguide.com/beer-wine-spirits/liqueurs-alc-cordials/fruit-liqueurs/BWS005652/italicus-rosolio-di-bergamotto Has anyone had this, yet? I was reading about it recently and find it very intriguing. It seems like a completely different category of aperitifs. Curious to hear any opinions or reactions.
  11. I love the color of that one, especially in the upper photo. I read an article about this book last week and was very impressed by the review. Definitely got to get it now! Nice work, campus five! And FrogPrincesse, too!
  12. DrinkupNY has an interesting way of getting around certain regulations, like with PA, for example. (Note: I may or may not have ordered from DrinkupNY ). They put the onus on the buyer by having you agree that they are not shipping to you, but rather YOU are hiring the carrier to pick up a package at their store and take it to you. So they can legally say, "We didn't ship a damn thing into Pennsylvania, you hired UPS to come get it." Having said, that I do recommend them.
  13. Speaking of pre-tiki drinks, one of my new favorites is the similarly named Queen's Park Hotel Super Cocktail that I learned about from Jeff Berry's Potions of the Caribbean. I keep going back to this one over and over. Very unique drink with a unique flavor.
  14. Since Smith & Cross rum has been mentioned a couple times, don't forget Sam's Kinsey Report. (You really don't have to click the link: it's equal parts S&C and Bonal).
  15. Finally got my hands on a bottle of Gran Classico, so the other day I made the Negroni variation suggested on the bottle. Really, really nice. So good that when my friend came over for drinks later that evening, instead of asking him what he wanted, I just began preparing him one of these. He loved it as much as I did. 1.5 oz Ungava Gin 1.5 oz Cinzano Rosso sweet vermouth 1.5 oz Gran Classico
  16. The ones that give me trouble are the Jack Rose and the Scofflaw (perhaps technically not a sour since it has vermouth in it, but it works like one). If you are having difficulty, you might want to begin with David Embury's 8:2:1 ratio and go from there. You'll get a drier, slightly tart drink in which you can really taste the spirit. Every time I have difficulty with a sour, I find out that it's not because I had too much of either sweet or sour, but because there is too much of both. Once you take them both down a bit, the flavor of the spirit shines through.
  17. I recently acquired a couple bottles of the Hamilton 151 (available at The Party Source )*. I definitely recommend it. Unfortunately, I didn't have any Lemon Hart left to compare to, but I found the Hamilton to very agreeable. My immediate impression upon tasting it straight was that it is as good a substitute as you can hope for, if not superior to Lemon Hart. I also got his Pot Still Jamaican Black Rum. I have to say it's a little weird when tasted straight, but once you put it in your tiki drink it's magic. *I went looking on the Party Source website for Lemon Hart and when it didn't turn up I saw this "Hamilton 151". For about three seconds, I'm thinking "what the hell is Hamilton ru---ohhhhhhhhh!!!"
  18. I've been drinking a lot of Brown Bombers lately. (from the PDT Cocktail book) 2 oz George Dickel Tenessee whiskey (I've just been using bourbon, however) 0.75 oz Lillet 0.5 oz Suze A good example of a drink where the sum is more than its parts, and the key to this one is in the ratios. Everything is in perfect harmony.
  19. Paloma -- tequila and Squirt (or other grapefruit flavored soda). Add a few dashes of lime juice as well. Gin also works well with Squirt, too! Daiquiris are always easy to mix up, and don't require anything unusual.
  20. One book I have has a recipe combining tequila and Campari, called a Mexican Sal. My friend and I tried it, then added chocolate bitters to it, which made it way nicer than we expected.
  21. I have found that more places are asking if you want that up, which I greatly appreciate since I sometimes forget to specify. However, a lot of places still shake everything, and I never quite feel comfortable asking them to stir it. Mind you, there are places I go where I know they will always stir what should be stirred without having to be told, but those places are few and far between. Worst Manhattan I ever had was once when I did remember to ask for it up. It was served in a small whiskey tumbler. Plus, I suspect it was not much else than a shot of whiskey. I could detect almost no vermouth and certainly no bitters. I think they made it like they were making a Martini, with just a half a dash of vermouth. Luckily, I had ordered a good brand of Bourbon, so it wasn't a total loss.
  22. I read that as "1 small hand grenade"
  23. Yeah, kind of odd. I just can't figure out why they woiuld list the ingredient like that instead of just saying sugar or simple syrup. If it's meant to be some sort of lime flavored syrup or something along those lines, they neglected to mention that in the book. No big deal, It was just puzzling. I think some knd of omission occured during the editing of the book.
  24. I recently got Hawai'i Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine by Don the Beachcomber and two of the recipes call for an ingredient referred to as "Daiquiri mixture" written just like that. But nowhere in the book is there any exaplanation of what that is. By comparison, there is an ingredient called "honey cream mix," an equal parts combination of sweet butter and honey and they devote and entire page to its description. But no mention of this Daquiri mixture. Does anyone have any idea what this might be? The Cuban Daiquiri and Shark's Tooth recipes call for lime juice, Daiquiri mixture, and rum, so obviously, this would have to be some sort of sweet ingredient, but what? There is no evidence that it's a commercial product.
  25. I don't mind the term "vodka Martini" but that's how I think it should be, ie the version with vodka should require the modifier, and a "Martini" should be gin. Sadly, unless you are in a craft cocktail bar, if you just order a Martini, you will get vodka unless you specify that you want a "gin Martini." It shouldn't have to be that way.
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