brinza

Wow, this sounds great. I'll have to use Lagavulin, but that should work just as well (more smoke). Call me strange, but the "no ice" idea actually appeals to me (I often make iceless Old Fashioneds).

Is it possible to say "congratulations" and "I hate you" at the same time? (the latter greeting provided on behalf of those of us in socialist liquor states).

Personally, I find Fee's Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters to be very good. I know it's in the "Angostura alternatives" category, being an aromatic bitters, but it bears little resemblance to Angostura. It has some citrusy notes along with the spice, making it different enough from both orange bitters and Angostura bitters to give you one more choice. I find it works well with spirits that are often paired with citrus ingredients, such as tequila or gin, for example, whether or not the cocktail actually has any actual citrus ingredient in it. I've just ordered Angostura Orange from Kegworks because I can't find it in stores, yet. Damn, that stuff is expensive. I wonder why it's nearly double the price of the Angostura Aromatic. I also added a couple other Fee's bitters to the order, which will bring my bitters count up to a total of eight.

Also, I believe Dale DeGroff uses both rye and cognac in his Sazerac recipe. ← Similarly, the Saratoga has both rye and cognac along with sweet vermouth. ← On the other hand, DeGroff's recipe for Between the Sheets swaps out the rum for Benedictine because, "the two base spirits confuses the palate."

You could always just move up a few notches within the Jack Daniels product line and go for Gentlemen Jack, or better yet, the Single Barrel. That way, if he still chooses to mix it, he'll have the familiarity, but then again he just might be inclined to try it straight. The Single Barrel would show both that you know what he likes and that you went for something above what he probably normally buys for himself (not to mention it is very good--I'm not really a Jack drinker, but it's hard to not like the SB).

Interesting discussion of charcoal filtering of bourbon: http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5196

Also, I believe Dale DeGroff uses both rye and cognac in his Sazerac recipe.

Yeah I agree, it's awful. ← Thanks for the input, both. I think I'll avoid that, then. Besides, I mistyped the price--its' $28 here, not $20, even more reason to forget it. I guess it doesn't say much about local tastes around here, that the stores are stocking it. Meanwhile the PALCB, in their infinite ignorance, has taken Benedictine off the lists altogether (you can't even special order it!). Oh, they've got lots of B&B but what good does that do anyone? Sorry for the off-topic rant, but that is really bugging me lately.

That would explain one of their other products (shown on their website) called Jagertree. This Stroh 80 sounds intriguing and odd enough to be tempting, but I'm not sure if I want to spend the $20 just for the novelty. Still, although the stores here seem to stocking a lot of it now, by next year, it could disappear never to be seen again. Does it work in applications that call for 151 rum, or do you use it more like an herbal liqueur?

Out of curiosity, has anyone here ever had Stroh '80'? This is appearing regularly in my local stores. I was very surprised when I looked closely at the label to learn that the '80' in the name does not indicate 80-proof, but rather it indicates 80% ABV!!! Yow. Another unusual thing about it is that it's made in Austria, not exactly the first place that springs to mind when you think of rum these days. Just wondering about people's opinions of it.

Um . . . The Martini, perhaps, should be in that list?

I don't know about the bitters, but someone at that company should find out what the word "grenadine" actually means.

It seems there's a good reason that Angostura bitters was for a long time the last one standing. Here's a plug for the Seelbach cocktail which calls for unusual amounts of bitters: 4 oz quality Champagne 1 - 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey 1/2 oz triple sec 7 dashes Peychaud's bitters 7 dashes Angostura bitters And then of course Pink Gin. I'm partial to Ted Haigh's recipe in which he specifies "six goodly dashes of bitters." ETA: BTW, has anyone noticed that newer bottles of Angostura are indicated as 44.75% alcohol? (instead of the usual 45%) What's that about?

Now that is odd. Why didn't they just call it a Jouralis-tini for the sake of consistency? Especially since they've already applied the hatchet job to the Harvey Wallbanger immediately preceeding it. I love how they practically take credit for inventing the smoky martini. I was in a place in Newport News where they listed a cocktail consisting of tequila, cointreau, and lime juice. They had the nerve (or the ignorance) to call it a Margari-tini.

I've been making this drink a lot lately, and my wife is even hooked on them (it's one of only a few drinks that we both like). I first made Ted Haigh's version, the Knickerbocker a la Monsieur, and I've also used the original recipe from Imbibe! In Ted Haigh's book, it calls for Virgin Islands rum, so I tried Sailor Jerry's Navy Rum, which even though that's a spiced rum, worked quite well. So, to complement the spice of the rum I use Clement Creole Shrubb in lieu of the curacao. Delicious. This drink seems to lend itself quite well to variation.

Bingo! Infusing one into the other seems like a very bad idea. ← Well, there are several cocktails that include brewed tea in the recipe.

Omg, that's genius! I was looking at a mocktail book the other day to get ideas for future pregnancy drinks, and was lamenting the fact that they all seem really sweet. I guess it's difficult to replicate the classic simplicity of a martini or manhattan with non-alcoholic ingredients. But I do love a good Islay whisky, and I do love a good lapsang souchong. I shall have to experiment... ← For the love of Jerry Thomas, don't! I had the idea that lapsang souchong and scotch might be a good combination so I tried it using Talisker. Worst thing I ever did. It smelled like dirty dish-rag and tasted nearly as bad. I think the problem is that the two kinds of smoke (wood smoke and peat smoke) are not the same and clash horribly. Lately, I've been toying with the idea of combining the lapsang souchong and Mezcal as their kinds of smokiness (both wood smoke) are much closer in nature and should combine more palatably. Pine is used for lapsang souchong and I believe they use oak for mezcal. Luckily, I have both at the moment, so I might try it this weekend. If you are brave enough to try it with scotch, please report your results (Maybe in the Drinks thread, since this getting somewhat off-topic).

You're absolutely right about using bitters. I agree that if you start with bitters of some sort and go from there, you'll usually end up with something that has a real cocktail taste. Too many non-alcoholic drink recipes are just fruit punch variations, IMO. I also favor the Lime Rickey. I saw the link to DeGroff's website, but in his book he calls the Lime Rickey "the drinking man's non-alcoholic drink." To be sure. If I'm making a non-alcoholic cocktail for myself, it's usually because I'm avoiding the calories more-so than the alcohol itself. Therefore, I try to come up with something that does not rely on a lot of sweetener. Sometimes I'll put a single sugar cube and a dash or two of bitters into a tall glass of club soda, and that works just fine. But when flavor is the main goal, yes, the ginger beer, lime, and bitters is a winner.

Here are my comments on this cocktail that I posted back in April: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=57651&st=690# BTW, I made the John Wood a while back and loved it. That's another very good forgotten cocktail.

I almost couldn't get past the opening paragraph. If I were to pick up a cocktail book in a store and this was the first thing I read, I'd certainly toss that book (very roughly) back onto the shelf (or stuff in the back so no one would find it):

Has anyone ever tried Catnip (nepeta cataria)? Seriously. I used to grow it and have made tea with it (it's quite good), but I never tried it in a cocktail. It might make an interesting variation. Meowjito, anyone?

I'll have to try this. I've not noticed it in the store, but then again, I'm usually purchasing the more top shelf bourbon for home use. I've still got the better part of two 1.75 liter Eagle Rare 10 year old bottles to get through before I need to do any bourbon shopping for recreational use. But perhaps for having at the bar for use as a well bourbon, the Ezra Brooks sounds intriguing. Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out. ← The first Ezra Brooks I tasted was their higher-end 12 Year Special Reserve. I thought it was excellent. So I figured if they can make something that good, their black label product should be worth a try, and I was right. Also, the Ezra Brooks is 90 proof compared to 86 for Evan Williams. That Cruzan Black Strap sounds great.

For bourbon, I find Ezra Brooks to be far superior to Evan Williams and they are exactly the same price. EB is practically good enough for sipping, so it makes a great everyday mixing bourbon and is cheap enough to replenish at will. I tried EW once when the store I was in was out of EB and didn't care for it. Another vote here for Cruzan Estate light rum and Goslings Black Seal as significant upgrades from Bacardi with little difference in price. Orange Liqueur: None of them are really cheap (and still adequate), but in PA, Patron Citronge is $7 less than Cointreau and Gran Gala is $15 less than Grand Marnier, and so make perfectly acceptable substitutes when the budget is tight. Gran Gala really is a good value--with GM being $34 (750ml) and GG at only $19, the choice is obvious. Perfectly acceptable vodkas under $20: Iceberg (grain) Luksusowa (potato) Someone mentioned Seagram's Distillers Reserve Gin (102 proof). A rather good gin with a price that beats the pants off the premium gins, plus, other than Old Raj (at $60), I don't know of any other gins that top 100 proof. ETA: lostmyshape, where are you getting Broker's?

Congratulations! Well deserved. I'm well into my second reading.

I forgot about Stock. I can get that here; can't get Cinzano (except by special order and then it's half a case or nothing). The Stock isn't expensive at all, but the only size offered is 1.5L! That's a lotta lotta vermouth.