Bunnyhugs

When I make them I tend to just toss them together. Usually twice as much vodka as Kahlua (I actually prefer Tia Maria), then the quantity of cream depends on how heavy it is (less for a very heavy cream and more for a light one). But I guess cream usually roughly equals the Kahlua. So that would be 2:1:1. I always give it a quick stir in the glass before drinking.

I used to make a Spanish coffee-lemon water ice thing that I'd douse in tequila to make a slushy type thing. This was a very concentrated mixture, and I'd call it more lemon flavored coffee than 'coffee lemonade' (i.e. the coffee taste was very strong). Still, the basic flavor combination of coffee and lemon makes tons of sense. I'd consider tequila as a spirit. Possibly pisco too? Rum of course would also have potential. I'd try a Martinique rum.

Mizuwari is what got me seriously into cocktails. . . The little Japanese bar in Shanghai where I used to drink this would fill a glass with ice cubes, give a long long stir to chill the glass (no idea if it was 13 and a half times!), discard the melt, add more ice cubes (actually more like ice 'chips' or 'shards' or something - they sculpted all their ice with an ice pick), add whiskey, stir briefly, splash of water, stir briefly. Finished. Very nice it was too. I think the standard pour for that drink was Yamazaki 12 Yo, though Suntory Old was there for those on a budget, and a range of other obscure Japanese whiskeys for those feeling flush. I'd say the preparation method is crucial for this drink. The initial long stir, discarding of the melt, and adding more ice, really help get that cold and not excessively diluted drink. Delicious stuff.

The China Blue is a genuine Chinese themed cocktail from Asia. Though I have a feeling the drink may have been invented in Japan. It's a staple of Japanese bars in China and Taiwan. http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/04/14/china-blue/ Or you could try my own invention. . . Though it's Taiwanese themed (to be precise) and involves infusing Genever with Oolong tea - i.e. you may well find it a big pain in the arse to make. I swear it's good though. http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/02/29/oolong-tea-infused-gin/ Or my other very Chinese tea infusion idea. . . pisco with chrysanthenum and puer tea. http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/03/27/chrysanthe...-infused-pisco/ Or go very retro with the Shanghai Cocktail. It's sort of a slightly sweet, anise spiked rum punch. Not bad if you have anisette handy. http://bunnyhugs.org/2007/03/11/shanghai/ Or if you are in the US you could celebrate Chinese and U.S. friendship with the Flying Tiger Cocktail, named after the US volunteer unit based in South-West China during the Sino-Japanese war. http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/03/19/the-flying-tiger/ Ha ha. . .I've excelled myself on this one.

I've been in a lot of Japanese bars in Taiwan and China and never seen anybody make drinks that way. The only place I've seen that style of drinks making is in these stylized bartending competitions that seem popular in Asia. Check the video below of a Taiwanese bartender giving a display of highly ritualized bartending. Her shake is worth a look just to see something bizarre. This girl got famous in Taiwan after winning the 2006 World Cocktail Competition. Political bullying from China means Taiwan rarely gets to compete in anything under its own flag, so it was a big deal when she won and the Taiwan flag got an outing. Hurray! Go Taiwan! But do western bartenders attending things like the World Cocktail Competition make drinks the same way?

Honestly speaking the Turpan dining scene is a little depressing - as of a year ago when I was there anyway. The majority of restaurants are run by Sichuanese immigrants. Assuming you are interested in Uigur food (i.e. the food of the local Turkic speaking people) there are not a ton of options, and the quality is well below that in Wulumuqi, Kashgar or Yili. The town is not very big. There is a strip of restaurants on a street running north-south on the east side of town. I think it is a block to the east of the central square. The central square has a sort of vine covered trellis thing runing southwards from its south-east corner. Starting from the square, follow the trellis south, turn left when you hit the main road, continue east to the next intersection, then turn left again. You should now be heading north and after a short while will have restaurants on your left and right. There is a mixture of Sichuanese and Uigur places here. Some of the Sichuanese places also offer Uigur food - probably to cater to tour groups. The authentic Uigur places obviously don't serve Chinese food (problems with pork etc. . .). Anyway, I had an acceptable Uigur meal in the largest and most 'luxuriously' appointed of the Uigur joints. It was on the left hand side of the street heading north, towards the northern end of the little restaurant strip. But really you are better heading to Kashgar, Yili or Wulumuqi. The bread, meat, cheese, yogurt and Kvass in Yili are beautiful. In Kashgar things are a little grimier but the atmosphere can't be beaten. Wulumuqi has a couple of great Uigur/Khazak milk-tea shops just south of the old cinema (about a block north of the big bazaar).

So far as I know Kvass means different things in different places. Central Asia is a pretty big place and I think most areas have their own version of Kvass. I only tried it in East Turkestan (Xinjiang - actually a province of China these days). Their version is supposedly made from grains and honey - but tastes awfully like cider. So I guess my point is that you should not be too put off by the variety of recipes. There seem to be an awful of lot of things out there calling themselves kvass.

Anyone tried Orange Columbo? It's an orange flavored quinquina from the people who make RinQuinQuin (peah flavored). It is pretty different to either Dubonnet or Lillet (less winey), but has more quinine bitterness than Lillet, and a similar orange flavor. I've tried cutting it 50/50 with Lillet in Vespers. That comes out pretty nice.

I'm planning to arrive on the 15th and leave on the 21st. Reckon I'll catch him? And is his hotel in the general vicinity of Tales? I don't know New Orleans at all - or even the States for that matter. I'm coming from New Zealand. But if he's going to be in town I sure as hell want to have a couple of his drinks. I loved his videos.

So he is still in New Orleans? I googled and found a couple of hotels with that name. The more famous one seems to be in Illinois some place. The one in New Orleans is the Renaissance Pere Marquette. I'm just checking. I'd like to have a couple of his drinks when I visit during Tales of the Cocktail.

The Amsterdam is a good one. One of the better genever cocktails from CocktailDB.

I finally got a copy yesterday and it's great. . . In fact I can't see me getting any work done until I finish the damn thing.

I tried something with Oolong myself (an Iron Goddess of Mercy to be exact). I used Lychee liqueur as the sweetener. After infusing with London Dry and switched to a Jonge style Genever the second time round. The maltiness in the Genever really matched the earthy notes in the tea. It turned out pretty well. http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/02/29/oolong-tea-infused-gin/

Vaguely following the topic. . . Does anyone know the difference between a 'fix' and a 'daisy'? In the Darcy O'Neil version of Jerry Thomas the difference seems to be that a Daisy is topped with soda, and not prepared with crushed ice. But I think I saw an online quote from David Embury that suggested there was no real difference. Is the Daisy even a 19th century drink? I was about to do a post on old Genever cocktails and wanted to get this clear.

I just did a bit of a gin comparison on my blog. http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/05/29/sketches-f...rison/#more-803 People who haven't tried South might find it interesting to read about. It's not very good though. I have to say that Plymouth and Tanqueray are hard to beat. For the new generation stuff though I rather liked Blackwood's (vaguely similar idea to Hendricks but a bit more offbeat), and Martin Miller's (a bit delicate but tasty). I must try and get hold of this Old Raj sometime. It sounds interesting.

I recently tried a Vesper variation where you split the Lillet component 50/50 between Lillet and Rin Quin Quin (another quinquina, but this time with a peach flavor). Seriously delicious if you have Rin Quin Quin lying around. . . The Rin Quin Quin has a little more quinine bitterness than the Lillet, giving the drink more of an edge. But simultaneously you have this lovely dry peach flavor going on.

I did a post on Genever on my site a few days ago. I compared four different brands available in New Zealand (two from Bokma, one from Bols, and one from De Kuyper). I wanted to include the Genevieve, but had no luck accessing a bottle. It looks like New Zealanders are going to miss out on that particular product, despite Anchor's other gear being available here. I am working on a follow up post or two on Genever cocktails. I will get that up in due course. In the meantime, try Genever in a hot gin and milk. I realize it is out of season for most of you, but down here things are turning wintry. Oude style genever is so definitely the gin you want to use in a gin and milk. Malty and smooth, with the botanicals almost resembling an eccentric take on chai. Very nice indeed. Anyway, link below. http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/05/11/genever-ge...rison/#more-777

I have had a sesame flavored shochu from Japan. It was one of only about half a dozen shochus available in that particular restaurant so I assume it is a fairly mainstream product. I have no idea how it is made but I guess the process involves some kind of infusion.

I made an 'Irish Breakfast' cocktail for St. Patricks day that used bacon infused whiskey, tea, and egg. . . I probably won't be rushing to make it again since it was a bit of a mission to put together. It was not bad though. http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/03/16/the-immigrants-breakfast/

If anyone is interested I have done a few posts on pisco on my blog - including a couple of brand comparisons (mostly of Chilean brands that have failed to really grab me). http://bunnyhugs.org/category/cocktails/in.../spirits/pisco/ That's the url for the pisco category. . . The Dulchin is really nice. I did a variation with passion fruit juice that I called the Fitzcarraldo. I reckon that worked OK too. I also find pisco and grapefruit seem to work nicely. I did something alone those lines in my post on the Feather Boa. I kept messing around with the recipe, but in the end I think it was pisco, grapefruit, lime, St. Germain, and touches of creme de cacao, Tuaca and Grenadine. Guess I never quite settled on a final version.

I got hold of some Briottet creme de violette yesterday and made an aviation as follows: 2 oz plymouth 1/2 oz lemon juice 1/3 oz Maraska 1/6 oz creme de violette Perhaps the violette could still be cut back a notch but I don't find this massively overpowering. . . I mean I've been waiting years to get hold of violette. I want to be able to taste the stuff thank you very much! But really. . is there anything wrong with the above proportions? I'd call the drink balanced. It could be drier, but it is hardly sweet. Also, isn't Rangpur verging on being a liqueur gin? It seems like a weird choice of mixing gin if you are concerned about liqueurs taking over the drink. Just my opinion.