Alcuin

That's a good idea about the tasting of the syrups: you can get them to think about how things will work in a drink on some level without having them have to deal with things that might be too intense (spirits, bitters). I'll give that a shot. As for the Negroni, I brought it up in some other context and she specifically asked for it. I told her that it was a difficult drink to spring on people and even herself (she's never even had one) but she insisted. She thinks something really difficult will be interesting. I'm not really sure if many will like it, but I'll just tell them an anecdote of my first impressions of a Negroni were like (I wasn't really thrilled) and how they've changed (I often drink Fernet Branca after dinner). Maybe it will be so for them too, or maybe not.

Well, if I read the party right, the group will be mostly in their 50s, with some fond reveries of days gone by when their parents drank a civilized drink. The person who's party it is likes a good Martini and is apparently known for them--I introduced her to orange bitters and I think she (rightly) perceives that there's a wide world out there and would like to know more. I haven't written my outline, but this is roughly what I intend to do. I'm approaching this mainly as a teaser: I'm going to present 5 standards that will allow me to scratch the surface in different ways: the Daiquiri: we'll talk the basics of drink structure with this one, as well as the importance of technique the Negroni (something challenging to the palate was requested): we'll talk about how and why to drink with this one. Many people seem to think that when you get into the realm of mixed drinks, you're going to get lambasted. I'm going to counter this notion by talking about when's appropriate to drink a drink, as with the Negroni it serves as a fine aperitif, just as a sweet drink might be good after dinner, a long drink when you want to contemplate, etc. the Aviation: with this one I'll talk about liqueurs (what they are and how to use them) as well as modern cocktails and cocktail culture the Improved Whiskey Cocktail: being from Wisconsin, they'll know the Old Fashioned, but in its muddled, very sweet guise: I'm going to talk history with this one and show them the importance of respecting and playing off of your ingredients the French Pearl: I'm going to use this as an example of a modern drink that builds off of tradition to produce something new and unique. I'm going to make these drinks and serve about 1oz or 1 1/2oz per person for tasting. An egg drink was also requested, but I'm not sure I'll get to that. If I do, I'll have the makings for Pisco Sours, so I might show them how to mime shake, why drinks with egg whites are good, and why they won't kill you. The floor will be open for questions throughout and I'm going to show them the basics of equipment, technique, and how to build a bar or at least enough of a repertoire of things they like and can make at home. I'm also going to have handouts with info on it like a bibliography, list of essential equipment, etc. This will all be very basic, but very detailed too. Maybe, if I work with this group again, we'll get into more advanced things like tasting whiskies/gins/rums/bitters/etc. but that's too esoteric for now. At this point, they need to know what gin and bitters are.

I'll be watching this topic with interest, since this Friday I'm running my first in-home cocktail demonstration. Being in Madison, WI, I've got a steep road ahead of me; this town's still mired in the dark ages, to say the least (though getting a very interested local liquor store to badger the distributor and get me Rittenhouse BIB was a personal victory that hopefully bodes well for the future).

A drink that nearly ruined me for any other last summer was a similar concoction: In a tin, muddle a 1/6 - 1/4 of a peach with 2 oz of bourbon (I like Old Pogue, but Buffalo Trace works, too) and 1/2 - 3/4 oz of demerara simple syrup (adjust to the sweetness of the peach, I use less as the peaches peak). Add 5-6 mint leaves and shake gently with ice. Pass through a relatively loose strainer into an ice filled glass, top with a sprig of mint and top with club soda (optional). Use a collins glass if adding soda, a rocks glass otherwise. ← All these peachy drinks remind me of Degroff's Peach Whiskey Smash from Imbibe! It's very similar to this except he adds curacao and strains into a double OF glass with no soda, if I recall correctly. It is delicious.

So you've been preserving the cherries: what is it about them that you want to change? Too tart? Not sweet enough? Too boozy? Also, about the addition of sugar: the best cherries I've ever had are Luxardo maraschino cherries which are packed in a thick cherry syrup. They are sweet and still retain their shape quite well and there's no alcohol in them. You might want to experiment with making a rich cherry syrup and packing the cherries in that.

Yeah I want to get one of those. I hear they're good for whipping up Ramos Gin Fizzes too.

Yes, it is traditional to top Irish Coffee with slightly whipped cream. However, I'd never seen it done to top a cold cocktail. Now that I think about it, the first time I remember seeing someone top a cold cocktail with slightly whipped cream, it was Thomas Waugh for an Averna contest last year. And Thomas now works at Clover Club! What a small world! ← He actually does top a cold drink (1:1 Irish whiskey and Irish Mist) with cream in that video that he calls the Dubliner. Probably should've mentioned that though. Anyway, nice photo. Those little soft mounds of cream look like something I wouldn't mind drowning in.

I've seen Dale Degroff top off an Irish coffee with slightly thickened cream on the Rachel Maddow show where he's been a guest a few times. The .

I've had a bottle of Apple Cider vinegar that was bad before. If I recall, it was ruined from the start though and it was unpasteurized. But I have experienced the potent stench of rotten vinegar before and can testify to its badness. This only happened to me once and I thought it was weird too. Isn't vinegar supposed to keep off things like mold and bacteria?

I tried this one for the first time last night--I have to say this is one of the most elegant drinks I've ever had. I'd even call it beautiful like a Renoir painting is beautiful. Thanks for this great drink.

Since Luxardo maraschino liqueur uses cherry pits, giving it a flavor that's usually described as "funky." This makes it quite different than a "cherry brandy" like Heering, which is all thick, rich, ripe fruit. Other brands of similar to Heering would be Cherry Marnier and Luxardo's Sangue Morlacco which would be the Lux product to sub if you can't find Cherry Heering.

I usually make batches of ginger beer using the Audrey Saunders recipe. Would ginger beer + simple syrup (1:1) be an appropriate substitute for ginger syrup? ← Maybe you can just sweeten the ginger beer, which after all is really just a kind of ginger water. You can make a 1:1 ginger beer/sugar syrup and that might work. Really though I think slkinsey's suggestion to muddle some ginger in syrup and double strain is the best solution. I've done it (usually to make Penicillins) and it works perfectly, loaded with ginger spice. Best of all, it doesn't really take much extra time for good results. The problem of ginger syrup shelf life isn't going to go away no matter how you make the syrup.

So say you wanted to bottle some Sidecars (appropriately French as they are), this might be what you do: I like to think from 3oz drinks, pre-dilution; for mathematical ease, I choose a 2:1:1 ratio (1.5oz Cognac, .75 Cointreau, .75 lemon juice). I figure you could just about squeeze 7 drinks into a 750ml bottle (it will be tight). So, 7 drinks is 10.5oz Cognac, and 5.25oz Cointreau and lemon juice for a pre-dilution grand total of 21oz. Let's say you want to dilute with 20% water: that's 4.2oz of water and added to 21oz you get 25.2oz to put in your 25.4oz wine bottle. Then chill for several hours (I don't recommend the freezer: the drinks will be too cold) but don't forget to taste, especially post-chill before you serve to make sure you got the balance right where you want it.

Sorry, I just suggested Giffard's Cassis because I like it and it's what I use. I've never tried the Mathilde liqueur, but I imagine it would work well--creme de cassis and blackcurrant liqueur are one and the same as far as I know. Also, most cremes de cassis that declare their origin, such as Dijon, will likely be pretty good.

If you do make bottled cocktails and chill them to be served up, make sure to include some water which they'd normally get from the ice. Even if you do shake them, since they're pre-chilled you might not get enough water in them and the drink might be a bit unbalanced. Around %20 water is what to shoot for in a pre-bottled cocktail, but doing it to taste is best (remember, you can always add but never take away). If you have the bottle pre-diluted, you can just have it over ice and pour it without shaking. Don't make a bottled drink with juice in it too far ahead of time though, because the citrus will degrade--make it the same day and give it a good long chill in the refrigerator before putting it on ice.

this sounds quite good.. for either this or a Kir, is it "safe" to mix a batch ahead of time and chill, say in an old wine bottle??? ← I don't see any reason why not. It would be even better if the vermouth were pre-chilled to cut back on dilution when it hits the ice because in this case, the less dilution, the better. I'd batch the vermouth and creme de cassis, pour over ice, and top with soda or have the guests do it themselves.

This drink is Italian, hence the Campari, though that doesn't make it any less delicious. For a more Frenchy long drink, try a Pompier 3 oz French vermouth (Noilly Prat) 1/2 oz Creme de cassis (Giffard's Cassis de Bourgogne if possible) build in a double Old Fashioned glass, add ice, stir, top with soda. It's like a Kir, but over rocks and with the floral bouquet of vermouth. They're easy, they can hit the spot on a nice hot day, and they're French to the max.

I think the fact of the matter here is that it doesn't make a difference what answer she might have given or that Bourdain is pretentious. The fact is that AW said something that left her open to the same criticism that drive the so-called backlash against her. Face it, some of the things she says are howlers. She had the chance to say something different, but she didn't. There have been ample reasons given for criticism against AW. It's not just that people don't like her for some mysterious reason that drives them, beyond reason, to seek out ways to criticize her. The fact is that there's a lot to criticize her for and it's not a secret what these things are. I'm sure I'll get some responses saying that I'm just nitpicking AW, I just don't like her, or that I don't care about education/nutrition/the environment/local farmers/etc. Even if that were true (which it is not), it still wouldn't matter. The question of this thread is: "what's the deal with people's reactions against AW?" I think that's been pretty well covered and moving the discussion to questions about Bourdain or imputing the "backlash" to some unknown unknown that motivates people to dislike her turns away from the point that AW says some things that some people don't like. It's not her principles, it's her manner--the way she chooses to answer questions or talk about problems. Ultimately, I think this thread is not about AW but about how to respond to the complex matrix of problems we face in which economy, the environment, education, nutrition, etc ad infinitum, are interconnected and we know something needs to be done but we're unsure what to do about it. We all want someone with a golden touch who can understand these problems, communicate them effectively, and work towards solutions at a grand level. That person, as far as I can see, has not emerged. The criticism of AW may be a symptom of the fact that these problems such a strong leader but don't actually have one. I give AW credit for all the things she's done (mainly as a very influential chef and local community figure), but she isn't a good public figure on a large scale and she's not what we need right now. I think we need somebody who comes off as practical and down to earth to convey the urgent need to fix the problems that have been developing over the last hundred or so years as a result of the rapid growth of our economy and technology that has, I think, far outstripped our understanding of the consequence of this growth. We, as a collective, are I think just coming to realize that the things we've been doing have tremendous consequences. The trendiness of going "green" needs to be taken advantage of by somebody whose more in touch with the people who aren't already on the trolley.

I'm not sure it's a "green" restaurant, but L'Etoile in Madison, WI has been doing organic, local, and sustainable food for quite a while, since 1976 when it was opened by Odessa Piper. I have no problem saying they're light years beyond any other restaurant in Madison but the icing on the cake is that they feature as much local food as possible and are a major force in the area for promoting sustainability, Slow Food, etc. They even have imitators, demonstrating the way they've been able to fuse the appeal of their food with their message. I don't get to go there all that often, but I try to go as much as possible to support the restaurant because I think it's an important part of the community for the food it produces and the environmental goals it's had and has. If you're ever in the area, check it out, you won't be disappointed.

I don't understand what you're trying to say here. I agree--it is an uphill battle and has to be handled delicately. ← I explained myself when I edited my comment. See above. You perceive her to "instruct" you to live your life better. I'm open to being piqued to learn more about something. I don't see it as instruction but rather a way for me to think or learn about something that I haven't been exposed to. Maybe it's just me. ← My point is that when you're trying to teach somebody how to like something, not every one is immediately receptive. You and others here (it's not just you) are already on board. It's those who aren't but who might be, that someone like AW is really addressing. So, the real question is: If I tell you that Beowulf is good for you and you should just accept that even if you're skeptical because I say that you should already have been pouring your time into when you were wasting your time watching tv, will you still be so curious and eager to think the thoughts I suggest? Probably not and that's the problem.

I don't understand what you're trying to say here. I agree--it is an uphill battle and has to be handled delicately.

This sounds compelling, but here's an analogy. I love medieval literature and I think that if people were able to rediscover its pleasure and I think it might give people essential critical thinking skills and historical perspective that may go a long way to reversing some of society's ills. If I told you that, as a person who thinks and talks, you should be reading medieval literature because it's good for you and would solve some problems, despite the great deal of time and patience you have to devote to it, you might think I was some kind of elitist and you might be turned off to medieval literature. Instead, it's better to meet people where they're at and tell them some cool stories from the lit to pique their interest, then if they're willing, you hook them up with a book. This works much better than telling people that they should do it because it's good for them. This is a red herring. Nobody here is shutting their ears to the problems that AW is talking about. In fact, I think the problem might be that were all actually aware of everything she's talking about (it is, after all, old news to many of us I think). That's what gives us some critical distance: I for one am not attacking the message but the messager, as I think many on this thread are. Now some do shut their ears up because of her perceived elitism. In the context of conveying a message, isn't this the problem of the person who's trying to communicate something and not the person their trying to persuade? Persuasion is about gently bringing people over to your side, not imperiously assuming they should already be there. This is the heart of the offense that people might take: AW seems to look down on people who aren't already on board. Obviously this is not her goal; I just think she can't do it any other way, hence my argument against her as a spokesperson for these issues.

If you're into good burgers, for my money Dotty Dumpling's Dowry is where it's at. I don't hesitate to say they're the best in town. It's a turn and burn kind of place though, so don't expect to luxuriate over the food for a while. If you don't deem it Mother's Day material but haven't been, I strongly suggest you check it out if you're into burgers.

I use the dishwasher with mine, even my copper core since I don't mind the tarnish (that thin band of copper is pretty tough to keep shiny--I gave up long ago). Like slkinsey says though, they need a good manual scrubbing every couple of cycles.

Facing Heaven Chilis are not Thai chilis and they're from the Sichuan region. The Tien Tsin chilis are what prsantrin linked to though, so they'd probably satisfy. That Ghost chili oil sounds dangerous--I imagine you'd only need a little bit. Regular chili oil is plenty hot for me. I think the goal for ma po tofu is a good balance of pretty intense heat and numbness from the peppercorns. As for using stinky tofu, I've never seen it, but I'm no authority anyway. I like regular ma po tofu so much though, that I don't think I'd want to mess with success. ← hummm...I grow what were labelled Thai chilis and they definitely grow "heaven facing"!! but perhaps they are not what are generally known as Thai chilis??? I will buy some Thai chilis or seeds to see how they taste and compare to the heaven facing chilis I now am growing. regarding stinky tofu in mapo dofu, I am only talking about using just a small amount for added depth of flavor...but I am not sure how much to use...maybe I should just add a tiny bit and see how it tastes, then add a bit more and check that, etc., etc. ← Interesting. If you google "facing heaven chilis," every reference to them that I've seen is to their origin in Sichuan and their use in the food there. It may be that you're chilis were imported as Thai chilis, but if they're the real deal, then they're the ones for Sichuan cooking. As for the stinky tofu, why not just try it and see what happens. If it's not a good combo, it won't be that bad if you only use a little.