samuraibartender

any good cocktails for this pistachio "orgeat"? apple jack, peach brandy, pistachio "orgeat", angostura? ← Just did such a thing for the first time over New Years, like so: http://rookielibations.blogspot.com/2009/0...ears-pt-ii.html This stuff is brilliant with the addition of Rosewater (over standard Orgeat's OF water) - a very Middle Eastern flavor combination methinks. bostonapothecary - Made a killer Cameron's Kick variant; still playing with it or other cocktails. Funny you mention an Applejack combination - I was planning on trying a Japanese Cocktail variation using either Pear Eau de Vie or Laird's Bonded... Cheers!

Provided you have easy access (I'm assuming you do with a query like this) to Meyers (& other odd citrus), Scott Beattie's book "Artisinal Cocktails [...]" is full of cocktails calling for them, very few of which call for Gin. In fact, for whatever reason, Vodka seems to be Mr. Beattie's favored spirit; with only a handful of Rum, Tequila or Gin drinks scattered throughout the work. Though I have a dodgy time getting Meyer's here in NJ, when I do they're a treat to play with. Try them in just about any variation on a Sour calling for Lemon juice - scaling simple/sweetener back to taste as you like. Rye Sours are particularly nice this way, as is an Elder Sour. A SF-based fellow named Duggan McDonnell came up with this (really, really tasty) drink a ways back - great use of both Meyer Lemons & Averna - go figure: Midnight Smash 1 oz. Averna 1 oz. Cointreau 1 oz. fresh Meyer Lemon juice 3x ripe, fresh Blackberries ~2 oz. Ginger beer Muddle the Blackberries in a mixing glass. Combine ingredients (except Ginger beer) with plenty of ice & shake. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice and top with Ginger beer. Stir briefly to incorporate & garnish with a wheel of fresh Orange. Cheers!

The dried orange peel would be soaked in high proof neutral spirits of some sort and then the resulting liquid distilled. ← So would adding something like an orange tincture to a sweetened spirit be a possible method in the absence of a still? Or even a maceration-based way, like this one (masively scaled-down of course)?

Seems like the right beginning, though that would make more of an orange curracao. If you want something more in line with triple-sec, I'd use (primarily) neutral grain spirits as a base. In either case, let us know how it goes...

Just did a post on these two cocktails, one of my own devising, another created & served seasonally (i.e. right now) at Catherine Lombardi's & Stage Left restaurants in New Brunswick, NJ: Just a Pear-flavored riff on the Stone Fence, but quite delicious. Perry's Mason 1¼ oz. Eau de Vie de Poire (Pear William) ¾ oz. Irish Whiskey (Redbreast or another full-flavored variety) Perry cider (home-fermented or commercially-available) 2-3 slices: Poached Pear Combine spirits & poached Pear slices in a Highball glass half-filled with ice. Fill up with Perry, stir briefly and enjoy un-garnished & un-varnished. This one's courtesy of Francis Schott: The Irish Twin 1½ oz. Jameson's Irish Whiskey 2 oz. organic Pear nectar ½ oz. Honey syrup (1:1 - Honey:Water) 1 dash: ground Cinnamon 1 slice: fresh Pear Combine liquid ingredients and dash of Cinnamon in a mixing glass with lots of ice & shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass & garnish with the slice of fresh Pear (dusted on one side with a little cinnamon). Cheers!

So I came across some great peaches a while ago & was able to dehydrate a number of them using a friend's machine (cleaning, drying & saving the pits seperately), with the intention of using them for something later on. Likewise, I've been getting some very nice (fresh) nectarines in the last week or so. That said, I've been considering making a batch of both Peach & Nectarine bitters... Now, I've researched this a bit both online & in the local library, but would really appreciate some feedback from the more food science/chemistry-minded folks if at all possible on the question of the pits. I know that they contain a relative quantity of amygdalin (it seems peaches contain significantly more than nectarines) - a mighty unfriendly substance when coupled with the process of digestion/metabolization. Obviously, in the interest of the health of myself & others, several questions/details arise which I am concerned & curious about: 1. Most sources (mostly online & non-vetted) seem to indicate that the quantity of (whole) peach pits one would have to imbibe to produce any noticeable effect is extremely high - something like a few dozen. Does this mean that a small qantity added (as a supplimentary bittering & flavoring agent to other bitter herbs) would yield a "safely negligable" quantity of the compound? 2. In researching I came accross a number of studies (mostly medical) on the production & use of Laetrile (a now defuct/bogus cancer treatment) derived from almonds or apricot/peach pits. It seems that a significant part of the extraction process involves milling such items & subjecting them to maceration in high-strength ethanol (precisely what I'd be doing in making bitters) followed by boiling off the alcohol. This, above all, makes me the most uncomfortable - as I assume this mean that alcohol extracts more of the compound, more quickly...? 3. I have read that bitter almonds (which also contain a sizeable quantity of amygdalin) are rendered useable/edible through baking at high heat, which removes the compound. Seems it is much the same with Cassava root (i.e. tapioca), so would this be a viable solution for using peach & nectarine pits? Any advice, explanations of the relevant chemistry in question here, or just a plain old smack to the back of the head would be greatly appreciated. It bears mentioning that I'm not indisposed to the idea of using just the dehydrated (even fresh) fruit to flavor these bitters attempts, so if adding the pits isn't an option, so be it - I just don't want to brew up a batch of (potentially) hydrogen cyanide... Cheers & thanks in advance

Not knowing specifically what chemical(s) cause the toxicity myself - would a distillation or three remove any of these (as impurities), much as in the production of absinthe (& subsequent removal of nearly any thujone)? As wonderful as Mr. Wondrich's Snakeroot tincture (?) sounds, I think eas is right - there are just so many botanicals, bitter & otherwise, that have no health risks associated (& some have quite the opposite) with their use. Even in cases where an exact flavor can't be duplicated, sometimes what you get by using something else is just as good or better. Cheers!

Wasn't Camphor mildly poisonous too (in larger amounts)? Perhaps Ginger with a tiny bit of a bitter Mint/Menthol would be a safer bet for these? I remember reading this thread on DB a long while back, but I don't know if a solution ever came up - just lots of "snakeroot = bad", "renal failure" &c. posts? Cheers!

There is a regional variation on Orgeat syrup (Horchata) which can be made with any kind of melon seeds including Cucumber. Recipe is here; just use Cucumber for the seeds. There was a fellow by the name of Jim Ryan who took 2nd at the recent Martin Miller's competition who made (crushed) ice from juiced tomatoes & limes and used a huge bit of cucumber peel as a part of his garnish. I didn't catch the recipe (it was really good though) & it doesn't appear to be printed anywhere, but it's mentioned here. There's also (as Eje touches on) Alberta Straub's "Spa Mix", which I think can still be found at the ON Network's site... Another cocktail with Cucumber is the Flamingo (via Trader Vic's 1946 Book of Food & Drink), which is really tasty with the 'reformulated' 7-Up: 1 1/2 oz. Puerto Rican Rum (Brugal) 1 heavy dash: Angostura bitters 1 long spiral: Cucumber rind Fill: 7-Up In a 12-oz. glass; add rum, bitters, Cucumber rind & crushed ice. Fill remainder of the glass with 7-Up. Mmm...Pimm's...lovely stuff that... Cheers!

Perhaps they have a function in their POS system that calls up the drink recipe when it's added to a tab/pulled up? In the visits I've made there, I've never seen anyone reach for a 'cheat-book' of recipes, no matter how 'off-the-trodden path' my order was, so I don't know that they even have one of those there. This may not have any bearing, but I've seen (in several places) print that claims Phil Ward has a "photographic" memory... As for the other 'tenders, who knows - maybe that's their secret? Now there's a wanted ad for you, "All potential applicants must have a certifiably-edetic memory" Cheers! PS - Last week I was priviliged to be behind the bar at D&Co (pre-hours) for the NY-leg of the Martin Miller's G&T competition - let me say, what a gorgeous (and extremely intimidating, to me at least) set-up!

I've found that a good Irish Whiskey can be grand for highball-styled drinks, especially when combined with another spirit/modifier. Imbibe magazine just published one of these - page 14 in the letters section. For those of you who don't read Imbibe (why not?) give it a try: Rookie Highball 1 1/8 oz. Pimm's No. 1 1 oz. Jameson's Irish Whiskey 2 dashes fresh Lemon juice 2 dashes Angostura bitters Ginger Ale Combine first four ingredients in a highball glass filled with ice & stir briefly. Fill with Ginger Ale & garnish with a long spiral-cut (think Horse's Neck) lemon peel. Cheers & Enjoy! Chris

Hmm...a sour cherry syrup you say? Cheers & thanks Katie! Dave - as usual, you rock - off to the city this weekend... Thanks also for the distributor info for NJ - I've had to hike down to Long Branch (40-odd mins from me) to get MdO, everytime I asked the folks there who the distributor was they'd give me the runaround. Now I'll be able to get it at my local store. My god. Cherry caipirinha. That's a must-check. Thanks for that. ← I only wish I'd come up with it - that idea came straight from Dale DeGroff (though as I understand it Caipirinhas aren't always made with just lime, there's often other fruit in there too.) They are incredulously tasty though. In the winter months I like to make them with Clementines. For now though, try one with 1/2 quantity Lime, 1/2 red grapes, too... Cheers!

I don't know that Pitu is the 'bottom of the barrel' per se - the aged needs some rounding off I think, but I found the unaged is perfectly fine for mixing. More or less on par with 51 (which at the price they sell it at around here, quite frankly shocked me). There's an unaged Cachaca that I've just started seeing here (central NJ) & out of curiosity tried, called "Cigana", which would certainly qualify for the 'bottom of barrel' title. All I can say is don't do it...just don't...quite unfortunate stuff. I find Leblon is OK on taste, but for the price I think it could be a fair sight better (though someone has to pay for those fancy bottles, right?). Mae de Ouro, on the other hand, is worth every penny - cheers Dave! Can't wait for cherries to be fully in-season - a Caipirinha with those & Lime is just wonderful... Cheers!

I'm assuming this thread has been replicated on the DrinkBoy forums (or began there), but here's some other sources prior to the '50's: W.C. Whitfield's Here's How (1941) lists seven Daisies (2 for Whiskey, Gin, Brandy, Canadian, Santa Cruz & Lauder's), all being prepared by the following method: "Put these ingredients in a highball glass, fill with crushed ice, stir until glass is frosted. [...]" Trader Vic, in his Bartender's Guide (1947) has a small section devoted to Daisies, wherein he lists the methods of Daisy-making I've seen (or in some cases, a hybrid of them) on a per-cocktail basis: *For the Bourbon, Brandy #1 & 2, Morning Glory & Whiskey #2 Daisies he states to shake with ice & strain into a glass. *For the Gin, La Florida, and Star Daisies, he states to shake with ice, then strain into a glass with one ice cube added. * For the Brandy #3, Rum #2, & Whiskey #1 Daisies he states to combine ingredients over crushed ice & stir or swizzle. * The Rum #1 Daisy is shaken with crushed ice & poured unstrained into a glass. * Finally, the Tequila Daisy is shaken with ice, then strained into a glass filled with crushed ice. As for J. Thomas - I've not looked at the online copy for some time, but in my print copy (the 1862, printed from microphage) I see no reference to the Daisy. Could this have been added in the later (19-someaught) reprint? On the other hand, drinks like the Roman Punch (& others with Raspberry syrup) are listed, so a Daisy is hardly out of the question for the time period.. Out of curiosity, has anyone tried to make a Daisy using crushed/shaved ice, but rather than stirring with a spoon, swizzling the drink? Furthermore, has anyone ever sampled a Lauder's (Scotch-based) Daisy? Cheers!