Wild Bill Turkey

If you're being flown cross-country to bartend, you're likely wanted to bring a cocktailianistic edge to the party, and so it would be easy to do what I've done for my cocktail party menu, which is to redirect standard requests. I put up a menu board at my bar, just written on a whiteboard, that lists on one side a group of standard cocktails, Margarita, Cosmo, Mojito, etc. The next column over lists variations on those themes that I'd like to suggest, with arrows connecting them to the drinks they "replace". For example, since so many people tend to order rum & coke or margaritas, I offer the Missing Link, a 3:2:1 drink that replaces the tequila in a margarita with Gosling's Black Seal. Friendly and unchallenging, but it opens minds to possibilities and people love it. (also allows you you to forgo buying tequila and still handle margarita requests) The Bitter Elder mentioned above "replaces" the Cosmo ( with a gin drink!) and I've never had anybody not love the drink when suggested this way. I'll second the suggestion of the Twentienth Century, a slam-dunk at cocktail parties, and add the Last Word.

If only the Blakberi imparted a little color, I'd suggest some sort of "Purple Sage" name. Maybe you could dribble a little crème de mûre over the top for dramatic effect (like a bramble) just so you could use the name...

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So it is, and I see that the Aviation gets votes there, as well. Guess that'll teach me to read the links before putting my two cents in.

Would we say, then, that the Cosmo was the drink of the 90s? I might put forward the Aviation for consideration as the drink of the current revival, since so many cite it as the drink that brought them around to classic cocktails. But it doesn't, as avant-garde mentions, point to the new ground being broken by creators working in the craft.

That's the scariest thing I've ever seen. That drink is only missing a Patsy Cline song to have all my favorite things. I could see losing my identity to something like that. I'll have tried it by this next weekend.

Sorry, I'm new here and I don't know how familiar with it folks are, I was going off the "my first real absinthe" thing. Standard fare for absintheurs is the DITA (Death in the Afternoon) which is a Kir Royale with absinthe instead of cassis. This highlights the absinthe more than most classic cocktails that just take a dash for seasoning. More involved recipes here: Classic Absinthe Cocktails Modern Absinthe Cocktails

Pernod and Herbsaint are both sweetened products. The Kübler and other true absinthes are not, and leave it up to the consumer to add sugar (the whole spoon ritual) or not as they see fit. Some absinthes are naturally sweeter than others however, depending on their green anise profile, etc. The Kübler is fairly sweet. But it's not Pernod, which is like licorice candy. Maybe think of it like the difference between lime cordial vs fresh lime juice?

In case some folks don't know about this product... Kallnacher Red Absinthe Bitter is a bitter, very similar to Campari, ( it even says so on the page advertising it) but mixed with Kallnacher Absinthe. It sounds crazy, perhaps, but enough people wanted it that the Mätter Distillery made it and test-marketed it, and it has sold very well for several years since its introduction. I've been drinking it as suggested on the bottle, with French lemonade ( lemon-lime soda) and it goes down terrifyingly easily. It's also fairly low alcohol in this concoction, and makes a very refreshing sunday-morning-on-the-porch drink. Maybe the cocktail minds on this forum could do something more with it? Kallnacher Red Absinthe Bitter ( scroll to the very bottom of the linked page )

My finger was mentally poised over the "Buy it Now" button. Now I'm ill at ease. Thanks for the update. The new one sounds good enough to wait for.

I got some of these Libbey 6oz cocktails after being served drinks in them at Absinthe in San Francisco. They're surprisingly rugged.

I'm amazed somebody thought that through and actually finished the back so you could roll it around and use it as a bar with the doors open. I doubt there's been a piece of furniture built with a finished back since the Hoover administration.

Thanks! I still plan to dash from the bottle while making drinks, but for dialing in new recipes, or experimentation, I can see it being useful to have those.

Kegworks has a whole page of Bottle Shelves that could work.

Those look interesting. But I tried backtracking from your picture link and couldn't find the item for sale at netshops. No matter what I typed into the search engine, I got only coffee makers and bread machines, hundreds of pages of them. Can you put up a link to the product page?

This has been a big problem for me, I'm a glassware geek. And I have a galley kitchen. Ceiling-mounted glass-racks have helped a lot, especially with the wine glasses which tend to be space-hogs. If you find the right style and are thoughtful with the placement, the overhead racks can add to the look of your place, too.

Too Quick! I was about to edit my own post to mention that this store in Paris also carries both the Perique and the Royal Combier! And it is definitely a fun place to shop.

It's ironic, up until this year I would have said with confidence that it would be no problem bringing a bottle or two back in your suitcase, because the chances of encountering a customs inspector who had ever heard of absinthe, let alone knew that it was in any way controlled, would have been virtually nil. Even then, the policy was never clear on customs' treatment of absinthe, and the very worst that one risked was confiscation of the bottle. This year, however, the issue has been raised, and in legalizing absinthe in it's limited way, the government has made all of its various agencies more aware of it. There never before existed any comprehensive written guidelines on the treatment of absinthe by US customs, but I absolutely believe you that one exists now. In which case, you're right surely not to ask your friend to travel with it.

There are some magnificent distilled absinthes available in France that may never make it over here. Don't know if you're interested, but if you are, I can list a few, and where to buy them.

This version of the story mentions a "secret ingredient". Maybe it's the carmine they took out of the Campari? Now this woman's going to get a swelled head from all the publicity.