KD1191

Indeed, last I knew he was also at The Publican.

Made a quick batch this evening, use a melange of the advice above: 1/2 cup Pomegranate Concentrate (Lakewood Organic, found in the Whole Foods juice aisle. This is 100% pomegranate juice, not diluted in any way.) 1/2 cup Superfine Sugar -1/4 cup Water (it was looking a bit thick) -1/4 oz Orange Flower Water A few drops Vanilla Extract I shook this like mad, but my choice of container was too small for the job (fridge real estate is at a premium with each additional syrup I make...need to invest in a refrigerated component for the bar area), so I ended up putting it in a double boiler with the burner set pretty low for several minutes, and things came together. I hadn't seen any pictures up thread, so I'm not quite sure what this is supposed to look like. Here's my result: Color, very dark purple. Taste, really like the addition of OFW, but I may have overdone it with the vanilla, even with just a few drops...or maybe I just don't like the vanilla in there.

I'd guess perhaps the ones they were awarded for passing the "Manhattans must be stirred" exam.

I don't think that comment is at all directed at the folks you mention. Evinced by the fact that at least one of them has recipes in the book. Have we reached the point in the revolution/revival/reformation where books that assume a certain level of knowledge would be useful? The middle ground between the professional bartender and novice does appear to be somewhat under served by the existing literature. Does this book solve all those problems? No, but it's a start. I would absolutely love to see a compilation of selected recipes, compiled by any of those you name above. Maybe this book motivates one of them to do so. Maybe from this humble beginning starts a tradition of cocktail compilations by all-stars of the industry...published with the experienced home bartender or the lonely professional in an exurban outpost in mind. Or, maybe they are already in the progress of doing so, and this first foray is but an intro to what awaits us. We can dream, I guess.

That's the one recipe that caused me to do a double-take. It's not exactly your standard rum & coke, though. I quite enjoy the particular formulation, using dark rum and Mexican coke (just returned from lunch at a taqueria with a medio litro which will likely be put to this purpose tonight). It's probably the least 'earthshaking' drink of the 40 in the book, so I wouldn't damn the endeavor based on its inclusion.

Has anyone else had a chance to take a look at this new book/manifesto published by Kirk Estopinal and Maks Pazuniak of Cure in New Orleans (Rogue Cocktails)? I've paged through it a couple times this week, and have been intrigued. It contains two score of recipes that are aimed at being rule breaking. That conceit could come across as somewhat too precious or trite, to some, but there are interesting things going on here (to my estimation...but, maybe it's all been done). The drinks are really only part of the book, though. They are used to bolster the philosophy they are espousing. On their blog, it's compared to the Chris Rock bit in which he tears into those who want to be congratulated for the very least of accomplishments (i.e. "I raise my kids." == "I stir my Manhattans."). The goal is to be somewhat of a kick in the pants to the community, to break free of the "How many times do you stir a Manhattan?" debate and continue to evolve as creators. Their approach may raise some hackles, but they also take a very relaxed and open view, saying that there's no perfect way to make a drink, that the many various styles and methods of bar tending should be respected, and that, "ome people will love the recipes in this book, some will hate them. We are cool with this." What do the rest of you think? Is this a fad, a glimpse into the future, or history repeating?

Not exactly "near" Les Halles (a 15 - 20 minute walk east, closer to Place des Vosges), but I had the best budget meal of my last trip to Paris at Café des Musées. It gets a pretty good review here, and I would agree that the frites are some of the best I've ever had. Particularly memorable was a terrine of blood sausage with green chartreuse. The set menu for lunch was certainly less than 20 euro.

On the original topic, I always cringe slightly when I see a Tequila Mockingbird.

Made it to TVH last night and sampled several things off the new menu. I started off with the Summer Negroni, which really hit the spot. My initial reaction was somewhat skeptical at the minimal amount of Campari involved, but it really makes this drink present more like a Bronx or an Income Tax. I tried a bit of the Cinzano Bianco on its own, and that confirmed my feeling...it is surprisingly sweet, but also has plenty of the more herbal notes I associate with dry vermouth...it's playing both parts (well), while the hint of Campari and the Ango Orange are just enough to float the orange flavor in the background. I think this drink is pretty much perfect, but then the Bronx is my favorite classic cocktail. I also tried the Tounge in Cheek, and it was delicious if a tad too sweet (Henry made mine, and I think it was the first he'd done, so maybe he corrected later in the evening making MikeHartnett's a bit tart? Or, perhaps it's the quality of the individual strawberries coming out in the drink? Or, maybe I'd just been drinking a Negroni, and anything would have been a bit too sweet?). The combination of the Antica and strawberry is beguiling, and it leads right into the nice minty finish. I could taste everything but the bourbon, which is dangerous. I'm not sure how much better it can get, given that we're reaching the end of the really good strawberry season, but I have a feeling this will be a crowd favorite. My wife had the Tequila Mockingbird, which she proclaimed to be excellent. I tried a sip, and the sour of the lemon, spice of the chartreuse and bright peppermint interplayed quite brilliantly. All in all, a great debut for the new menu. Lots of good hold overs from Spring, too (i.e. Harlan County, Dogwood).

In Mexican Spanish, limón translates as LIME, which is quite counterintuitive. I beleive this may be the source of the confusion. ← There's an interesting thread on lime vs. lemon in Spanish here. It seems to differ in Spain vs. Mexico, and maybe even amongst Central/South American countries, perhaps based on what varieties are available in a given region.

Thanks for the preview. Happy to see another Fernet drink, house-made tonic and two intriguing uses for Angostura Orange. Couple questions: are you making the sarsaparilla syrup (or using Fee's)? What about the cassis?

And, of course next door is the Silver Palm, home of the 3 Little Pigs sandwich (Smoked ham, a breaded pork cutlet, two strips of bacon, and two fried eggs, blanketed in a thick coat of gruyere, all on a brioche bun). The Violet Hour is another great place to drink in Chicago. It's a speakeasy, with classic cocktails, a laid-back atmosphere and friendly/knowledgeable bartenders. They require guests to have a seat, so to avoid a wait, go early, or avoid the weekends.

Just walked past the Xoco site and the windows were still papered over and there were construction workers striking in front...not sure I would expect it to be open any time soon.

Thanks for the link.

Point taken. I actually agree with all of this. There are a whole lot of options between demerara and white, though. And, what I said about the layers was that I would not consider the drink artfully/purposefully composed without them. A non-layered QPS could certainly be just as tasty, but I'd feel it would have a strike against it, when it could have been far more beautifully presented with a bit more attention from the bartender. Not sure I ever said that, either. As I was trying to get across, I believe the main utility of swizzling is as an alternate method of stirring (which can where applicable be used to create layers), which from a end product stand point generally varies very little for any of other methods of stirring. It is a treat for the senses other than the tongue...the act of swizzling is appealing visually and aurally.

When will you be here? HotDoug's will be closed the 4th - 9th. For a quick, inexpensive lunch grab a sandwich from Pastoral (on Lake, between Michigan and Wabash) or something from the cafe at Fox & Obel (on Illinois, several blocks east of Michigan) and head over to the river walk. In River North, there's the Rick Bayless block - Clark Avenue between Illinois and Hubbard. Xoco, his new quick-service breakfast/lunch spot would certainly be worth a stop, if it opens before you arrive. If not, and you can swing it, Topolobampo is amazing (and always worth the additional cost over Frontera, where I'm always left wishing I'd gone to Topolo instead). Not really a hidden gem, but Sepia is a fantastic restaurant in the West Loop that probably doesn't get as much credit as it deserves. They have a lounge/bar area where you can order from the full menu, which might be nice for a solo diner. Chicago-style pizza isn't my thing, I much prefer the thin-crust at Coalfire or Spacca Napoli. The former is both closer to downtown and likely to be more solo-diner friendly. Steak is something that Chicago does better than most places, but I would avoid the old-school like Morton's and Gibson's in favor of a place like Keefer's (on Kinzie and Dearborn in River North). There are a few jazz/blues clubs in the River North area, but the big ones are the Green Mill in Uptown and the Checkerboard Lounge in Hyde Park (unfortunately not the original location). You're not going to find too many dive bars in that area of town, due to the steep rent. About the closest you'll get might be the Clark Street Ale House (with a big neon sign out front that says "Stop & Drink"), where they have an impressive list of regional beers available.

Alton Brown covered punches on a recent episode of Good Eats. He had an rather ingenious (unless you've already thought of it, in which case it probably won't sound that awesome) way of making ice balls (or eggs). He would fill a water balloon with ice, and then set it in a large teacup in the freezer, cutting away the balloon and rinsing off the ice ball a few hours later. Not the most elegant method, but a whole lot cheaper than a Taisin.

I think we have two different discussions going on here, which is slightly muddling (hah) the topic...one is on the history/authenticity/perfection of the QPS, and one is on what defines a swizzle in general. The conflation of the the two may be causing some confusion. I'll try to address swizzles in general first, then move on to the QPS. This is exactly what I read Sasha's statement to say. The full quote is, "Mr. Petraske regards swizzling as simply a more controlled way of stirring. 'It’s a way of not disturbing the muddled stuff that’s at the bottom,' he said. 'Aside from that, I can’t think of any difference it makes.'" Swizzling is just a way of stirring. As you say, it doesn't effect much of anything from the drinkers perspective, once the drink is composed. If you're not sitting at the bar, you'd have little/no way of knowing whether you had a generic swizzle or some fancy rum punch. For example, earlier in the article, there is this: "'There really isn’t any difference between a simple rum punch and a swizzle except the technique used for making them,' Mr. Remsberg said." In this, Remsberg is just echoing Baker, who said, "Practically any Planter's Punch, if multiplied slightly in quantity & swizzled in a bowl or pitcher, becomes a 'Swizzle'. Don't be misled by the contradictory terms. A swizzle foundation could be any of the Planter's Punches given here." So, it seems we agree that swizzling doesn't change the taste of the drink in any way that couldn't be accomplished in other means. All this just furthers my belief that what constitutes a swizzle is all in the action/method. The only thing I might add to your list of requirements is the frosting effect of the serving vessel. Though, maybe you intended this to be implied by the combination of items 1-3. Here's where I think we get into some confusion regarding swizzles in general vs. the QPS. I'm not under the impression that all or most swizzles contain muddled ingredients, or that they all must be layered. However, specificially with regard to the QPS, I believe that if properly composed it will present a layered effect. I've been waiting for you to present some primary or secondary source to the contrary. I gave you the benefit of the doubt given your obvious tenure here, but I've seen no evidence to back it up. So, for now I'll stand by the recipe/pictures in the NYT article linked above, my general experience drinking the QPS in several bars (not just Toby's btw), and another article I found featuring Marcos Tello (The Edison in L.A. - and winner of the St. Germain competition at Flatiron Lounge yesterday, congrats Marcos). Of the QPS, he says, "it 'must be made properly with Caribbean rum to get it right...t also looks like a green, white and red flag-it’s simply a beautiful drink.'" Given the volume of evidence I've seen on the layered QPS, I guess I'll stand in disagreement with you until such time as you present a source. I'm not as opposed to your supposition that demerara rum is essential to a QPS (for, you could get a layered effect with demerara, perhaps not as striking, but still). However, none of the recipes I've seen insist on demerara. Here, we segue into the discussion of tradition generally, which is fine, but is not an unquestionable good. Certainly, I'm open to the possibility that the QPS was a blended mess when it was initially conceived, and that it used the darkest rum available. That doesn't mean this is the optimal method of preparing the drink, or even a very good one. The "certain family" of bars preparing the QPS in the method I'm familar with now contains cocktailian bars from NYC, to Chicago and L.A. It's getting to be quite extended. Does that mean they are right? Certainly, no. But, I will wait for some reason to question the breadth and proliferation of this style other than your very good word. Still, if there exists some earlier recipe that insists on demerara rum or forbids layering must these places cease calling their drink a Queen's Park Swizzle? Baker called for Jamaican rum in his swizzles, but he said in his recipe for Planter's Punch (unswizzled swizzle) that "Barbados, Demerara, Martinique, Haitian or Cuban run, can always replace Jamaica." And, presentations options that enhance the experience of a drink without diminishing the flavor are certainly a plus.

Then, to get to the question the article doesn't seem to answer, what purpose does the swizzle serve? Some cursory searching doesn't lead me to any 'traditional recipes' and I'm away from my books at the moment, so I'm left to wonder. It doesn't seem to be about a particular combination of elements, but rather a method. Just contemplating what that method involves leads me to believe the swizzle is essentially defined by presentation...the rhythmic motion (and sound), the frosting of the glass, the undisturbed layers of color (where applicable). Maybe Sasha's opinion isn't gospel, but I think it strikes closest to the heart of what I know about the drink. I'm not for gilding the lily, or sacrificing good taste for presentation, but presentation certainly enters into the equation of the quality of a cocktail. That said, I don't think you need to choose. I quite like Toby's version, which is one of my wife's favorite cocktails, it's both beautiful and delicious.

The pictures in the NYT article you linked clearly show the layer separation, and a 'reddish' top (which I assume is the Angostura from the recipe). The article itself discusses the swizzle stick as a means to stir without disturbing the muddled ingredients (i.e. to maintain the layers). I'm not saying that if you blend them together you can't call it a swizzle, but I wouldn't consider it a very artfully/purposefully made one. I don't know the history of the drink, so I can't comment on the necessity of demerara rum.

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.

Toby posted a recipe in the Mint Drinks thread that uses both Brugal White Rum and Matusalem. I think that desired visual effect of layered green/white/red (the mark of a properly composed swizzle imo) would be difficult to achieve if you were using entirely demerara rum.

Sir, you have the patience of a saint. My reply was pretty tongue-in-cheek, given the multiple attempts to deviate from the recipe that were shot down. I just assumed mine would suffer the same fate. That said, your encouragement led me to whip up a French Pearl with Ricard, and it is perfectly potable. The pastis adds a significant depth beyond what initially strikes my palate as a Southside. The suggestion by thirtyoneknots that absinthe would be inadvisable is undoubtedly correct. It would overpower the delicate balance in this drink. If you want a similar drink with absinthe, I would suggest something like the Oldest Living Confederate Widow.

What about Ricard? If it's all I have, will it do?

Sounds good. Now, where did I put my white truffle bitters?