Vieux Carré

Thanks for the link. Loved those pictures. Sure wish it were still around. I could enjoy an evening or two in a place like that. Columbus is not too far away from me. Some of my favorite memories as a kid were when my parents would take us to a Tiki place in Philly. Unfortunately i can't remember its name, but I have a very clear image of what it looked like inside with all the tropical plants. Unfortunately, at that age, I was only permitted to drink a Roy Rogers.

Katie, what are the two rums that you use? I must have tried 30 different rums for an old fashioned until I tried Pusser's and found that really works nicely. I'm not exactly sure why I put Pusser's off so long except that until then I guess I hadn't been really been impressed with it, but now it is my go to for a rum old fashioned. Sorry - just saw this. I generally use 1.5 oz. of either Scarlet Ibis or Abuelo 12 yr. old and 1 oz. of Smith & Cross Navy strength to "prop it up" a bit. The spiced simple gives it an autumnal/winter profile and the Whiskey Barrel bitters add to that. The flamed orange is particularly tasty with the more flavor forward rums in this. Stirred, served in a snifter to enjoy the aromas more. Oh, quite interesting. I like the idea of using a bit of the Smith & Cross. I'll definitely give that a try. Aren't the Scarlet Ibis and Abuelo quite different from each other? Don't they make quite different drinks?

Katie, what are the two rums that you use? I must have tried 30 different rums for an old fashioned until I tried Pusser's and found that really works nicely. I'm not exactly sure why I put Pusser's off so long except that until then I guess I hadn't been really been impressed with it, but now it is my go to for a rum old fashioned.

Wanting to finish off a bottle of Osborne Amontillado, I decided to make what Gary Regan in "The Joy of Mixology" calls the "Hour before Battle" which is no more than bitters and sherry. So, I added 10 drops of Bittermens Elemakule Tiki Bitters to the sherry (in one of my 18th century glasses). The amazing thing is that the combination of the Osborne and Elemakule makes the drink taste like it is made with a strongly flavored APPLE brandy though there is no apple in it at all. Quite strange, and tasty!

Short answer, yes, based on the bottlings of vintage Peach Bitters I own. I've been analysing them for some time and hope to submit them to a gas chromotography in the coming weeks. Whether I ever release these as a bottling I've yet to decide, although I would love to release a true Peach Bitters. That's about all I can share just now. Oh, please do! Just as the world really does need a real peach brandy, it also needs a real peach bitters!

I would like to point out that one cannot make a Vieux Carre without Benedictine and who would ever want to go longer than a week without a Vieux Carre?

Spent the WHOLE day finally finishing my 2010 income taxes (feds, state, city, schools)! Whew! Definitely called for the Income Tax Cocktail! In fact, I think I'll have 2 or 3 more before the night is through!

I have tried Harney's and do like their blends, but am not as happy with the rest of their selections. Maybe I will just end up using Harney's for the blends and Upton for the others. Nothing wrong with that but I guess I was just wondering if there was a good vendor that might provide both.

If you were a specialteas.com regular, where have you shifted your online shopping, now that they've closed? I've found Upton's to be pretty similar for their price and the quality of their mid-range teas (what I typically drink), but am not overwhelmed with their breakfast blends.

I had the hankering for a Whiskey Sour and so squeezed my lemon and pulled out my bourbon and then found out I only had 1/4 oz simple syrup, so I winged it by adding another 1/4 oz Maraschino and 1/4 oz grenadine and a dash of Angostura. It turns out to be pretty tasty. Surely I am not the first to put these ingredients together, so I'm wondering what its name is. For the moment I'm calling it a Pip, but will be happy to use its given name. Any help?

I just happen to be enjoying my first Boukman Daiquiri as I write this and have to say that it's a great find! An excellent addition to my repertoire.

I will definitely second the vieux carre! The Sazerac is also a pretty good brandy drink. While the standard today (and my preference) is to use rye, the brandy version is also quite good. I also like the Hoop La! (one part each cognac, Lillet Blanc (Cocci Americano preferred), Cointreau, lemon juice with a twist).

Being the first day of autumn I was thinking of making a good fall drink. Perhaps something with applejack. But after stepping outside into the mid-nineties temperature I realized that I must have gotten my calendar mixed up so I reached for my copy of Beachbum Berry Remixed and just in case the earth has been flipped I made a Tasman Sea. Tasty and a great tiki drink for the first day of summer!

Today I obtained from Drink Up NY a bottle of Greylock Gin produced by Berkshire Mountain Distillers and just fixed a martini (4 to 1) with Dolin Vermouth and and dash of Regans' No 6 to try it out. Magnificent! This is truly an exceptional gin. Amazingly balanced and smooth. Typically I go for a more straightforward gin such as Junipero, but the botanicals in Greylock are nicely balanced. This is a true London gin, I think, and not designed to seduce vodka drinkers, but it's lightness, smoothness, and flavor profile do make it unique.

I finally picked up a bottle of Fee's Rhubarb Bitters and had to try Katie's Say Goodnight, Gracie. When I originally read the ingredients for this drink I was intrigued by the combination of creme de violette and rhubarb bitters but after opening the bottle of bitters I can see why they work together. Anyway, love the drink. Nice for this hot, muggy weather we are having today. Thanks, Katie!

With all of the great cocktails that call for Italian Vermouth, I have no trouble working my way through a bottle of sweet vermouth before it begins to loose its best qualities. On the other hand, despite the degree to which I love martinis and like the Old Pal, the Bensonhurst, and the Berlioni. I don't seem to drink enough cocktails that call for dry vermouth to kill a bottle quickly enough. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some really great cocktails that call for dry vermouth to help me keep my French Vermouth fresh.

Is there any substitute for the rhubarb bitters or does this give me the excuse I need to buy another bottle of bitters?

For close to 45 years I've been mixing and drinking Manhattans. For me just about the perfect drink (after the Vieux Carré, of course). Tonight, when I came home, I found my first bottle of evo-lution's Boker's had arrived and so I had to pull out my copy of Imbibe! and mix up the Manhattan Formula #3 (New Standard). I followed William Scmidt's formula to the "T" that Splificator suggested including the Maraschino. What a lovely cocktail! Definitely a Manhattan, but with a twist. Thanks Adam for the bitters and David for the formula--a great combination!

Haymen's and Ransom are nothing alike. Haymen's is much closer to a contemporary London gin but sweeter and works well in things such as a Tom Collins. Ransom is quite different. I really enjoy making an old fashioned gin cocktail with the Ransom.

As someone not in the business, I think that I'd understand "classical cocktails" as what we find at D&C, Pegu, VH, and PDT; but "craft cocktails" suggests something much broader such as molecular mixology or any cocktail that takes its process and ingredients seriously.

I normally drink El Dorado 15 year straight up. Tonight I added 1/4 oz simple (1/3 raw sugar + 2/3 white sugar) with 3 dashes Angostura Bitters added one fat lemon twist on the rocks. Quite nice!

I'll have to second the Balvenie bottle which I keep and use as decanters and my wife would like to put a vote in for the Bluecoat. I also kind of like those easy to handle Knob Creek bottles.

I use Creme de Violet almost exclusively in one drink--the Aviation. For some reason I think it makes a very good drink into an exceptional drink. It has become almost an "essential" ingredient for my Aviation and so I do want it on hand even if I don't use it in much else.

Made my day Wild Bill!

My daughter gave me a present of Suze and so I've started with a Suze extrême from the Suze.com website (1 part Suze, 3 parts gin ( I used Tanqueray), over ice). I liked it, but decided that it might work very nicely with genever rather than London dry so I tried the same proportions with Boomsma Oulde and find that working very nicely. For those of you who have not tried Suze, but know something about teas, Suze reminds me a bit of Pu-ehr teas--the same "basement" or "rotting leaves" taste. If, like me, you like pu-ehr, you'll like Suze; but if you do not like pu-ehr, stay away.