lesliec

Prompted by this topic and a private chat with FrogPrincesse, I am no longer a Last Word virgin (now there's a name for a cocktail ...). Full disclosure: as some regular visitors to this particular corner of eG may recall, as a rule I don't like drinks with citrus. To me it makes them thin and ungenerous; I just don't like the taste and feel. Well, I regret to report the Last Word hasn't changed my views. All I could taste was lime, with just a hint of Chartreuse in the background. Definitely not going onto my Kindred list any time soon! I'll take all the bitter I can get (Fernet? Bring it on) but I just can't handle sour. Has anybody else got a particular aversion - perhaps I could say sensitivity - to citrus in a cocktail?

In my blinkered, Philistine way I'm always slightly dubious about room temp cocktails. They strike me as an abomination akin to iced coffee. But that aside ... Craig, how would the above be as a base topped up with dry Prosecco (or Champagne, should the budget run to it)?

One is torn between adding just a touch of water - it works wonders with Scotch so should open up a Bourbon just as well - and going for a 'proper' mixed drink such as the Old Fashioned Lisa suggests. Personal preference is for a mixed drink, but since your preference/habit is neat Bourbon I'd have to suggest water. But who says it's either/or? Have one version tonight and another tomorrow and decide what you like best. Jo, I learned recently this was known a century or so ago as 'smothering the parrot'. The parrot is a reference to the green of the absinthe. But what a marvellous phrase!

Plus maybe a slice of orange zest ...

Nice work, Craig. The second one sounds more like my kind of drink, but 'squeeze a juicy lemon' might have helped you out with the first.

That's delicious, FP. I used Rittenhouse and an amateur Calvados produced by distilling some cider a friend had made and decided he didn't like. Could it be any better with 'proper' ingredients? Hard to imagine.

Sorry, I can't resist - this is an NZ grub! Welcome, smitties009. Where in our fair land are you?

I should say so. If quinine in a G&T helps prevent malaria, how much more effective would be a drink that kills mosquitos?

Well, here's a thing - David Wondrich would seem to suggest the earliest Brooklyn (1883) was made with rum. I don't claim my rum is anything like the Smith & Cross called for in that one, other than being wet and brown and alcoholic, but it's nice to know I'm an accidental traditionalist.

I'm with you, Chris - I've had quite a New York geography lesson from the multitude of Manhattan variants (D&C's Manhattan Transfer stands out), but when it comes to the near-original I'd go for a Brooklyn first. As it happens, I'm drinking one now, but it's made with my own rum - which means it's not a Brooklyn at all, of course. Why? Because I found two unlabelled bottles and was convinced the contents tasted like whisk(e)y, which was most unlikely since the only grain-based thing I've made eventually ended up as a rye vodka base for genever (and very satisfactory, too). But I have made something from fermented molasses which I had just about given up on, but with time and a bit of oak it's turned into a useful ingredient. Even if it doesn't taste a lot like rum. So anyway ... has anybody made an 'official' rum-based Manhattan variant?

I like Lisa's foil idea, but my impression is the drip tray is more for convenience than anything. If anything does leak it's easy to remove the tray and wash it, but I don't think that consideration would stop me if I'd mislaid the tray.

Well, they would certainly have been spicy ...

Yep, unusual and worth getting. Some have even managed to get this far from home (which is LA, I think). I bought a bottle of their Chinese after the Hawthorn Lounge made me a rather nice drink with it in. And now you're going to ask me what the drink was, aren't you ... ?

We might possibly be able to find the Monin down here in the most distant reaches of the South Pacific, but without doing that (and I won't; I haven't been vastly impressed with other Monin products) my homemade orgeat is the only one I'm likely to taste. And I will say that it's one of the more delicious things in my fridge. Speaking of fridges, I find my orgeat lasts well beyond what's generally considered the shelf life for such things. The liquid separates out in the bottle so there's a (fairly) solid creamy top layer over a yellowish liquid layer; a hefty shake brings them back together and everything's fine even after a month or two. Your mileage, of course, may vary, but such is my experience. So it may be worth your while making a batch (the recipe I use only makes 500ml or so). And you'll go through your first bottle quickly anyway, conducting (ahem) scientific experiments.

Welcome back, Rafa. I believe I may make The Man Comes Around in your honour.

And your fortitude does you great credit.

Is that possible?

The best we could expect today was 15C/59F, and that's high for the time of year. But a Mezcal Martini is still pleasant by the fire. [Host's note: This topic forms part of an extended conversation that has grown too large for our servers to handle efficiently. The discussion continues here.]

In the interests of completeness, and keeping Kerry happy, I can now report on the Negroni. In a word, pretty good. I had a suspicion 1:1:1 might be a little too much and went with 1.5 gin to .75 of the other two, but I now think my suspicions may have been unfounded. Oh no - have to make another one!

That would indeed be a thought, but Death & Co's Manhattan Transfer was more than acceptable this evening. Toying with the idea of putting a slug of 2:1 Demerara syrup in the bulk supply, just to ease the dryness a tad. Nothing may come of this thought, however.

... and I can now report that two parts gin to one part of the above makes something entirely passable.

@helenjp, your advice was sound! I let the concoction sit, not in a wardrobe and not for several years, but it's turned into something that smells like ginger beer (ginger is about the only thing that's not in it!) and tastes like ... I'm not sure, but vastly better than back in March. I don't think it's like any vermouth I've ever had, but it might just about warrant putting with some gin to observe the result. I shall report further. Oh yes - not a bad colour:

Three months on, I decided it was time to bottle and taste (because you've all been wondering, haven't you?). As Jo predicted, the green has faded (kindly ignore the reflection of my hands in the glass): Oddly enough, it's greener in small quantities, like a glass, than in this bulk supply. We have some louche: I was in too much of a hurry so my water wasn't as cold as I'd have liked. For a first attempt, I'm pretty happy. Distinctly aniseed, with an interesting note of dried herbs - almost certainly wormwood. Not as rich in flavour as some absinthes I've had, notably Mansinthe recently, but I think fairly satisfactory (particularly considering the price!). It may now be years before I need to make more, but we'll see.

This is definitely a worthy use of the 'rule of thumb' label! The way I'd heard it, you touch your thumb to different fingers on the same hand then use the forefinger of the other hand to feel the different degrees of squish in the fleshy part of your thumb. This is much easier to do than describe! I can certainly feel the difference with different fingers, but I don't think I've ever used it to assess meat doneness. Experience and instict seems to work pretty well for me.

Thanks for posting that, Craig. As a result, tonight's drink was an Oaxacan Negroni. Wonderful (and now posted on Kindred).