lesliec

Excellent! Thanks, Michaela and Lisa.

Dammit - don't tell us that! We'll get all anticipatory. Or depressed, depending on our financial/geographical state and elapsed time since our purchase.

Oranges are pretty happy in the vegetable bins of my fridge. Not sure I'd like the Ward 8. Bit heavy on the citrus for me.

You'll be happy whatever the colour, Jo (although I agree black is best). There may never be a new model. I think they got this one pretty well right.

That makes perfect sense, in that anybody in their right mind (?) should want a Mai Tai. But the Hearst connection is certainly there!

I do make my own gin. Not in the bath, though - that would upset various cats who like to play in there. I don't think I've heard of a gin Old Fashioned, but it's an interesting thought. Might have to have a play with that.

As a confirmed Android user I haven't seen SV Dash other than the odd screenshot, but my impression was it showed time to cook and/or pasteurise at a given temperature for different foods. Why does the type of equipment (eg Anova) matter?

Hi Chris. I think you're right - being Hearst would probably have enabled all manner of things not available to the common herd. So yeah, the Martini (or Martinez) could certainly put in an appearance, I'd think. The theatre will seat something like 85 people. Facilities are minimal (I suspect I'll be bringing my own mixing glass, spoon, jigger, etc. if this comes off). Ingredients will depend on what drinks we decide we'd like to offer and how much the production wants to spend. If they ask me very nicely I may be able to contribute a bottle of Colonel Hawthorne's finest gin, but otherwise we'll be buying what we need.

A friend of mine is about to appear in a play called The Cat's Meow, about goings-on on William Randolph Hearst's yacht of that name in 1924. You may have seen the 2002 movie with Kirsten Dunst, Cary Elwes et al. On opening night it's been suggested they have cocktails available, and it makes sense to me to have at least some of them appropriate to the era. A quick troll around eG and elsewhere suggests the Twelve Mile Limit and the Scofflaw. What else would you suggest? If I'm making them, as I fear I'll be roped in to do, simplicity would be nice - I'm not a professional by any means; I can take 10 minutes to make something interesting at home, but I don't think that would fly for a thirsty queue. Another consideration is that many/most of the audience probably won't be used to full-power spirits, so if one or two lower alcohol ones (unlikely as that sounds for a Prohibition cocktail!) come to mind it would be useful. Let's see your drinks.

In this part of the world Coruba is a quite pleasant but pretty ordinary dark rum, certainly if put up against something like Gosling. Maybe you have different Corubas, way across the Pacific there. Chris, have you ever seen Bounty Overproof from Fiji? Lovely stuff, even if you have to go to Fiji to get it. I heard a rumour it may be available in Oz hidden behind an Inner Circle label, but I've never confirmed it (no use to me, as we don't get Inner Circle here either).

Yes. You do. Can't make The Man Comes Around without it, right, Rafa? And everybody should have one (or more) of those. It's also pretty near indispensable in a decent tequila Old Fashioned.

Yeah, they also make a 40 (or so) percent version. Haven't tried it. Our favourite, of the limited range in this part of the world, is Sazerac. Nice and smooth.

Jo, is that 'normal' Rittenhouse or Rittenhouse 100? I like the 100 for mixing.

I also haven't had it for a while, but I seem to remember it's quite sweet. I'd go Appleton + Gosling.

Raw goat? Ah ... cheese!

Literally that - stuck together with 'meat glue' (transglutaminase). See here.

Get some small bottles of Champagne? At least halve your problem. Although the clip-over Champagne stoppers seem to do a pretty good job, at least until the next day. I have to agree on the recipe. Just do it and see if it's like what you had. The lemon and Champagne will certainly add enough acid to cut the two sweeties.

Give the butter a quick zap in the microwave to soften it. Gently, though; you don't want it to be totally melted and liquid, just softer. Something like 20 seconds for a couple of hundred grams is about right, from memory. Or give it an hour or two at room temperature, but who can plan that far ahead, right?

... or if you do want to try the food processor, just pulse rather than letting it rip. Heat, as Heidi said, may be an issue.

If you can still get Appleton V/X there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. I just fancied some 12 for a change, particularly as the Jamaican Rum component of a Tolkien. V/X is probably somewhat less expensive, too ...

Appleton 12, Campari and 123 '2' reposado tequila. I've had their '1' silver and it was pretty good; looking forward to this one. And I clearly haven't been paying attention. I've just discovered Appleton is made by Wray & Nephew.

Do we need a drink called Sex and Violets? Rafa?

A very pleasant bar we visited in Brisbane last year had a nice barrel-aged Martinez. But thinking about it, I don't now remember if the whole drink had been in the barrel, or just the gin. On that subject, I've had a couple of litres of my own gin (at 55%) sitting in a small barrel for a week. I shall report further in due course. If you're enjoying your Negroni, why not simply top it up as you drink it? Solera system, if you like. Edited for rubbish typing skills.

They look rather like what in this part of the world are called horse mussels. There are a few different species - New Zealand seems to have its own, as has South Africa. The shell markings on yours look a bit different to the images I've been able to find, StevenC, but the size and shape of the shell looks very close.

One problem with the DAnte recipe is the requirement for a couple of 'dashes' of Fernet. Who knows what that means, from a bottle not designed to dispense small quantities? Try again, Chris - I suspect you got a bit much. A single barspoon of FB is quite enough for this one.