EvergreenDan

All the ingredients come from the EU. Wait. Snap. All the ingredients used to come from the EU.

Greenpoint-ish / Rob-ish Roy thingie. 1 1/2 oz unsmokey Scotch (Tomatin 12) 1/2 oz campfire Scotch (Laphroaig 10) 3/4 oz Punt e Mes 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse Stir, strain, big rock. Smokey, herbal, touch bitter, touch sweet. Fantastic. New fav. Needs a name.

Epic.

I didn't know tangerines laid eggs. Are the yolks orange? Sugar is simple to add to a drink, but difficult to remove.

@Smokeydoke It's hard to make recommendations without knowing what you like to drink. This is assuming you are stocking for yourself and not guests. If you're not sure about Scotch, try something at at bar -- maybe a Rob Roy. At the most basic level, there are two main camps -- smokey and not. Given your user name, I'm guessing you like smoke? You have Campari. If you like bitter things, there are lots of options to explore. Fernet Branca is quite bitter, but also quite minty (more menthol, I'd say). It is used in classic cocktails in very small amounts. Cynar is a wonderful alternative to Campari. Whereas Campari is bright and summery, Cyner is dark and autumnal. You haven't mentioned vermouth. Get 375ml bottles when possible, especially of dry vermouth and keep it in the refrigerator. I like Dolin or Boissiere dry vermouth. For sweet, I love Punt e Mes, which is more bitter -- sort of a amaro / sweet vermouth hybrid. Vermouth and other aromatized wines taste quite different, but they don't last forever. Don't have too many open at once. And with regard to brand, I find that with liqueurs, better brands are almost always worth it, for example Cointreau or Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao instead of your generic triple sec. With spirits there is a sweet spot. Better brands come through in cocktails, especially simple cocktails. But rougher, less refined brands or expressions sometime cut through the complexity of a cocktail. For example, lots here like Pierre Ferrand 1840 cognac -- a higher proof somewhat cheaper alternative that works great in cocktails. For the same reason, I tend to like unaged tequila in cocktails -- the wood makes it taste less of tequila and more of whiskey.

Yes.

@Smokeydoke I would suggest you find real, high quality orgeat or make some. It tastes like actual almonds (nom, nom, by the handful) rather than extract (e.g. marzipan). Small Hands is reported to be great. BG Reynolds is good, although it is tan in color which puts some off. I would avoid Fee. @JoNorvelleWalker is the Mai Tai queen in these parts. Probably has done more experimenting than anyone with this particular drink. Tiny correction. It's Kindred Cocktails, not Spirits.

Someone posted this from Fred Yarm's site, CocktailVirginSlut. I tried it tonight and thought it was pretty great. My wife, who isn't a huge Zucca or Cherry Heering fan, loved it too. Estocada by Sahil Mehta, Estragon, Boston 3/4 oz Mezcal 3/4 oz Cherry Liqueur, Cherry Heering 3/4 oz Zucca 3/4 oz Lime juice 1 twst Lime peel Shake with ice, strain into a coupe, garnish

Dibs on Bombogenesis. Now who has a good recipe for it? I'm thinking something either dark/warming or piney/snowy.

Arachnamaro?

Some interesting ideas from Imbibe: http://imbibemagazine.com/after-dinner-amaro-cocktails/

Oh, alright. You boozeshamed me into making Fish House Punch for the first time. I'm thinking Obsler (apple+pear eau de vie) plus some Giffard apricot liqueur for the peach brandy? Or I have a little Blume Marillen apricot eau de vie, but it seems a touch spendy and subtle for the application. I'm out of Calvados (having never again seen Dupont since the bottle I snagged about 5 years ago), but I have the Laird formerly known as BIB. Daron XO is probably available.

And to think all this time I thought flocculation was how lambs were made.

Adding a 1/4 oz of kick-ass Amer Boudreau to my normal Punt e Mes Negroni is not awful.

I always thought this was determined by glassware. Some bars use the 2 oz Oxo measuring cup and are hell-bent on scaling the recipe to fill it. After chilling, this perfectly fills their coupe. But a bar with a 7+ oz conical "Martini" glass wouldn't be able to this without appearing stingy. For my home use, 2 oz is a bit skinny, but anything over 4 oz is asking to be down-scaled or upped to yield 2 drinks. The drink you linked to has awkward proportions, so scaling it accurately would be annoying, whereas a Last Word or Negroni can be made in any desired size without mental gymnastics. I don't object to smaller drinks at a craft bar because I'm probably having two and don't want too much alcohol. But I expect a fair (not cheap) price and high quality ingredients.

Looks like you infused a spider for Halloween, Leslie.

Well, Campari is an obvious choice. Negronis?

1 oz Beam Apple 1 oz Fireball 1 oz Midori 1 oz Parfait Amour Stir, strain, insulin-rinsed coupe. Garnish with said green Jolly Rancher.

Along the lines of the above: 1 oz gin 1 oz Campari 1/2 oz Punt e Mes 1/2 oz Dolin dry 1/2 oz Zucca

The female form in the Suffragette photo is ironic.

@FrogPrincesse Midnight Stinger is nice, even though I'm not a huge mint (and therefore Fernet) fan. I'd make that again for sure. Thx.

Ratios? It's impossible to google for the recipe since "bridal cocktail recipe" returns a zillion crappy wedding drinks. Sounds like a Martinez, no? That's a handsome photo, BTW.

BTW, I use 1 oz each of bitter and sweet peel per 750ml of solvent to make the orange tincture. Not saying that's ideal -- dunno.

Taken....

I made a double batch, which makes about 4 bottles of Amer Boudreau. I had to buy the peel in bulk. I'd be happy to send this on to someone else who wants to make some. I've already given away as much as I can. I have about 4 oz of bitter orange and about 12 oz sweet orange peel. Use what you want and if there's more, maybe pass it one to someone else? PM me with your address. If no one wants it in a week or so, I'll pitch it. Recipe here: http://kindredcocktails.com/ingredient/amer-boudreau Depending upon what I infuse with (I'm using Everclear 95% this time), I may or may not add the water. I like something in the 80-100 proof range for the final product. Infusing for 3 weeks seems to be plenty.