EvergreenDan

I have noticed Sorrel liqueur (made by Jack from Brooklyn) in the liquor store but haven't tried it. I realize now that this is hibiscus, not the lemony herb sorrel.

Right you are. A bit of trickery goes into making the conversions sufficiently, but not overly, precise. 40 ml = 1.35256 oz. If you can set you ml / oz preference in your account profile.

Rafa -- If you find a good use for Malacca, let me know. It tastes like global warming killed all the pine trees.

Lemon Hart 151 and W&N neat? Asbestos esophagus?

"Hobbit forming". A new low. Congratulations! Wait, it gets worse. The Tangelo liqueur is made by .... Schnapp Dragon Distillery.

Rafa -- make your own peach liqueur: select the pink Skittles from a bag and infuse in can of turpentine.

Thanks, PV; I was wondering what Scotch you used. I'm not sure I can get this one over on my wife. She did however like Maks's Red Hook Burning, which surprised me a bit. I'm thinking that something like Auchentoshan Three Wood and Punt e Mes would make a pretty wonderful Affinity (which is really an equal-parts perfect Rob Roy, right?).

No grapefruit, but I tried: 2 oz Rhum JM (white) 1 oz Leopold Maraschino 1/2 oz lime juice 1/4 oz simple 1 Luxardo Marschino cherry OK, not very Hemingway, but a nice (but not spectacular) drink. Not too much Maraschino at all. I was surprised that it needed the simple, although if I were in the mood for a bracingly sour drink, I'd skip it. I'm starting to think that Leopold Maraschino is like good cognac -- just gets lost in a cocktail.

@Frog -- please let us know what you think of Apry re R&W Orchard Apricot. I'm afraid to buy another bottle of MB product as I've been disappointed in every one I've tried. I don't much like fruity liqueurs, but I don't object to Orchard Apricot in limited quantities. The candy-like aspect I find is much stronger in Peach liqueur, such as Mathilde Pêche, which I think requires a deft hand to avoid craptailosity.

Yes, I would say so.Maraschino doesn't taste particularly strongly of cherry. It tastes like... well... maraschino. Kind of like a sweetened cherry grappa, if that makes any sense. I assume that the "grappa-like" quality comes from the fact that it is distilled not only from the cherry fruits but also the pits, stems, etc. Cherry grappa is exactly what it is. The entire family of Ex-Yugoslav beverages, of which šlivovic is the best-known, are mistakenly referred to as brandies. But there, these liquors are known as "rakijas" which is the word for grappa. I've had rakija from carob pods, walnuts (my favorite, Orahovac), pear, quince, and some grassy herbal ones that are considered medicinal. Christina, You seem to have some personal knowledge of spirits that readers of this forum would find interesting. I encourage you to share what you know -- your efforts will be appreciated. As I understand it, a grappa is made from distilling the fermented pomace (remaining pulp, skin, seeds, stems after pressing the juice from the must (squished whole grapes)). Are you saying that "cherry grappa" is made from distilling what's left over after squeezing out cherry juice? I would contrast this to an general eau-de-vie which is made from distilling the fermented must or juice of a fruit. Kirschwasser is perhaps the most famous eau-de-vie of the stone fruit family (distilled from fermented crushed whole cherries). Maraschino liqueur -- and the Luxardo brand in particular -- has a strong funky non-cherry flavor that its unique and difficult to describe. Interestingly the Leopold Maraschino liqueur has a much stronger cherry flavor, and much less funk. I'm not sure how best to use the Leopold product. It seems to get lost in cocktails that were designed for Luxardo (e.g. Last Word/Ward/Whatever). It is lovely on its own and maybe needs some brand-specific recipes.

I'd go here: http://climaxmoonshine.com/buy And start calling to see if you can find a store that will ship. First you should see if it's legal to ship into Nebraska. Their site does not make it very easy to distinguish bars that are serving it from stores that are selling it. I guess the Moonshiners show has helped out his business. Brilliant marketing by Tim Smith. "Hey work with a legal distillery, I bet I can sell a ton of product off the show's popularity." Off topic, but why aren't the folks on the show immediately arrested? Even if they shots around the stills and moonshine are faked to protect them, you'd still think that they would be staked out by and eventually arrested.

Kingdom of the West? (From the wikipedia article about Morocco.)

Oh my that's a lovely photo.

Um, here's a ton of sherry recipes: http://www.kindredcocktails.com/cocktail?scope=0&ingredient=Sherry (If you're not logged in, you only see 10 at a time)

?? Or is Marshall Matt Dillon's sidekick making syrup now?

I took the recipe from the beta cocktails book itself, yes. Right then. Agave it shall have. Probably this very evening. Yup. Fixed. Thanks.

@Chris -- have to laugh at the statuesque Maraschino. I installed my drawers after measuring that damn thing. Fortunately I found a 375 of Galliano.

Geez, I'm out on a Sibilia bender and you guys have me in a tutu when I return. I like it. In honor of my dad, I lit the candle and made: 2 oz Willet rye (110 proof) 1/2 oz Punt e Mes 1/2 oz Dolin dry 1/2 dropper housemade Forest bitters (thank you Zachary) 1 Luxardo cherry Lovely ice sphere His dad used to drink perfect Manhattans, so it sort of honors both. His usual was a Martini with 1 part Boissiere to 2 parts gin and a big olive, on built in a nice glass. Tomorrow.

But you did share your rather-nice photo there.

The Bitter Mai Tai is how I drink up orgeat before it goes bad.

Cachaca is probably closer than Barbancourt, I'd venture.

I'm with Frog (gin Martini), although a gin French 75 or plain Champagne would be nice. I'm imagining something dry (not sweet, not sour) and bracing to go with the salt / sea flavor of the caviar. My other thought would be a clean, mild single malt (maybe Highland?), which works well with sushi. Sounds like fun.

Crap. Drambuie resistance is, apparently, futile.

I tried the Turkish Song of the Damned by Rafa. I'm not a coffee drink guy, and I appreciated the drink without loving it. It might be nice with a dessert. I then made it again using more Cynar in lieu of the coffee and liked that a bit better. I then added 1/2 oz dry vermouth and liked it even more. However at that point, it was rather a different drink. But then I much rather my Irish Coffee deconstructed.

Boy, did not like this. The orange put me off. I'd try it again with Aperol or Amer Boudreau, though.