EvergreenDan

I lined everything with this padded liner. It looks like white thin packing foam. The dishes slide easily, but are padded. You don't scratch the wood interior and you don't chip your fine glasses. Flatware and kitchen tools don't wear the finish off the drawer bottoms. I think if my cabinets were laminate on the inside, I wouldn't bother.

Steven, you might enjoy the defense of Rose's Lime Cordial in current May 31, 2011 issue of Wine Spectator (p.30) about the Gimlet.

Yes, welcome, Ethan. You'll find eGullet welcoming of on-point links. That's one pretty pousse-café.

Oooh, I put an error in the recipe on Kindred Cocktails when I added the simple back in. I used 1/2 oz when clearly the amount is 1/4 oz. I never made it this way -- just a typo. Thanks for pointing that out. Speaking of Aperol, I found an unnamed cocktail on Chowhound, which I tweaked and named: It's a very nice drink. I'm currently tracking down the given name of the creator, Thew on chowhound. The original was 1.5:1:1:1 with Hendricks.

I too prefer less sweet (without the simple). Intro to Aperol

With only 4 ingredients, there are only 16 possible combinations, one of which is the ultimate skinny-girl cocktail, a glass of air, and four of which use the unlikely combo of gin and whiskey. Even using ingredients from the pantry, that's pretty limiting. Maybe start with a family of drinks and get bottles to explore that? Say Cognac, Tequila, Rum, and Cointreau? Add lemon and lime and you have a bunch of sours. Add sugar and Angostura and you have some old fashions. Add seltzer and mint for a Mojito. Add tonic for a rum-and-tonic. Just a thought.

I sooooo wanted to like A Royal Union, but I just couldn't get past the sugar. I realize it's my issue and I'm sure many people like like it as is. I added some Fino Sherry, which helped a lot, and I think the nutty flavors are compatible. The flavors are good, but Averna is very sweet, as is Nux Alpina. I think with Fino and some different ratios it would appeal to a sucrophobe like me. I also might try only one dash of mole bitters as they are potent. I'd love to know others' thought and variations on this promising cocktail. I'm might try something like 1 oz Calvados 1 oz Nonino 1/4 oz Averna 1/4 oz Nux Alpina 1/4 oz Fino Sherry, only if needed 1 d mole bitters

Darcy O'Neil (Art of Drink and a chemist) chimes in on tobacco infusions. They no longer seem like a fun idea to me. Nicotini Tobacco Infusions, Art of Drink

Haha. I am tempted to enter this as a recipe: Whiskey 2 oz Whiskey Pour into whiskey glass.

Perhaps not the same sort of thing: I like Paper Planes (equal parts Bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, Lemon). But I love Paper Airplanes (sub Campari for Aperol and Ramazzotti for Nonino). I don't know the history, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was first made with the closest ingredients on hand.

I find the Laphroaig 10 to be a bit hard to like, and I don't think its the valedictorian of the Islay school. The 15 year is more expensive, much much more refined and easy to like (although this is from memory as I haven't had it in some time). An easy (and cheaper) introduction could be Bowmore Legend. It is still plainly Islay, but has much less iodine and smoke. Lagavulin is my favorite, but it expensive enough that I wouldn't recommend a bottle until you've tried it to make sure that you like it. I have Laphroaig Quarter Cask on hand, but no other expressions. The bottle doesn't state an age. Does anyone have any info exactly what this stuff is?

I would be interested in a tempered mixing glass. The ones I have seen are not tempered and break into a few pieces with jagged edges (rather than shattering completely into small pieces). Also, I don't see how using a dishwasher at a maximum of 100*C would matter when the annealing temp is 720*C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toughened_glass

If only Absinthe came in 50ml nips. To use your numbers, in order to have absinthe at $0.05 per drink, I need to buy a 1000 drink supply (number of nickels in $50). Just trying to have sympathy on someone who doesn't want to end up with a 100 bottle liquor cabinet.

Just had a thought inspired by the comments about the cost of absinthe: how about a "Greek 2 to 2"? 2 to 2 by Stephan Cole, The Violet Hour 1 1/2 oz Aperol 1 oz Absinthe (or ouzo, in this case) 1 oz Lemon juice 1/4 oz Simple syrup 1 ds Orange bitters 1 twst Orange peel (flamed, as garnish) Shake, strain, straight up, cocktail glass, garnish It is a very, very good cocktail, at least to my taste. It seems like it would go with Greek nibblies as well as a glass of ouzo would. I for one like ouzo, although I don't think to drink it much. But then I like Retsina with Greek food, too, so there's no accounting for someone who imbibes turpentine. ;-)

Good point. For something like the tiny rinse that goes into a CR#2, I think Pernod or Ricard would be a fine low-cost substitute, no? Or even ouzo or Sambucca if you had that on hand. Or for the really economical, perhaps a couple of drops of anise extract? (Harry Craddock, you know you want to roll over onto your left side anyhow. You're welcome.)

Back from the thread graveyard, I'm attending a quarterly dinner get-together this weekend and the theme is Greek. I was thinking of bringing some sort of cocktail, perhaps ouzo-based. Other than drinking it on the rocks, does anyone have cocktails featuring ouzo? Or perhaps should I be thinking of Metaxa (which I've never had, but I was wondering about a Sidecar with it)? I'm open to all ideas! I could even bring 2 cocktails if I can find two good ideas.

Andy -- What cooking do you do with pastis? Mussels come to mind. Candy / chocolate? Interesting.

As a frequent "typo-grapher" myself, sometimes you just have to laugh....

Katie - Can you drive to NYC and pry that Rosies out of Steven's hands? Would you put ketchup on homemade pasta, just because you are out of fresh-made marinara?

I like to see the ingredients in the mixing glass, but that's a minor point. I can gauge coldness by how much my left hand hurts. ;-) That said, the mixing glasses are surprisingly fragile around stone countertops. Having multiple glasses makes it easy to mix a bunch of drinks, then ice and shake them as a second step. (If the drink is stirred, add ice to those first to get a headstart on the chilling.) Depending upon the cocktails, you have to wash the shaker and strainer. (A little Martini flavor won't hurt a Margarita, but a little Margarita flavor will definitely hurt a Martini. Yes, I shake Martinis sometimes. Don't hate me.) For the same reason I have a bunch of OXO 2oz measuring cups. I can usually avoid having to wash one. Another good online resource for such things: The Boston Shaker shakers.

I found this: You could sub the Rose's for the fresh lime + agave and use the pomegranate syrup for the grenadine. Still, I'd be inclined shove the Rose's to the far back of the cabinet, squeeze some limes (you'll need about 15 juicy ones to get 30 1/2-oz measures). Or you could use about 3/4 oz of Rose's and 1/4 oz of fresh to keep the sugar balance and use up the Rose's. You can sub simple syrup for the agave without much change in flavor. You have 1.5 liters of Tequila, or about 48 ounces. You'll need to keep the tequila to about 1.5 oz per drink to have enough for 30 drinks.

Just tasted it solo, and while I agree it is only mildly bitter, it is still noticeably bitter. That said, Angostura, which I find quite mild, is more bitter, particularly on the finish. Personally, I like this product as a flavoring. I'd like it to be more bitter (and use alcohol), but it is an interesting flavor. It plays nicely with citrus.

rarerollingobject - Have you tried this with all St Germain? I haven't tried your version, but I think the Elderflower is nice with the other flavors without the support of the orange. My St Germain Sidecarversion is a simple 4:2:1 ratio. Regardless, I think this is a fabulous drink, especially for those not overexposed to St Germain.

Odd. I have not found St Germain to be acidic. Perhaps it has more sugar that it tastes, partially balanced by its pH? I would not have thought that from tasting it, and I certainly use a fair about of acid when mixing with it. I'm imagining that my experience of this drink would go like this: smoky -> similar to Islay -> wut wait fruit? -> get that out of my scotch. Cultural experience, I guess.

I was joking, although I'm disinclined to let a bad gimmick deter me from making a lousy cocktail. ;-) Upon further reflection, I do think a smoky note could be complementary. Although I haven't tried it yet as written, it sounds lovely. Edit: After posting this, I thought, "that seems familiar." Poor short term memory: http://egullet.org/p1791937 (Islay, Punt e Mes, Fernet).