EvergreenDan

Andy -- Thanks for the awesome idea. I tried Smith & Cross (before I read your reply to Chris) and Batavia Arrack. Both were interesting, but I'm inferring that maybe I should try a less distinctive rum. I have Barbancourt 8yr, so maybe that? I also tried a bit of lime and liked it (1/2 oz). I think I might try lemon next, and maybe a bit less of it (1/2 to 3/8 oz?). I also tasted the Pine more than the Cynar, so I thought maybe playing with that ratio a bit (1 1/4 Cynar to 3/4 Pine maybe). It would mess with the beautiful 1:1:1 ratio, of course. In a different direction, I wondered how rye would work.... And then I thought of Ransom Old Tom (which would probably be 3 bulls in a china shop). This is a very fun drink to play with. I'm excited to hear what others think or have tried.

For something a tiny bit challenging with cassis, try it in a Wibble. It originally calls for blackberry liqueur, but cassis seems to work well: Must use good sloe gin, obviously.

Re Cranberries, I had some leftover cranberries last year at holiday time, and I thought the syrup from them would work. It was thicker than what I think of as grenadine, and had some flavor from the orange zest and walnuts. I put it in a brandy sour of sorts. I think there is a lot of potential in cranberries because they are inherently sour (unlike pomegranates). Therefore a "grenadine" could be made that would be a souring agent, to use in lieu of citrus. Actually, tamarind also comes to mind for this.

I wonder how adding vac-u-vin evacuation to refrigeration extends the open-bottle shelf life....

For lemon bitters, try a few dashes in a Sidecar or any other lemon-juice-based cocktail. Also delicious in selzer (as is grapefruit bitters). Here's one of my ideas that features lemon bitters: Here are another half-dozen ideas for lemon bitters from my database. I love grapefruit bitters, too. This delicious concoction is from Chowhound's DavisSqPro and, as luck has it, features Aperol too. I believe the name is mine as the author left it unnamed: And I recently posted my take on Eastern Standard cocktail by way of Boston Apothecary, which I named the Southeastern Cocktail. Here are a bunch of grapefruit bitters ideas. I just got the Bittermen's Grapefruit bitters. They are very nice, with a distinct bitterness. Potent, too.

Finally got around to fooling with this concept. Quite different from the original, no doubt, but interesting and a bit challenging (in a good "I'll drink this slowly kind of way"): http://www.kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/southeastern-cocktail

I'm in Boston, but I hosted a "liquor swap," where like-minded enthusiasts met at someone's house and exchanged small amounts of ingredients. These tended to be things that you'd want a small amount of, but that only comes in a big bottle or is expensive. Creme de Violette is a good example. Or Amer Picon, for the lucky. It was a big success. Next time, I think it will be more social, with some cocktail making / smacktalk during/after. I think you get-together idea is great and am interested in following how it works. I would be interested in being involved in the Boston area.

Re syrup -- it does add more dilution, no? First you have the water in the syrup, then you have the added ice melt to cool the syrup, especially if it starts at room temperature. I loathe the last sip that has either undissolved or more concentrated sugar. If you don't have time to fully dissolve the sugar, I'd prefer syrup. I have fond memories of my Dad's little wooden muddlers. Old Fashioneds were reserved for holidays -- Thanksgiving in particular, as I recall his mother particularly liking them. I think the muddlers came from his father. The drink was served with the muddler in it -- something I haven't seen elsewhere.

I went to try the Cochi CR2, but found I was out. I used Creole Shrubb and Bonal Gentiane Quina instead. Happiness ensued. I used Sapphire, but probably a more juniper-forward gin would be better. Seneca Drums Gin from Finger Lakes Distilling would have been good, but it too is all gone.

Please tell us more. Surely this would be massively helpful for bartenders everywhere. Thanks for the sugar lesson. I found it interesting and educational.

Since this "affordable brandy" thread has drifted into fall-ish cocktails, I made this tonight: Confusion 1 1/2 oz Apple brandy 1/2 oz Aperol 1/4 oz Triple sec 3/4 oz Lemon juice 1 ds Rhubarb bitters Shake, strain, rocks, lowball Confusion -- like a jumbled up fruit bin in your fridge -- apple, orange, lemon, rhubarb. At least it has "brandy" in it -- of sorts.

Thumbs up for Bittermens Grapefruit, BTW. I made a quickie gin-and-Campari and doused it with 10 drops or so of Bittermens Grapefruit. Dee - eee - licious.

Now here's an Old Fashioned (or not) for the strong-of-will: I'm curious to try it, although I'll have one eyebrow raised while making it.

Love Ernie: http://www.kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/ernst-happel Thank you. I increased the lemon a bit when I substituted R&W Apricot Orchard, which I assume is a bit sweeter that TBT. Also tried Chris's No-Name. I thought it needed a touch of acid and tried lemon, which was nice (1/2 oz). I might try Vermouth (or maybe Fino sherry, but I'm out at the moment). Interesting balance, with just the right amount of Fernet.

Well, this made me look up "attribution", and from answers.com, I got definition 1 as: This would seem to imply that attributing the recipe requires discovering the creator and giving him/her credit. Alternatively, the code could say that you pledge to not claim or imply that you are the creator of work which isn't yours it would have the same effect but allow discourse on recipes of unattributed origin. Of course I can not sign it. Or I can sign it but interpret it as I think is intended (even if not written). But isn't it better to require something reasonable, pledge to abide but it, and then do what you pledge? I am not a blog writer; I'm a cocktail database developer. My users (and I) may enter cocktails without knowing their origin, and something may not even recall a source. By leaving the creator and source reference fields blank, I think I'm implying that I'm not claiming it as my own. But I have not attributed it either.

Fabulous. Must. Have. Name. Please. Used 50/50 Carpano Antica and M&R Bianco.

I was all set to sign the code of eGullet code of ethics when I thought about this clause: But ... but ... but a recipe's list of ingredients is not subject to copyright and, even after some research, may be of unknown attribution. For example, if I discuss a classic cocktail, I may have no idea who's idea it originally was. If I want to discuss a Manhattan (and maybe my variation on it), do I have to spend 10 minutes figuring out a source for the Manhattan's recipe? Or maybe I read about a cocktail posted somewhere -- forum, blog, importer's website, whatever. I have no reason to suspect that the author of that writing had anything to do with the creation of the cocktail. Now clearly if I read about, say, a novel cocktail from betacocktails.com I would reference it with ease. Alternatively, I may have a cocktail in my recipe database for which I can't recall the origin. I now want to discuss that. Ironically, that discussion may lead to a discovery of the original source. This happened recently (Paper Plane, maybe?). Should the code be relaxed as it relates to recipe ingredient lists?

With food, a chef can reference something else -- sometimes vaguely -- and everyone appreciates the creativity (and sometimes humor). Why not with cocktails? Could Old Fashioned mean: a historic drink from various specific dates a historic category of drink, with historic variations a modern drink with specific modern ingredients a modern drink with with regional variations a modern category of drink, freely improvised In our lifetimes, probably most Old Fashioned's are made or garnished with fruit -- orange and cherry and maybe lemon. Maybe soda water, too. Since this is the world we live in, is this not an Old Fashioned, or at least a Modern Old Fashioned (a true oxymoron -- a meaningful contradiction). Re my drink being unwelcome in this thread: I didn't say that it was an Old Fashioned, but that I was playing with the idea. Substituting liqueurs for fruit+sugar+water+bitters is an interesting twist. As is using Mexican spirits. BTW the Finger Lakes liqueur is quite unlike Cherry Heering. Now has anyone made any interesting Old Fashioned's lately? I have this new bottle of Ransom Old Tom that seems begging for it. Although I might omit the sugar.

Chris: Comic attribution: http://xkcd.com under Creative Commons 2.5 license

For those in the Boston area, I found Ransom Old Tom at the liquor store in the Porter Sq plaza, Somerville. They guy said that it had just some in yesterday. They also had 3 good Mezcals, include the one that's $40-ish.

Pineapple plus the clove flavors of the Jerry Thomas bitters. Oh, my, yes, please. Makes me want to make another batch of pineapple infused gin/Campari/Maraschino for The Riviera. I wonder how Old Tom would be in that. Perhaps the other flavor are too strong for the gin to come through?

Oh, an Old Tom Old Fashioned. I'm going to have to hunt for Ransom, both for this and the Negroni.

2 oz Irish Whiskey 1 oz breast milk That's for the 5 week old, of course. The 2 year old is weaned. Next problem?

Heck, I never said it was an Old Fashioned, but rather that I was playing with the concept (using liqueurs instead of the muddled orange and cherry, and amaro for the bitters). Maybe it's a New Fashioned?

Foolin' around tonight on the Old Fashioned theme: 2 oz rye 1 oz Cherry Liqueur (Finger Lakes Distilling, quite dry and fresh) 1/4 oz Meletti 1 dash Angostura Orange 1 spiced cherry (homemade) and lemon swath for garnish I enjoyed it. Also made one with Cognac, which was nice too. The Finger Lakes product is much dryer than, say, Cherry Heering, and much purer (less complex, more fresh-tasting). Thanks for the inspiration.