sbumgarner

I've always wanted to give this a try, though apparently it takes about a week to make so too late for this year. http://savoystomp.com/2010/10/31/great-pumpkin-punch/

I tried this out last night, 3:1 Punt e Mes to Suze is not a horrible substitute for Bonal. It's missing some notes from the Bonal for sure (there's a pleasant bitter sourness in the Bonal this sub doesn't hit), but the overall tone isn't far off. If Bonal is unavailable and you need to use it in small quantities in a cocktail, this combo should do the trick.

That's a good point, Punt e Mes might be a better choice. I'll try that over the weekend and report back if that's indeed a good substitute for Bonal.

Maybe 3/4 sweet vermouth and 1/4 Suze would be a reasonable substitute for Bonal, especially if we're talking small quantities?

From last week, still haven't cracked in to the La Favorite Ambre yet, been wanting to try that for a long time.

First attempt at a drink with the 70-proof version, wanted to highlight the Cynar: 1.5 oz Cynar 70 .75 oz Dolin Dry .75 oz St. George Dry Rye Gin .25 oz Luxardo maraschino (I'd reduce this to a teaspoon next time) Stir/strain/one big rock. Lemon twist. Not bad, kind of a flipped around Old Pal template (.5 oz genever + .25 oz london dry would be a decent sub if you don't have the Dry Rye gin). The extra proof allows for playing around with other non-base spirit flavors without turning the drink into an aperitif.

My bottle of Cynar 70 arrived on Friday. I did a quick comparison between the two versions, the bitter cocoa flavor is definitely more prominent in the 70 proof version, but besides the alcohol presence the flavor profile is similar. I'll have to figure out the types of drinks where each would work best, more experimentation to come ... Regardless it's definitely worth picking up if you're a fan of the original.

I picked up a bottle of the St. George Raspberry Brandy. It's really funky in the nose, a little briny tasting, the raspberry flavor and aroma is there but marries nicely with the other flavors going on, it should lead to some interesting experiments. Because of that funk I thought it might pair nicely with Wray and Nephew and tried this Sidecar riff out. 1.5 oz St. George Raspberry Brandy .5 oz W&N .75 oz lemon .75 oz PF Dry Curacao teaspoon of raspberry jam 2 drops of salt Shake/strain/coupe I liked this, the touch of jam helped bring out the raspberry flavor that might have been lost otherwise. When the drink was ice cold it seemed almost a touch too dry, but as it warmed up the subtle sweetness crept in to balance it all out. Anywhere between a teaspoon and a 1/4 oz of 1:1 simple wouldn't be a bad addition, depending on your tastes.

Borrowing from some of Rafa's ideas in the flavor pairing thread I made this sour last night that came out pretty nicely. 1.5 oz Encanto pisco .5 oz Blume Marillen .75 oz lemon .25 oz orgeat .25 oz 1:1 simple Dash Angostura Shake everything with two expressed lemon peels, strain, coupe. Definitely a lot of nice floral notes/aromas without being too soft.

After some digging I found a post on Imbibe's Twitter feed saying it will be released in early October. https://twitter.com/imbibe/status/637002914221981697

Anyone have any info on when the 70-proof version of Cynar is coming out, or if it's already out where to get it? I saw an ad for it in the latest Imbibe but my admittedly quick and non-thorough Google search is turning up nothing.

I started to make this tonight (with the blanc) and as I poured the Luxardo I realized I only had a quarter ounce left and I needed to make two drinks. I swapped in Giffard Pamplemousse instead and added a dash of celery bitters to pay tribute to one of my favorite drinks, the Ephemeral (http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/2009/05/04/3030-18-the-ephemeral-thanks-a-heap-chuck/). This obviously creates a very different drink but it was a pretty good riff in a pinch, anxious to try it as intended now.

European Vacation 1.75 oz Plymouth .5 oz Kalani .5 oz 1:1 simple .5 oz lime .25 oz Strega or Yellow Chartreuse 1 cube of pineapple Shake, double strain, coupe The herbal liqueur acts stands in for the mint in this tropical-ish drink but obviously adds some different characteristics as well. You could probably bump the simple down to a scant .5 or maybe even .25 (depending on the tartness of your pineapple), these proportions taste balanced to me given the the style of drink I was going for but YMMV.

Here was my attempt at keeping the ABV lower than a typical sour the other night by cutting with sherry: 1.25 oz Junipero 1 oz fino sherry .75 oz lime .25 oz Giffard Pamplemousse .25 oz Cynar .25 oz orgeat Dash angostura Shake, strain, coupe. It wasn't exactly harmonious, but I found myself wanting another one, go figure. I need to explore more sherry/orgeat combos, I enjoyed those flavors together.

Most liquor shops aren't going to have a "Quinquina" section, so they put in the vermouth category. Lillet is definitely not a vermouth, but it's related. And to Adam's point, it is certainly not dry in flavor, regardless of their type classification. A martini made with Dolin Dry or Noilly Prat Dry would taste very different than one made with Lillet. This site does a good job explaining the differences between vermouth and other fortified/aromatized wines. http://vermouth101.com/

That could be, I have never measured if the all the exposed sides of two small cubes exceeds the surface area of the large cube. Were both sets of cubes roughly tempered the same? I find when I use large cubes that are still too cold I get more ice shards than I do from using smaller cubes. That's my biggest issue with the two large cube method, I feel I have to wait a decent amount of time before I have ice that won't shatter.

That's interesting, I know DA recommends doing two smaller cubes for improved texture but it seems counterintuitive that the two large cube approach would taste more diluted. I'm sure someone smarter than I am can explain it. Guess I'll just have to make some daiquiris and see for myself, in the name of science of course.

I made my second batch of the Death and Co. orgeat - it turned out sweeter than the previous batch, most likely because I measured the sugar by weight instead of volume. It's still very good but I realize I need to adjust proportions slightly to account for it. The Mai Tai I made the other night was a little out of balance, I typically do 2 oz rum mixture, .75 lime, .5 creole shrub, .5 orgeat but with this batch of orgeat I'd probably bump the lime up or add a 151 float or something. With that in mind this un-swizzled swizzle turned out nicely last night: 1 oz Neisson blanc 1 oz Green Chartruese 1 oz lemon juice .5 oz orgeat 6 drops absinthe 1 dash Bittermens mole 3 drops saline solution Shake with one big cube, strain over crushed ice into double Collins, garnish with mint. The full ounce of lemon mixed with the herbal ingredients balanced nicely with the orgeat.

An old-fashioned style drink for when one is in a sweeter mood. 1.5 oz Ration Rum (any aged rum on the drier side would work) .5 oz Lemon Hart 151 .5 oz falernum (I used Kaiser Penguin's recipe) 2 dashes of Bittermens Mole The falernum could certainly be dialed back, but this still worked for what I wanted last night.

More fun with the Giffard Pamplemousse last night for a little Cinco de Mayo nod: 1 oz Milagro blanco 1 oz Sombra mezcal .75 oz lime .5 oz Pamplemousse .25 oz Becherovka 1 tsp 2:1 simple dash of Bittermens Burlesque 3 drops of salt solution Shake, strain, coupe.

Milagro and Espolon both make pretty decent blancos for under $30 and are both usually pretty easy to find. El Jimador is another one that's decent in a pinch and is usually available everywhere.

That's a good idea, I forget about that one.

I picked up a bottle of the Giffard Pamplemousse and did a slight riff on a Brown Derby: 2 oz Rittenhouse .75 oz Pamplemousse .5 oz lime .25oz 1:1 honey syrup Shake, strain, coupe. This is close, it pops a little more than a Brown Derby usually does. I'd like more of the honey flavor without the sweetness, but I'm not quite sure how to do that at the moment. Maybe a teaspoon more honey, a little less Pamplemousse and the addition of a grapefruit twist and/or grapefruit bitters at the end would keep the balance. The Pamplemousse itself is pretty nice, sweet with just enough acidity, and they nailed the grapefruit aroma. I'd like to experiment mixing it with Becherovka or Hiver Amer to create an alcoholic Donn's mix of sorts.

I tried this last night, what a great drink. I didn't have EC 12 on hand at the moment but with Weller 101 it was still fantastic. It looked a little sweet on paper between the bourbon and the extra teaspoon of sugar on top of the simple, but the aromatics and spice from the bitters and absinthe maintained the balance very well.

The Hagar and Helga from Pouring Ribbons is delicious, and calls specifically for the aged Linie. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/10/05/hagar-and-helga-cocktail