ChrisTaylor

18th Century. Page 170. 20th Century variation based on Batavia arrack. Used Punt e Mes instead of Carpano and the brown MB Creme de Cacao instead of the white stuff, purely because the white stuff's harder to get/considerably more expensive in Australia. I've never made or tasted a 20th Century so I'm not sure how this compares to the original. It's funky because, hey, arrack. The lime/chocolate/vermouth/monster rum combo isn't my favourite thing in the world but it's not bad in the way I thought it would be. Drinkable but probably not worth repeating. Naked and Famous. Page 185. A Last Word variant. I have the exact mezcal they ask for (Del Maguey Chichicapa) and the Aperol but only green Chartreuse. They call for yellow. I've never tasted the yellow so I can't tell if this is basically the same as or wildly different from the D&C drink. I never thought I'd see the day when stuff + Chichicapa would see Chichicapa getting pounded into the dust. Unless yellow Chartreuse improves the profile of this drink significantly I will not, not, not make this again. Not working for me.

My copy landed today. Couple recipes have caught my eye that call for Galliano Ristresso. Never so much as tasted that but I do have Illy's coffee liqueur on hand. Considering how long it takes me to work through a bottle of coffee liqueur, the last thing I want to add to my collection is another coffee liqueur. Would Illy be a workable substitute? EDIT Sooooo many recipes I want to try. I've barely cracked the spine and I like this book already. EDIT 2 Conference. Page 137. Ticks a helluva lot of the boxes that need to be ticked, at least in my book, by cocktails in the Old Fashioned/Sazerac vein by reveling in its glorious brown-ness and booziness. Rather grand, even with my substitutions: Laird's apple brandy in place of CalvadosA random bottle of cognac in place of the specific brand they call forEagle Rare 12 instead of Buffalo Trace Later in the evening I made the Latin Quarter, a Zacapa 23-based Sazerac variation, from page 257. There was a misstep. Unthinkingly I used cinnamon syrup instead of regular syrup. I only realised this when I was returning the bottle to the fridge. The syrup, of course, was the last item I added to the mixing glass. Fuck it. I'm not sinking a couple ounces of expensive rum without at least trying the mutant thing. Unsurprisingly, cinnamon syrup kind of works with Zacapa 23 and Angostura/Peychaud's/Xocolatl Mole bitters. It's not the drink they serve at Death & Co but it's workable enough.

Ardbeg is one of those 'stills that releases its malts, including many of the special releases, in minis. It's also a large enough player in the market to be stocked at most bars that have a collection that extends beyond Johnnie Walker/Glenfiddich.

Seconded. What's that old line? If in doubt, throw it out. EDIT And, yeah, salami is a cured product. But salami, ham and similar products--hanging at room temperature even in warmer climes like mine--are left in such states when whole. Sliced meat is a different matter altogether.

So, I made this (fish sauce included) and threw in some meatballs I'd cooked 90% of the way through while the sauce reheated and served it with some pasta. Workable. Good, even--and I'm sure it'd be better with San Marzanos--but to go all Devil's advocate I was somewhat let down. Maybe I just dropped the ball on the choice of tomato brand or something but it wasn't anything special. That being said, I could maybe see this working better with something with something like eggplant/chicken/veal Parmaigana than pasta.

Now this one is interesting. Takara Shuzo's Tokusen Shotikubai. A reminder about a point I made earlier: the English-language stickers on these bottles can be dodgy and this bottle, unlike most others, has no English labelling whatsoever. Flying blind. Anyway, the sake itself is nicely balanced: a lasting savouriness off-set by a golden syrup sweetness. A tiny hint of bitterness that isn't unpleasant. I don't know if it's nice enough to make it one of my future stock-up-on-in-case-of-zombie-apocalypse sakes, but I'd probably order it if I recognised it on a menu somewhere.

Pork cheeks behave similarly. Low and slow is the only way to fly. ~120C for five and a half hours. Mine, cut a little thinner than the ones in the video, were tender after the fifth hour but I wanted the sticky glaze. They had a little meatier than perfectly-cooked pork ribs. Alternatively, you could braise them or cook them sous vide. Or, yeah, enter the world of cold smoking/salt-curing.

So, hey, this is interesting: my first sparkling sake. Takara Mio. Nose is fairly restrained. Palate is fruity. Sweet. Has something vaguely in common with shitty sweet sparkling wine. That surprised me. I expected the similarity to end with the appearance and texture. This is too sweet for me. Low booze content: about a third of the booze of everything else I've tried. EDIT Fuck me. 75% of my way into the first glass, this melony sweetness is speeding across the border into Cloying Country (a region that neighbours Bat Country). Blergh. Luckily my missus is helping me with this. EDIT 2 Here comes another. When I did my first big purchase, the guy behind the counter convinced me to buy this one. Why? It's the most popular. Ja, they sell this one more than any of the others. I nuked it according to the directions on the packaging, taking that as a sign this was another sake that was 'excellent' when heated. Booze on the nose. Harsh. All up your nose like wasabi jacked with English mustard. Blergh. Entry is a bit watery and insipid then there's a slight bitterness. Creamy texture. A touch of smoke. Overripe/rotten banana before a slight touch of BOOZE on the finish. Most popular? These people are on something. And that something is sure as shit not good sake.

Newly-opened local butcher gets pork cheeks in once a week. I bought a bagful and only then thought about what to do with them. A sous vide prep like one of the ones in the Quay book? Eh. Then I remembered the episode of Mind of a Chef in which April Bloomfield went to some London barbecue restaurant that served barbecued pork cheeks. Barbecued pork cheeks? Sold. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the exact recipe online so I used this: I rubbed them with Meathead's Memphis Dust and sauced them with unremarkable commercially-made barbecue sauce. I didn't bother with the last step: reducing the juices from the crutch with some ketchup. They were saucy enough. Turns out, barbecued pork cheeks do everything they say on the tin. Sticky. Salty. Smoky. Sweet. That richness that only a tough cut of pork can deliver. It also turns out that a small quantity of barbecued pork cheeks is kind of a large quantity. Would make again but probably serve them with something other than a half-arsed coleslaw. Pickles would make good friends with these.

Boulevardier. For some reason, as a Negroni and rye fan I have not made this. At least, to the best of my recollection I haven't made it. But, yeah, the Boulevardier. What's not to like?

Just kicking this out there--I know nothing about tobacco and even less about pastry--but why not achieve the flavour through alternative means? I think Perique (the liqueur, not the tobacco) is nice. It's made with tobacco. Presumably the people that manufacture this fine liqueur know what they're about. The fact you're permitted to import into a nanny state like Australia suggests they do. In the same way people make, say, a Strega cream with which they fill cannoli, why not make a Perique cream? You get the flavour, plus the booze (as a flavour-carrier) and you don't need to stress about killing the people that pay your bills.

Rebannack. I like it. EDIT And looking on Kindred Cocktails for the American Trilogy landed me at this recipe: Rafa's Border Trilogy. Rafa's McCarthy schtick was hilarious so I made it. Kind of dig it, although the Ilegal Reposado kicks the shit out of the Elmer Lee bourbon (which is the bourbon I have on hand at the moment).

That bird logo again. Hakutsuru's Draft Sake. Says the multilingual spiel on the back of the bottle: For some reason, I expected this to be boring. I've found the Hakutsuru range, thus far, to be a bit of a mixed bag. This expression is interesting. On the nose you have big fruit. Banana. Palate is fruity. A little sweet. The 'fresh' business isn't just marketing shite. There's something funny there, too. A sort of dried fruit flavour buried under all the overripe fruit. Dates? A bit of citrus, too. The classic rice booze taste, as well as the taste of plain old booze, is restrained. I don't know if I'd call this sake accessible. EDIT 150mL in, I'm inclined to say that it is. It's easy-drinking, at least. Dangerously so. Maybe moreso than any of the sakes I've tried so far.

Hakutsuru Sho-Une Junmai Dai Ginjo. Supposedly premium sake. Dig the gold writing. Light-coloured beer on the nose. That carries over to the palate. Savoury with a mild berry sweetness. Strawberry? A bit of banana going on too. Not much of a finish. Bit of booze heat on the tail end.

DIY apple brandy? Nicely done.

The first sake I've warmed. The label suggests it is merely 'good' when served chilled but 'excellent' when warmed or at room temperature. Warmed it is then. Boozy. There's a bit of lemon going on and a boat load of umami. Tastes kind of ... generic. I don't mean that in a bad way. Rather, I mean that this sake tastes of sake. The rice booze flavour. The sake is American: Sho Chiku Bai Extra Dry.

We don't have as many chains. Certainly not in exact same part of the market as McDonald's, anyway.

Exactly. Paying +$X for an extra burger is all well and good but it'd be nice if you could also pay for beef tallow fries to go with it. I'm not a big McDonald's/fast food fan but I'll probably eventually get around to trying the 'gourmet' setup if/when it rolls out locally (I mean, it says it's coming to all stores, but there are a lot of McDonald's stores in Australia and continued roll out would obviously hinge upon its ongoing popularity). Think it's a ballsy move to throw down against the likes of Grill'd when, at the same price point, you're still offering a Macca's patty (it's not like the Angus patties are anything special) and the afore-mentioned classic--or perhaps a more fitting word is standard--fries. EDIT Incidentally, I'm curious if 'table service for gourmet burgers' will eventually translate to 'table service for everyone'. Is it a common thing in the States for fast food? It doesn't seem terribly unusual in, say, Southern Africa (in my admittedly very limited experience) with Nando's and Wimpy offering it. It beats loitering around near the counter or working your way through a crowd while toting a tray when there's a backlog or a big line.

This one's possibly too interesting after a looooong day. Aroma, straight up, reminded me of a pale ale. Very clean yet there's a smokiness to it. That mezcal thing is coming through again. Still loving the mezcal/rice booze combo. Makes me think cocktail potential in a big way. Maybe a White Man Comes Around. And that just sounds sooooo wrong, hey? There's a bit of fruitiness on the tail end of this one. Nice touch. Taru Sake by Kiku Masamune. This one's a winner. Along with the 10.5 and Honten I can see this one entering the rotation.

Story is a couple weeks old so I guess fast food watchers have already seen it but, still: http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/would-you-like-chipotle-mayo-with-that-mcdonalds-burgers-go-gourmet-20141007-10rd14.html tl:dr version: One Sydney McDonald's store offers custom burgers. Angus patty + choice of condiments, fillings, bun and so on. Fillings go beyond usual McD's offerings. Eventually this will be rolled out to all stores across Australia and, like the cafe thing, presumably overseas too.The touchscreen spits out a ticket. You take said ticket, sit down and ... someone brings you the burger on a wooden board. So, yeah, table service. Now, I don't know about the US, but in Australia damn near everyone serves stuff on wooden boards. Meaning I guess you guys did that back in the nineties. I think the fries are classic McDonald's fries, though. No sexed up fries to go with the sexed up burger. For context table service in Australian fast food isn't particularly common: you get it at Nando's and Grill'd (a burger franchise that McDonald's seems to be trying to muscle in on with this move) and, er, that's about it.Base price for a burger is ~$8.95AUD. Additional toppings are charged per item. For context the burger itself is roughly the same price (off the top of my head) as a Big Mac meal.

Tanrei Junmai. Like a lot of the ones I've purchased recently, this sake is a product of Hakutsuru. Catching Diego/SAB Miller vibes here. I mean, maybe their Australian distribution's just a whole lot better than anyone else's. This one's kind of ... bland. Maybe I'm serving it too cold. Clean. Finishes with that rice booze taste in a bigger way than the one I just tried but it's not as heavy-handed as some of the other junmai sakes I've tried. The alcohol is stronger on the nose than the palate. Bit of citrus going on. Fresh. Not much of a finish.

The English-language stickerage on these labels isn't very good. And my knowledge of Japanese, which I picked up in primary school, extends to being able to read hiragana with the pace and accuracy of a four-year-old. Kanji? Katakana? Forget it. That's an aside. Romaji would be nice. So, yeah, I realise my English transcription of what I've been drinking is at times inaccurate. Go by the photos, I guess. I know I will when eventually deciding what I want to revisit/avoid. Anyway, what we have here is a junmai daiginjo manufactured by Watari Honten. The packaging reminds me of the way damn near every wine, no matter how mediocre, is plastered with medal-looking stickers. Dig this, buyers: this wine has won a grand prize. In a competition we ran. In which this wine was the only entrant! First, second and third. But I'm being harsh, here. This sake's pretty good. It's immediately likable. Prestige indeed. The aroma has a nice touch of cider to it. Right proper stuff: dry French cider. None of that syrupy Scandinavian-style swill. A bit floral on the palate, a floral sweetness, but the cider note's still there. Fruit. Dried fruit. Sultana. Nothing overdone. This is subdued but in a good way. As much as I'm new to all this, this is probably a sake I'd give to someone that hadn't had much/any sake before but had a fondness for dry Riesling and dry cider and other dry, delicious, crisp things. Touch of pineapple on the finish. This is, I think, the most alcoholic of the sakes I've tried thus far but doesn't have the boozy punch of some of the others I've tried. Even that classic rice booze flavour is subdued. Rather than smacking you over the forehead with an alcoholic sap on a busy street, it refers to lure you somewhere nice--satin sheets and all that, nice music and maybe a box of Valrohna--and give you a good evening before nicking your wallet and watching you while you sleep. A femme fatale.

If you want to have a good time just give me a call.

Rice plonk o'clock. Hakutsuru's junmai ginjo. Superior. Superieur. Allegedly. Floral. Rose. A bit of fruit. Kind of restrained, though. Too refined. Too restrained. Subtly sweet, a bit of savouriness and a bit of boozy bitterness on the finish. Not a huge fan of this one. The frosted bottle is kind of nice, though. Like a shower screen. Here's another one by the same people. The standard junmai. Stronger fruity/floral notes than the more refined version. A little sweeter. Still that boozy edge to it.

Don't stop me now.