-
Posts
2,601 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Everything posted by ChrisTaylor
-
A Rhum JM-based Daiquiri. 2.5, 1, 0.5.
-
For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
I bought this one because the bottle looked cool. It's a kimoto junmai: Shochikubai Shirakabegura. On the palate it's nose and, well, boozy. Harsh. On the palate it's more approachable than you'd expect. It strikes me as a bit bland. Maybe the temperature's all wrong (although I've generally found junmais to be best lightly chilled) but it's very ... closed. A bit sweet--like, honey sweet--but tres restrained. There's some melony whatnot going on there too, I guess. But there's a boozy bitterness. It's okay, I mean, but I kind of wished I'd been able to find this in the smaller format. -
For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
The Demon Slayer--a junmai sake named by a thirteen-year-old JRPG fan. The label says it's fruity and it tells no lies. The nose reminds me of pineapple, banana lollies. On the palate it's a little sweet ... fruity sweet. Balanced, tho'. Not my favourite thing in the world but not bad. -
Saw this on Kindred and it seemed appropriate for the weather. It's nice enough, although the meatiness of Millstone 100 trounces over my so-so homemade allspice dram and, shit, even the Averna. I like Millstone so much I can live with that, though.
-
The vegetables hardly account for a large portion of the finished dish. I didn't come away feeling like I'd had 'meat & veg loaf' as opposed to meatloaf. My experience with the dish is limited but nothing about the Kenji version suggested it was an outlier.
-
I made it last night. As a vile foreigner I have no attachment to the dish. I made the Kenjiloaf last night and really liked it. It microwaves well, too.
-
This. There's no incentive to work hard if you can't eventually buy a place to live.
-
For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
A junmai sake Fukushima's Daishichi sake brewery made using the kimoto method. I had no idea what that meant so I went to Daishichi's website. It provides some clarity, I guess. There's also a rather ... encouraging word about radiation leaks. I tried it chilled (and found it flat) before gently warming it, as per the brewer's instructions. When warmed the nose is boozy. The palate is savoury but fruity. There's a bit of grape going on there. -
For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
Tokubetsu junmai. Smells booze, rice-y (in the sense the aroma is fairly generic--there's no obvious fruitiness or anything like that). A little bittersweet, leaning towards maybe the bitter. Not all that interesting. But it's alcoholic and, sometimes, that's enough. -
I bought this passing through OR Tambo a couple years ago http://livetoeat.co.za/in-the-bag/reuben-riffels-new-cookbook-reuben-cooks-local/ I've had to adapt recipes re: ingredients but, hey, I'm sure you're a resourceful guy. I like the book.
-
A new rum on the Australian market, No41. It's named after a Brisbane rum bar, Substation No41. They commissioned this rum, apparently. It's inexpensive and low apv--37%--for what I imagine are tax reasons. Despite the price tag they're billing it as a premium rum: a sipper and a mixer. I wish there was a boozier version. On the nose there's rubber. Freshly burned tyre tread. Molasses. On the palate there's a boatload of molasses. Vanilla. I can't stomach a side-by-side with Sea Wynde but I'm reminded of it ... but not in a bad way. Almost like this is a somewhat sweeter, more approachable, less completely bonkers version of Wynde. It's very drinkable even though it's not especially complex or even especially delicious. For a cheap rum it's workable. Shame about the APV--I reckon the base flavour profile would be pretty banging in something like a Mai Tai or Zombie.
-
Rhu JM Blanc 100. It's hard to choose anything else afterwards--at least in the 40-45% APV range.
-
For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
Tezukuri junmai. Interesting aroma, even through a semi-blocked nose. A certain smokiness to it. Fruity. Sweet fading into savoury and back to fruit. Long finish. Strawberry-ish on the end. -
For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
Rihaku 'Blue Purity' junmai. Sweetish entry. Somewhat complex. Stonefruity. A bit of bitterness. Savouriness. Sweetness again--dried fruit. Easy drinking. -
Be Forewarned: a boozy brandy:tequila:Cynar 1:1:1. I subbed the bergamot bitters with Scrappy's orange.
-
Next time you'll want to trim it before bagging it. I don't mind fat in roasted meat but slow-cookes, vac-packed fat is disgusting.
-
In Zimbabwe I didn't have access to my kit and I was limited to whatever was sold at a reasonable price in the supermarket, but I still managed to make a few things. I wasn't so happy with the Manhattan variation I made using Three Ships Select (a blended South African whisky--I couldn't find the costlier single malt, despite looking high and low), M&R and a locally-made cocktail bitters. The whisky was a bit harsh for an Old Fashioned. I ended up gaining a fair amount of traction--relatives liked it, I mean--with the Collins format. The Ian Collins: 2.5 oz Mainstay cane spirit (that much of the plastic bottle stuff would probably kill you), 1 oz lime juice and .75 oz simple topped with soda water.
-
What did you buy at the liquor store today? (2014 – 2015)
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
I recently returned from Zimbabwe. Here's what I brought back. I've had the KWV 10 and Mainstay cane spirit before. I like both. The plastic bottle of rotgut is a special taste of Zimbabwe brought all the way back to Australia, braving the wrath of customs, for haresfur. -
For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
It's been a while since I've spotted something new in the small bottle format at Hong Kong Supermarket. Here we have a junmai from Osakazuki. It smells really interesting. Big fruit. Some kind of stone fruit, maybe. Berry. Strawberry? Dunno. Big and fruity on the palate, too. Quite boozy--without crossing into that sharp bitterness of some of the other sakes I've had. Rather cheering on a cold night. -
Food You Eat That Car Makers Would Hate You For
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
At all times I have a bottle of hot sauce in the dash console. I use it regularly. I do it because I'm a fundamentally bad person who drives while eating. -
For God's Sake! Is There a Sake Sommelier out There?
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
The entry-level junmai version of a sake I'd enjoyed previously. Less complex but still good. On the nose it is ricey, grain-y. A bit of booze peeking through. On the palate there's a sweetness to the entry ... junmai-y, rice-y savouriness. Rounded. Smooth. A tiny bit of bitterness--never unpleasant. Sweet again. Almost sticky but not ... cloying, if that makes sense. Savoury-sweet finish. -
You could use it as part of a split base in some other cocktail--e.g. 50:50 spiced rum to something like Appleton V/X.
-
Serves me right for making a blind purchase of something considerably costlier than a half-size sake bottle. EDIT Yeah, at room temperature it's still shit.
-
Oh, look, it's another long-dead ricey, boozy thread ripe for resurrection. Here we go: my second foray into shochu. Sort of. I mean, it's the first I've had since I got into sake. Says the label ... This shochu is made from sweet potato (imo) and malted rice (kome). As with a few of the sakes I've been trying over the past few months, the bottle is adorned with a 'Prestige Sake Association' sticker. Whatever that means. Now, not having tried this stuff seriously before, I'm kind of making it up as I go along. I started with it lightly chilled. There's a bit of classic rice booze to the aroma but it's much more restrained, much more closed than with a junmai sake. On the palate it's a lot harsher, even though the alcohol content isn't that high (25% APV). Peppery. Dry. Bitter. Umami. Booze. Not a fan. Now, it's a spirit. There's not much booze there but, hey, why not add a drop of water? It doesn't seem to do much. EDIT I'm going to try this again at room temperature.
-
What did you buy at the liquor store today? (2014 – 2015)
ChrisTaylor replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
I want scotch shopping today: Springbank 10, Longrow 10 and a mini of Ardbeg Blasda.