ChrisTaylor

Deep prep for Christmas pudding: various kinds of raisins, sultanas, currants and peel, plus a small quantity of glace cherries and dates, are now soaking in James Squire Porter and cognac. Suggestions of an ice cream pairing?

Here's the umeshu daiquiri I had at Sake, Melbourne: Black Zacquiri - served straight up 18 Ron Zacapa 23yo rum, Kokuto umeshu & fresh lime Sorry, no quantities given, but, I mean, it wasn't a particularly sweet drink or anything--and this is by my sweet-loathing standards--so maybe that'll give you some idea. I don't have umeshu on hand but if I wanted to make this I guess I'd just start by subbing the sugar syrup.

It gets along with dark rum. Seen it used in a Daiquiri mod and it was okay. They used a fairly sweet but accessible rum--Ron Zacapa--whereas I'd be inclined to pit it against a more assertive rum. Just to see, I mean.

Moving away from the locals with Ferran Adria's beer: Estrella Damm Inedit. I found this in maybe the most unlikely place you could think of: the booze section of an outer suburban supermarket. Mostly these booze sections, they sell essentially the same stock as the booze sections of the 100s of others in the chain. I haven't seen this beer anywhere else--altho', granted, I haven't really gone hunting down beer specialists to ask for it. I knew it existed. I didn't make an effort to get it. But hey. Today it was right there and it was on special, rendering it a dollar or so cheaper than a long neck (a large bottle) of a mass produced local, so ... why not? The label says that Inedit can be paired with ... basically anything. That Adria and his sommeliers wanted a beer--as in just one--that they could match with tricky ingredients like salmon and artichokes and cheese and citrus and 'bitter notes'. And so this beer was born. The label--it says a lot, really--mentions that it's an 'unique coupage of barley malt and wheat with hop, coriander, orange peel, liquorice, yeast and water.' It's okay. Very much a warm weather beer. Fruity. The wheat comes through nice and strong. Clean finish. If you like hefes I guess you'd enjoy this. I don't think it's amazing but it's nice enough.

1806 is okay. I think it's hit and miss. When it's quiet it's mostly good. The cocktails are generally well-balanced--I've never tasted anything that was too sweet or too sour (comapred to what it's meant to be like, I mean). I think the problem is the service. That's what slides when the place gets busy. You can't offer table service if you're going to pack in a lot of tables (remember, that's that larger upstairs area) but not employ many waitstaff or enough bartenders to turn out drinks at a reasonable rate. The atmosphere is also a little off. It can get a little loud and the choice of music is a bit weird (altho' not as off-putting as Der Raum, mind you). I think it's vastly superior to Gin Palace, however.

A couple of finds I bought on impulse: - Elijah Craig 12 for $20 below the current rrp. A store was getting rid of the last couple bottles in stock. - Ferran Adria's beer in ... maybe the last place I expected to find such a thing. Heard mixed reviews but, tbh, it was going for cheaper (again, on special--trying to get rid of it) than even some of the local 750mL bottles. So why not?

For Melbourne I'd suggest Der Raum. If you're not a member you need to book in advance. A bit too noisy but the drinks--altho' the menu doesn't look like it's changed since I last visited there a few months ago--are interesting enough to make this tolerable. If someone has a particular interest in whisk(e)y I'd direct them to Chez Regine or Kodiak Club. Neither are craft cocktail bars but their whiskey menus are very extensive. Chez Regine has a few hundred scotch whiskies, plus a fair amount of whiskies from elsewhere in the world (including Australia), on the menu. Kodiak Club is focused on bourbon, although it also has other kinds of North American whiskey.

Having tried that beer, I would agree with your assessment. Before you disparage all gimmick beers, the Funky Buddha Maple Bacon Coffee Porter (much harder to find since you can only get bottles from the brewpub if you are a member of their club) is a truly amazing beer. They also make a number of other gimmick beers that are outstanding, as well. The only reason I got to try this was a friend's partner--an American--had brought it over, as well as some other beers, when she moved here. I know only of a couple of places that stock a range of American beers that goes beyond Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada (which has taken off here, incidentally--I keep trying the new ones they bring out and find they're all nice enough but nothing special) and even then they don't stock anything like that. I've no idea how the postage of such things works--I mean, I suspect there would be a lot of tax involved, particularly for me--but if it was feasible I wouldn't mind loading up a padded box with some of Australian's better craft beers in exchange for the same from the States.

Interesting. I had that very reaction to turkey breast at 140F. Will revisit turkey at a higher temperature now.

Used the Bruichladdich Port Charlotte An Turas Mor for the scotch and, subbing in Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth, I added an additional dash of Jerry Thomas bitters. Lovely: tx, Stephen. This. With your modifications, aside from the scotch (had some Glenfiddich on hand). Nice but I'm keen to revisit with a more strongly flavoured scotch.

Rump 'roast'--as in a ~800g piece--for ~30 hours at 55c. Not a huge fan of the texture. It's too soft. I like the chew of rump.

If you hate yourself that much you should acquire some Cave Creek chilli beer.

More (non-scotch) whiskies: Woodford Reserve rye: good, probably on par with the entry level Saz, but I prefer their bourbon. Fairly sweet for a rye, I think. Knob Creek single barrel: nice enough but ... I'm glad I tasted this buy the glass. I don't think I'd buy a bottle given it's hard to find and expensive here. Pappy Van Winkle 15: amazing. The only * Van Winkle I'd had prior to this was the Old Van Winkle rye. The Pappy 15 was easily as good as the Old rye that I have. Tempted to acquire some, even tho' I think it's overpriced ($200AUD--which, sure, is a full $400 cheaper than the 23). Bulleit rye: only newly avalible here. Sweet-ish and probably on par with Wild Turkey rye. Yet to land in bottleshops but I get the impression it's going to be priced at a similar level to WT and Jim. Which is nice, as they're the only two reasonably priced ryes you can get in Australia (if you can find them, you'll spend about $100 on the basic Ritt and Saz offerings). Crown Royal: first Canadian I'd had aside from the entry-level Club. Not particularly nice. Not terrible ... but again, this is hard to find and expensive here (and it's the only Canadian I've seen for sale by the bottle here aside from Canadian Club) and I'm very glad I didn't give into temptation a while ago and purchase a bottle.

Rogue's maple bacon ale. Truly terrible. Developing intense feelings about gimmick beers.

I too noticed that in SA fast food chains provide full table service. The only one that provides even half-arsed table service here is Nando's, which of course is a SA import.

Heh. Just put a rump steak in the water bath and was reminded me of this thread. I've tried adding Vegemite to sv bags in the past and it seems to work nicely. Last time I added a tiny dab to ... I think it was blade steak from memory. A tiny, tiny, tiny dab--a closer relative to a generous dash of Angostura bitters in a Manhattan than a heaped teaspoon of sugar in someone's morning coffee--went in with the usual salt, pepper, ev olive oil. It really seemed to boost the umami. Then again, maybe that piece of beef (which was from a supermarket's organic line, granted, so it's not like it was expensive dry-aged stuff or anything) was just especially beefy. So I'm conducting the experiment again. A tiny dash of Vegemite in with a ~800g rump 'roast' for 30 hours at 55C. There's nothing else in there aside from salt, pepper and a little olive oil. Obviously I went easy on the salt given Vegemite itself is salty.

Here's what happens when you tip the still-warm wings and confit fat (about a kilo of lard in this case) into a container that's better-suited, size- and shape-wise, for storing in the fridge. Luckily it only took a couple of minutes on the stove for the fat to soften enough for me to be able to dig the wings out.

Too, just kicking this out there, but the mustard icecream, yeah. But also fruit. Think of Italian mustard fruits. Sure, it's fruit and mustard oil, which isn't exactly the same thing as a jar of the stuff you eat with ham and roast beef sandwiches, but it might be a combination worth exploring.

Short ribs. 56C for 48 hours. Altho' a friend tells me I need to try 54C/72 hours.

Manhattan using Wild Turkey Rare Breed as the base. For some reason it seems a little ... stronger than the Manhattans I've made using Booker's. Then again, when I was doing that, I was using Punt e Mes as my vermouth (purely because I don't use enough red vermouth to justify having two bottles open at once, even if PeM is a very different beast to M&R which is different again from Dolin). Maybe the bitter edge of PeM competes against the boozy kick of barrel-proof bourbon better than the M&R I'm currently using.

BBQs Galore, et al will deliever. Could always tip the driver to get him to haul it upstairs.

You could fit a barbecue on that balcony. Hauling those boxes up the stairs would be a barrel of laughs, tho'.

Another local. Prickly Moses Wheat Beer. It's okay but not the most compelling of hefes.

Well, I've made the mince and it's sitting in the fridge. I didn't add any kind of sweetener.

~$100 from Book-Dep is pretty good.