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Care to share for the rest of us who are in our right mind and thus a "sinister" handed cocktailian? Would be delighted to have a channel knife that reduced the risk of having thumb flesh as a garnish... Sur La Table sells ambidextrous channel knives that I find superior even being right-handed. Looks like the one I'm thinking of is no longer available (or I'm misremembering where I saw it) but it has a blade like this: http://www.surlatabl...e-Channel-Knife Thanks. They have a local store so I will take a look next time I am over that way.

Too many open bottles lounging about in the fridge at risk of going bad so last night it was a Bonal "spritzer" made 2:1 with soda over an ice ball to try to keep dilution to a minimum. First was with a dash of Regan orange and the second was without. Liked em both and neither lasted very long but I think I prefer it without any additional bitters.

Care to share for the rest of us who are in our right mind and thus a "sinister" handed cocktailian? Would be delighted to have a channel knife that reduced the risk of having thumb flesh as a garnish...

Decided not to do Tiki tonight and instead went with a drink I have been wanting to make for awhile called The Veiled Remnant. It is a creation from Gabe Bowen who runs the bar at Restaurant Eugene which I think is one of the nicer retaurants in town (others aparently agree as the chef just picked up a James Beard award this year). It calls specifically for St. George Terrior gin along with Batavia Arrack, Bonal, PX Sherry, a barspoon of lime juice and a couple of dashes of Underberg built over ice and stirred. It just so happens I have all that! The use of Bonal and Batavia Arrack in the drink interested me. Not sure my home version is quite as good as what I got at the restaurant but still enjoyable. You never loose the gin in this drink but it was nice and full on the tongue and perhaps almost a bit sweet. The sherry shining through perhaps. The finish was a bit short to me as I had expected it to linger a bit more. One I will have to try again I think. Would love to compare my homemade concoction with the original by Gabe one evening,

One of the very finest uses Pimento Dram is to add 1/4 oz to a Navy Grog. Excellent! Nice to have some confirmation. I shall try it that way next time and it seems likely it will become a regular addition to my Navy Grog in the future.

And have you moved on to a new location, Katie? Seems like you were at another place before this. Tapestry I think it was?

What would be your go to gin for this? Plymouth? Something more in the Beefeater/Tanq range? Or is it pretty flexible when it comes to the gin? I have a fair amount of Plymouth on hand so that was the direction I was leaning.

Didn't get much chance last week while working the bar to sit down and enjoy any of the drinks I was making so tonight it was the Navy Grog. A very nice drink that was surprisingly easy to drink despite the fairly considerable rum content. Although I can't help but think that perhaps just a splash of pimento dram would take this drink another step forward.

Can't say whether the Miel Picante Punch would work cold but if that doesn't work out perhaps the Mother's Ruin Punch would suffice. Sounds like a great summer punch to me and one I plan to try at my next BBQ affair.

Cask strength does seem to be the latest big "thing". The newest edition in the Colonel E.H. Taylor line from Buffalo Trace expected in June is reported to be a barrel proof bourbon weighing in at 134.5 proof.

Hart of Darkness was quite good and proved quite popular at our little tiki-tastique event this past weekend. Tried several different Mai Tai combo's but it was a bit too chaotic to really get good feedback on the different versions. Zombies were tried but only a few hearty souls could stand up to that one. Two very popular options were the Spendrift, Jr noted above and the Navy Grog. All in all a very pleasant evening! Well, what I remember of it anyway...

Seems like you might be better served leaving that one as a shot and consider something like the banana daquiri that can be found in Beachbum Berry Remixed. Hard to go too wrong if you throw a banana in a basic rum, lime juice and simple syrup combo and blend it with ice until smooth! Although without a blender I guess that would be a bit of a challenge.

Sounds like I will have to try a little experiment and see what I think with the Shrubb. Tonights test run was a pretty straight forward and classic Mai Tai with S&C and ED 15. A definite winner! The Depaz has a little bit of age as I undwerstand it (maybe 2 years) but not as much as Clement or St. James I would think and so probably isn't quite as subtle. I thought it might make a good pairing with Appleton 12 but will probably wait until tomorrow to give it a try.

I'm a big fan of the Spindrift Jr. from Beachbum Berry Remixed: orange juice, lemon juice, passion fruit syrup, vanilla syrup (simple + a small dash of vanilla extract works fine), and Demerara rum. Also, don't miss the opportunity to try a Hurricane! Yes, the original Hurricane is on my short list but probably won't make an appearance a the event next weekend. But the Spendrift Jr was one I am considering as it is pretty simple and I have all the necessary ingredients.

Professor Wondrich was in town yesterday for the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival which is happening this weekend (only here for the day since he had to head back to NYC for the Manhattan Cocktail Classic). But while he was here he stopped in at the H&F Bottle Shop for a little book signing and I couldn't resist the opportunity to pop in and say hello! He was a delightful gentlemen and patiently answered the many silly questions I peppered him with. I also got my copies of both Imbibe! and Punch signed of course. In the background is Andy Minchow, one of the co owners and superb talents behind the bar at the Holman & Finch Pub. The sign that says "Congratulations Chef" was there in recognition of the James Beard Award just bestowed on Chef Hopkins who runs the ship at Restaurant Eugene and is also a co owner in the growing H&F Family (which includes a bread shop, pub and bottle shop and who knows what else!). So I had the chance to offer him my congratulations and thank him for the lovely evening at his restaurant a few weeks back. To stay on topic I picked up a few items while there and and during a stop at another store nearby. The Plantation overproof and Orgeat are for the upcoming tiki part of course. Had been curious about the High West offerings so I picked up the Bourye blend out of curiosity (which I understand has now run its course and has been replaced by Son of Bourye) and the Rendezvous which I have heard good things about. The Irishman Cask Strength had been ordered at a tasting a couple of weeks ago and finally arrived so I added that to the growing family. Finally the Parker's Heritage Collection cognac cask finished bourbon is a bit of an outlier. Had it at a bar a while back and liked it and then saw it on DUNY so I decided I might as well get it while I can. It just arrived today. Another busy week!

We often do something like that with a smaller group. This one may be a bit too chaotic as the guest list is pushing past 20 and climbing and we will be grilling as well as running the bar. To be honest it is rarely as much fun to be the host when we are grilling as well. If I can just man the bar it tends to be more relaxed.

The Port Light and Hart of Darkness both sound like excellent suggestions to try for the passionfruit. I will give 'em a whirl this weekend and see how it goes. Thanks!

And if anybody has a favorite tiki drink or two that uses passion fruit syrup I picked up a bottle of the BG Reynolds version of that is well. Have been flipping thru the Beach Bum Berry Remixed book looking for a good one that isn't too complicated but nothing has caught my eye yet!

Was planning a spring "tiki" party next weekend (which will really be mostly different variations on a Mai Tai) and have been going through this site and others for some recipes. Plan to stick mostly to the basic Trader Vic formula although I am interested in working some Clement Creole Shrubb in where I can. Thought I would use S&C with ED15 for one recipe. I also picked up a bottle on a whim of some Plantation overproof (73% ABV) dark rum from Ferrand, made in T&T it appears, and was thinking of mixing that with a rum agricole. I currently only have Depaz on hand. I also thought I would try this one from Sunny&Rummy in the Orgeat thread: The winning mai tai recipe and rum combination thus far has been: 0.75 oz Smith & Cross 0.75 oz Rhum St. James Hors D'Age aged agricole 0.75 oz Appleton 12 0.75 oz fresh lime juice 0.5 oz Clement Creole Shrub 0.5 oz homemade orgeat 0.25 simple spent lime shell and fresh spring mint garnish This is a bulletproof mai tai. But after seeing St James Hors D'Age (and XO for that matter) on the shelf for months now that I go looking for it it seems to be gone. I have everything else (too lazy to make my own orgeat so I will be using BG Reynolds). Would the Depaz work here? I find the Depaz to be pretty earthy/grassy so would it be too funky with the S&C? Any other thoughts on a good combo to try? I have a fair number of rums (ED, S&C, Scarlet Ibis, Appleton 12 and lots of good ol' downtrodden Myers of course), not to mention several curacaos (Senior, Brizzard, the new Ferrand Dry Curacao), not to mention the Creole Shrubb, so I probably have some flexibility. Any room to work some Batavia Arrack and/or Swedish punsch in the picture? And always willing to pick up another bottle of something if it sounds interesting enough!

If you are patient, you could get a synthetic swizzle stick from Boston Shaker when the become available. Seems like they have quite a way to go to make their funding goal and not much time to get there.

OK, sounds reasonable. After popping by to see Professor Wondrich this evening I may give this one a try.

Too good. No. I mean it. Too good. It disappears a bit too quickly. Thank you Yarm for pointing this out of overlooked gem from Gaz Regan's 2011 Bartender's Guide. I need to dig deeper into that book. I think I missed something. So what do you do with the 2 orange wedges? Are they just garnish?

The punch is called a Market Summer Bowl. Pretty simple with rum, watermelon juice and a few other simple ingredients. Don't see a link for it so might be worth looking for the May/June issue of Imbibe to see if it meets your needs.

Attended a whisk(e)y "class" last weekend at the Holeman & Finch Pub which I quite enjoyed. It featured about 6 different spirits to include Scotch, Irish, Canadian and American. Been meaning to post a couple of pics but keep forgetting. Nothing like getting moderately hammered starting about 11:30 in the morning! In addition to the whiskey tasting there were a couple of cocktails to include a mint julep using a tender 3yo straight bourbon from Big Bottom Whiskey out of Oregon. They also dredged up an old cocktail that didn't seem like it should work that I found rather pleasant in spite of itself, the Cameron's Kick. They used the Irishman 70 and a Benromach Traditional Speyside single malt as I recall (although it traditionally calls for a blended whisky like Famous Grouse), lemon, orgeat (They used B.G. Reynolds) and a bit of orange peel expressed over the drink and dropped in. Tried that drink again again last night, this time with Johnnie Walker red (no Grouse in the house) and Bushmills white and must say it was quite pleasant again even with more basic spirits. Then I decided to try something from the latest edition of Imbibe and settled on the "Ce Soir" which apparently means something like "tonight" or "this evening". Includes a VSOP cognac (suggests the new Ferrand 1840 which I haven't been able to track down yet so I used my basic house cognac, Chalfonte), Cynar and yellow Chartreuse with orange and angostura bitters, stirred and served up in a chilled glass with a lemon peel expressed and discarded. Seemed like an interesting but potentially challenging collection of ingredients but I found it quite pleasant! I do keep forgetting to break open the Drambuie 15 so maybe I will get to that one tonight.

Don't know if it is what you are looking for but the latest issue of Imbibe had a fairly simple watermelon based punch with white rum as the only spirit. Sounds summery but perhaps too casual? I think it was on page 52. It was in the section on the 50 most memorable drinks but can't recall the name or find it on the Imbibe website. Will check again when I get home and can look at the magazine.