tanstaafl2

The Blonde Wood (I know, it sounds like a joke is to follow...) 1.5 Rye (Used Bulleit) 1.0 Dupont Pommeau de Normandie 0.5 Lillet "Blonde" (Blanc) Apparently Lillet is describe either way depending on where you are located. Here the bottles say Blanc but "The Blanc Wood" doesn't have quite the same ring I suppose. I think this is the correct formula. Will have to check when I get home this evening. Perhaps a bit sweet with a touch of bitterness on the back end from the Lillet. But interesting and worth trying again. Cocchi Americano might also be worth a try. Have had a small glass of the Prunier Pineau des Charentes most evenings for the last few days as well. My, my is that addictive... Only brand I have tried and only one available locally that I have seen so far. Are there others people recommend that I should try to push for? Several noted at K&L and Beltramos and Astor has Jean-Luc Pasquet but I know nothing about them.

I bought Zacapa along with El Dorado 15yo and Barbancourt 8yo a few months ago to try a selection across a range of prices (from the $20s, $30s and $40s here locally). The Zacapa was the most expensive of course with ED in the middle and of those I would buy the ED again first over the others. At $80 I don't know that I would have bought Zacapa to begin with and I am pretty sure I wouldn't now. While I like it well enough I am not sure I will rush out to replace it when gone for $40-45. I see it currently listed on Beltramos for $36 and K&L for $37 (It is higher on NY websites). Might consider it at that price if I could find it locally but it tends to be low/mid $40s here. Zafra is another brand that store reps have suggested is similar to Zacapa (there is some sort of connection between the two I am told) but it is usually around the same price so I have never tried it. I think your rum cabinet seems pretty varied and unless you just really wanted to try it you might wait to see if an opportunity presents itself to get it at a better price. Or try some at a bar that carries it and use that experience to decide! I have given into my impulse to buy a bottle to try something more than a few times lately and have a some nearly full bottles occupying shelf space that I am looking for a way to use up...

I would agree that while it was nice enough at around $45 I probably would not go out of my way to get it at that cost again. I think El Dorado 15 is excellent, if a little different, at generally a lesser cost. If you can get the El Dorado 21 at $80 or so (it is about $75-80 here) then I would think it would be even better (but I have never had it). I think Flor de Cana 18yo is also a nice aged rum that is somewhat similar as well that might be less if available. It is around $38-40 here. They also have a Centenario 21 which gets good reviews but I have never had it and it is $100 plus I think. Do you get south of the border with any regularity or have friends who would bring it to you that do? Zacapa 23 is pretty common place here in Georgia and I would presume is also pretty easy to find in the northeast although I don't know that for a fact.

Kronan and friend. Started things off with a little pour neat. Relatively low proof at 26% ABV so very easy to drink on its own. Plenty of rum taste to start and yet not so much as the Arrack lends a unique character to the drink. Long pleasant slightly oily finish that was quite pleasant! Next I introduced a bit of fresh lime juice to our new guest in a 2:1 punsch/lime juice ratio shaken with ice and served up. Once again it did not disappoint although it took on a whole new character to me with the lime juice really shining through to make this almost a subtle "limeade" drink (not quite the right description but hard to describe!). Very pleasant although I don't think I would want to use more than a 2:1 ratio. Tonight I hope to pair it up with a rum or two with the lime. I think it could also make a superb old fashioned of sorts when paired with rum, perhaps S&C for a little bite. Will probably also try the Appleton to see what if any differences I can find. Doesn't seem likely to need sugar so perhaps a dash or two of orange bitters and a lime twist over a big cube of ice would be perfect.

Tanstaafl2 -- I saw a bottle of Kronan at H&F about 3 hours ago! Must have just missed you as I bought a bottle there about 2 1/2 hours ago.

The ship has docked in Atlanta. Which is a pretty good trick considering how far from the coast we are... Picked up my Kronan this afternoon and will give it a go as suggested with a bit of fresh lime juice and some ice before any additional explorations are attempted. But a Doctor Cocktail paired with a little additional rum won't be too far behind! Perhaps another good opportunity for the Appleton Extra or the S&C. Now I just have to hope that after 8 or 9 months of trying to acquire some Swedish Punsch I haven't raised my expectations to an unattainable level! I may still pick up a bottle of punsch while in Europe next summer just for comparison. Carlshamns seems to be the brand I see advertised in London most often. Any other brands to be on the lookout for?

Excellent! Thanks for the update. Delighted to hear you are including Georgia in the early roll out. I have already placed my order for at least 2 bottles as soon as its available.

CocktailDB notes 56 of 'em! The Knickerbein Cocktail #2 sounds interesting among several others. The Cuban Egg Nog I made for New Years used egg yolks only but don't know if that is the sort of thing you are looking for and probably hard to scale down.

Yes, I expect Kronan will be available eventually. Just a question of when as Georgia liquor laws seem to be arcane at best. The store thought it might take three months or more. We shall see. The Ghost of the Pine does indeed sound quite interesting given my recent acquisitions. Will have to figure out a mezcal substitute as I don't currently have Vida. Maybe the Sombra will suffice. It is certainly smokey enough.

The cognac was the Chalfonte VSOP. Not a big cognac drinker so that is my usual mixing cognac. But it tastes pretty good to me and seems to get decent reviews. I will begin to make a few individual portions to try starting with the Appleton Extra 12yo I got yesterday and then experiment from there with S&C and a few others as suggested as time permits. The Apple brandy idea also sounds interesting but I don't think the Laird's bonded is readily available here. I have Applejack and the 12 yo apple brandy which could probably fill in well for cognac as it is far more brandy-ish than it is Applejack. Had a bit of punch left over and have been drinking it with a healthy splash of pomegranate juice. Probably heretical but I think it is quite tasty! The punch also seems to be gaining a bit of character each day as it sits in the fridge.

Well, that's two votes for 2 parts cognac to 1 part rum so I guess I will have to give that a try! I had read about and considered making the oleo-saccharum but I have never done it before and started to run out of time so I didn't this time.

Should I use 1/4 Jamaican Rum and 1/2 Cognac or should this be reversed? Most recipes seemed to have more rum than cognac. I do plan to try again with a few small batches. I purchased some Appleton Extra today just for this purpose and I do have a variety of other rums to include Plantation 20th Anniversary, Scarlet Ibis and some Smith & Cross as well. I thought the Smith & Cross might be a little too distinctive here but perhaps not? I will probably need to step up my cognac for this as well!

Whilst out on a mission today to try to stir up interest in getting Kronan Swedish Punsch to Georgia I of course took a moment to see what else was in, especially looking for the Rittenhouse Rye BIB which I had noticed was back in some of the online shops. Lo and behold there it was! And nobody had called me! What were they thinking??? In any case I picked up a couple of those so that is one less thing I have to order over the internet. If the Kronan is indeed available locally I may hold off on ordering anything for the moment. As usual I succumbed to a couple of impulse buys while I was there. I discovered a bottle of Boker's bitters at H&F bottle shop and decided I needed that for my next Martinez, price be damned. Also picked up a bottle of the Zirbenz Stone pine liqueur purely out of curiosity. I had been talking about Pineau des Charentes with the staff and they suggested Famille L. Dupont Pommeau de Normandie as a kind of apple Pineau so I got sucked into that one too! Rounded it out with a bottle of Elmer T. Lee bourbon and also decided to pick up a bottle of Appleton Extra to see if my punch was really that bad or if I just have no sense of taste at all! While I was buying my party supplies last week for New Years Eve I had also picked up a few new things I just never got around to mentioning. That included the Nux Alpina walnut liqueur (375 ml) that appeared to be on closeout, a bottle of Bernheim straight wheat whiskey because it intrigued me, the aforementioned Prunier Pineau des Charentes, Punt e Mes because I had been meaning to get one but never got around to it and a bottle of Don Diego Santa reposado tequila. Had the añejo at a restaurant recently and really liked it so I thought I would give the reposado a try. It has been a busy week!

Outside chance it will be available in Georgia soon! If not I guess I will have to hope Astor keeps some in stock for the next week or so until I know for sure.

Perhaps Imbibe magazine has jumped the gun. Pretty sure it listed K&L as the source but will check when I get home as I could have disremembered... But it is not coming up on the K&L website. It is on Astor though at $30 a pop. Plus shipping of course! Checked and Imbibe does indeed list K&L as the source so that seems a bit odd. Might mention this to them if you go by there again! Contacted Drink Up NY but they indicated they had no plans to add it to their inventory and that the supplier wouldn't sell loose bottles for a special order. Kind of annoying. In fact I don't think I have ever had a shopping list of items that I can't seem to find locally that I can order from a single supplier. There is always at least one thing they don't seem to carry. Just Tanstaafl's Corollary to Murphy's Law in action I suppose...

Hardly surprising it didn't blow your skirt up if you were using Meyers's--a waste of the precious Kuchan! What recipe did you use? I used this fairly simple recipe from Splificator in Esquire. It calls for only a small amount of the Kuchan so I didn't feel too bad about using it, especially as it was my only peach brandy handy (and I noted when I got it that I had found it a bit underwhelming anyway. I guess I have an unsophisticated palate...). Myer's is a brand that seems to have been in our household for as long as I can remember (the early 70's at least!) so I have a certain fondness for it even if others don't much care for it. I thought it did a fine job holding up the punch but I have never had any version of this punch before. I will have to make up a couple of versions of individuals portions at some point using different rums just to see if I note any profound differences. The guests seemed to like it so that is what counts! I guess they have similarly unsophisticated palates like I do...

Perhaps Imbibe magazine has jumped the gun. Pretty sure it listed K&L as the source but will check when I get home as I could have disremembered... But it is not coming up on the K&L website. It is on Astor though at $30 a pop. Plus shipping of couse!

Glad to hear the party went well! I did end up making the Fish House Punch (which I gave the bland name of New Year's Punch) for our party along with a Crème de Vie (Cuban egg nog) from a recipe provided by a Cuban friend. 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 can evaporated milk 6 egg yolks 2 cups sugar 1 cup water 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup white rum (4yo Flor de Caña white - I may have inadvertently over poured this particular ingredient...) No one had to worry about driving home drunk after having the egg nog because if the salmonella didn't get you then the ensuing heart attack probably would. But it was damned tasty! Somehow I seemed to have lost all the pictures I took that evening other than one I took of the punch at the start of the evening. Not quite sure how that happened and yes, I do remember the whole evening! I left the punch unadorned as instructed by Splificator in his Esquire article other than an ice ring. Next to it you can see the egg nog and the menu of Champagne cocktails behind it. The Raspberry Bellini (a late addition to the menu) proved popular and I made a Seelbach cocktail for myself which I thoroughly enjoyed. Well worth having any time as far as I am concerned! Seelbach Cocktail • 1 ounce bourbon (Knob Creek 100 proof) • 1/2 ounce Cointreau • 7 dashes (4.5ml) Angostura bitters • 7 dashes (4.5ml) Peychaud’s bitters • 5 ounces chilled dry Champagne Pour everything except the Champagne into a Champagne flute and stir. Top with Champagne, give everything a light stir, and garnish with an orange twist Raspberry Bellini • 1 spoonful raspberry sorbet, softened • 1/2 ounce citrus vodka • 4 ounces prosecco • 1 to 2 raspberries, for garnish Combine the sorbet with the vodka in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Add the prosecco and stir. Strain into a chilled champagne flute and garnish with floating raspberries Alas it was not a very adventurous crowd and I had no takers for the Negroni Sbagliato, Soyer au Champagne or Snowshoe so I will have to save those for another time. I certainly have plenty of leftover champagne so I might have to have another party soon just to use it up. Perhaps when we return from our adventure to Buenos Aires and Antarctica we will have a good excuse for another gathering!

It would seem the ship has finally arrived. Kronan Swedish Punsch makes an appearance on an Esquire list and is being featured in the Jan/Feb issue of Imbibe where it is noted to be available at K&L. Doesn't do me much good as K&L won't ship to Georgia. I suspect it is not licensed here either yet although I will promptly start trying to make some waves tomorrow in my ongoing effort to buy everything Haus Alpenz produces (I picked up a bottle of Nux Alpina Walnut liqueur the other day on close out). I see it is also at Astor though so if I have no luck locally I suppose I can bite the bullet and order it there. Will be a good time to sample some of the Bitterman's new spirits as well (which were also featured on the Esquire list of 2011 bottles you will want to try). Anybody else seen it yet?

Thanks! I will check it out.

Is there a good mold you would recommend? The few I have seen seem to get mixed reviews at best. Amazon for example offers these which seem to get a few decent reviews (I even had them on my Christmas list but Santa apparently thought better of it...). I may still buy them just to satisfy my own curiosity and see how they do! They also have these which look like they might do a pretty good job but are far more than I would be interested in paying for as an experiment!

Would be a fun novelty to have. I certainly don't have the skill or desire to make one myself but they are starting to approach a price point where I might really consider buying one. And I am guessing at least some bars would as well. But still a bit much for me. Get it down under $200 and I could give it some serious thought!

Interesting report Chris! I look forward to reading more. When I was last in Zambia several years ago I went to Livingstone and the stories of the struggles for Zimbabwe were pretty commonplace. I did not cross over into the town of Victoria Falls because it seemed a rather convoluted and expensive process. A shame as the town of Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side was apparently once the primary side for seeing the falls. I did have the opportunity to purchase a Zimbabwe billion dollar bill (for a US dollar or two as I recall). Only time I had seen money with an expiration date on it.

Unfortunately I can't speak to restaurants as I have not been there in some years. But it is an island that is well worth a good helicopter flight if you can do one. Doesn't have quite the variety of the Big Island with the active volcanoes and such but it is rugged and wet and lush with vegetation and the Na Pali coast is hard to fully appreciate without seeing it from the air. Also great for hiking if you are in to that sort of thing, both on the Na Pali trail at the base of the cliffs and along the trails from Waimea Canyon State Park that can take you to splendid views from the top of the cliffs. Used to be you could also still find long expanses of empty beach on the west shore along barking sands. Might still be able to as it is well away from the more developed resort areas but is mostly a military facility and I understand access is limited (the one exception to the rule about beaches in Hawaii being open to all if you can get access to them). Polihale State Park beach is just north of that and is open to the public but a bit tricky to get to and may be better to go in a 4WD vehicle. Both are beautiful remote beaches but generally not good for swimming.

Yes, I had read that you could do that with a food processor although it seemed like it would be a bit messy! Perhaps not. In any case I hadn't realized it was such a difficult thing to find in the general run of the mill grocery store. I will have to look around a bit to see if that is the case with all area grocery stores. Finally found small 1 pound packets at Whole Foods but they were definitely spendy! And yes, the punch will get extensive taste testing!