Hassouni

From what I know about Atlantico, that's probably why your drink is too sweet.

Saziraq. The Middle East-inspired Sazerac, experimenting for my pop up bar concept 2 oz Pikesville ryea good blob of what I'm guessing was reconstituted evaporated cane juice syrup (it's been in my fridge for ages...too dark for refined sugar syrup and too light for Demerara syrup)a dash or two of my newly minted Arabian Bitters (future batches need a new recipe, but I'm pleased at how the ad hoc recipe I devised turned out)a spritz of Sharqtreuse (my homemade Arabic-flavored Chartreuse analogue - Sharq meaning "east" in Arabic) instead of the absinthe rinseThe oils from a swatch of Meyer lemon peel (cos I had half of one lying around)Damn good if I say so myself!

Exactly, most Americans can't! (Of course you also get a vast array of indie bottled whiskies and rums which never see the colonial shores)

As a native of McLean I can't say I'm particularly familiar with anything from south of the DC Beltway - but everyone seems to know the ham. What's this stew you speak of?

Yes, but for some odd reason you can also get Pikesville rye, which nobody outside the immediate Maryland area in the US can find! (It's my go-to cheap mixing rye, $11 a bottle!)

Doing some experimentation on Clover Club variations (I haven't had an actual CC yet, but let's overlook that) 1.5 Beefeater .75 meyer lemon juice .25 Lebanese mulberry syrup 1 egg white, which came out to 1.5 oz! Dry shake then wet shake, luscious foam for days...except....not a v good drink. The Beefeater didn't play so nice with the rest, and 1.5 fucking ounces of egg white has me feeling literally nauseated. Blargh. So much for that experiment. It's one thing when you drink so much you wanna hurl, but another when a single drink takes you there (For what it's worth, the exact same batch of eggs was used recently for a Ramos gin fizz, and no issues...)

Etsy has some good ceramic artisans who make stuff that will fulfill your needs. My parents bought a set of mugs that were custom made and very nice, though more than $20 per mug. However, there is tons of stuff there. Most of what I found previously is lead free and dishwasher safe.

OK, the pane guttiau (which I suspect is not a real name. Some google informs me the Sardinian term is pane carasu) is like crack. Paper thin and very fresh, unlike other thin crispy crackers/breads, with just the right amount of salt and olive oil to make you want more more more without feeling gross or oversalted. I wish they came more to the pack!

I'm a moron. I forgot Virginia ham!

So bumping this thread up, I've been using a Hario Skerton, a V60 with the Hario filters, and believe it or not, a cezve (Turkish coffeepot) to pour the water. It works fairly well, except that other than Turkish coffee this is my only means of making coffee in my new digs. It's fine when I'm alert and I have the time, but shortly after waking, manually grinding and precise pouring is a real drag. I will soon be in the market for, most likely, a Baratza Encore grinder, and possibly also a Clever Dripper. Maybe a French press instead of the Clever Dripper - either way I want something that when I'm groggy, is relatively easy and foolproof.

Finally finished my Ito En Ooi Ocha Ichibantsumi sencha, so now on that front I'm left with some really fancy stuff my friend got my in Kyoto (the package is entirely in Japanese, but it's some sort of sencha). It is VERY light and delicate compared to most other (admittedly not high end) senchas I've had before. Also finished my Alwazah FBOP1 Cardamom, which means I need a new Ceylon black tea for making Iraqi tea. My two Turkish teas (Çaykur Rize Turist Çay and Çaykur Tiryaki Çayı) dont have the same flavor profile of a good Ceylon.

As for my region, I have no idea about VA, but for MD, definitely steamed blue crabs with tons of Old Bay, or indeed crabcakes. For DC, I would put forth the half-smoke, unless you can count Ethiopian food, in which case it's a whole other ballgame.

Retro how?

I despise fernet. I don't have any at hand, obviously, so neither thankings nor cursings bestowed! Although perhaps a thank you for thought, after all that's what counts

Sadly I haven't any ice because of other demands on my freezer right now

If my lime (or half) is over what I need, I just drink the surplus. Yeah, I like lemon and lime juice neat. My current batch of pimento dram is seriously seriously dry, to the point of being almost bitter. Commercial stuff is sweeter and it doesn't need the extra bit of syrup.

wow, even ratios? That and Meyer lemon explains your sweetness!

usual is 2 bourbon .5 lime .5 pimento dram 1 dash Angostura "tiny squirt SS" (given my ultra dry pimento dram) Shaken, served up

Work till midnight or so..... So, to celebrate being done for the night, and scoring a below-face value ticket for Cut Copy tomorrow night: Mai Tai (2 oz Scarlet Ibis, 1 oz lime, half or so homemade orgeat, ditto Senior Curaçao, quarter or so rich damn simple syrup) Gone in record time. Used up all my ice. So, with remaining crushed ice in glass (quite a lot since I gulped that damn mai tai down), my signature Lion's Tail Swizzle, which is a normal Lion's Tail, but swizzled, obviously. In unusually strong proportions (a whole large lime, an ounce or so of my homemade pimento dram, a very generous glug of Bulleit bourbon, and a Herculean quantity of Angostura bitters. Oh, and per my notes a "tiny squirt of SS," because my pimento dram is spicy, funky, and dry) I think this one will take longer to finish... ETA - the Bulleit REALLY stands out in this LT swizzle. My default bourbon is WT101, and that blends in better.

Bloody weather. 70º two days ago and 8 inches of snow on the ground today. That 70º had me hankering for a Mai Tai, Test Pilot, or some swizzle, but it didn't happen, and now all I want is hot chocolate! I see you used a mix of bitters, too, how did that work out?

Boudreau isn't using anything fancy (and neither do I). Just pour the water in, instant louche! It makes no difference to the final drink.

How did it take an hour? Just add water until it all louches is the usual procedure. It doesn't need to be done on an ultra-slow drip (I assume that's what was going on?) Jamie Boudreau has a good video on it:

wouldn't the addition of Cointreau make it in, Jerry Thomas's terms, an "improved gin cocktail"

I can't remember which is which, but it is roughly half "Plummer" distillation and half "Wedderburn", both of which are pot-still distillates, and very according to the ester count, with Plummers being 150-200ppm, and Wedderburn being 200-500ppm. One is aged about 18 months, the other about 3 years. You can look up the fine detail at alpenz.com, but that's what I remember from the top of my head.

Would that it weren't 30ºF with 60mph winds.... by the way, is this what's known as a Floridita Daiquiri No. 2, or is there some other classification?