Hassouni

Having lived in London a few times and visiting frequently, I'd be overjoyed if I found an offie still selling booze at 4 am....

Your humble homeland rocked my socks. Don Q Cristal is pretty generic, Palo Viejo has a more noticeable molasses taste. I bought a few bottles while I was there and it's my go-to "white Cuban" style rum (I also picked up some Barrilito Tres Estrellas, of course!)

True to your Borinqueño roots, have you tried a Daiquiri with Palo Viejo blanco? It's damn good. PV sells for about $8-9 in PR, but I haven't seen it sold retail anywhere on the mainland. However, here's a link in NY state: http://www.getwineonline.com/sku03722_PALO-VIEJO-RUM-WHITE-80@-750ML

That's the ratio I typically use, Jo - but I feel that for maximum impact, a real Cuban style light rum is called for - when made that way, I refer to the daiquiri as "alcoholic liquid nitrogen".

with baited breath we wait!

Well it's not the only thing I'll be serving...

I think I need this asap. Can no longer resist. Seconded

How is the Boomsma compared to the US-distributed Bols? A shop near me has both jonge and oude Boomsma genever for substantially less than Bols..

Ilegal!!! Bols ZO!! the stuff of dreams! In the last 24 hours I've picked up a bottle of 190 proof Everclear for homemade bitters and tinctures, and a very reasonably priced 8 year old Gordon and MacPhail bottling of Highland Park.

I'm going to be making a Regent's Punch (the original Wondrich recipe) in a few days, and this oleosaccharum thing has me intrigued (I've seen it on JM's blog for a while). I have neither stand mixer nor vacuum sealer. I wonder if the ziplock really will do the trick... Also, Wondrich's recipe calls for: 16 oz tea 8 oz cognac 2 oz rum 2 oz arrack 2 oz pineapple syrup the juice of a few citrus fruits, say another 8-10 oz. a bottle of champagne (25 or so oz) "or two if you're feeling flush," as he said. With one bottle of Champagne this works out to ~64 oz, but he said it serves about 8. Isn't a standard serving of punch 5 oz? Also, how good of a sub is WN overproof for the Batavia arrack? Cos that ain't easy to find...

None of the above. Smith & Cross!

Having never had it, how does it compare to Rittenhouse?

Experiment 1: Spiced Apple Old Fashioned: 1/4 oz or so cinnamon syrup 2 dashes Regan's orange bitters 1 dash Angostura 2 oz Laird's Bonded Applejack Nutmeg grated on top. Experiment successful!

I don't stop by here very often, but tonight's dinner has me sighing with delight half an hour after finishing, so here it is: Persian apple, apricot, and lamb shank stew, adapted from this site: http://turmericsaffron.blogspot.com/2013/10/khoresh-sib-o-gheysi-persian-apple-stew.html The key differences were the lack of rose petals, using 2 lamb shanks instead of beef cubes, and browning the meat first, then removing before doing the onions etc. Once the meat was done I removed it from the bone and separated it from all the various less-than-pleasant tissues. I also braised it in the oven rather than on the stovetop. This was one of the best dishes I've made in memory - sweet, sour, with warm spices, rich from the collagen and gelatin in the lamb, the sauce perfectly thickened. I can't think of much better for a cold night. Served with the first perso-Iraqi style rice I've made in my new apartment, in my new 2.5 qt saucepan that I bought specifically for this purpose: Aw yeah, it doesn't get more perfect than that! And I have 3 meals' worth of leftovers!

Rafa, do you feel SC is a decent sub for the Batavia arrack?

And the ramen joint upstairs is pretty good too . Aw dude totally unfair! All we've got is pizza and beer... ETA: though, the newest, shiniest one (Foggy Bottom) does Dosas and Korean-Mexican fusion, and some other stuff too.

I have a Tojiro DP gyuto, 240mm. I think it's wonderful, though it's due for a sharpening. I'm strongly considering a deba for fish and poultry butchering purposes, as well as either a nakiri or usuba. It's the latter two I have questions about: 1. I've read on here and elsewhere that a gyuto can do everything a nakiri can and more - so what advantages does a nakiri have? 2. ditto re: an usuba is only for certain techniques, and there are many things it cannot do. I am not particularly interested in katsuramuki, so given that, what are the pros and cons of an usuba?

Bring on the sugar, Rafa! Make a drink so sweet it crystallizes, dare? Inspired by Jo's marathon Mai Tai tinkering, the other night I made one 1 oz lime .75 SC .75 Appleton 12 .5 WN .5 Senior Curaçao .5 Homemade crazy thick orgeat .5 2:1 SS Surprisingly more tart than I remember. My finger is pointing at the Wray & Nephew. Also, a Scofflaw, both a well-made one by me and one made by my cousin who aspires to be a bartender but has never made a drink in her life...and doesn't really like any proper cocktails. 1.5 Rittenhouse .75 lemon .75 Noilly Prat extra dry .25 hella thick homemade grenadine I also spent some time experimenting with Perso-Iraqi dried limes but that can't be revealed yet....

Having moved within a 2 minute walk of the Logan Circle (DC) WF in September, it is not only my local supermarket, but the only one within a MANY block radius, and consequently is where I do most of my urban shopping now (I still hit up the VA suburbs for Super H Mart and random Middle Eastern/South Asian places). In the last couple months I've become intimately familiar with most things on offer there: The good: Their organic meat is no more expensive than organic meat at specialty butchers or the rare occurrences of organic at Giant/Shitway (yeah, I can't stand Safeway). And ALL their meat is antibiotic & hormone free and vegetarian-fed, not just the certified organic stuff.Milk in plastic/tetra-pak is no more expensive, and I can get a 1/2 gal glass jug of milk from grass-fed, organically raised for $4 or so, which is a great price.The bulk aisle is fantastic. Bulk spices are dirt cheap, and if you only need a few tablespoons of something, they'll give it to you for free. Bulk nuts, dried fruit, and grains, pound for pound, are FAR cheaper than their pre-packaged offerings sold in the same aisle.Eggs are not too bad, I think organic/free range eggs at Safeway cost about the same. The store-made sandwiches and pizzas (whole and by the slice) are quite good and quite fairly priced ($6-7 and $3 or so, respectively)The beer section is pretty damn good and despite the fact that beer in the DC area now costs at least $10 for a six pack, which kills me, it's not much more than that.Their sales are pretty sweet, though often last for one day only. One day they had organic whole chickens 2 for 1, another day they had organic apples at $1.50 a pound (see below).Almost anything with the 365 house brand label is pretty good value even if it's not the tastiest option (such as oils, cereals, cheeses, etc)The not so good: Produce is not particularly cheap, even for the most part stuff in season. It's apple season, and conventional apples are no cheaper than $1.50 a pound, organic no cheaper than $2.50 a pound, on up to $3.50. The exception is winter squash, right now they're practically giving it away. Most other things I don't care as much about for organic and usually pick up at H Mart. I will say that the produce sold at WF is of excellent quality compared to anywhere else, but once something's cooked, the differences are much more subtle. Cheese. Their cheese selection is great, but Trader Joe's has comparable cheese for much less.Convenience or "luxury" foods are expensive almost across the board:Charcuterie/house-made sausages are VERY expensive.The pre-made food section (salad bar, specifically) is absurdly expensive. $9/lb, and it's VERY easy to get to a pound of their salads. I will grant that they have the best pre-made/salad bar anywhere, but still..Fish is comically expensive. Super H Mart has fish for about 1/3 the price, across the board, even the wild-caught stuff.Chocolate ranges from $3 to $7+ for a standard sized bar of good dark chocolate. Trader Joe's has an 85% for $2 for two bars.Almost anything imported and not sold in bulk. Ortiz bonito del norte in a jar was $14!!! (Though in a can, $7)Most of the cold drinks sold near the ready-made/salad section. $3+ for a bottle of iced tea? At least that for a small container of coconut water (when TJ's sells litres of Zico for $4 or less). Iced coffee at $6 for 16 oz or so? Forget that!So what's my bottom line? A full shop at WF definitely is a "whole paycheck" experience, but for strategic purchases and selective shopping, it's not so bad and I'm glad I have an option for very high quality food where it matters.

I've used Landy VS and other VSes with good results. Landy is usually around $20, sometimes the "name brands" (Courvoisier, Hennessey, Remy Martin) are discounted to near that.

True that.

And tonight's experiment, killing off the bottles of the two main spirits: 1 oz Cuervo Tradicional reposado 1.5 oz Pikesville rye .5 oz lemon .75 oz or so Senior Curaçao tiny squirt of 2:1 demerara syrup two dashes Regan's orange bitters, one dash Angostura Shaken, up Yeah....I won't be repeating this. The tequila isn't playing nice. And .75 oz of curaçao is way too damn much (I started with .5, MUCH too dry, stirred in the squirt of Demerara syrup, still pretty dry, then stirred in <.25 oz more curaçao. Now it's too orangey.)

They are VERY rough. I've used sandpaper and a metal spatula on mine to smooth it down a bit, but it's still somewhat rough.

Or a trip to the metal shop with a lodge to get them to sand down the inside...

Yep, their first few hundred years of existence was a genever producer