Hassouni

Last night: Martinez (this may be the first time I've ever had one, oddly): 1.5 Hayman's Old Tom 1.5 Dolin Rouge a small glug of Luxardo, a few dahses of Regan's orange, stirred, up Champs Elysees (thanks again to Little Branch for introducing this to me, this drink rocks) 1.5 Ferrand 1840 .5 Chartreuse verte .75 lemon jooooos .5 1:1 SS 2 generous dashes angostura shaken, up

Is this functionally different than letting sit on oak for several days?

How does one dehydrate bourbon?

So, how did this turn out? Pretty yummy and smooth! Lovely vanilla notes. How long did you let it go for? And why did you nuke it?

damn, Laphroaig cocktails. I presume as a main ingredient? Here's my sub $60 list (some of these have to be on sale, but do appear regularly on sale for under that) Bruichladdich the Laddie 10 Caol Ila 12 Glenmorangie 10 Talisker 10 Old Pulteney 12 Highland Park 12 Ardbeg 10 and Lagavulin 16 (those are both usually over 60 but can be found for less) for an intense but less medicinal smoke. Bruichladdich is very interesting as it's an easily available unpeated Islay, something not otherwise easy to find. It's also a real banger, and often found for $40. Highland Park 12 or Talisker 10 probably are my desert island scotches - very complex, endlessly fascinating and delicious, without any single aspect being in your face - and also fairly reasonably priced. Caol Ila is a subtle, autumnal smokiness, Glenmorangie a great value Highland malt, and Old Pulteney a more complex, briney one.

I remember wondering what the rum he gulped out of barrels tasted like. I guess something like Pusser's or Smith & Cross. It would probably make a good Mai Tai. Pussers, Smith & Cross, Sea Wynde...MAYBE Scarlet Ibis

I'd prefer a Jack Sparrow figurine, as he kicked off my rum obsession at the impressionable age of 18

Like what? Angel's share loss and reduced strength, etc?

Apart from Appleton, it'd be interesting to know which of the other mega-aged rums (ED12 or 15, Seale's 10, etc) use already-used bourbon casks. Also, something I hadn't considered until just now - when rum, whisky, or whatever, is aged in a charred barrel, it is ONLY exposed to the charred side (duh!). But the used whisky barrel chips I've seen for sale have one charred side and one raw (if that's the right word) side, so using those wouldn't be quite the same as exposure to only the charred side of a barrel.

Too much negativity around here. I am going back to tiki-land. Where the rum's always flowin', the slide guitar's always ringin', and the luau girls sway softly on the sands. In the distance, Dan revs his BMW's engine and harshes everyone's mellow. Can I rev my BMW engine and stay mellow?

So, how did this turn out?

I mean, at its most basic, it's just garlic, shallots, chiles, sugar, and fish sauce + holy basil. Without the basil it's just a generic Thai-style stir-fry, which I'll admit is tasty enough in its own right.

OK, so I'm revisiting this idea with oak chips. I realize there is no standard for rum aging, and my options are raw oak chips, charred oak chips, or chips from used bourbon barrels (which started as charred). I know WN currently uses Jack Daniel's barrels for Appleton Estate, and a few other rum producers use old bourbon barrels, while others use who knows what. Never having done something like this, what will the flavor differences be between raw oak, charred but unused oak, and old bourbon-soaked charred oak?

Oh yeah! But I haven't found it in a while. The only Thai shop in the area only gets it on certain days, and when they do, it sells out VERY quickly

The drinks by themselves are not...

I mean, do garam masala/"curry powder" and "cajun seasoning" count? Because I tend to make those from scratch.

Also, Holy basil has a sort of "fuzziness" to it that regular Thai basil (bai horapa) has not. That's the easiest way for me to tell.

Ça suffit pas, Princesse? The original was actually a 17 year aged Wray and Nephew, which makes me REALLY want to try barrel aging some WN Overproof. Vic later consider a more standard JA rum and a Martinique to be a decent sub. I still think S&C, W&N, and something mega oaky (Appleton 12, ED15, etc) would make THE killer Mai Tai. Someone remind me to try it when I'm not a few cocktails in....

So I made this last night. Using Senior's Curaçao, an orgeat recipe I can't remember (SLKinsey's maybe?), and Jerry Thomas Bitters as I'm out of Angostura (criminal, I know). I didn't get much mint aroma, nor did I get the rye-forward sensation, despite also using Rittenhouse. I got a very smooth, creamy, delicately spiced taste, not sharp at all. If I were to make it again, I'd up the lemon, dial back the orgeat a bit, and perhaps Angostura might provide a different sensation. Quite complex, but a bit too "soft" for my liking

That's exactly what I use. PS: experiment with a Holland Razor Blade (2 gin .75 SS and lemon each, so 3.5 oz) proved inconclusive. I used the Tavolo cubes, but they were rather warm and wet (since I had just put more trays in with boiling water. However, the 3.5 oz came to an acceptable level in the V glass, so I imagine when I have some properly cold cubes, it'll be even better

I find a hawthorne a necessity but a julep strainer a luxury. Straining out of a shaker tin with a julep strainer just makes a mess. As for fine-straining, I usually don't do it, especially for summery, overly citrusy drinks.

I should say the ice is not fine enough to get into the drink, there's just a bit of slushiness left in the shaker. Not a huge amount, but it's there. This is a bit puzzling. I could see how a coupe glass could be a little more forgiving than a same-capacity V-shaped glass if you are worried about being too close to the rim. But if your glass is 6 oz and your shaken cockail 4 oz, you should have plenty of room there. a shaken cocktail at 4 oz hits the sweet spot in the 6 oz v-glass. But any more and spills are likely as it sloshes around. This is a bit puzzling. I could see how a coupe glass could be a little more forgiving than a same-capacity V-shaped glass if you are worried about being too close to the rim. But if your glass is 6 oz and your shaken cockail 4 oz, you should have plenty of room there. I think Has is measuring this shaken drink before pouring it into the glass to confirm that it does indeed exceed 5oz by the time it's near the brim. Indeed the cocktail ends up at 6oz. When I'm shaking cocktails on Hoshizaki (read, Kold Draft) cubes, I get around a half ounce in volume of crushed ice in my fine strainer by the time I'm done. It's those bits of ice that have been diluting. If your ice is very cloudy and therefore brittle, it will break apart more easily, melt faster and result in more overall dilution. Like Rafa said, give your freezer a good clean, including any fans and vents and try and try setting your freezer warmer to produce better ice. In an extreme move you could also try Camper English's directional freezing method and produce a large, clear chunk to work with. I haven't measured a cocktail yet, though I might tonight. I simply poured 4 measured oz of water into the glass and eyeballed it - that's roughly where my "standard" up cocktails come out to. I then added another ounce, then another. With the V shape, 5 oz is just a few mm below the rim, and 6 is very literally at it. Re: Rafa's advice about the freezer - I just moved into my place and the fridge was squeaky clean. It still is, more or less. I have an auto-ice maker, which makes VERY cloudy ice, like basically opaque, and some tavolo silicone ice cube molds (2), which make 1.25" or so cubes. They're a big cloudy, but nowhere near as bad as the icemaker. I'll try tonight with those, though I typically reserve those for drinks on the rocks, and shake with the ice-maker ice. If I see a noticeable improvement, I may just fill up the ice molds with boiling water

There's a good bit of pulverised ice when I'm done, as well as some smaller pieces broken off from the larger cubes

It certainly is cloudy. What's the solution?

So I measured my cocktail glasses with my jiggers...4 oz is about where my 3 oz drinks shaken up come out to on the glass. Because it's a conical glass, there is a bit of empty space below the rim, but not much. By 5 oz it's getting slightly precarious and by 6 oz it's only held in by surface tension. I'm amazed your coupes are 4 oz, given the 3.5+ of ingredients you mentioned. I too shake for 15 seconds or so. No idea I use two metal mixing tins (not the Koriko ones, just two different tins from various Boston shaker sets, one larger than the other), though for a long time I used a standard pint glass + metal tin Boston shaker. I put a LOT of ice in. Like, filled up nearly 3/4 of the way. I might have to experiment tonight......