Hassouni

I have the 18, for the record. My plan is to put the butts on before I go to bed tonight (midnight or so), so they'll be ready for when people come over at 7 tomorrow. Given that, I'd prefer not to put the ribs in there at the same time, even if I wake up super early, because I don't want to hold them for the better part of a day

Given a 9 pound (untrimmed) butt, would you put the ribs on after, say, 10 hours of the butt being on there, or when exactly? I don't think that is what the OP was asking about. There are several thousand topics on this board about water soaking cookery. I don't think this is one of themBingo! The thought of sous vided barbecue is terrifying.

Bruce, I fear two butts will be expensive - I'm very particular about meat, - the local organic butcher charges $6 a pound, so the one I have was nearly $60. I suspect spareribs will be cheaper..

On Sunday I'm having some people over to eat the products of the Weber Smokey Mountain that I picked up for free last year and have barely used. I got a 9 pound pork butt, but I'm wondering if it'll be enough? There will be 14 people or so, so I was wondering if I could do a couple racks of ribs at the same time? I know ribs cook much faster, so maybe put the ribs on in the last few hours of the butt going? Has anyone else done this?

I tend to agree. They should bear in mind that the vast, vast majority of Japan uses instant dashi now...which is basically MSG, and the Japanese diet is touted as one of the healthiest in the world.

OK I'll play: 1. Gin: Beefeater or Broker's 2. Rye: Rittenhouse 3. Light rum: Flor de Caña 4. Gold rum: Smith & Cross 5. Aged/dark rum: El Dorado 12 6. Cointreau 7. Maraschino 8. Chartreuse (green) 9. Dolin dry 10. Dolin red Boy, that's not easy.....

Curious why you favor an 800ml cobbler over a standard Boston shaker? Is there more room for ice? Also, crap, the Yarai is only good for a single serving? There goes that idea...

I second Astor, as someone who isn't used to NYC prices, their prices are pretty good and selection is great.

Aw come on, Beefeater is quite decent

Merci Princesse....sounds legit...

Not sure if this is covered elsewhere, but how is the new LH151 compared to the old one? The LH80 I can get is $24 a bottle, the 151 is $30ish....Compared to ED5 which is $16, ED8 around $22, ED12 which is $25 and ED15 which is $31. I know with the old stuff, the 80 was just diluted 151, meaning one could create a new bottle of LH 80 (or indeed, 90 proof, 100 proof, whatever), out of the bottle of 151 and still have a decent amount of 151 to spare. If the new bottling of 151 is comparable to the old, At $30 I may just stick to the 151 and dilute it as needed.

So can one drop Ajinomoto and go tripping?

Mitch, I was going to suggest OGD 114, based on the glowing reviews I've seen, but I've never actually had it...$20 at MoCo, it's on the list PS, I found out they also have a ton of Pikesville. At 80 proof, how does it fare when mixed?

Update - Palmetto was better with ED5 - something about the LH didn't mesh well with the Dolin rouge....but again, it had more character. The ED blended right in but didn't really distinguish itself. Queen's Park Swizzle was good with both, but the LH, again, stuck out more

I need a break from the drink... (1.5 beers is a break, right?)

Montgomery County still has a ton of Landy VS left...

Welcome to the wallet-busting Spirits & Cocktails forum! This has been discussed a lot, but I'll answer as best I can here: Brandy and Cognac - Cognac is a type of brandy and while you can't sub brandy when a recipe calls for cognac, I feel you can go the other way, so i'd just get Cognac if you're starting out. I have Landy VS, which was bloody cheap and not bad - I suggest VS or VSOP Cognacs for mixing. Rye - Rittenhouse if you can find it, Bulleit if it's reasonably priced. Old Overholt if all else fails Bourbon - Wild Turkey 101, hands down. I'm not a bourbon fan but this stuff ROCKS and is dirt cheap Champagne - Not an expert on this, as I find it's a waste to get a whole bottle of champagne just for a couple cocktails - you might try Prosecco, as it's a lot more affordable and has its own merits. Otherwise see what your local wine specialists recommends as a reasonable Champagne. Dry Sherry - can't help you here Scotch - for mixing, Grant's Family Reserve. For drinking neat....Highland Park 12 probably would be my recommendation for first-timers Tequila - anything 100% agave - the blancos start at about $20. My Mexican friends swear by Cazadores Gin - Beefeater and Broker's are my go-tos these days American and Irish Whiskey - yes there is a difference, the former (think Bourbon or Tennessee whiskey) is usually based on corn (except rye, of course), the latter on malted barley, more like Scotch. Orange liqueur - Cointreau. There is no substitute in my book, and it's by far the most called for liqueur in the cocktail world. White rum - Flor de Caña 4 year extra dry, Brugal White, Barbancourt white.... The first two are probably the most versatile of these, with the FdC MAYBE having a slight edge, but I dunno. I can find it for a few bucks less here so that's what I tend to use. Dark rum - Well...rum is the most diverse spirit out there, with each major rum producing country producing several very distinctive styles. It's VERY hard to pick just one, but I'd say the best bank for the buck is El Dorado 5, or if you want to spend a few bucks more, El Dorado 8. Spiced rum - Kraken. Spiced rum generally is not that great and not called for that much in cocktail recipes, but the Kraken is fun

I was running low on my 2:1 SS, so I made some more. I used Florida Crystals evaporated cane juice, which I'm pretty sure is what I normally use, only this time my syrup was not clear like before but rather golden - so I'm thinking perhaps my previous batch was made with plain white sugar (which I just don't see, I haven't bought that in ages, but whatever). Can this kind of lighter evaporate cane sugar be used as a near-perfect substitute for white sugar syrup? It doesn't have an overly complex taste when compared to the Demerara syrup I made last night

Hmmmm, I think the ED5 got properly lost in an El Presidente (or at least played very soft), whereas the Lemon Hart took a more assertive tone, demanding that you pay attention to it. I sort of like the latter quality in a rum, though I guess you could say the El Dorado "blended" better... I think it's safe to say that despite my limited comparisons so far, the Lemon Hart has a LOT more character than the young El Dorado. That said, at this price point, the real competition pricewise for LH is ED 12... In any case, made and just finished a Palmetto now with the ED5, we'll see how it fares against the LH in a little bit....

Is there any container I can use to stir more than 1 drink effectively? I don't want to spend $40+ shipping on a Yarai mixer at this point...

Well, there are your problems right there. Freeze the pint glass or (not quite as good) use the metal part. Crack the ice and put as much in there as you can (smaller pieces also means you can fit more ice in there). There should be no large voids between pieces of ice, and there should also be no "un-iced" liquid either below or above the ice. Keep in mind that a pint glass really is only big enough to make one drink, so if you're making two at a time in one glass there is no way you're going to get the chilling you're after. Aha that may have something to do with it - I was making two drinks

Nah, it was the first drink of the night. And it seemed not cold when compared to the mostly shaken drinks I usually make

I have not measured, but it's so drastically different than it can't be all in the head. I can measure next time, but I doubt I'll see any surprises. I do chill my cocktail glasses, but the glass is so thin that I don't think it makes a huge impact.

Sam and everyone else, very interesting posts. I should describe my setup: I use the standard glass part of a Boston shaker (aka pint glass) for stirring. However, I don't keep it in the freezer. The ice I use is made by my fridge's icemaker (which I know is not ideal, but it is very cold), however, I crack the ice once out of the freezer, so yes, I suppose it's not as dry and cold anymore). Sometimes I don't crack the ice. Vermouths, syrups, etc, are kept in the fridge. I add ingredients to the glass, add ice to nearly fill the glass, and stir fairly fast. So it sounds like I should have smaller ice straight from the freezer, and chill my mixing glass, or use the unchilled shaker tin?

So the cocktail aficionado in me is utterly ashamed to be asking this, but why the hell can't I get my stirred drinks cold enough? I use either cubed or cracked ice, and stir for quite a long while, and the drink ends up cool but not nearly as cold as when shaken or swizzled with crushed ice. If I stir for longer, it gets a bit colder, but gets too diluted. If I recall correctly, Sam or someone on here once mentioned that stirring with cracked ice can actually get even colder than shaking, but never for me.... This was really highlighted when I made some El Presidentes last night and they only had the merest chill on them despite pretty thorough stirring.