JAZ

Well, it's not friday, and it's not five o'clock, but I'm off work and have my first two days in a row off in a month or so, so that counts, right? Trillium, you probably remember my mentioning my earlier abortive attempt to find sour oranges, so I have to admit I didn't use them. But serendipitously, I was skimming over Diana Kennedy's newest book and happened upon her suggestion for a replacement in Mexican cooking, which is a combination of Meyer lemon, lime and regular orange juice. Well, lo and behold, I have all those on hand, plus the other ingredients, so here I am drinking your fabulous drink, with my weird sour-orange-juice substitute. It's very good this way, but one of these days I'll find sour oranges and make it the way it was intended. It's a sort of cross between a Corpse Reviver II (gin, lemon juice, triple sec, with a splash of a pastis) and my own After School Special (gin, Lillet, Meyer lemon juice, and orange bitters), but the Chartreuse is a brilliant addition. To me, it will always be a "Friday After Five," even though I'm drinking it on a Wednesday (no, make that a very early Thursday morning).

Anything labeled "cherry brandy" will be substantively different from Maraschino -- sweeter and less bitter. Cherry Heering is probably the best known of the non-Maraschino cherry liqueurs. As for Maraschino, I've only tried Luxardo, so I have no basis of comparison with other brands. I think there's a big difference for cocktails between the brandy-based orange liqueurs like Grand Marnier and the triple sec/curacao family. I like Grand Marnier and similar liqueurs, but the brandy flavor can be unwelcome in some drinks. It's not that making drinks with Grand Marnier instead of triple sec is a bad thing, but you should know that the flavor profile can be very different. It's definitely worth buying a bottle of a high quality triple sec to compare. As far as choosing a brand, the first thing to look for in the non-brandy orange liqueurs is the proof, which can vary substantially. You want a high proof, not because of the alcohol, exactly, but because the lower proof triple secs tend to be god-awful sweet. Cointreau is fabulous, of course, but I find that Marie Brizzard (at almost the same proof as Cointreau) is virtually indistinguishable in cocktails at just over half the price. Gary Regan, in his Q&A here, recommended the Van Gogh version, but I haven't tried it, so I can't comment personally.

From the world of drinks: "'Tini" (or even worse, Tooni) for martini "Grandma" for Grand Marnier Tuh-kill-yuh for tequila (yes! you're so clever! No one's ever thought of that before!)

Audrey, this sounds interesting. I have a couple of questions, though: Is there any difference in texture or taste between "cooked" and "uncooked" syrup? Do you add the lime juice to the lime infused syrup, or just use them together? If you do add the juice to the syrup, when do you do it? What's the shelf life? I'm one of the few here who like Rose's, but it is too sweet on its own for my taste -- I add about the same amount of fresh lime juice to it to get the acidity level I like. So if your syrup approximates Rose's but can be made less sweet, I'd like to give it a try. Thanks.

Here's a website; however, I'm not sure if it's "official." But it does contain recipes, so it may help you out: El Floridita [beans, here's a little information on the bar and the cocktail by the same name (from the CocktailTime website and Paul Harrington's book): El Floridita]

I agree. Without a blind study showing that different alcoholic beverages produce markedly different personality traits, my money's on the psychological explanation. There are so many psychological factors involved in drinking alcohol, including choosing which beverages to drink, that it seems to me you'd have to have a way to rule all of them out before you could assume that the beverage itself was responsible for the effects. That is, maybe it seems that tequila makes Person A "crazy" while brandy produces a "mellower" attitude, but perhpas it's just that A chooses to drink tequila when he's feeling "crazy" already, and chooses brandy when he's calmer. Or, maybe it seems to person B thinks that gin makes her "mean," but it could be that the friends she tends to drink gin with bring out her "mean" side. Many people say that champagne makes them "happy," but it's certainly a fact that many times, we drink champagne at happy occasions, so it stands to reason that we'd be happy when we drink champagne. In other words, the psychological state (whatever it is) is the basis of what we drink, rather than the drink being the cause of our psychological state.

Can't stand Rachel's "veggies," either -- but that term makes my skin crawl when anyone uses it.

Sorry, Squeat, who're you going to believe, a couple of dictionaries, or cocktail books? Seriously, all of the cocktail books I have, including Dale DeGroff's (despite his apparent disdain of Rose's, as noted above by Bond Girl), specify Rose's or "lime cordial (such as Rose's)" in their ingredients. DeGroff specifically says, "Be careful about switching fresh lime juice for Rose's lime juice; real Gimlet drinkers want the taste of the preserved lime juice. When the drink is made with fresh lime juice and sugar, it is a sweet Gin Rickey, not a Gimlet." Paul Harrington calls the drink with fresh lime a "Gimblet" -- although I've ever heard that term elsewhere, and I'm not sure about where it came from. (And incidentally, your dictionaries are incorrect about the soda too -- seems to me that they've got Gimlets and Rickeys mixed up.) That's easy. Rose's.

It's got a preservative, if that makes it artificial. Otherwise, it's water, concentrated lime juice and high fructose corn syrup. And of course it's not a substitute for lime juice, any more than limoncello is a substitute for lemon juice, or blackberry cordial is for fresh blackberries.

That's where I disagree. To me, that's like saying that fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and vodka is better than limoncello. The mixture would certainly taste more like fresh lemons, but it's not better because of it, just different. It's the same with Rose's. I completely agree that Rose's is no substitute for fresh lime juice, but that point cuts both ways -- fresh juice, with or without simple syrup, is no substitute for Rose's. I agree that for almost all cocktails, fresh lime is a necessity. But I can't agree that a Gimlet is better with fresh juice. I can't even agree that it's a Gimlet, although it's an okay drink on its own. You can't just substitute fresh lime and simple syrup and call the resulting drink a Gimlet. Or can you? I don't know nearly as much about cocktail history as you and Splificator and Dr. Cocktail, but from everything I've read, it seems that Gimlets call for lime cordial. That being the case, wouldn't a drink with gin, fresh lime and simple syrup would have to be called something else? Incidentally, I do think that a little Rose's goes a long way (but that can be said of many cocktail ingredients). My Gimlet recipe is 2 oz. gin, 1/4 oz. Rose's and 1/4 oz. of fresh lime juice (shaken together with the gin and Rose's, and not just squeezed in at the end). For tequila Gimlets, I use more Rose's -- almost half an ounce.

I've heard that Angostura's lime cordial is comparable to Rose's, but haven't tried it myself. Every other brand I've tried has been pretty bad (sorry, but I don't remember any of the names -- I've just tasted them in gimlets I've ordered at various bars). I stick with Rose's.

I mix it with San Pellegrino's Aranciata, about 1 part to 2 of the Aranciata. It's also good with soda and a squeeze of lemon. Those are two of my staple non-alcoholic cocktails in my classes. Since it's got basically the same flavor profile as Campari, you could use it in any drinks that call for that.

Yes, I've been in that situation. . . I believe the low point was infusing a jug of Vodka of the Gods (left over from bloody marys) with juniper berries in an unsuccessful attempt to make it more palatable. I've often been down to Gordon's and Rose's Lime. Makes it really easy to decide what to drink.

Once when I ordered a Fernet and soda, the bartender inadvertently added ginger ale instead. Turned out to be pretty good.

I forgot bitters: I have Fees Orange and Peach, Peychaud and Angostura. How does Fees Aromatic compare with the others? Also, I realize I forgot a few staples: Maraschino and Pimms, plus mini-bottles of things I only need a little of or use rarely -- Chartreuse, Pernod, Chambord, Ameretto, etc. I'm fortunate to have a couple of stores close by that carry fabulous collections of minis, so if I want to try a new drink that calls for something I don't have, I can usually buy it as a mini to start with, instead of having to buy a full bottle.

In a book called How the Mind Works, the author, Steven Pinker, discusses the phenonenon of disgust and food. Some of the points he makes: 1. He distinguishes between disgust and mere dislike. Disgust, he says, is a psychological aversion to certain foods, invariably from animals. We might deeply dislike vegetables, but we're not disgusted by them (unless, perhaps, they're rotten). Although various cultures consider different foods disgusting, it's always some animal part or product that's too disgusting to eat. 2. Since the list of non-disgusting items varies from culture to culture, it stands to reason that there's a learning process involved. Until the age of two or so, most children will put anything they encounter into their mouths -- bugs, worms, even feces. After the age of about two, their willingness to try new foods plummets. 3. Some anthropologists thus think that our deep-seated food aversions (disgust, in other words) are taught to us at a very early age -- a baby puts a grasshopper in her mouth, and her mother makes a face, takes it out of her mouth and says "that's disgusting." As adults, we can get over these aversions, but it takes a conscious effort, and, probably, a significant ability to disconnect the emotion of disgust. Mere dislike, though, is something else entirely. Bitter and spicy foods are unpleasant to most children, and quite rightly. Bitterness often goes hand in hand with toxins, so it makes sense that our instinct is to spit out bitter foods. As we age, our sense of taste becomes less sensitive, so once unbearably bitter foods become more palatable. So, many of the so-called "acquired tastes" are significantly bitter -- coffee, beer, olives, many vegetables -- or strongly flavored like spices. It seems likely to me that if one has an aversion to something based on texture, it's probably a (possibly unconscious) association with something we consider disgusting -- we tend not to like slimy, squishy textures because so many slimy foods are disgusting to us. With some effort, we can usually make ourselves get over these aversions. A dislike that's based on true taste, though, is a different story. I can't stand blue cheese, for instance. It's not a learned thing, because everyone else in my family loves the stuff. It's not the texture -- I like other cheeses with the same texture. It's the taste, or more precisely, the smell. If I have a really bad cold, I can eat it (which, by the way, is a good way to tell if it's a texture or a taste you dislike -- if it's the texture, a cold won't make any difference). Now, I like a lot of foods I disliked as a child, including beets, but I'm fairly certain I will never like blue cheese. I do inadvertently try it from time to time, and every time, whether I'm aware that the food contains blue cheese or not, the smell and taste make me gag, literally.

A comment by slkinsey on the "Crimes Against Alcohol" thread has me wondering what brands of various liquor we use in our "everyday" cocktails. Do you buy whatever's on sale, or stick to a particular brand regardless of price (or something in between)? What do you tend to have on hand at home to whip up your favorite libations? My bar is unusually full right now, because of some research (yeah! research!) I'm doing, but here's what I have (with some comments on how usual the item is): Gordon's gin. Always a staple in my bar. I can usually find it at one of a couple of markets for $14-$15 for a 1.75 liter bottle, so it's by far the best buy for a decent gin for cocktails. Cascade Mountain gin. I liked this a lot the first time I got it, but now I'm thinking it's a bit one-dimensional for what I spent for it. It can't, for example, stand up to much vermouth in a martini. A more usual selection for martinis is Boodles -- or regular Bombay, Beefeaters or Tanquerey in they're available for less than Boodles. Bacardi rum (white). I've only recently been drinking rum (really bad experience with rum and eggnog years ago put me off it) so I haven't had much exposure to different brands. I got a some for a drink I was working on for a class, and ended with a large bottle left over. Now I'm liking some rum drinks quite a bit, so I think it'll be a standby. Is there a better brand, comparable price? Svedka vodka. Since I'm not a vodka drinker, I don't go high end with it. Three quarters (easily) of the vodka in my place goes into bloody marys. But when I do need it for other cocktails, this brand seems to be smooth and drinkable. I actually had an airline bottle of Skyy a while back, and side by side, I think the Svedka was less harsh. Teacher's Scotch. I used to drink a lot more Scotch than I do now, and I almost always used to have a bottle of some single malt or other on hand. Now I buy them rarely, but I like a Teachers on the rocks once in a while, and it's great in cocktails. These days, I get the single malts when I go out. For tequila, now I have Sauza Conmemoritivo, but a more usual choice is Hornitas. I don't drink tequila straight, so no need to get anything really high end. I got a mini bottle of Herradura Silver to try Gary and Mardee Regan's eGullet drink, the Mischief (because that's whay they specified), but I found I preferred the Hornitas, and it's my favorite for Margaritas, which is where about 90 percent of my tequila goes. I don't generally have bourbon or rye on hand, but I found a good price on Hirsch 13-year-old rye, so I picked some up for Manhattans. I'd like to pick up a bottle of the Evan Williams 10-year-old bourbon after reading a glowing review of it in Wine Enthusiast, but I've only seen the 7 year old. And bourbon is something I can easily live without. Marie Brizzard triple sec. Cointreau might be slightly better, but at less than 2/3 the price, Marie gets my vote. Dry vermouth is usually Noilly Prat -- right now I have Martini & Rossi because it was on sale, but I really prefer Noilly. I don't use as much sweet vermouth and haven't found any standouts, so I usually buy whatever's decent and on sale. It's M&R now. Any suggestions on good brands? I also have a bottle of Punt e Mes, but I'm not clear if that falls into the sweet vermouth category or not. Blond Lillet. It's a staple. Velvet Falernum is a newcomer to my bar, but I've grown very fond of it, and my favorite spirits shop has it, so I've been buying it and plan to keep it on hand. Campari. I don't always have it, but I don't go too long without it. It occurs to me that the one thing I haven't been keeping in stock for a while is brandy. I had a sidecar the other day and remembered how much I like them, so maybe it's time to pick that up. Any recommendations?

With or without the kid and umbrellas, if you need suggestions for a summer cocktail for your group, check out this thread: Summer Cocktails

A few years ago, I was stocking up at Trader Joes for my holiday baking, with about 4 pounds of chocolate, 6 pounds of butter, several varieties of nuts, and a big bottle of vanilla. On the way to the checkout stand, I noticed a pretty good Scotch on sale, so I snagged a bottle. While I was checking out, the clerk said, "Going to do some baking?" I smiled and replied, "Yes, what clued you in?" to which he replied, "The Scotch."

It sounds great -- I think you have a good balance of familiar foods and different preparations to stretch your guests' palates without overwhelming them. Once you get them hooked on the fun of new culinary experiences, you can suggest more future "experiments."

I just spent a day going through the book section at the store, pulling titles and marking them down for a big sale later this month. The way I'm going, none of them will reach the shelves for the sale. I picked up four more (less than $20 -- how could I resist?) Squeat, I'm going to have to break down soon and buy the Diana Kennedy book -- it's so interesting.

As far as I've read, the only spice that inhibits yeast is cinnamon.

I prefer Fernet Branca precisely because it's not too sweet -- less cough syrupy than Jaegermeister.

You could try Martini & Rossi Bianco. It's nice on the rocks or with a splash of soda, and I imagine it would work well with fruit. In fact, maybe I'll puree some of the plums dropping off my neighbor's tree onto my steps and try it.

That sounds wonderful. I love Earl Grey tea. I'm not so crazy about foamy drinks, though -- what's the texture like? Does the egg white make the whole thing like a light mousse, or is it more subtle than that? With advance apologies to Audrey, could I make it without the egg white and get a good drink, or is the texture key?