Rafa

Everything Stephen said accords with my experience working wedding receptions. I've worked off pre-batched, limited menus and open bars. Both have their merits, with the care and spectacle of cocktail preparation to order serving as a useful deterrent to overindulgence. As far as a signature cocktail, something low-proof and sparkling is a good bet. My plan for my own wedding in October is to serve something akin to a Negroni Sbagliato. The bubbles are appropriately festive, the proof is right, and adding the sparkling wine at the point of service allows us to batch the vermouth/amaro mix while still making drinks to order.

The closest in flavor to the real Picon that I've tried is CioCiaro, but it's more complex and less caramelly than the real deal.

More and more bartenders I talk to seem to agree with you. At my bar we still aim for 25% but I vary it by drink and try to by palate.

A celebratory Daiquiri with Havana Club.

Every winter. Love the stuff. Never tried it pre-bottled, though. I bought some delicious Don Q Gran Añejo and some unaged pitorro (Puerto Rican sugar cane juice rum, traditionally distilled illegally up in the mountains somewhere) with light rhum agricole-ish flavors at the same duty free this past week. I also bought some Guyanesen rum bottled privately for Astor Wines. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it. It's harsh and unbalanced, with only a bit of Demerara character. At least it's cheap--I've got a liter of the stuff if anyone wants to take it off my hands.

As did I—Don Q Gran Añejo and the new-to-market pitorro (unaged cane juice rum), both at great prices. How's the bottled Coquito?

Nux Alpina (and Pierre Ferrand 1840) are what I spec'd it with, so that should be fine. Ango will do the trick—I like the Abbott's because they do their work more subtly than the Ango, contributing less of their own flavor, but the clove and cinnamom of Angostura would be welcome here. Note that as spec'd it's on the sweet side; some will prefer a higher portion of brandy.

The St. Germain complements the pear, but it does make the drink overly sweet for most tastes. I'll have to try it à la Frog. You've turned it into more of a (California) Widow's Kiss.

In all honesty, it's not a pan. I've enjoyed a kale smoothie in my time. That said, fair warning to those who react as Mr. 2Cook did.

Tonight I tried Gerry Corcoran's #3 Cup (Cognac, ginger beer, curaçao, sweet vermouth, Cherry Heering, lemon juice, mint, cuke, orange). It tasted like a kale smoothie.

Frog, how much of a difference do you think it makes that you're using coconut orgeat? My experiments with orgeats range from barely perceptably different from almond (e.g. hazelnut) to, well, very perceptively different (macadamia).

100% accurate.

Dave Arnold discusses this question in his new book.

Ristretto has none of the cream or cocoa notes of other coffee liqueurs, nor is it as sweet. Its flavor is dark, intense espresso. A little goes a long way.

Yellow is considerably softer and sweeter. I've never had a problem with the mezcal disappearing in that drink when made with the yellow, although I prefer the similar Eclipse (mezcal/tequila/Heering/Aperol/lime). You might enjoy Phil Ward's Division Bell (mezcal/Aperol/Maraschino/lime), which is at least better than the Pink Floyd album it's named for.

^^ Less seasonally appropriate, maybe, but juleps.

I keep wanting to name a cocktail Grrrlie Drink.

I may or may not have recited some McCarthy while building this for a guest, à la Chris McMillian and the Mint Julep, the very dream of drinks.

Oh, you'll get no argument from me there.

via PUNCH: 1 ounce rhum agricole (preferably Duquesne Agricole Eleve Sous Bois) 1 ounce rum, Guyanese (preferably El Dorado 5 Year) 1/2 ounce dry curaçao 1/2 ounce falernum 1/4 ounce St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram 1 ounce lime juice 1/2 ounce honey syrup (2:1, honey:water) 3 dashes Angostura bitters

I noticed, and I'm also not sure. A lot of their tiki recipes depart from the originals so it's hard to tell.

It took me a bit to realize you weren't just too drunk to type properly, Chris.

Older Barbancourt and older AOC rhum don't taste all that similar, to me. I continue to think that Barbancourt is one of the great values of the spirits world, and like Jo I'm happy to support Haiti's economy by buying such a fantastic product, but it doesn't scratch the same itch for me that aged JM or Neisson does. Alas, Martinique rum prices are pretty ridiculous in the US.

In the new issue of Imbibe Dave Arnold recommends Pectinex Ultra SP-L for clarifying fruit infusions. You can buy it here.

Avery Glasser from Bittermens apparently specifies 6 drops as one dash.