cdh

Fascinating! I've never heard of cinnamon leaves before. I'm interested in how different they are from the bark. As to everybody with the mock shock and outrage in the importation, I don't think there is actually a import problem for dried leaves. Think of all the tea and coffee that get brought back into the country by tourists all the time. I think the issues on import are live and viable stuff that might harbor disease. Once something has been dried like bay leaves, I don't think it is an issue the beagle minders would care about. Talk about chilling effects in action, looking at the reactions here makes me think hmmm...

The armagnac cocktails were great... all based on an unaged white armagnac which was quite nice on its own when they served it with a baba-type dessert cake. The place will be missed if it doesn't reopen someplace else. The buzz on Chowhound right around when they closed indicated an intent to move it someplace else. IF the Times says the proverbial fork has been stuck in the rotisserie and it's done, it is sad news and I'll miss it.

Until Progresso makes a soup that matches Campbell's Scotch Broth, I'm firmly on the Campbell's side. I do agree with those who note a decline in the quality of the Progresso offererings in recent years. I find that they taste much more like the can than the soup recently. MMMMMMMmmmmmmm lamb and barley soup.... mmmmmm... drool....

What time of day will you be there? I recall the Pan Pacific Hotel that is attached to the airport having a stellar breakfast array of cuisines. The stuff inside the airport terminal was totally unexciting. No other suggestions, sadly.

Rock on, Costco! Free The Grapes!

Thinking that all Davidoff made was tobacco and fragrence products, I was going to say that Davidoff made at least a little sense insofar as the skills needed to select good tobacco and to select good blends of fragrances are both olfactory, and it is not unreasonable to expect somebody who is good at one to be good at the other. Then I went to their website and found that they also do coffee and cognac... which might fit into the same olfactory conniosseurship profile... but they also do pens, glasses, leather goods, and ties. I'd have no faith that Davidoff's capacity to select quality examples of those things exceded my own, and would therefore attribute no value added from the brand being slapped onto those products.

LVMH had nothing to do with marketing Courvoisier... that credit goes to Allied Domecq, which is another company entirely. But one way or the other, I still just don't get the whole concept of this "lifestyle associated marketing". Why should the name of a cognac plastered on a piece of clothing mean anything to anybody about the quality of the clothing? Even if the cognac is good, what do they know about shopping for clothes that I don't? I'm of the school of thought that people who would buy this sort of thing are suckers and fashion victims, being doubly exploited: first ripped off, and then providing free services as a walking billboard for a company's product.

This is just an empirical example of the thinking behind the LVMH corporate leviathan.. Louis Vuitton's absurdly expensive fashion pieces coupled with booze. Sounds silly to me, but I know people who would quaff a gucci branded cognac even if it tasted like lighter fluid... the same people who would pay $50 (a few years ago when they were particularly fashionable) for Gucci branded doggie chew toys. Makes no sense in my world, but certainly makes $$$$$ for some in other people's worlds.

IF my bottles don't get fizzy enough for me, I'm totally going to dump them into the TAD and hit them with a couple of CO2 charges. I foresee no real issues, other than the sediment issue.. which was fine when I conditioned right in the TAD bottles. Go for it!

Love it! The tap a draft gadget is wonderful! A batch of beer fits into three 6L pet bottles with maybe a couple of overflow bottles. I have primed and conditioned in the PET bottles and it worked just fine, though left yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle that made the very last pours a bit cloudy. This batch I syphoned directly from the primary into a 6L, and carbonated purely by gas charge, and it was great. Wonderfully fresh flavor to the beer, and the fizz level is adjustable, so that you can taste it along the way and stop charging it when it gets fizzy enough for you. There is certainly a difference between bottle conditioned and beer done that way, but you can condition in the big bottles too, depending on your tastes. I'd highly recommend that you pick one up, provided you've got a fridge big enough to hold it, and a willingness to dedicate a third of a shelf to it. It fits into most ordinary suburb sized fridges, though might be problematic in city sized fridges. This toy is a stepping stone between bottling and kegging, and has a lot of the benefits of both, and few of the detriments. And it is reasonably cheap.

Gah! Ick! Echhhhh!~ Is he really suggesting that we ferment 'wine' with baking yeast? Ew. His beet stuff is probably choking on the alcohol it is producing. A champagne yeast that can ferment up to 18 or 20% might solve that problem, but, still... ewwww. Beet booze? Just make the still and process it all the way to vodka. I've had the experience of a bottle of v-8 that hung out in the fridge a few weeks too long, and don't see the appeal of fermented vegetables. None for me, more for him I guess.

Am not a veg of any variety, but have been to buddhist restaurants that specialize in mock meat dishes made of seitan, and have been quite pleased. Know nothing about making the stuff, but would gladly eat it in a moo shu or a kung pao, or any other dish with lots of supporting actors surrounding the meaty-textured star. Have never tried it straight, but then again have never tried "krab" straight either, and don't mind it in California rolls either. Seitan does not exhibit any of the traits of spectacularly superior meat, but does not suffer from any of the insufficiencies of industrial grade meat either.

I've only got a pair of give away bottles... the rest is in big heavy swingtops that I'm loath to part with... so those at great distance have priority on the two 12 oz crown capped bottles. Those closer are welcome to meet up and trade some brew in person. I'm actually having a similar carbonation issue to iain's. I bottled the five gallons into 1 6 liter PET bottle that I force carbonated right away, and the brew was quite nice and actually quite good with a good charge of fizz in it. the remaining 3.75 gallons got primed with a half cup of corn sugar, aiming for a little more fizz than a standard british beer, and bottled in 20 oz swingtops and a pair of crown capped give away bottles. It's been two weeks and the three swing tops I've opened have been barely fizzy at all despite some yeast sediment appearing on the bottoms of the bottles. Very strange. If it keeps up like that, I may dump a bunch of the swing tops' contents into the 6L PET bottle and fizz it up that way.

Never seen it, but haven't looked either. What is so good about it, anyway? Will poke around on the web for informaiton about it for you. Even if it isn't available in NYC, you have three other states within an hour's drive that might have it if you should happen to get a rum-runnin' urge in you.

And what a day it was! Absolutely packed, and some of the good stuff went before I had a chance to give it a try, but even still... an excellent evening judging by what I did have a chance to try. The Brewer's Art Green Peppercorn Triple was certainly the most unusual beer I've ever run across. Tastes almost just like what you'd expect... A rich, hoppy beligian triple style, with a big dose of pepper flavor, though no pepper bite. I was hoping for a bit of tartness, since most of my experiences with green peppercorns have had some tart twang to them, but there wasn't any. Just rich triple goodness that tastes like it ran into a pepper mill. The Lancaster Winter Ale (a last minute sub in for the Four Grain) was a good dark malty heavy wintery brew. Not much more to say about that one. The Duke of Ale was wonderful... Despite the fact that the knowledgeable swore to me that it was an IPA, its hopping was so smooth that it struck me as more of a rich ESB... which, I guess, was how IPAs got started. Whatever it was, stylistically, it was great. The John Harvard's Heather Ale was quite interesting, and I liked it. A beer without hops is, of course, missing something that everybody associates with beer... but the heather used to replace it made for an interesting, almost metallic flavor, but not in an offensive way. Don't know that I'd drink it by the pint regularly, but when not in the mood for hops, it might be a nice change. The Yards George Jefferson was another dark, hoppy malty beer about which I just don't have much more to say. Was good... but that is about it. A beer for movin'on up, to a deelux apartment in the sky -y -y, I guess. Was good seeing Rich and Lew Bryson and other notables in the exciting Philly beer scene there last night. Scoats the publican was ever the gentleman, making trips out into the cold to thank those stuck waiting in line for having the patience they did. An excellent event, and I can't wait for the next Friday the 13th!

Yup... I have to agree that I'm not in the Haters' club. It took me days to think of the bitter melon, asafoetida and buckwheat groats that I came up with over on the other thread. And who eats them regularly, anyway. As far as things a North American would come across in more than 2% of situations, I'm totally in the "I'll eat it!" Club.

Just remembered another nomination for the axis of evil- russian buckwheat groat kasha. Has a weird solvent-y kind of flavor and just sucks. and, btw: snails- yummy! bugs? never tried em. My mind is, on the other hand, open to the possibility that bugs might taste good. An anthropologist friend of mine who spent a few years in Papua New Guinea told me that the sago grubs are quite good.

This is the first I've heard of the place, but I'll salute its passing and join in your feelings about the passing of that way of life. Genteel adventurism-- RIP.

The only dish I've eaten in recent memory and absolutely hated because of an ingredient was a dim sum dish of rounds of bitter melon hollowed out and stuffed with something. The Bitter melon was WRONG! Not just culinarily evil, but WRONG! Astringent, puckery kind of bitter. The thought still makes the sides of my tongue curl up. And my other nomnation for axis membership is asafoetida. Smells like garlic infused sweat socks, and makes kitchens in which it was used smell the same. Tastes worse.

cdh's un-named cocktail This is a lovely variation on a Manhattan. The marsala and Peychaud make for a very interesting herbalness quite different from what you'd get from plain old sweet vermouth. Well worth a try for Manhattan lovers. 1-1/2 fl oz Bourbon (I used Evan Williams) 1/2 fl oz sweet Marsala 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters Keywords: Cocktail ( RG859 )

cdh's un-named cocktail This is a lovely variation on a Manhattan. The marsala and Peychaud make for a very interesting herbalness quite different from what you'd get from plain old sweet vermouth. Well worth a try for Manhattan lovers. 1-1/2 fl oz Bourbon (I used Evan Williams) 1/2 fl oz sweet Marsala 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters Keywords: Cocktail ( RG859 )

The Cool Refreshing Breeze The humidity and general meteorological unpleasantness of late had inspired a need for something chilly and refreshing... I was looking for the York peppermint patty effect, and where else to turn but creme de menthe. Inspired by thoughts of mint juleps, I took Bourbon as the base and poured two ounces over the ice in my shaker. Then topped that with a half ounce of clear creme de menthe and and a half ounce of creme de cacao... shook til it my metal shaker was too cold to hold, poured into a cocktail glass, and topped with three shakes of Fee's mint bitters. 2 oz Bourbon 1/2 oz uncolored creme de menthe 1/2 oz uncolored creme de cacao 3 dashes Fees Mint bitters Combine the first three in a sharker with ice. Shake. Strain into glass. Top with bitters Keywords: Cocktail ( RG848 )

The Cool Refreshing Breeze The humidity and general meteorological unpleasantness of late had inspired a need for something chilly and refreshing... I was looking for the York peppermint patty effect, and where else to turn but creme de menthe. Inspired by thoughts of mint juleps, I took Bourbon as the base and poured two ounces over the ice in my shaker. Then topped that with a half ounce of clear creme de menthe and and a half ounce of creme de cacao... shook til it my metal shaker was too cold to hold, poured into a cocktail glass, and topped with three shakes of Fee's mint bitters. 2 oz Bourbon 1/2 oz uncolored creme de menthe 1/2 oz uncolored creme de cacao 3 dashes Fees Mint bitters Combine the first three in a sharker with ice. Shake. Strain into glass. Top with bitters Keywords: Cocktail ( RG848 )

A Nameless Cocktail 1-1/2 fl oz bourbon over ice in an old fashioned glass 2 dashes Fees' peach bitters top with Trader Joe's Apricot-Peach juice. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG847 )

A Nameless Cocktail 1-1/2 fl oz bourbon over ice in an old fashioned glass 2 dashes Fees' peach bitters top with Trader Joe's Apricot-Peach juice. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG847 )