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Xie xie Liuzhou! That's prefect info. Will for sure check out Binnys and Total wine, thanks for info.

I'm going to the States in a couple weeks and looking to bring back some goodies that are totally unavailable here. How many bottles would you imagine I could bring through without anyone giving me hassle on either end? I brought back 3 bottles last time I traveled internationally and no problem. I was hoping like 8 or more this time. Btw, the hardest thing to find where I live is different kinds of rum(Lots of variety here within other spirits). I was thinking of bringing back Smith and Cross, Lemonheart, Pussers, Barbancourt. Maybe some artisinal bourbon? Rum agricole is pretty easy to get here. FEW from Evanston, IL any good? Best liquor stores in Chicago(area)? Anything I could find in Florida that I couldn't get in Chicago?

How is the Gin Mare? I've thought about picking it up several times.

It is pretty pineapply, I was thinking of cutting it back a little next time.

No idea how this is gonna taste, but spotted this in Qingdao(where they make the beer) and thought the bottle looked so cool I had to pick one up.

Blackbeard Beefeater, Aquavit, Lemon juice, pineapple jiuce, agave nectar, blackberries. Oops, made it a bit wrong muddling in the shaker and straining, but still was a nice drink. Subbed SS for Agave nectar.

That is hilarious! Reminded me not to take it all too seriously.

I don't think this is a parody, but it did make me laugh

Hmm, my 1/2 full bottle of Hayman's OTG went a bit cloudy. It was perfectly clear when new. Any ideas why? Weather has gotten cold/heat has come on, maybe that has something to do with it?

Black-eyed Pea-nut 2 oz Peanut infused bourbon .75 oz Averna dash TBT chocolate bitters Lemon twist

I was thinking about this the other day: Is it possible that alcohol(especially higher proof) could cause chemicals to leach out of the plastic?

Indeed. I've had my eye on making a Zombie for a while now. That will be done tonight!

There aren't very many, compared to say a big city in the states, but there are at least 6 very good to excellent cocktail bars here. This one just happens to have the biggest selection of booze of them all. So, yes, part of me agrees that that "is" the entertainment. Hehe, I'm sure they don't. They do, however, have very strict drunk driving laws. Pricewise it isn't that bad. The drinks were reasonable priced. Just wished they could've been more flexible to the situation. Agree. They did and you are absolutely right. We did go somewhere else, and the funny thing is we spent almost as much, but we weren't "pushed" into it. Still, this sums up my personal opinion of their policy. Anyway, I was just annoyed and felt like ranting I guess, thanks for the feedback and opinions!

Just found some cool new chimney glasses and was looking for something to try them out...Campari swizzle what a great choice, what a great drink! http://www.kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/campari-swizzle

We were out the other night and decided to try a cocktail bar that my friend was telling me about. Turns out there were two bars in the same building, run by different owners. The first one was a "Japanese" cocktail bar and it was fine, though the spirits selection and cocktail menu were not that special, but the atmosphere was nice and the drinks were made well - if small, prices were standard. We had a drink there and then went to the second bar The second place blew me away. Never have I seen such a selection of spirits in Beijing. Immediately I noticed Falernum, Pimento dram, loads of bitters, rums and bourbons that I hadn't seen here before - I'd guess at leat 500(probably more) bottles of spirits all layered and displayed neatly. There are several craft cocktail bars in town, but I none have this vast of a collection. I was happily anticipating a difficult decision on what to order. So, getting to the point, the bartstaff says something to my friend in Chinese - apparently you need to spend a minimum amount per person (which by the menu prices was around 2 cocktails). I was pretty surprised by this, so I tried talking to the woman. I told her that tonight we were interested in having one cocktail each, as we have already each had one and my friends were both girls who couldn't handle drinking 2 more cocktails. I said that I'm sure on a future visit I would order more. Her response(speaking decent English) was that I could order expensive drinks or I could drink 4 and they could drink 2, or we could just have 3 and pay the extra anyway. I was pretty pissed off. I've never heard of a minimum at a bar without any entertainment and I was even more annoyed by the bar's total lack of flexibility to the situation. I told her they'd not be getting any business from me ever and we went to a different bar. I'm am kind of wondering if I over-reacted or if others have experienced this "minimum" thing?

Probably the Armagnac is nothing special, but ran into it at a Tesco in a smaller Chinese city for not very expensive. I don't see much Armagnac at all so just took a chance. Have never seen Flor De Cana here at all, found this 375ml bottle that appears to have been sitting on the shelf for a while.

The Château du Breuil is one of the two or three that are easily available over here. I remember before buying, I read reviews of about it and the overall impression was that it was very lackluster at the lower end of their range. Nobody was saying anything about gym socks though or off flavors. I ended up choosing the other brand that's availabl: Berneroy, and have stuck with it. I like it a lot, as have my guests. I will borrow the description from above that's it's nice and bright, nice subtle apple aromas.

Hmmm, anyone tried Tyrconnel single malt Irish whiskey? I came across a bottle and thought I'd try it and expand my whisk(e)y horizons a bit. I have very limited experience with Irish whiskey - whisky wise I have mostly drunk bourbon and rye so far. But this one tasted pretty odd to me. Upon opening I noticed a strong apple/sour/ and perhaps an "off" note and to me the taste followed suit. I tried it neat, in an old fashioned and in a Weeski cocktail and it just tastes a bit "off" to me. I made a Weeski with Jameson's to compare, and was very smooth. I must say I preferred the latter. Just wondering if i haven't aquired a taste for the Tyrconnel yet or if it is indeed a bit odd?

I made a Sidecar with Armagnac tonight and liked it lot...a bit more bite than with cognac? Anyway, it got me to thinking: Would a Sidecar subbing Pisco work?

Decided to make my first infusion, standard 80 proof vodka infused with walnuts. I'm following a recipe that's actually for walnut liqueur, but then I got to thinking: Why put the sugar in it? Why not just leave it as walnut infused vodka and add simple syrup to cocktails that I make with it as I see fit? Even if I wanted to drink it as a liqueur, I could add the desired amount of SS at the time of drinking. Does that make sense or is there a reason why it would better to add the sugar to the whole batch? Also, how long would you infuse with the walnuts? (I used around 1 and 3/4 cup walnuts for 750ml vodka).

Has anybody read Jeffrey Morgenthaler, The Bar Book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Bar-Book-Elements-Technique/dp/145211384X/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t Any good? Worth buying?

Not ready to jump into making my own falernum yet, had never even tasted the stuff. I bought a bottle of The Bitter Truth Golden Falernum, having been very impressed with their bitters. As I said, this is the first falernum I've ever had, so nothing to compare to, but to me it seems excellent. Great spicy, soapy(?), intense aroma. Taste is nice and spicy, strong clove and ginger, not overly syrupy/sweet. Tried 2 Corn & Oils after looking through many recipes online. The winner was: 2 lime wedges 1/3 oz Falernum 2 dashes Angostura muddle above ingredients 1 oz Mt. Gay Eclipse ice, stir Float 1 ounce Gosling's Black seal What a great drink, very tasty, complex and not sweet. It reminded me of a Dark and Stormy with the soda element taken out, which is perfect for me, I always like the general taste of D&S, but too much soda and too sweet. Love this drink. I got this recipe from here: just changed the rums to suit what I I have on hand. The other recipe I tried was not muddled, used 2 oz of just one rum (the Eclipse), and 1/2 oz falernum. It was just kind of meh.

Like this one?:

Bitter Truth Falernum Appleton VX Clement Blanc Rhum Agricole Hawthorne strainer, spherical ice-maker things All new for the first time to me! Been using a tea strainer for a year!

2 oz Wild Turkey 86.8 1/4 oz Guanche Arhucas Honey Rum 1 small barspoon demerara sugar 2 dashs TBT chocolate bitters orange peel' large rock Man that's good