Craig E

The Count's Handshake?

Looks like you sprung for some Chartreuse instead of paying your power bill this month. I can appreciate those priorities!

For my birthday, made myself an Infidel (another of Rafa's creations) a yummy equal parts drink. Gin (Beefeater), dry vermouth (Noilly Prat), mint syrup (I just threw a mint sprig + simple into the shaker), lime.

Really enjoyed this Cynar Sour tonight (Cynar, maraschino, lemon, agave). Key was the garnish of cucumber (fresh from my pitiful vegetable garden) and orange zest, which added a most befitting nose.

Tonight I put my hops bitters to great use in this adaptation of Kyle Davidson's Fresa Cervesa: 2 oz. bourbon (I used Evan Williams, half black label and half white label) 3/4 oz. turbinado syrup 1/4 oz. dry vermouth (Noilly Prat) 3/4 oz. lemon juice 2 modest strawberries 3 dashes Bittercube hops bitters Hard shake, fine strain, up. Superdelicious!

When concocting mixed drinks, do you have flavors you think pair well? I'm particularly interested in hearing of pairings that might be less obvious than something like lime and rum. Two that occur to me are Green Chartreuse and pineappleMezcal and AperolWhat are your faithful partners for particular liqueurs, spirits, juices?

Still trying to figure out this sherry stuff. Thought I had bought an amontillado, but I actually had a manzanilla. So searching Kindred Cocktails for recipes, came across Rafa's Old Spanish, which has an odd back-story you can read at that link (it's a craft version of an absurd drink that was an inside joke involving a couple of TV shows). Easy drinking and pleasant. Reminded me of an Aperol Spritz, but more subtle. Or less exciting?

Also wild and delicious, with cucumber and fernet: Perla's Cantina Band. Now that you're out of tequila I recommend you give it a try.

You could try a Mamie Taylor (essentially a Moscow Mule but with Scotch instead of vodka).

Last night at Parlour in Minneapolis, really enjoyed this Sound Effects (gin, roasted beets, orgeat, lemon, strega, dill, bolivar bitters). Behind that is my friend's American Beauty (gin, cucumber vodka, lillet blanc, petal & thorn vermouth, yellow chartreuse, bolivar bitters), which was also very nice.

So, inspired by this (and working with what I had on hand), I kinda flipped the rhubarb and orange components: 1.5 oz. mezcal (Vida) .75 oz. lemon juice .5 oz. rhubarb syrup 2 ds Fee's orange bitters 8 lv basil In my variation there may be too much tartness, but the underlaying vegetal/herbaceous plays a nice counterpoint. Grilled grapefruit flavors. Next time a little muddling maybe. And scaling the whole thing up--it went too quickly! Thanks for the idea!

For me they replaced a cheap Absolut promotional set that was a glass and a metal tin coated with thin foam insulation. So the main adjustment I have to make is getting used to how cold my hands get!

Inaugurated the just-arrived Koriko tins with a Clover Club riff made with homemade rhubarb syrup. This egg-white foam was an order of magnitude better that the stuff I made with my previous shaker. Which seems goofy to say, because the physics of the new one really can't be that much different than the old one...

Wow, never heard of such a thing!

Mine arrive tomorrow!

Ah, that looks like a good solution to what is a perennial problem for me--how to present a candied ginger garnish. Keeping it up out of the drink keeps it from becoming wet and slimy.

Rafa's Rubber Soul Fascinating interaction of flavors including sweet orange and chicory coffee. I suspect my Kahlua is more syrupy than the spec'd Tia Maria? though I have a high tolerance for that. I haven't tried a bourbon-based Revolver which this riffs on. But I love the Bombardier, another Rafa creation with rye, vermouth, and a lemon twist.

Just noticed this stirring spoon/thermometer combo at CK.

This is from a 1964 Life magazine. (Accompanying a space race story, so maybe there's something to the Tang connection!) The wording of the ad, to me, suggests the product is pretty new (or at least pretty new to retail). The "Holland House" brand might be worth further research.

Willing to share the PDT ratios? I've really enjoyed the drink in the past but it has seemed to me keeping the Fernet from taking over takes some care in measuring.

Last night had another gin tasting with friends: Local (Minnesota) gins: Tattersall, Far North Solveig, Vikre Juniper English: Hendricks, Liverpool, Dodd's, Bulldog French: Citadelle Dutch: Boomsma Jonge Genever Cheapo: Rear Admiral Joseph's (Trader Joes) Sipped them all, straight, blind to which was which. Was quite surprised at the results. Consensus top marks went to Tattersall and Liverpool. The Dodd's is excellent too. At its price point the TJ's gin showed well too. I expected Hendricks and Citadelle to do well, but neither found any champions among us.

Rubicon (Basically a Last Word + Rosemary + Fire) (screencap from the wife's video!)

Do you also have different target temps for different types of drinks?

An interesting idea: stirring with a thermometer for precise timing (not to reach a certain serving temperature so much as to gauge the dilution). https://youtu.be/0qCCtVylPkk Has anyone tried this?

Slurred Word Smith & Cross, green Chartreuse, maraschino, lime, pineapple