Craig E

The Good Life: 1 3⁄4 oz North Shore aquavit (Tattersall) 1 oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur (Stirrings) 3⁄4 oz lime juice 1⁄2 oz Demerara syrup (2:1) 10 dr Regans' orange bitters Orange twist (grapefruit) Recipe reads as sweet, and it was, though the herbaceous aquavit and spicy liqueur (and acidic lime) kept it from being cloying to my taste. I liked the ginger and aquavit combo in this sour format. Recipe called for orange twist but I only had grapefruit, which I think might've been more fitting anyway.

A while ago I received a gift of a small bottle of this odd Slow Burn liqueur. It's a gin-based, smoky sweet liqueur that I figured must be good for something but I had no idea what. Then recently I came across a variation of Sam Ross's great Penicillin (blended Scotch, lemon, honey, ginger, Islay Scotch float) that subbed in agave spirits--tequila for the blended Scotch and mezcal for the float. That sparked the idea--I could instead make a gin variant, with London dry as the base spirit and this Slow Burn as the smoky top. So I did it. 1 2/3 oz. Beefeater, 2/3 lemon, 2 tsp honey syrup, 2 tsp Stirrings ginger liqueur, 2 tsp Slow Burn floated, candied ginger garnish. Tasty but not earth-shattering, I parsed it more as an interesting Bee's Knees riff than anything that would rival a Penicillin.

Harry Craddock was serving a Brandy Cocktail in London at that time--I'd guess that is closer to what Orwell is referring to. In his 1930 recipe book he specs it as 2 dashes curacao in 3/4 wineglass brandy.

Black Lodge: Michter's rye (Crown Royal rye), Cynar, Combier Rouge (Tattersall Sour Cherry), Carpano Antica, Regan's orange bitters, orange twist. I don't know how my local cherry liqueur compares to Combier Rouge (which I've never had), but here it dominated the taste. I felt like the bitter finish of Cynar pulled out strong real cherry flavor, with a kind of metallic aspect at the end, in an interesting and not unpleasant way. I have liked rye + Cynar + cherry liqueur previously in To Hell with Spain and, more simply, Slippery Slope.

Enjoyed Misty Kalfoken's Streets of Gettysburg: 1 1/4 Lustau Dry Amontillado (La Garrocha) 1 Rittenhouse 1/2 Bénédictine 1/4 Galliano Ristretto (Kahlua) dash Angostura orange twist This was like a very interesting Old Fashioned. The nuttiness of sherry and Ritt played off each other well.

Thanks, bookmarked for when I next have thyme on hand! The other day I tried this Maurice (rye, Cocchi Americano, Sauvage, and a little Antica) which is likewise mentioned on the Bittermens site, and which is more in the Manhattan/Brooklyn mold. Or I suppose you could call it a White-ish Boulevardier. There the gentian was a nice "complexifier" rather than hogging the spotlight.

Speaking of, made a sort of White Negroni tonight. 2 oz Beefeater gin 1 oz Cocchi Americano 3/4 oz Amère Sauvage 5 drops fennel bitters 5 drops saline The gentian is powerful, awful in a way, and yet I found the drink compelling, increasingly so. Setting my relationship status with gentian liqueur to "It's Complicated."

Or Amère Sauvage. A friend just gave me a bottle, and I'm wondering how it compares to these others, none of which I've tried straight.

Also, is ruby port shelf-stable, or do I need to fridge it/drink it fast?

Do you know anything about this Kammer brand @Rafa? It was the only legit option at my local store.

I'd vote for gin.

Looking forward to playing with Kirschwasser, port, and Montenegro, all of which are new to me. Not looking forward to returning to Trader Joe's because I grabbed vodka thinking it was gin.

Last night I tried this All Jacked Up. Mezcal, sweet vermouth, Lairds apple brandy, Fernet Branca, maraschino, apple garnish. I had to resort to the Applejack I had on hand, though the spec (despite the cocktail's name) calls for pure apple brandy. If you like apple drinks (and probably especially if you have the real Laird's) this is worth a try--I found the balance to be just right with the complexity leant by smoky mezcal and menthol/bitter fernet. Mostly I'm proud of my first apple fan!

There is praise all over this forum for Audrey Saunders's Earl Grey Marteani. Finally made one and I see what the fuss is about. Wow was this good!

This Roycroft Cocktail gave me a chance to use my new tiny clothespins, about which I am inordinately excited. Rittenhouse, Green Chartreuse, Bénédictine, Cherry Heering (Tattersall Sour Cherry), lemon juice, ginger (candied ginger)

Finally tried Phil Ward's Bushwick and it immediately went to the top of my fave Manhattan/Brooklyn riffs. 2 oz rye (Rittenhouse) 3/4 oz Carpano Antica 1/4 oz maraschino 1/4 oz Amer Picon (Amer Boudreau)

Lonesome Dove Muddled blackberries, lemon juice, honey syrup, bourbon, allspice dram. Nice maroon color. Pretty tasty, reminded me of the bottled dark grape juice that used to be standard issue for kids' snacktime in the 70s and 80s. I think I prefer the cleaner taste of a gin-based bramble.

Someone once gave me a bottle of Tuaca which I use in recipes calling for Licor 43. But that may be even more hard to find.

And To All A Goodnight. 1 1/2 oz bourbon 3/4 oz reposado tequila 3/4 oz Cherry Heering 2 dashes orange bitters 1 dash Angostura Stir; strain; up; orange twist. My test for drinks that include Cherry Heering is usually: does it avoid a medicinal quality? This one passes the test. The tequila seemed like the odd inclusion looking at the recipe, but its green vegetal qualities are a nice inclusion. A good boozy tipple.

This is a favorite: Dead Man's Mule. Absinthe, orgeat, pimento dram, lime, ginger beer. Doing it up right this time (previously I settled for Herbsaint and almond-milk-made orgeat, this time it's the real thing on both counts).

If you can't find it locally and are not interested in mail-order, there are a number of DIY recipes here on the site and elsewhere on the web. The simplest way to fake it may be to follow this emergency orgeat recipe which involves almond milk, sugar, orange blossom water, rose water, and rum (or this one which is almond milk, simple syrup, almond extract, and orange flower water) and takes less time than the real thing. But if you have a little time, making the real thing isn't too difficult at all. If even the least of these is still more effort than you want, you could look for the clear almond syrup that is sometimes found in stores among coffee flavorers.

My first real bottle of absinthe.

Ah, I notice in the digitized 1930 version here that the Bacardi Cocktail is listed at the end of the book, in a section called Additional Cocktails which may have been late additions, but appear to have been printed on full pages in the edition. So now I'm thinking in your copy somebody has cut out the Bacardi cocktail and stuck it in where it belongs alphabetically. Does your edition have the "Additional Cocktails" on pages 282-283?

Looks to me like what publishers would call a tipped-in erratum slip--added when an editing mistake (like a missing recipe) is discovered after the printing of the book's pages is complete. Maybe the Bacardi marketing people had a little talk with the publishers before the book release...

A White Palmetto of sorts: agricole blanc, vermouth blanc, mole bitters, orange twist. A bit thin in texture, some interesting fruit flavors in there (pear first, then mango?), but my unimpressed wife said it tastes a bit like a shoe-repair store, and I think I glimpsed what she was talking about. I think every rum agricole drink I've had starts shakily but gains a star rating by the time I finish it.