slkinsey

The unfortunate reality is that even a "really good ventilation" system won't do the trick. As detailed in This definitive article, which was published in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (46(9):887-905, September 2004. Repace, James MSc), details: Now, mind you, this is not talking about filtration, but instead about replacement of air in the room. Filtration is even more expensive, burdensome and difficult -- to the point of being effectively impossible from a practical standpoint.

If you're talking about 6 weeks, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Just put the corks back in the bottles.

Cool stuff! Other than the obvious (warm drinks) what do we think makes for a cold weather, winter cocktail that's different from an Autumn cocktail?

Definitely more. I eyeball it, but I'd say something like 2 ounces Fernet Branca or Branca Menta to three ounces Coke plus ice.

Dehillerin is great. And the heavy Mauviel they sell is functionally the same as Falk & Bourgeat (they purchase their stainless/copper bimetal from Falk). It's only really an amazing deal for those of us in the New World if you fly back with a few pans in your suitcase, though. Once you pay tax and shipping and all those other things, it's a long wait to save yourself around fifty bucks (or less, depending on how much you buy) after you figure in Falk's discount. And, to my mind, there is some value in having a relationship with Falk's US distributor who is located in the US and will stand behind his product 100%. If you can bring some back in your suitcase, though... it's an amazing deal.

I'd be interested not only in hearing predictions for trends that will make their way from cocktail epicenters like NYC across the country, but also what we think the in-crowd and enthusiasts will be doing in the next year.

Where've you been? There are several brands of mango (and coconut and vanilla and whatever) flavored rums that have been around for awhile. I think the point was rather that these commercial product tend to completely suck, in general, and simply cover up inferior, flavorless whiskey, rum, whatever. There's a big difference between Maker's Mark infused with real vanilla beans (pretty good) and Cruzan's vanilla-flavored rum (completely horrible). That said, I used to do a drink with vanilla-infused Maker's, but have come around to the idea that there's not much point in putting additional vanilla flavoring into something that should already have good vanilla notes to it. I had an opportunity to taste Navan straight at a DISCUS-sponsored cordials event, and it didn't do too much for me. We liked Tuaca better, and I'm probably even more partial to 43. That's all for another discussion, though. . . Yea. I've noticed that I've been drinking an awful lot of brown liquor over the last year. In fact, I've probably had more rye whiskey over the last 3-4 months than I have gin. I think you're right about the egg whites. I hope we see bartenders going back to that tradition more and more, and I've had quite a few egg white drinks over the last year. I also wonder if there will be a trend more towards strong drinks, and whether the mainstream might soon start slowly shifting away from "cover up the booze" drinks.

What do we think the trends are going to be for 2006? I'll get the ball rolling. These are really trends that are continuing from 2005, and so perhaps easy calls on my part, but they are largely trends among the cognoscenti and I predict that they will begin to go more mainstream in aught-six. The two "hip" liquors of 2006 are going to be rye whiskey and rhum agricole. We're going to see more and more bars doing their own bitters. I also hope to see applejack make its way deeper into the cocktail enthusiast zeitgeist.

Never came back?! Haven't you heard? Rye whiskey is the new vodka!

The NY Times Magazine recently did an article on "Bar Necessities", including two favorites from Audrey Saunders. First is her adaptation of the Tom & Jerry from the Jerry Thomas book: Egg Batter 12 : eggs 3 Tbsp: vanilla extract 2 oz : rum (Bacardi 8 specified) 4 dashes : Angostura bitters 2 lbs: sugar 1 tsp : ground cinnamon 0.75 tsp : ground allspice 0.5 tsp : ground clove 0.5 tsp : ground nutmeg Separate eggs. Beat sugar, bitters and spices with yolks. Beat whites stiff and fold into yolks. Service 1 gal : whole milk 1 bottle : rum (Bacardi 8 specified) 1 bottle : cognac (Courvoisier V.S. specified) Heat the milk until just below the simmer. Each toddy mug gets 2 ounces egg batter and one ounce each rum and cognac. Fill the rest of the way with hot milk, give it a stir and garnish with fresh grated nutmeg. This is a great drink for a special occasion on a cold night. But, as you can see, it serves a lot of people. This recipe makes around 24 servings. It's probably possible to make a smaller recipe -- perhaps as few as 6 servings -- but that would take some serious precision measuring with the spices (I'd recommend making a spice mix of the regular amounts and then simply dividing the whole works by 1/2 or 1/4 according to how you are scaling the recipe). Another fun choice for the winter is her Hot Port Sangaree, which has the advantage of much better storage characteristics compared to the T&J. You can make up a bottle of the stuff and drink it off and on for the whole winter. 3 cups : port (Graham's Six Grapes specified) 2 oz : pomegranate molasses (Al Wadi specified) 3 oz : simple syrup (1:1) 2 oz : fresh lemon juice 2 oz : Cointreau 5 dashes : orange bitters (Regans' specified) 5 dashes : Angostura bitters Lemon twists Combine all liquids in a bottle. To make a single serving, heat 4 ounces together with a lemon twist to just below the simmer. Strain into a toddy glass and garnish with a new lemon twist.

I make veal stock whenever I can get plenty of veal bones. And I always make my stocks for sauce making... which is to say that I always reduce the stock to a glace and freeze it in cubes. So I can use the cubes for a sauce as-is, or I can add water to get a broth. It's really handy to have a bunch of glace cubes in the freezer, because you can always melt a few for a small sauce, to flavor rice/make risotto, etc.

I'd say yes. Just mix the syrup to order with vodka to get the right proof. See? I knew I'd find a use for vodka if I kept thinking about it long enough!

All the bones? Even the leg and thigh and back? Must be a large mouthed grinder... It's pretty decent-sized, yea. Chicken bones (I am usually making a white stock, so nothing is roasted) aren't all that big. I do tend to split the breast bones and backs in half.

Actually, even though it is not intuitive, I'd bet that a strong Manhattan has more calories than eggnog or a fruit juicey vodka cocktail. As my body keeps on telling me, alcohol is very caloric.

How did it turn out? Is this an improvement? I was pretty happy with it. The main thing is that by rapidly increasing surface area you get much more efficient extraction of flavors and other things. I could probably go for a shorter period of time at a higher temperature, but it's convenient to leave it steeping overnight. Needless to say, this is one way to get maximum gelatin. One of the great advantages of this method is that all the fat is liberated and floats to the surface right at the beginning before it even melts along with a prodigious amount of scum, all of which is easily skimmed off.

I've experimented with making chicken stock by running all the meat, bones and vegetables through a commercial grinder and then cooking it all substantially below the simmer (at around 80C) overnight. I don't like to use too many vegetables, and I've found that parsley in particulary can impart too much vegetal flavor if you aren't careful.

I believe that pastis was "invented" by Pernod and Ricard as a replacement for absinthe after the ban. Not sure I'd call pastis a liqueur, per se. I don't think it's sweet enough. Edited: I see I cross-posted with Marco. What he said. The absinthe ban went into effect in something like 1915. Why do we suppose it took Pernod an additional 11 years to start making pastis? I'd think they'd have gone over to pastis right away.

We had an okay discussion going on about lobsters & pain in the eG Forums a while back: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=61469 An informed understanding of what pain is (a psychological phenomenon) and lobster neurophysiology strongly suggests that boiling live lobsters isn't such a big deal.

What are you doing with the bread? Have you considered using a Pullman pan?

I think the whole "lighter roast for espresso/darker roast for cappuccino" idea is largely an American one. In Italy, if you're North of Rome you're going to get something lighter than what Americans think of as "espresso roast." And they sure aren't going to bother offering two different roast profiles, one for straight and one for milk. They're going to use their regular shot. Of course, the whole cappuccino thing is mostly an afterthought in Italy. Many people never take milk drinks at all. One thing I can certainly say is that people who have cappuccino at my house appreciate the mellower roast profile I use, and seem to prefer it to what I consider the over-roasted sharp profile most Americans associate with "espresso." I would also be willing to bet that any place that makes a truly outstanding cappuccino has these things in common: 1. lighter roast; 2. coffee component smooth and drinkable as espresso; 3. larger-than-usual amount of coffee in the mix; 4. wet, pourable, integrated foam/milk; 5. reasonable sized portion. These five points are almost diametrically opposed to the typical American cappuccino aesthetic.

I'm having a hard time understanding why anyone would want to pay 150 bucks for a cast aluminum pot from All-Clad when you can get one at a hardware store for 10 bucks.

this isn't really the traditional cappuccino ratio - just something of a well propagated myth. Most Italian cappuccinos are around 5 or 6 fluid ounces with only 1 fl oz of espresso. I agree with the myth part, but I am not at all sure I agree with this second part. As it so happens, I've got a number of friends who own or manage restaurants in Italy. And as it also so happens, I've got a Rancilio at home. Various friends in Italy have, over the years, given me matched pairs of their branded espresso and cappuccino cups (most restaurants and bars use branded cups from their espresso supplier). I just spent a few minutes pouring water into them. Most of the Italian cups came in at around 5 ounces total volume. This means an approximately 4 ounce fill, which comes out to an ounce of espresso and at most three ounces of steamed milk. I agree with the "myth statement" above because I believe that it isn't possible to separate foam from milk in properly steamed milk. It's all just wet, thickened, expanded, heated milk that pours out together. None of this raking the dry foam off the top of the pitcher. This all lines up with what kingseven says about the foaming technique. Another reason, I believe, is that espresso in Italy is produced with the primary idea that it will be consumed as a straight shot. As a result, it will be smoother and sweeter with none of that "Starbucks bite" to cut through too much milk. This is especially true in the North where the preference is for a lighter roast. In the South, they like a much darker roast (and much more sugar!). Finally, there is the simple fact that people in Italy care about it more, both the consumers and the producers. There are precious few places in America where you can get a first rate espresso -- hardly any in NYC. Maybe a handful. In Italy they're not all mind-blowing, but you'll find a pretty good caffè on just about every corner. Many people in Italy drink three or four shots of coffee every day, just stopping into a bar for a quick one. If the coffee isn't good, they will simply go down the street the next time. This is also dependent on a "foot traffic" kind of society. Italians aren't driving to a strip mall for coffee in a "to go" cup. It's the same kind of thing that keeps the ubiquitous neighborhood pizza joints at such a higher level in NYC than most other American cities: if the pizza is lame, people will simply walk to the pizzeria on the next block and the bad pizzeria will go out of business. Ultimately, if the place isn't selling espresso you'd like to drink, it's unlikely that the cappuccino is going to be very good (impossible, I'd say). So that right there tells you that there isn't much good espresso to be had over here. Who likes Starbuck's espresso? Yuck! When you combine good espresso with a proper milk foaming technique and a higher percentage of (better) coffee in the drink, you get a much better cappuccino. That's how I make 'em at my house.

The Jack Rose is also much, much better with Laird's bonded. Laird's didn't start making the blended stuff until the 70s sometime, so I think all the traditional applejack cocktails taste closer to what they were if made with the bonded stuff.

The winners: The Adult Film Starr (rum category) created by Sam Ross of Pegu Club 2 oz. Starr African Rum 1 oz. Fresh Lime Juice 1/2 oz. Licor 43 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup 3 pieces of cucumber Nutmeg In shaker, muddle cucumber, add all ingredients except for nutmeg and shake, strain over cracked ice in double rocks glass, garnish with cucumber spears and grated nutmeg. The 1838 (rhum category) created by Bobby "G" Gleason of Harrah's Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino 1 1/4 oz Neisson Rhum Agricole Reserve Speciale 1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse 1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice Juice of 1/2 Lime Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice until well blended. Strain into a double highball glass over loosely packed crushed ice. Garnish with a sugar cane stir stick and a pineapple parrot. The Moda Martini (cachaça category) created by John Mautone of Dylan Prime 3 oz Beleza Pura Super Premium Cachaça 2 oz Cruzan Banana (or Raspberry) Rum 1 oz fresh lime juice 1/2 oz pineapple juice Chill a martini glass. Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a large mint leaf in the center of glass. Lots of cool ingredients like Licor 42 and Yellow Chartreuse. The cachaça drink is gigantic, though: 6.5 ounces of liquid before shaking!

There's your problem: MB Orange curaçao is sweeter than Grand Marnier and balances the drink differently. Afaik, Pegu Club's formula isn't exactly 4:1:1 -- I think it's a touch higher on the curaçao and lime -- but it's close.