slkinsey
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Posts posted by slkinsey
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Hmmm... three things immediately come to mind:
1. Using a base liquor historically associated with NY.
2. Using a combination of liquors from a variety of countries, since the subway is truly reflective of NYC as a multicultural melting pot.
3. Creating not one cocktail, but three: the IRT Cocktail, the BMT Cocktail and the IND Cocktail.
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This is the passage from Dr. Cocktail's book I was thinking of:
William Laird made his first batch of applejack in 1698. . . . Before the 1950s, most commercial brands called their product apple brandy, as did Laird. "Applejack" was really just a slang term . . . -
Excellent point! Re keeping every last flavor molecule, though, your point is very well made. This is one reason I wish more makers of rye and bourbon would release an unfiltered product. The only one of which I am aware is Bookers, and I think there is a big difference between Bookers unfiltered bourbon and filtered bourbons at similar proof (with Bookers having more flavor, natch).
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Exactly, Dave. I was trying to point that out a bit by demonstrating that the difference in alcohol is fairly trivial. There is some question, though, about whether this is a difference one is likely to notice with respect to Jack Daniels -- especially considering it's usual modes of consumption.
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As I understand it, "schnapps" the generic term as it is used in Germany stands for an unaged distilled neutral grain spirit. Essentially German vodka. It's not clear to me that any of these are flavored.
Anything American named "______ schnapps" on the other hand, will be a sweetened flavored liqueur. It's not clear to me what the difference is between American "____ schnapps" and generic "creme de ____."
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The thing about eaux de vie is that they are a) very alcoholic, b) delicately flavored, and c) bone dry. If one is expecting or wanting something sweeter, more emphatically flavored and lower proof (typical for most fruit liquors) an eau de vie will not satisfy. If something sweet and assertive like a tawny port is your idea of a postprandial drink (and why shouldn't it be?) eau de vie may not be to your liking.
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It seems most of the whiskies have gone from 86 proof to 80 proof. Is it cost related? I certainly believe so. Look too at how closely this correlates with the change from a fifth (4/5 of a quart) to 750 ml as the standard bottle size. . . . As opposed to the change in proof I'm more opposed to the fact we get a 750 ml bottle rather than a fifth.
0.8 quarts (4/5 of a quart) equals 757.1 milliliters. So that means that a true fifth contains 7.1 milliliters more liquor than the standard 750 milliliter bottles we see today. 7.1 milliliters equals a little less than one and a half teaspoons. Surely you're not bothered by this paltry reduction in volume? Actually, I would imagine that the average liquor bottle filling machine has an accuracy somewhere in the realm of +/- 1.5 teaspoons (or more).
On the other side of the coin, a change from 43% alcohol to 40% alcohol would means a reduction of 22.5 milliliters of alcohol per 750 milliliter bottle. This is is equal to over 4.5 teaspoons of pure alcohol -- over three quarters of a fluid ounce. Diluted back out to the original 86 proof, it means about one healthy shot (1.75 ounces) less booze per 750 milliliter bottle.
Fundamentally, I don't think it makes much of a flavor difference in the common applications (and let's be honest, regular Black Jack doesn't taste all that wonderful straight). If one is drinking to get drunk, that's another matter. Over the years, many alcoholic beverages modify their formulae to keep pace with modern tastes or the realities of tax laws, etc.
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Since there is so much revulsion expressed above, I feel the need to chime in here and say that I like eaux de vie... and grappa... and slivovitz... Some are definitely better than others, but the good ones bear no resemblance at all to rocket fuel.
I'm with you. Have never understood why someone wouldn't like these. Granted, they should be consumed in small sips and from glasses that accentuate the aromas. I'm especially fond of grappa, and was sorry to read Splificator making fun of it in his Esquire book. Bad grappa or eau de vie is no more objectionable than any other bad distilled spirit.
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Applejack is produced by fractional freezing, rather than by distillation.
Now that's interesting, I've never heard of such a distilling method.
I checked several net resources, and there seems to be different opinions about the production method. The Laird hompage is under construction, but in an archived page they talk about distillation as well as many other sites. I'm really curious about this product, which seems to have a century old history (1700).
We have a lot of apple cultivation here, an some eau-de-vie producers make different apple spirit from different varieties.
I think it is likely the case that applejack was produced by fractional freezing at one time, but I believe it is now produced by distillation. It's hard to imagine a large scale industrial operation producing applejack by fractional freezing. Afaik, Laird's is the only remaining producer of applejack.
Dr. Cocktail's book has a nice section on applejack. I don't have it in front of me at the moment, but I'm pretty sure he says that applejack (at least as we know it -- i.e., as made by Laird's) wasn't officially called "applejack" until relatively recently (i.e., the 20th century) being labeled "apple brandy" before that.
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Man... look at those prices. My bottle is from c. 1955, by the way. Now I can't decide whether I should drink it or auction it off.
If only I knew what it was...
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Interesting. Based on those pictures, it looks like maybe mine isn't damaged after all. They all seem to have a fairly low level in the bottle and crystallized something (presumably sugar) on the bottom.
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My grandfather was born in 1897. Career Navy man. Both world wars. The whole nine yards. Also a great connoisseur of cocktails and alcoholic libations. Some time after WW2 he was the commander of an Italian shipyard and my mother's family lived in Rome. Anyway... to make a long story short, when we were finally able to go through his things many years after he passed away, I discovered a number of unopened bottles that clearly dated from his time in Rome. Many things were instantly recognizable and look more or less the same now as they did back then, such as Strega. Some were now obsolete brands of Russian vodka with the labels only in Russian. And then this... a bottle of something called Millefiori Cucchi. I've resisted opening it because I don't know what it is. It's also likely not in great shape anyway, as some evaporation has taken place. Still, though, I'd like to know what it is and whether it's made anymore.
Here's a picture of the bottle:
And here's a closeup of the label:
Anyone ever heard of this stuff?
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We should start a thread called something like, "Let's all force Varmint to have another Pig Pickin'"
I definitely won't miss it of he has another one.
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I'm not quite sure I understand the question. What's the etiquette on which part?
A buyback is just bar speak for a comp. Just like at a restaurant, this is 100% at the discretion of the extablishment/server and should never be expected (and definitely never requested). Usually a buyback will go something like this: you've had several drinks at a bar, and the bartender says "the next one's on me" or you order a drink and he/she says "this one's on the house" or simply waves you off when you reach for your wallet, etc. Sometimes the management will comp you one or more drinks instead of the individual bartender. In either case, I always tip generously on the value of the comped drink(s).
Some bars (and states) allow this, and some don't. I've always found that the best restaurants, in terms of customer relations, always knew just when to comp something so it makes you feel like an insider (which, of course, makes you go back there and give them more of your money). I would imagine there is a fine line to be drawn at bars between being generous to a good customer or a regular, and allowing him to mooch. When there are places where I've been comped a lot, I start looking for ways to pay because I want to send the message that I go there because I'm happy to pay for what they give me, and not becase I'm getting free food, drinks, whatever.
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...I'm not really a rye drinker, so I'll have to pick some up. Will I be able to find the Triple? Any other brand recommendations? Thanks!
The bottle is most likely from a historical (aka defunct) brand of rye. I don't think it means that you have to use that brand to make the drink. In fact, if you click here you can see pictures of many other old rye bottles.
As for currently available ryes, Old Overholt is fairly ubiquitous and reasonably priced. Make sure you get "straight rye whiskey" and not "Canadian rye whiskey." Wild Turkey makes an very good 101 proof straight rye whiskey. Van Winkle Family Reserve rye is excellent, although more expensive -- I tend to use it in cocktails where the full flavor of the rye can really come through, like a Sazerac. I'm sure the Doc has some other recommendations. Rye used to be the #1 alcohol with many different brands, but now it has sadly declined to almost-obscurity and a very limited number of brands. It's too bad, because rye really works better than bourbon in many cocktails.
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I wonder about a really high proof grappa... but that might be too expensive to be worth it.
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That's a good point. I wonder if there are any decent high proof neutral spirits available?
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It is worthy of pointing out, of course, that commercial makers of limoncello use high proof neutral spirits.
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Damn! I was hoping for a list of what you have in there. Do you have to use a database to keep track of it all?
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Good to see you back, Doc! Would love it if you could share some stories about the book, or maybe some things that didn't quite make it into the book.
Congrats on the Times Magazine feature, too. What a coup! I was going to start a thread on that, too, but haven't had a chance yet.
I am also happy to report that I'm steadily chipping away at Steven's ginphobia and he's gradually becoming a cocktailophile -- although Audrey Saunders did more on that score in one evening at Bemelmans than I have in the last six months. I know he loved her Gin Gin Mule, and really... who wouldn't?
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Good one, Bux. How about:
Rule #657: A martini is not a cigar drink.
Rule #92: A lot of the old cocktails sucked just as much as the new ones... we just have the advantage of time filtering them out.
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Rule #316: It is impossible to look masculine sipping a drink with a tiny umbrella sticking out of it.
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Cool.
Okay, my turn...
Rule #858: No drink worth drinking for any reason was ever mixed in a trash can
Rule #653: No, Jägermeister doesn't contain "secret opiates" that make you "extra fucked up." You've been choking down that swill with your frat buddies for no good reason.
Rule #214: Remember, you become more attractive with every drink she has, not with every drink you have.
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So, are you gonna give us the recipe for the Splificator, or do we have to beat it out of you?
Subway Cocktail
in Spirits & Cocktails
Posted
Thinking of #2 above, I've always thought that Chartreuse gave a cocktail a certain essence of far-away places. What about something like:
1.5 oz : straight rye whiskey (I'm thinking Wild Turkey 101)
0.5 oz : applejack
0.5 oz : fresh lemon juice
0.25 oz : green (or maybe yellow?) Chartreuse
1 dash : orange bitters
The rye and applejack seem old-school NY to me, while the Chartreuse is a "taste of multiculturalism." This could suck, of course, and might need some adjustment to balance the acid. But it's something that at least sounds interesting on paper.