Tomcollins

Sadly, the monin is all that is available to me. It's not practical or economical for me to make my own. I don't drink enough and never tiki really. I'll have to order at a bar that does (one day!) to sample the difference. As for the peach brandy, I thinks it's safe to assume that the 19th century stuff was barrel aged to an extent and high ABV. However, I'm almost certain that recipes calling for it in the 1960s would have been using a liqueur like cherry or apricot 'brandy'. Not an eau de vie, or true brandy, or a weaker creme style liqueur. But such a thing seems to be incredibly elusive. Certainly seems like a DIY job.

It was in my basket until I realised it was £41 for 389ml! Can't justify it sadly. I'd want a 15+ year old single malt for that. And even then, it'd be for a special occasion. Couldn't bring myself to mix with it either.

I've just picked up (online) the following: Pernod absinthe (my first, having only had pastis). Giffard creme de banane. Giffard creme de framboise. Hennessy VS cognac (a cognac restock, replacing Martell). Monin orgeat (bottom shelf I know, but the only one they had and having never used it before, I didn't want to start making my own. Not a tiki guy). I'm on the lookout for a peach brandy in the UK, if anyone could point me in the right direction. I know it's not common in the US, never mind here. I'm assuming the recipes I want to use it for (1930s-1960s) call for an actual brandy; not a liqueur or clear eau de vie. But I'm not certain. I suspect the 60s recipes may sway more towards liqueur, as the Dutch makers seemed to have a big market share at the time. That said ABV info is often hard to come by and when I have, it tends to be higher ABV than a liqueur/creme (c.16-18%) and lower than a brandy/eau de vie.