soon i’ll be setting up a (nearly) new home bar…looking forward to trying some new things. here’s what i got planned:
gin – new amsterdam, hendricks
rum – flor de cana gold, el dorado 5 year, or appleton vx
cachaca – not sure yet, maybe boca loca
dark rum – cruzan dark aged
vodka – monopolowa
bourbon – benchmark old [...]
checked out gather restaurant. had a ‘winter wonderland’ which was basically a sidecar with spiced syrup. really nice.
the bartender did something interesting: measured the citrus and the syrup, but free poured the brandy. i’m not a fan of the free pour, but this hybrid technique makes more sense. still [...]
left: gladware 4-oz mini rounds (approx $2.50 for 8 at target)
center: beaba multiportion baby food freezer tray ($12 at babyearth)
right: tovolo perfect cube ($15 for two trays at amazon and most other places)
i changed my mind back, the 4 oz rocks are perfect!
sorry the photo sux. kaiser penguin i aint.
i made another batch of zombies, this time i made the passionfruit syrup by reducing the passionfruit nectar in half. this was not as successful; i prefer the uncooked passionfruit flavor.
i also started thinking about being more mathematical/systematic about making syrups. i figure that a cup of 1:1 syrup has 360 [...]
muddled a quarter of a medium-large yellow peach, tart but flavorful. mixed in 3 oz of punt e mes, double strained into a jar as the base mixture.
then mixed a bunch of mini-cocktails using 1/2 oz of the base mixture and 1/4 oz of a spirit. the spirits i used and my tasting [...]
went on a shopping spree at ledgers and bevmo, picked up some new things:
– regan’s orange bitters
– green chartreuse
– j pear liqueur
– sagitaba cachaca
– fever tree tonic water
gin and tonic
2 oz hendricks
2 oz fever tree
i wasn’t impressed with fever tree, cate’s tonic is far superior.
this drink was improved [...]
notes:
- the leftover margarita was undrinkably bitter.
- a leftover gin-elderflower-lemon cocktail was less bitter and more smooth. maybe just more diluted?
- went to a mid-scale, B-for-effort-C-for-delivery mexican place. ordered the ‘horchatini’ and ‘prickly pear margarita’ even though i knew i was asking for trouble. noted with disdain (for myself, mostly) that they [...]
one of the tenets of the machinery of freedom is that the merits of a particular system (for example, a form of government) should be evaluated as if besieged by incompetence.* in other words, expect the worst. in other words, don’t say “democracy works as long as we keep people like dick cheney [...]
i’ve been doing a little internet reading-watching-research lately. in particular:
eGullet
small screen network
(egullet is a great resource, but it is populated by fanatics. and fanatics always scare me a little. they remind me what i am not, which makes me sad, and also what i might become, which makes me sadder.)
might be time for [...]
awhile ago i went to the zig zag cafe in seattle (where i had a corn n oil for the first time–goddamn, murray kills that drink) and ended up in conversation with a couple of catering chefs each with a taste for high-end scotch. i asked if they’d ever had any of murray’s cocktails [...]
from this tablehopper knockoff newsletter, we learn of a bourbon and branch drink called elephant eyebrows which sounds like a basis for a good syrup: gin, garam masala, honey, lime, nutmeg.
2 oz dark rum
1/2 oz lime
3/8-3/4 oz falernum (depends on sweetness, my last batch was pretty dilute)
1 coin ginger
3 drops angostura bitters
muddle ginger, combine remaining ingredients, shake with ice, double strain.
minor story from cocktail night, one bartender (male) greeted another (female) with “hey, mama!” despite not being billy dee williams, he totally pulled [...]
sigh, still haven’t learned.
i must forge ahead with my notes, through pain and shame.
– shiso leaf is really strong, don’t go hogwild
– fruit juice syrups: start with good fruit. for example, something other than a bland-yet-slightly-funky honeydew.
– also: be careful with sweetening. start with 1/2 the amount of tart. [...]
lotta cocktail cats round the blogosphere have a disdain for vodka on account of its neutrality. for example, the rad jeffrey morganthaler says that vodka is “a boring liquor for boring people”.
and that’s how this article starts. but then concludes with a notion i’ve been chewing on lately:
Consider the sublime RTR Classics on [...]
syrups from: wine, coke, root beer, regular beer, apple cider
fondant cutters (i think david w uses these) or hole punchers
from scott b’s waverly place echo: candied lemon zest, a marinated mandarin segment, and a circle (hole punch) of kaffir lime, all on a skewer a la alinea’s hot potato/cold potato.
pear, walnut orgeat (from french laundry)
yeast [...]
sweet potato, bourbon, vanilla, orange, curry
as mentioned in the intro post, david wolowidnyk makes a cocktail called “pie” which contains pumpkin-infused vodka. so, this would be similar. i’m thinking maybe the infusion could use both raw and roasted sweet potato. or maybe boil and strain some sweet potato, and use the ‘broth’ [...]
inspired by phillip foss:
lime, raisins or grapes, almonds or orgeat, brown butter
lychee, orange, olives
inspired by grant achatz:
watermelon, lime, cilantro, chili-soy powder rim
apple, thyme, butterscotch, scotch, lemon
key lime, guava, rum, pine nut orgeat
apricot brandy, frangelico
coconut, lime, corn, mint, cayenne rim
pineapple, saffron, black pepper
lychee, horseradish, chervil
orange, basil, orgeat
grapes or port, celery, walnuts
gin, rhubarb, green tea, tarragon
mango, sesame [...]
