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jp asked for a light cocktail the other day. i put some pear liqueur, apple cider, and lime in a glass and that made her happy. here is a non-light adaptation, similar to previous pear liqueur experiments:

1 oz pear liqueur (J Pear, 60 proof)
3/4 oz cachaca
1/2 oz lime
1/2 oz apple cider

jp, kue, and i went to this place for dinner. i knew from a previous scouting that the cocktail menu was two parts boring one part nightmare: one of the drinks contains spiced apple puree (from a bottle no less) which, for reasons posted previously, i couldn’t bring myself to try.

i’ve been considering this place for employment because compared to other restaurant-bars i think i’d have more responsibility more quickly, and that they’d be more open to revamping the cocktail menu to my direction. it would be a case of walking-before-crawling, since i don’t really know anything. and as usual i could be wrong about everything.

but before i approached them i wanted to try the food first because, glancing at the menu, the food seems dated and lacks philosophy. but, as it turns out, is pretty good.

i also ordered a margarita. mine are better, but i’ve had worse.

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latest with the pear liqueur

4 oz pear liqueur
1 oz cachaca
1 oz lime
2 short drizzles of maraschino (prob 1/4 tsp)
2 dashes ango
1/4 tsp sugar

this was very good, but–i realize now–didn’t use the same proportions as before.

1/2 oz pear liqueur
1/4 oz cachaca
1/4 oz lime
#2: 2 drops ango
#3: short drizzle of maraschino

#2 needed a dash of sugar. #3 was balanced, though too much maraschino for my taste. probably just right for the sophisticated cocktail enthusiast.

ango and maraschino would probably work together.

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went to adesso for a couple of late night cocktails and the free spread. food was great, as usual, although they played a VERY CRUEL TRICK by swapping out a plate of roast pork piadina with identical-looking mushroom piadina.

the free food attracts young, hot, underfed students of both sexes. how did they manage to accomplish this, without also attracting chinese retirees with 30-year-old sweaters and untreated boils?

cocktails, i had a diablo (they call it diavolo) [tequila, lime, creme de cassis, ginger beer] and a grapefruit gimlet [charbay grapefruit, lime, agave nectar]. eh. what can you expect from free pouring.

ended up sitting next to, and chatting with, a guy who serves at an upscale restaurant in san francisco. kinda douchey (”i’ve been getting into cocktails as a hobby” “hobby?! where i’m from, we call that a drinking problem” heyyyyy! you’re hilarious), but effusive and superficially entertaining after my second drink. i asked what kind of $ he made, and was informed that he ‘pulls down six figures’ a year, and that that isn’t uncommon for servers.

i asked what he thought of this theory: that servers at really high-end places, like alinea, don’t necessarily make the most money because those places are often so labor intensive that although the tips are large on a per diner basis, they get sliced up many ways. and that servers at expensive-food-casual-vibe restaurants probably make more. he said that was definitely true, and claimed that servers at zachary’s can make almost 100k/year. (aka “they pulling three bills a night”–if i ever start talking like this please kill me)

maybe gotta rethink my tipping algorithm.

i would have thought that a server, especially one who decried the snobbery and pretentiousness of other servers, would be a better customer than he was. “what are the biggest oysters you have” bartender tells him, he orders a half dozen. after they arrive, he looks around for condiments, doesn’t see any. yells to/at bartender “hey can we get some salt and tabasco here?!” later “i thought these oysters would be bigger” and “can i get a………………” [bartender stands by while dude takes about 20 seconds to scan the menu]

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i wonder if that rickhouse yelp review makes me sound like a whiner. i wonder if i am a whiner.

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 by a generous squeeze of lime (or two). without the acid its a cloying mess. will try again with less tonic.

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green chartreuse. smells like bouillon cubes. tastes like OMG WHAT IS THIS

last word

1/4 oz gin
1/4 oz lime
1/4 oz luxardo maraschino
1/4 oz green chartreuse

(small measurements because i didnt want to get too fucked up in the process of experimenting)

surprisingly delicious. the chartreuse and maraschino is prominent, but it all does work. next time i’ll try replacing some of the liqueurs with a little syrup, maybe boosting the gin a little.

bijou

1/4 oz gin
1/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz chartreuse
2 dashes orange bitters

a good vehicle for chartreuse. drinkable, but not my thing.

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first tried the cachaca and the pear liqueur on its own. then:

pear experiment (expeariment?)

1/4 oz cachaca
1/4 oz lime
1/4 oz j pear liqueur

aromas are insane. the flavor is a little acidic and boozy; needed a dash of sugar or syrup, or maybe just more pear. maybe a hit of maraschino. maybe a couple drops of ango. maybe brandy. wrong to mix brandy and cachaca?

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i found two more rangpur lime trees within a two block radius of home. plus about a dozen (meyer?) lemon trees. (kue likes to go on walks and so i have seen more of the neighborhood in the past week than i have in the past three years)