Thanks Mr F! Gladly they were all solid seeds so the sieve took most of it before the coffee filtering, but it was still a struggle.

I'm thinking of starting with champagne cocktails as I reckon that's a decent way to get a feel for whether these are concentrated or not: I added a load of rhubarb and it was boiled down for a while.

Will also report back on Mrs Harris's falernum as I hope to try it next week!

Best,
Pete

quick note to El_D. Thanks to your advice I will be picking up some more Eagle Rare 10 before it disappears. It's been good in bourbon cocktails but what really convinced me was just making an Old Fashioned with it. And I'm not even much of a bourbon drinker. Thanks again!

I'm not really sure where this recommendation belongs but this seems like as good a place as any. My friend sent me a link to this earlier, Single Malt Scottish Vodka. Claims it's lovely. Decided hey why not and ordered some, let's see how it goes.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Valt-Single-...pr_product_top

my order of cocktailing gear arrived, including the rhubarb bitters I ordered, so I decided to celebrate with that recipe from reno and El_D:



I like that it takes the edge off the Maraschino, which is something I find so sweet that it almost has a funk to it. Serving on ice was a good suggestion as I think it could use the additional chilling and dilution over time -- this is definitely a sipper, not a slugger. I daresay it needs some acid to clean up the finish though; I used 3 dashes of bitters but I think some lemon oil, or even a splash of lemon juice, wouldn't be out of place here.

thanks for the rec you 2.

That looks delicious, and the lemon sounds like a welcome addition.

All,

http://www.collegehumor.com/post/694...-bar-menu-ever

HAHHAHA A+ imo

Awesome. I would buy a Rye called 'Griffin's Gizzard'! And lulz to 'whimsical as sh*t'. A+.

Groundhog day party this year (2nd year running but I deleted the first year off facebook for plausible deniability). Murricanes may be on the menu (bourbon, watermelon juice, muddled basil and black pepper) - anyone ever tried one? I feel it could either be delicious or odd - like a messed up bloody mary?!

1.5 Rittenhouse Rye
.75 Amaro Nonino
.5 Contreau
dropper full of Bitterman's Mole
few dashes of Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Aged
flamed orange garnish

served in chilled 6 oz coupe glass

not sure if name worthy, but if so, needs to have the word "Flyer" in there.

Made my first Old Fashioned yesterday.. quite tasty

My drink above is called a "Giroux"

Get it?

if I had to pick 1 reason my bar is overflowing, it's because I read recipes and think, "hey, I have n-1 of those ingredients, I should get the last and try it out!"

anything with Nonino gets my vote. I've been recovering from a cold this week and been rehydrating with sparkling water, with a splash of Nonino to make it more appetizing.

Lately I haven't been making many cocktails at home (mostly drinking scotch), but when I had it has been a lot of Moscow mules. In the process I have learned the importance of a good mixer, in this case, a good ginger beer. My ginger beer power rankings:

1. Fever tree. When I first tried it I thought it was a bit too spicy, but after a couple of tries it has become my absolute favorite. I tried their tonic water too and it's one of the few times I felt I really enjoyed a gin and tonic (I'm not a big tonic guy).

2. Goslings. A bit less spicy and fresher than fever tree, and #1 in the power rankings for a dark and stormy (with goslings rum ldo).

3. Cock and bull. Apparently this is the original ginger beer for the Moscow mule. Pretty good but it has more of an ale taste and the color is a bit off putting (I like my Moscow mules with more of a green hue).

4. Saranac. This one was my favorite when I was making the transition from ginger ale to ginger beer. Not too spicy and lightly sweet.

5. Reed's. Don't drink this crap.

Anyone has other recommendations for ginger beers outside this list?

ET,

Experiment away, but fever tree is where it's at.

Do you have those silver moscow mule cups? You should have mentioned this when you were in SF and I would have taken you to an elite moscow mule place!

Had an "Industry Sour" tonight. Fernet + Chartreuse + Simple + Egg White. Delicious!

Fever tree is excellent and what I stock, but Fentimans is excellent too for ginger beer, Cola, tonic water, rose lemonade and some other more exotic stuff. I especial rate their tonic, which has lemongrass in and tastes amazing.

I've tried 2 of the Fever Tree tonic waters (Mediterranean something, and something else) and I liked the flavours of both, but found the carbonation a little...mushy. I like Q Tonic, but I also discovered it's pretty easy to make your own tonic syrup, which keeps like forever, so then you can combine the syrup with soda a la minute.

a friend made her own ginger beer a few years ago and it was delicious, great ginger bite (missing from lots of commercial stuff imo) and not too sweet. She claimed it's pretty straightforward too but it still sounded fairly involved imo.

El D that Industry Sour sounds badass!

M. F.,

Tonic syrup recipe recommendations?

Best,
Pete

El D, where do you get Fever Tree? I haven't seen that around but then again I don't shop at fancy or specialty places often.

Pete,

Please stop signing your forum posts. We can all see who the post is from by glancing slightly left.

Best,
OOT

Diablo,

I don't have copper mugs for the Moscow mules, I though about buying them but at $15 a pop I passed. I just make them in a highball glass with two big ice cubes. As for the Moscow mules place, next time I'm in SF I'll take you up on that.

That industry sour sounds adventurous. Care to guess the proportions of the ingredients?

I buy mine at total wine, but if you're I the bay area I'm pretty sure klwines has it. Probably bevmo too.

El_T,

I think the 'original' recipe calls for equal parts.

I see. A Google search gives a different list of ingredients though: chartreuse, fernet, lime juice, simple syrup (no egg white).

Yeah bay area. I assume you mean K&L wines? Never been there but it's not too far. But I'll try bev mo first, not sure why I didn't think of them.

Edit: thanks El D. That's even more convenient than bevmo so I'll try that. If they don't have it I'll just get some talenti so it won't be a wasted trip regardless.

Duke: I've bought fever tree at whole foods.

ET: oops, there was lime juice in it, yeah. He said equal parts fernet, chartreuse, lime juice and a little simple syrup. Did a dry shake with the egg white first then with ice and served in a coupe like a pisco sour.

Cool, thanks. I'll give it a try one of these days.