I have some Knob Creek 100 proof rye.

Other than an ice cube, what type of drinks would you recommend I make with this?

Bartender last night mentioned a Sazerac would go well with this, which sounds good.

He also said a Manhatten, but to cut back on the vermouth a bit, and to use something like Fee Brothers barrel aged bitters to accentuate the rye.

I'm probably not going to spend $20 on those bitters though, so looking for other opinions.

On another note, making some chocolate bitters here at the house. We'll see how that works out, recipe is the chocolate one here - http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/12/...bitters/print/

The jars smell great, they'll be ready to try Sunday.

Sazerac would be my first option as well. An old fashioned can be delicious with rye and is a kissing-cousin of the Sazerac.

While the barrel aged bitters sounds like a great idea, classic Angostura bitters should work just fine. If you feel like experimenting, try those chocolate bitters, orange bitters and Peychaud's. Fiddle around with the proportions a bit and generally have fun tweaking the recipe. Part of the enjoyment of cocktails (at least for me) is figuring out the exact recipe that makes it a perfect fit for my personal palate.

Hi,

There is some new trend of cognac based cocktails in EAstern Europe, anyone knows more about that? Some starters cocktails to try out? I will hit the bar offering these in couple of days, can come back with some photos.

Are you asking for recommendations on cognac based cocktails? If so, the sidecar is #1 to start. Also, I can't remember the name, but an old fashioned where you use equal parts of whisky and cognac is really good.

Fran,

Lots of traditional whiskey cocktails work great with cognac or half cognac/half whiskey.

Sidecar is an excellent classic cognac cocktail.

Sidecar, took a screenshoot thx

What cognac substitutes would you recommend (if any)?

Some specific brandy, an armagnac, something else?

+1 for sidecars!

Love sidecars! Pretty much my fav cocktail

Some bars use brandy to make them, I've only done them with hennessy/remy martin vsop at home. I could never get them to taste like how some bars make them even when they use cognac (this is one cocktail that pretty much tastes different everywhere), any ideas why?

Sidecars are all about your preferred ratio of ingredients. I like 8:2:1 cognac:triple sec:lemon juice. I keep some Hennessy just for sidecars. It's a great after dinner cocktail.

That's one boozy sidecar! My preferred ratio is about 8:3:3.

Try what is called a Bulevar. Equal parts Mezcal, Campari, and Cocchi. Stirred with a dash of your preferred bitters and strained neat. I finish the cocktail with a flamed orange peel, so I typically use a citrus bitter, but once again, your preference.

amoeba: missed your post. dj's drink is pretty much a mezcal negroni, which is great. I also like lots of whiskey (American or scotch) drinks with either mezcal in place of whiskey or 50/50. Mezcal old fashioned, for example. All the classic citrus tequila cocktails are even better w/ mezcal imo. margarita, paloma, etc.

Fran: btw, for a bunch more cognac cocktail recs, click Cognac Room here: http://gasparbrasserie.com/menu/ Corpse Reviver 1, Vieux Carre, and Crusta are some classic favorites of mine.

Abe Books has a cool story up about vintage cocktail books.

http://www.abebooks.com/books/RareBo...ntagecocktails

David Embury's Fine Art of Mixing Drinks is an excellent read if you can get a copy of it. Had a bunch of editions in the 40s through 60s, and the dude is super-opinionated in a pretty entertaining way

I also can't recommend David Wondrich's books Punch and Imbibe more highly

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Very cool. Only familiar with the awesome classic savoy cocktail book from that Abe's list, lots of cool sounding stuff.

Haven't read punch, but +1 to the imbibe rec.

I also highly recommend the PDT cocktail book.

just tried this, confirmed delicious whenever. Reading it I thought it would be really cloying given all the simple, plus I always find Cynar on the sweet side for an amaro, but it's legit refreshing. Super good thanks for sharing this.

I tried some bourbon last night with ginger beer, a couple of dashes of Agostura bitters and some ice and it was suprisingly decent.

Next step is the Trinidad Sour!

Yesterday I discovered a new digestive, bitter and balanced and made from Sicilian blood oranges. It's called, Amara.

http://www.rossasicily.com/

A number of you know my background and how long I lived in Italy. This is without a doubt the best amaro I have ever tasted. I tried it at a new pizzeria that just opened, and this weekend I'm going to track down a bottle. I think it would make a superb negroni.

Available at K&L Wines for $35. El Diablo should take one for the team and try it out since he has a store around the corner.

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Dammit, I was just there this afternoon! Out of town this weekend, but will try and remember to swing by next week. The description sounds awesome.

unsurprisingly it is not available in Ontario so I am looking forward to the review, sounds tasty as heck.

Okay, so I purchased a bottle today and I've just had a nice glass of Amara over ice with a thick slice of fresh orange, (bitter poured over the orange and ice, obviously).

I stand by my original impression. I think this is very, very good. It is wonderfully balanced between the bitterness of the orange rind and the sweetness of the orange. But, I think that some of you won't like it. It's very subtle, not at all like the usual style of hitting you over the head with a bunch of herbal flavors.

So to sum up, I don't think that it will be to everyone's taste. But for those of you who dig it I reckon this will become your new go-to amaro.

Tomorrow a good friend is coming over. He recently won Australian bar manager of the year so he knows his stuff. We're going to experiment a little and see how it goes in a negroni. I'm thinking to halve the amount of campari and substitute it with the amara.

more subtle than something like Nonino or Montenegro?

would love to hear a TR on what experiments you guys try...failures as well as successes.

Yeah, more subtle than those. There are some herbs in it, just not as much.

As it has some sweetness we have discovered two things. Firstly, a slice of lemon or lime is much better than orange as it counteracts the sweetness.

Also, no good for negroni for this reason. More tests ongoing.