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Noveis is very good and not easy to find, so I'd grab it, but I don't remember if you were one of the people recently not loving dell'Etna so maybe don't get it. Those and Braulio are all that alpine style. Ramazzotti works especially well with mezcal. In the same group as Averna, but more orange and less cola. Cio Ciaro I haven't loved, it's just kinda middle of the road. I'd take it over Meletti but take Nonino over it. Same with Vecchio honestly only I might not even take it over Meletti.
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Oct 1, 2023 16:58
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 01:50 |
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Oh, nice. Yeah, when substituting amari you kind of have to go down to the subcategory level (e.g. Alpine vs. orange-forward vs. fernet, etc.), like you do with rum, to have any success. You can't substitute cross-category. Braulio has name recognition, I'd guess it's most people's first alpine amaro (in America at least). The bottle is usually (always?) 1L. It's also super good. I haven't had any of those other four, not that I remember, anyway.
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Oct 1, 2023 17:34
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Well first we’ve gotta narrow it to grape brandies, presumably. Eaux de vie and calvados and stuff are technically brandy as well (any distilled spirit made from fruit is) and there are many good ones, but that’s probably not what you’re talking about. But yes, grape brandy is like rum in that there’s tons of crap and also in that the good stuff is fantastic. If you haven’t tried good cognac or Armagnac, especially bottled over 40% abv, you should do that before writing off the category. (For the big name brands that you recognize, you want VSOP or better, but the smaller producers make good stuff too that isn’t necessarily graded VSOP.) Keeping it to those two regions is a good shortcut for now; there are good brandies that aren’t from those AOCs but that can come later. I find Barbancourt to be a particularly brandy-ish rum, so I bet you’ll like it when you find a good one.
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Oct 17, 2023 01:40
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Remy VSOP is good and is I think the last big-producer bottle I had, but that was years and years ago. Martell is also good, I'd probably put those two above Courvoisier and Hennessy, but none of the big producers' VSOPs or above are bad or anything. I also like Hine, and Pierre Ferrand has lots of interesting bottles (I've got one of those in my home bar at the moment). If it's available in your local stores, armagnac is often more distinctive and fun. Marie Duffau is the biggest seller in the US and their Napoléon is maybe the best value in brandy (that I can think off of the top of my head anyway).
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Oct 17, 2023 02:31
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my kinda ape posted:Grand Marnier is a curaçao and Cointreau is a triple sec. They’re both orange flavored but aren’t the same category really. I’d say get both but if funds are limited then Cointreau is slightly more popular as a cocktail ingredient. I agree, get both and compare, you’ll quickly learn which one is more your style. And Cointreau/triple sec is more frequently called for but I prefer Grand Marnier in pretty much everything, especially so with brown spirits, so I’d get that if your priority is Sidecars etc. and you just want one bottle.
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Oct 17, 2023 22:31
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There’s a reason zombies are “limit two (or one double, I guess) per customer.”
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Dec 3, 2023 19:49
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As far as classics go, you could make Grasshoppers, but they're also super heavy. Twentieth Century cocktails are also classic and lighter. It plays well with whiskey, rum, and mezcal, so you could always try a dash or two in a manhattan, or a rum or mezcal old fashioned, that type of thing.
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Dec 4, 2023 22:46
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I’d probably start with something like 2 vodka, .25 each Italicus and peach syrup (if it was really syrup) and .5 lime. Taste at that point and adjust if you need to (depending on the sourness of your limes and sweetness of your syrup). Then shake, strain over fresh ice, top with ginger (or do the cool technique I’ve seen lately where you add half the lengthener first—keeps the bubbles better). Me, I’d be tempted to add mint and swap fresh peach in for the syrup (both muddled, double strained, and fresh ones used as garnish). E: ha, I had 1.5/.5/.5/.5 in mind originally too and changed my mind as I wrote the post.
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Dec 20, 2023 19:07
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The barspoon also allows you to measure out barspoon amounts of ingredients, and crack ice in a pinch. Stirring is gonna be identical. The ice should really be what’s pushing the drink around anyway.
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Feb 18, 2024 18:59
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I’m with you on this one. Remind me not to order a martini or Manhattan from those guys.
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Feb 18, 2024 19:34
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Obviously the point of the technique is to get the rice dust into the cocktail. Have you ever drank the water from washing rice? It’s good. I just simmered some daikon in water from washing rice for part of dinner yesterday. Using rice washing water to cook is a traditional East Asian technique for some dishes. OP try it and report back. I wouldn’t rice wash everything all the time, but it’s a cool and legit technique.
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Mar 30, 2024 04:53
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 01:50 |
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Assuming this was a 2:1 rich demarara syrup or similar, that just means some sugar is precipitating out of solution because the syrup is supersaturated (likely due to slow evaporation of water, so there's now less water per sugar than there was when you made it). Syrup will actually keep longer the sugarier it is (for the same reason undiluted honey doesn't spoil), so this is a "good thing," as the crystals are proving your syrup is as sugary as it can be. If you want, you can add a little water to bring it back from supersaturation, but don't add too much or you're diluting your syrup for no reason (and making it more likely to spoil). I just leave the crystals there until I finish my bottle of syrup, then redissolve them with new water and use that, then make a new bottle of syrup.
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Apr 15, 2024 19:12
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