FlaSoxxJim

With the kids, we invariably have our Valentine's dinner at home. Waiting on Carabba's takeout and enjoying a decent negroni, even though they insist on serving it on the rocks rather than strained up. I'm watching just how badly they butcher the Mai tai the guy next to me just ordered.

The nightcap here is a "Zombie a la Puerto Rico" as posted recently on the Dr. Bamboo cocktail blog. Not a bad zombie interpretation, and it it gives me a good reason to open the new bottle of Smith and Cross Jamaican pot still rum I just picked up. The Bacardi 8 plays nice in this one too, and the papaya juice, apricot brandy, and powdered sugar are all nice flourishes to the drink. Tasty and high-octane for sure, and this version is more rum-forward than either the Speivak or the Donn Beach version from Sippin' Safari. I'd like to try the tree of them side-by-side-by-side, but I don't think I'd survive the encounter!

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 09:27 PM) Unfortunately, none of my past girlfriends have known about it. My wife knows about it but manages to forget it without consequence. But if I did that for Valentine's Day there would be hell to pay. Totally unfair.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 03:19 AM) If woman get Valentine's Day, we should get "Steak & Blow Job Day." That is next month.

QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 08:39 PM) That's a cool experiment I never thought about. Panzer Wolf is annual to the best of my knowledge. Chicago is the only major city that gets 3 Floyds which is really a shame. Of course, I think they over hop everything, but they have driven me to the hop side over the last month. I had a Founders Old Curmudgeon a couple nights ago and didn't like it. I used to love Old Ales but now I find them one note without that hop hit. I will be craving Belgians soon. If you haven't had Dogfish Head's Burton Baton yet, make sure to seek that out. A blend of old ale and double IPA, will give you the old ale character with more tan a little hop hit. Great, great dang beer. An up side to having bought a fresh coconut to macerate the pulp for the rum infusion is that I now have fresh coconut water to mix with. I've waxed on here before about the simple beauty of Ron del Barrilito 2 star PR rum and coconut water, but usually I just make due with the canned stuff. Tonight it is Bacardi 8 (the ONLY Bacardi product that I really think is exceptional) and fresh coconut water, with just a touch of simple syrup to sweeten. What a wonderful, simple, purist rum drink. The rum flavors shine through nicely but the coconut water balances so well and makes for a nice long drink. I have read that gold PR rum and coconut water is a traditional drink enjoyed by wizened old men playing dominoes in the hot Puerto Rican sun. man, those guys know a good drink when they taste one.

QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 07:02 PM) I don't know if any if those will work. I I think I need 100% passion fruit. Meanwhile I took a night away from the cocktails opting for an Arctic Panzer Wolf from 3 Floyds. Palate blasting hops. I'm starting to run low on my Christmas supply. I need to gather a list for a trip to Table and Vine. Is Arctic Panzer Wolf a one-off or a annual brew? I wish we got Three Floyds here. Having taken my beer break yesterday, I'm back in Rumland, trying my hand at infusing my own fresh coconut rum for the first time. Tired of the artificial taste of every single commercial coconut rum out there. I'll let you know how it turns out in two weeks when it's ready.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 01:59 PM) http://www.amazon.com/Frontier-Gum-Arabic-...r/dp/B000UYIQ5M Yeah, it looks like online us my best bet. One pound of the stuff should last me for about 20 years.

Frigging autocorrect edited me. I'm looking for gomme syrup, not "gimme syrup" whatever that is. :-) Actually what I want is powdered gum Arabic to make my own gomme. You have impressive search skills knight.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 12:36 PM) THe Bon Voeux was one of the best I had in my trip to Belgium, I believe I mentioned it in here or the drunk thread a while back. I absolutely adore Belgium beers, very high alcohol % but at the same time they are the tastiest beers I have ever had. Can't wait to be back there and in Germany in about a month and a half. The Bon Vouex could very easily take Dupont's place as my go to saison if outlets around here start to stock it regularly. Did you try any cafe-blended guezue while you were in Belgium? I'm dying to make that beer pilgrimage.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 01:05 PM) Flaxx... http://productlocator.infores.com/productl...searchradius=40 Yep, that is a good list of my regular stops when I'm on an ingredient hunt. Now if you can find a local source for gimme syrup I will be forever in your debt. QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 13, 2011 -> 01:09 PM) Flaxxx http://store.finestcall.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=541 Good stuff at a good price, until you end up paying twice as much in shipping.

I have gone through the same arduous passionfruit juice/nectar and syrup hunt for years. I used to only be able to get the Goya passionfruit cocktail in Orlando so I'd have to stock up with a several-months supply when I could. Recently it has shown up in local grocery stores but it is stocked very sporadically. For passionfruit syrup, I originally tried the Torani which is totally artificial and worked poorly in most cocktails. The. I took the Beachbum's advise and mail-ordered the Finest Call passionfruit purée which was actually surprisingly high-quality for being a Finest Call product. I bought two bottles of that andI literally have about one ounce left so I will be doing homemade in the next week or so. In the frozen section at the store you can sometimes find Goya passionfruit pulp so I will try using that. I may have posted my preferred Japanese recipe here before, but I will repost it when I get a chance to look it up. It has maraschino liqueur in it which I know can be a b**** to find, but it really brings the drink together.

Made it out to night 2 of a really good three-day Belgian beer fest last night with the wife and some friends. 35 taps rotating through 50 different Belgian and Belgian-styled beers during the three days. The beers that we sampled yesterday included: • LaRulles Cuvee Meilluers Vouex dark ale (7.3% abv) • Barbar Bock dark ale (8% abv) • Gouden Carolus Tripel — an outstanding, spicy and complex tripel (9% abv) • Avec Les Bons Voeux saison/farmhouse ale — another standout of the evening • De Glazen Toren Jan de Lichte strong witbier (7% abv) • Gulden Draak dark tripel (10.5% abv) • Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer strong dark ale (11% abv) • Rodenbach Grand Cru Flemmish red sour ale — excellent! (6% abv) • Duchesse de Bourgogne Flemmish red sour ale (6.2% abv) • De Dolle Oerbier strong dark ale (10.5% abv) • St. Feuillien Noel holiday beer — oxidized and past its prime, the only off beer of the evening (9% abv) Trying to now figure out how to sneak back out this evening to Day 3 to stry some of the others, but I don't think I'll be able to pull it off.

QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ Feb 12, 2011 -> 03:59 PM) Quick question: I'm starting to look into winter stuff that's going on sale on-line and am looking at Marmot jackets. What's a good store in Chicago to try some on before I purchase so I know how it fits? Edit: And also to check out prices in-store Nice marmot.

Happy Happy Birthday!

QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 11:07 PM) I got it for my bday along with tiki mugs, swizzles, and a copy of Vintage Cocktails Revisited. Pretty awesome. I definitely used a homemade grenadine with Pom and turbinado. Really good stuff. I even put it on waffles once. Thanks for the suggestions! I assume I can just make a passion fruit syrup from the Goya passion fruit nectar? I would follow the recipe on tiki central. Looks like a fun time for nerds...like me. I whipped up a Waikikean using my homemade orgeat over the Trader Tiki (let's face it, mine is better). Super delicious. I might even up the orgeat. I love orgeat in the mai tai and the waikikean, but I can't stand the Japanese Cocktail. Maybe it's a brandy problem... People who have tried To reduce sweetened passionfruit nectar to syrup usually report poor results. Better to make it fro frozen Goya passionfruit pulp with added sugar, or to just use the nectar but dibble the amount every time syrup is called for. What is the Japanese recipe you are using? So far, that is the one cocktail where a thinner and less flavorful commercial orgeat works better than homemade for me. the Trinidad sour is another where commercial orgeat works well, but lately i have been using homemade but at half the recipe amount.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 10:32 PM) "To Serve Man...? IT'S A COOK BOOK!" "There's still more space dust on the book."

watching The Big Lebowski and knocking back a couple of White Russians is the battle plan fior the evening.

QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 07:03 PM) Red Tide from the Grog Log. Oh yeah... when did you get a copy of Grog Log?! red tide sings with homemade grenadine, thigh i think it's a little more balanced with an extra ounce of Appletons. At soonest convenience, mix up the QB Cooler one par back from the Red Tide. then try the brilliant Port of Call Rum Barrel on p. 71. My favorite tiki drink for a log time after I first tried it, but I cut the passionfruit liqueur back a bit and use Passoa instead of Alize. I also prefer Cruzan 151 over Bacardi for that one.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 06:56 PM) Is there a spice rub involved in man aging? rats

QUOTE (The Critic @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 05:07 PM) That's how I'll always remember him. Me too, although he was a lot more effective when he man aged the Pirates.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 04:15 PM) Chuck Tanner - Former manager of the Pirates Former White Sox manager too, for that matter. RIP.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 11:20 PM) Congratulations. Now that that's out of the way, does this seem a little strange to anybody else? It does to me because you've met, married, and now impregnated this girl in the time since you've been on this site. You're going through all of these huge steps in life that I (and everyone else on here) have sort of been a witness to, but I've never even met you. It's like reality teevee on SoxTalk. I think I remember some of this storyline back from season two and season three.

Add me to the list of people that are stoked that Throwback Pepsi is on the shelves again. Mexican Coke and seasonally available Kosher Coke used to be the only ways to get a cane sugar cola fix (without shelling out for Boylan's or some other boutique brand cane cola), so the Throwback Pepsi is a welcome addition.

QUOTE (shipps @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 10:08 PM) My wife is pregnant. That is carazay. Wow, congratulations!

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 08:50 PM) "You can't have your cake and eat it too" might be the stupidest f***ing quote ever. Who the hell wants to just have a cake and not be able to eat it? What's the point? If you ate it then you wouldn't have it anymore. Maybe the order should be reversed and the quote should be "You can't eat your cake and have it too".