Gaz

Pineapple and Rosemary Smash 5 dashes Rosemary Tincture 3/4oz Lemon Sherbet 2oz Genever 1/2oz Green Chartreuse 3/4oz Lemon Juice 3/4oz Pineapple Juice 6-8 mint leaves Garnish with grated nutmeg ( I didn't have this) This one was really good, again I'm not sure I'm getting the balance right - it feels like there's a really really good drink there that I'm not doing justice to. It's complex and multi-layered. The zing from the sherbet makes way for the herbal flavours from the chartreuse and rosemary and then you get a really fresh finish from the mint. I think I'd probably sub out the genever in favour of a soft gin next time I make this, as the maltyness doesn't really come through and I don't want to waste all my genever on one drink. I enjoyed it more with jonge genever which is less malty, anyway. The recipe for the sherbet is above, it's very simple to make. The rosemary is even easier, I just put a couple of shots of vodka in a jar with a shotglass full of dried rosemary and then strained it after 3 days into a dropper bottle.

Try a whiskey sour.

I think the restaurant grade charcoal does a much better job than briquettes. I get mine from Oxford Charcoal. I've been using some coconut briquettes I got cheap from a supermarket at the end of last summer and they just aren't as easy to control and you seem to need far more to do a long cook. I managed to cook my brisket and ribs today but it took 6kg of briquettes and I had to keep faffing with the grates to keep the temperature stable. Completely useless post without pictures but I was pretty eager to dig in after 8 hours of cooking, sat in the garden with the smell wafting past my nose.

I'm meant to be cooking a brisket point and a rack of st louis ribs tomorrow, but I didn't think to check the weather before I ordered the meat and now it's going to be raining and thunderstorms

I had a nightmare with bread this weekend and it really pissed me off. The source of all this stress, I think, was copying something I saw on youtube. Someone rested their flour and water mix overnight before making the bread, so I thought, ok.. I'll make the "sponge" and the rest of the dough at the same time, leave them both overnight and see what happens. This was good, and the dough at first was, while sticky, easy to work with but then I threw it in the stand mixer and it kneaded it into soup. I managed to get it back into some sort of dough texture and started all the stretch and folds but then when it came to shaping, I got soup again. I added a bit more flour, re-kneaded it and then just threw it in the fridge because I couldn't be arsed. In the morning I re-shaped it and let it proof, well.. probably overproof. When I turned it over into the cast iron to go in the oven it just splodged flat like a water balloon. I think if I had managed to get the timing right and whacked it in the oven a bit sooner it would have been ok, but it turned out pretty flat in the end. But, the actual crumb and texture is better than I've managed before, a lot more even and softer in the middle.

I've just tried this one https://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/recipes/entry/whiskey-fix-a-la-stuart ¾ ounce Pineapple Cordial 3 dashes Chamomile Tincture ½ ounce fresh lemon juice ¾ ounce Aalborg Aquavit ¾ ounce Barbadillo Fino Sherry 1½ ounces Great King Street Blended Scotch Fresh nutmeg, grated, for garnish I had to make the ingredients in bold. The Pineapple Cordial was simple enough, blend some pineapple chunks, strain into a pot and then gently heat to incorporate a shit ton of sugar. The Chamomile even easier, just throw some chamomile into some vodka and leave it for 3 days. I like this, but I wonder if my substitutions, or my heavy handed pouring, meant that the balance wasn't quite right. (I had a slightly different aquavit and a amontillado sherry, which has spent more time aging). You get the freshness of the pineapple, there's a clear floral note from the chamomile and then a subtle scotch flavour in the finish. I'll make it again while I've got the bottle of sherry open, and the cordial made.

Really want one of these shirts, but it's $85 + shipping

Kindred, which I linked to above has quite a detailed recipe search. You could just try the potato head method for substitutions, or fit what you have into a template. I think re-creating bar menu drinks at home can be a bit of a challenge but there are plenty that don't require any ingredient prep, some of my go to's The Last Word https://kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/last-word This is one of my go-to drinks and I re-use the template all the time. Notable variations would be Pete's Word (with peaty scotch), Naked and Famous (Mezcal & Aperol), Intro to Aperol https://kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/intro-to-aperol This one I keep going back to, it's a simple drink but it tastes complex and interesting. Death in Venice https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2923/death-in-venice There's probably a theme running through these now... Oaxaca Old Fashioned https://kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/oaxaca-old-fashioned Some good sources for drink specs from bars are Frederick Yarm https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/ and the sadly departed Gaz Regan's Blog http://www.gazregan.com/category/101-best-new-cocktails/ and I like to browse through Rafa's contributions to Kindred - he's prolific https://kindredcocktails.com/cocktail?scope=0&summary=1&created_by=Rafa García Febles

I think I've felt pretty much the same which is why I've decided to prep a bunch of the ingredients while I'm on lock down and can take the time. I choose a few that are common to several drinks I liked the sound of (lemon sherbet, pineapple cordial, chamomile tincture, pistachio syrup) - you can make these fairly easily and the last a few weeks if you have room in the fridge. Once I've mixed up a couple I'll share here. The Death & Co book is a lot more approachable if you are looking for something similar, or you can look up recipes from cocktail books on Kindred https://kindredcocktails.com/cocktail?scope=0&summary=1&created_by=Death %26 Co

I made "Lemon Sherbet" from the Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual to be able to try a few of their recipes and I'm bowled over by it. You make an oleo saccharum from lemon peels and then dissolve this into the juice - you end up with an intense, zingy, lemon syrup which basically tastes like lemon sherbet.

You are absolutely right, but sometimes you don't have an egg. I splashed out on the Mrs Betters Foamer, because I was doing an order at Master of Malt, and I'm quite dissapointed with it. Maybe I need to work harder to emulsify it but it creates a sort of stiff foam that sits on top of the drink, it doesnt' feel like it's part of the drink.

can I give an anti-recommendation? White lines is utter, utter shit.

This guy has found aquafaba powder, and the video tells you how to make your own.

The trick to good cookies is to leave the batter to rest for 36hrs or so in the fridge. I've generally used the New York Times recipe and been happy with them. I quite like chopping up chocolate bars to go in instead of chips, especially when you get little pools of caramel.

Next time I go to the supermarket I'll see if the little holland & barratt has Rye in and give that a go. My white loaf came out looking lovely but when I came back to it this morning the crust had gone a bit rubbery. It had really good oven spring but the crumb is uneven and it's a bit dense. It tastes good but it's not really very sour, I don't think it fermented enough. The seeded one hasn't risen as much but it really looks great and has that bubbly crust thing going on. That one had some time overnight in the fridge so I'm hoping it's developed some good flavour. I didn't put as much gluten in so it will be interesting to see how it turns out, it was a much stickier dough but it firmed up nicely after shaping.