On Yellow-Red Color Blindness

I was going to say, this drink was X, Y & Z and then I go back to the recipe and realize that it was very fucked up. On page 159 there’s a drink called the La Louche which is six parts gin, four parts Lillet rouge, two parts lime juice, one part yellow Chartreuse and one part simple syrup.

I knew I had green Chartreuse and not the yellow variety and thought “Oh well.” But it wasn’t until going back just now that I realized I missed the “rouge” part of “Lillet rouge.”

Anyway, this drink — with green Chartreuse and the non-rouge Lillet was kind of one note (as determined by the executive committee, not me), like a fancified gimlet. Maybe I’ll try it the normal way at some point.

A Mushroomball

I had reason to experiment with meatless meatballs and found this mushroomball recipe. Substituted bulgur wheat for the quick oats and added shitake mushrooms. Was not able to let it sit for four hours in the fridge and pretty sure that made a difference — come to think of it, flax seed meal would have probably come in handy. Would try again, actually.

What The Spanish-American War Hath Wrought

Another daiquiri bastardizing, this time the Benjamin Barker Daiquiri (Mr. Boston, page 105) except replacing rum with bourbon, so: eight parts bourbon, two parts lime juice, two parts simple syrup, two parts Campari and two dashes absinthe (here, pastis). Was good.

Yes! We Have No Cedillas

Looking for ways to use up lime juice and found a cachaca-based cocktail in the PDT Cocktail Book that has eight parts cachaca, three parts lime juice, and two parts almond syrup muddled with fresh ginger. We always have ginger but are very much lacking in cedillas, so we substituted rum for it. This was good, and is mostly a daiquiri, right?

Where Have You Gone, Audrey Fanning?

I don’t think “Audrey Fanning” actually refers to anyone in particular but it is a cocktail in Mr. Boston: five parts gin, two parts sweet vermouth, one part Cherry Heering and two dashes Peychaud’s bitters. It’s a good cocktail: someone online (just saw it on the Google result, and didn’t actually read the post itself — which happens like all the time, when you think about it) mentioned it’s like a modified Negroni, which is perceptive, in retrospect. It’s good; tastes like a cocktail. A few days later, I think it could even use a lemon twist.

Tonight, I substituted Dubonnet for the sweet vermouth; this tasted even better. Still think it could maybe use a lemon twist. Or an orange twist maybe.

On a somewhat related note, a drop of Peychaud’s landed on the counter and I thought to taste it on its own: it’s like an elderly man’s cheap cologne.