John CARR

I finally managed to get Peychaud's Bitters! And... it was kind of underwhelming. I felt that the Peychaud's Bitters got a bit lost and it was surprisingly sweet. I have a feeling that I need to reduce the Benedictine to help. Something like 7.5ml or even 5ml.

The last couple of these I made def benefitted from a bit of extra dilution maybe 5-10ml water.

I finally managed to get Peychaud's Bitters! And... it was kind of underwhelming. I felt that the Peychaud's Bitters got a bit lost and it was surprisingly sweet. I have a feeling that I need to reduce the Benedictine to help. Something like 7.5ml or even 5ml.

I had this in the ‘quite nice’ category until I had it with Martell blue Swift, which really kicked up the flavour. Now it’s a definite favourite. Blue Swift is quite spicy and heavier on the oaking than a lot of cognac. And with Cocchi storico or similar and a really fresh lemon twist it balances the benedictine (in my opinion) and is packed with flavour. Curious to know how was you get on cheers!

Very tasty, especially with Bob's Grapefruit Bitters. Looks like Tanqueray No. Ten is on the shopping list though. And eager to try it!

Oh yeah w the Tanq 10 this was way better! Bumping up my rating from 4 to 4.5. Much better balance of all ingredients and getting some really nice oaked and fruity flavours from the Americano 😘

I so appreciate “as one does” in the context. Cheers John!

Thanks for bringing this back to the front of my weary neocortex. I actually have some Tanq 10 in the cupboard this evening so will give this mixture another whirl!

I so appreciate “as one does” in the context. Cheers John!

Haha yes I really must speak to my manservant about it. ‘Geoffrey, come here, man!’

I hope the shortbread garnish was just in the general vicinity of the cocktail and not dissolving in the bottom of the glass. Agree with T. Cull that 30 ml is just as easy to measure out as 25 so went with a full ounce of gin (Hendrick's). A full ounce of Chartreuse would overwhelm the drink, however, while half an ounce provides herbal complexity but probably better balance. And while the Jamie Gordon Bijou seems in retrospect a bit like a Negroni-with-added-Chartreuse, I went with Dopo Teatro to get some bitterness along with the sweet ingredients; this was incredibly good, 5 stars. Happy New Year!

Another serendipitous discovery was to serve this ‘naked/Dukes’ style straight from the freezer for the Jamie Gordon bijou. Had made drink then called away for 10 mins so stuck it in the freezer, added fresh garnish upon returning. The crisp coldness and presumably some additional dilution really made this one! Brilliant. Slight love-hate relationship with this (as with Campari more generally). Also re-made the diffords version which was just superb 🧡

I didn't make the adjustments you did. But I made it twice with the Storico and St. George Botanivore. First time 2:1 Strega to green Chartreuse, then reversed the ratio second time. The Chartreuse character is essential. Strega is a nice supporting player if your Chartreuse levels are rationingly low.

I like to do that with fernet as well, just to temper it a little.

Great Manhattan variation. Hayman's "slow" gin really mellows the spirituous Whistle Pig PiggyBack rye, which is only 96.56 proof according to the bottle but 100% rye. Difford's 3:2 proportions are about right with these ingredients. And as The Man Behind The Bar I was careful to use Nick & Nora's as you stressed; Kristi says we should watch "Thin Man" movies while sipping these.

Whistle pig might be a happy medium re abv. I had local Gospel rye this evening at 42.5 abv, bumped to 50ml. It was slightly struggling to keep up with the other ingredients, tho overall still VERY delicious cocktail. Will def be playing with this some more!

Stunning. Sumptuous and rich. A worthy addition to the cocktail pantheon. I was slightly trepidatious that the bitters might dominate, but the balance was in fact perfect. The subtle enrichment of the sugar syrup and Curacao are wonderful and spot on. I used two dashes Peychauds barrel aged, one of regular,

I keep a separate database (I'm a programmer, so shoot me!). The bits that worked very well for me was to store the date that the recipe was added, a rating (core, outside core but to repeat, on file, unrated, pretend it doesn't exist). My notes on the drink can include the word "try". //
From this I can ask for drinks I rated 'C' or 'B2' in the last 6 (or whatever) months (which stops me losing them). I can also list drinks tagged 'try' //
I also keep a separate log of which cocktails we drank on each day, which allows me to list drinks we really enjoyed, that we haven't drunk recently. //
Other cunning plans also exist.

Finally a PRACTICAL use for all this computer business 😋. Sounds amazing, Mike. I’m very much not a programmer! My homegrown muddle along version works not tooo badly for me, but I can see the advantage of something more systematic. I shall discuss it with my butler 😉.

Perhaps a specific tag feature to remind us to revisit? Whereas I was initially a bit hesitant to embrace the recent major overhaul to the sites' funtionality, it has been a well designed improvement. Kudos to the genius behind the guide!

Hear hear!

Is it possible to sort one’s wish list by date added?

Looking forward to trying this with your recommended ratio and upon reflection realizing I really need to keep better notes. So many cocktails I've sworn to revisit and yet moved on to the next one. When the Lillet Blanc is gone will be time for more Cocchi. Note to self ... try this first.

Oh god yes! I very inconsistently keep written notes an use the website notes feature. Prob more the latter but adhd and all that, the struggle is real 🤣

As described by Andy PH below, if you like dry and if you like boozy whiskey drinks, this will be right up your alley.

Think Dry Manhattan and you've got it covered. If you like dry and Manhattans, you're home.

Agreed. Dry plus Whisky = deliciousness.

Very pleasant, made more enjoyable by how easy it is to remember, and to recite to uneducated barmen.

Have a banana

A bit too sweet might be putting it mildly but it's such wonderful combination of flavors! I'll be making this again plus the additional gin.

The flavour combination really is excellent! I think halve the Luxardo and she’ll be right (as Australian tradesmen say). I also tried 50 gin, 20 Luxardo, but preferred 40, 30, 15.

40 Edinburgh Gin, 30 americano,15 Luxardo, 8 drops BT grapefruit bitters and I thought this was excellent. Very moreish and delicious; in the style on a white negroni.

24 hour steep was superb. Drew out some of the more savoury/vegetal flavours from the raspberries. Did a double measure of the liquid to roughly two tablespoons of raspberries smooshed up. Pure raspberry-sloegroni bliss! Payneful it certainly was not.

Could definitely batch this for summer parties. When you’re ready to serve, add roughly 10ml water per serving and pour straight over a Rock. I’m guessing that leaving undiluted for the steep will improve extraction.

24 hour steep was superb. Drew out some of the more savoury/vegetal flavours from the raspberries. Did a double measure of the liquid to roughly two tablespoons of raspberries smooshed up. Pure raspberry-sloegroni bliss!

Also worked quite well with rye. I only had the 42.5% ABV rye so used 60ml and 22.5 x 2 which was pretty good.

My ordered raspberries failed to arrive, so changed course and made a Baltic-inspired House of Hansa instead, referencing the Hanseatic League. 45 gin, 20 Campari, 20 Gustav lingonberry liqueur (Finland) and 15 Moe Handsa sour rowanberry vodka (Estonia). Read as a berry-infused, dry leaning, easy drinking negroni. Orange twist. Campari could be bumped back up to keep it more traditional negroni style.

Just noticed this is by Phil Ward. No wonder it’s so bloody delicious!

Steep overnight and this would be extra special.

My ordered raspberries failed to arrive, so changed course and made a Baltic-inspired House of Hansa instead, referencing the Hanseatic League. 45 gin, 20 Campari, 20 Gustav lingonberry liqueur (Finland) and 15 Moe Handsa sour rowanberry vodka (Estonia). Read as a berry-infused, dry leaning, easy drinking negroni. Orange twist. Campari could be bumped back up to keep it more traditional negroni style.

Revisiting with actual raspberries (!). Absolutely delicious and love how the acid from the berries cuts the richness of the Campari and sloe gin. Could easily Chuck in several more to taste. I created a little pyramid of raspberry goodness on my Cube. Tanq 10 made this extra special and quite boozy. Could easily add 5-10ml lemon juice and convert this to a shaken version as well.