From the monthly archives:

August 2007

The Flying Cucumber

by Michael Dietsch on August 30, 2007 · 5 comments

in Cocktail recipes,Gin,Mixology,St-Germain liqueur

Dunno how summer’s treating you where you are. Here in BKLN NYC, the weather’s been unpredictable all summer. Be that as it may, here’s a great drink for your Labor Day weekend.

I’m calling this the Flying Cucumber because of its obvious origins in the Aviation. The Martin Miller’s is good for this because it has definite cuke notes, but Hendrick’s would probably work well, too. Here’s a piccy of it; the recipe’s after the jump.

The Flying Cucumber

photograph by Jennifer Hess

Flying Cucumber

Technique: Muddle two cucumber slices in a mixing glass, and then add:

  • 2 oz. Martin Miller’s gin
  • 1/2 oz. lemon juice
  • 1/4 oz. St.-Germain Elderflower Liqueur

Shake over ice and fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cucumber slices or strips of peel.

5 comments

Smooth and sloe

by Michael Dietsch on August 28, 2007 · 4 comments

in At the liquor store,On the web

Food & Wine’s Mouthing Off reports today that Plymouth plans to introduce its sloe gin to US shores next year.

4 comments

And now, the fun begins

by Michael Dietsch on August 27, 2007 · 5 comments

in Absinthe,In the library

Got me some Lucid, I wancha to know

photo by Jennifer Hess

Do you know how many absinthe cocktails are in the Savoy Cocktail Book? According to the Real Absinthe blog, there are 104. One hundred and four recipes that geeks like me couldn’t easily mix in this country, thanks to the cost and difficulty of acquiring absinthe from overseas.

Now that Lucid is available domestically, those sad days have ended. Hm, 104. If I mixed up one absinthe cocktail a week, I’d have blog fodder for the next two years. I can’t guarantee that I’ll mix them that frequently, but I am damn well going to try all 104 of those drinks, as long as legal absinthe and my liver hold out.

And, no, that’s not a first-edition Savoy; it’s the facsimile release.

5 comments

Blogroll overhaul

August 22, 2007

Look right and scroll down just a bit. Finally managed to update my blogroll. Don’t feel bad if you weren’t on there. My wife, a.k.a. Mrs. Bitters, a.k.a. Jennifer Hess, started her site Last Night’s Dinner, back in February, and I only just now added her. Sigh. Blogrolls are just too damn easy to neglect. [...]

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Bear with me…

August 21, 2007

I’m working with Darcy O’Neil to test a new ad system, so things are going to shift around a just bit here. I’m also considering going with Feedburner or adopting some sort of WordPress plugin to better manage my RSS feed. I want to drive eyes to the blog to read the full content, but [...]

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Satan’s whiskers

August 19, 2007

photograph by Jennifer Hess

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LeNell’s

August 17, 2007

Just a quick note about this: since many of you met LeNell Smothers at Tales of the Cocktail this year, I wanted to put it out there that she’s lost the lease for her store in Brooklyn and is looking for a new storefront. She has to vacate by next summer. It might seem that [...]

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Salon’s summer swizzles sizzle

August 17, 2007

To anyone clicking through from Salon.com, welcome. Snoop through the cabinets and make yourselves comfortable. On Tuesday, I had the honor of joining Salon’s witty New York editorial team for its summer-cocktail contest. You’d search long to find a finer group of raconteurs and bon vivants. Sarah Karnasiewicz and her colleagues welcomed me not just [...]

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MxMo: Hair of the devil

August 13, 2007

It’s fitting that this month’s MxMo should be about orange. Some of the first mixed drinks I ever quaffed had orange juice as an ingredient. In fact, I’ll let you in on an embarrassing secret, one that will no doubt get me 86′d from any bar that any of you might happen to tend or [...]

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