Toby --

Love your bar. Can you tell me where you find the coupe glasses in which you serve most of the gin drinks?

--Jared

jsagoff wrote:Toby --

Love your bar. Can you tell me where you find the coupe glasses in which you serve most of the gin drinks?

--Jared

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21376

Thanks, Aaron.

Toby, what do you think of the line of Fee Brothers' line of bitters for those of us who don't have the time or resources to make our own? Are they a workable facsimile or will they destroy the drink? Thanks!

Bumping this topic, because I would love to see it started again.

Toby, can you tell me how to make the Hush and Wonder? I came in earlier this week and a friend of mine ordered it. It was delicious, as are all your concoctions.

Along those lines, any advice on making homemade bitters? I know you want to keep your recipes for that secret, but any reading that I can do to start me off in the right direction?

jsagoff wrote:Bumping this topic, because I would love to see it started again.

Toby, can you tell me how to make the Hush and Wonder? I came in earlier this week and a friend of mine ordered it. It was delicious, as are all your concoctions.

Hush & Wonder

2 oz Matusalem Rum
.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
.75 oz Simple Syrup
3 dash Grapefruit Bitters (homemade)

Rinse: Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette Liqueur

Glass: Coupe
Garnish: None
Ice: None

Shake. Strain. Serve up.

For the bitters, if you get Fees Grapefruit, and mix it 1x5 with Peuchaud's you will have a close approximation. Or come to think of it, use 1 dash Peychaud's in the drink and then use a grapefruit twist high (about 1 foot) above the cocktail so just a suspicion of oil hits the top of the drink.

Cheers,

Toby

Llama wrote:Along those lines, any advice on making homemade bitters? I know you want to keep your recipes for that secret, but any reading that I can do to start me off in the right direction?

If you get Regans Joy of Mixology, he had the specs for his Orange bitters #5 in it. Use that as a template and then play around. The specs will give you an idea of how much of the chinchona and gentian to use, as these are the most potent ingredients stick close to his amounts.

Toby

Thanks much, Toby.

I'll let you know how they turn out.

It's interesting how the H&W is so close to the Daiquiri in its proportions (all it seems you have to do is add the violet rinse and the only-a-little-grapefruit-but-mostly-Peychaud's bitters), but tastes like a completely, completely different drink.

I'm afraid I know nothing about rum, so I'm hoping you might be able to help me out, Toby, and specify exactly which Matusalem you use so that I don't go around using the Platino when I'm supposed to be using the Clasico or something.

I'm sure I'll be back around begging for another recipe in a few days. This feels like getting all the benefits of a medieval apprenticeship without any of the costs. Thanks again.

jsagoff wrote:It's interesting how the H&W is so close to the Daiquiri in its proportions (all it seems you have to do is add the violet rinse and the only-a-little-grapefruit-but-mostly-Peychaud's bitters), but tastes like a completely, completely different drink.

I'm afraid I know nothing about rum, so I'm hoping you might be able to help me out, Toby, and specify exactly which Matusalem you use so that I don't go around using the Platino when I'm supposed to be using the Clasico or something.

I'm sure I'll be back around begging for another recipe in a few days. This feels like getting all the benefits of a medieval apprenticeship without any of the costs. Thanks again.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I am in the process of opening a bar in Minneapolis.

AAAhhhh the joys of being a minimilist. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/dinin ... ref=dining

You take a favorite drink and tweak it a bit, turning it into something totally different but still comfortably familiar. I’m very glad that The NYT didn’t call me “just plain lazy.”

But I am very intrigued to riff on the classics, utilizing new and interesting products. Has anybody had the Clear Creek Douglas Fir Eau du Vie? OMFG it is so amazing. It is made from the flowers of the tree (I never knew that Fir trees flowered) and not at all what you expect.

I’m using it in a Hot Toddy here at the Bradstreet Crafthouse.

Very glad that H&W worked out for you.

Toby

I actually haven't had a chance to do the H&W at home yet (could you tell me which Matusalem variety you use? I'm so clueless, sorry). But I had it in the bar and it was delicious.

But I did take your suggestion for the grapefruit bitters in the Part & Parcel, which I'd made before using just the Fee's. My prior attempts were drinkable, but definitely too sweet for me. Making it with mostly Peychaud's instead was a revelation, bringing everything right back into line. Thanks for the tip.

jsagoff wrote:I actually haven't had a chance to do the H&W at home yet (could you tell me which Matusalem variety you use? I'm so clueless, sorry). But I had it in the bar and it was delicious.

But I did take your suggestion for the grapefruit bitters in the Part & Parcel, which I'd made before using just the Fee's. My prior attempts were drinkable, but definitely too sweet for me. Making it with mostly Peychaud's instead was a revelation, bringing everything right back into line. Thanks for the tip.

The Classico is the Mathusalem I use, and have as attitude adjustments. Bump up the lemon on the Part and parcel or top it with a little champagne. I would use the same 3x1 Peychaud's to Grapefruit bitters on the P&P as well.

Cheers,
Toby

Sam's was out of the Matusalem so I bought Flor de Cana 4yr, hoping that since you base your daiquiri on it it will work. Toby, am I a fool?

Also, perhaps this week you could share the recipe for the Orchard? Had it a couple of weeks ago and it was a new favorite.

jsagoff wrote:Sam's was out of the Matusalem so I bought Flor de Cana 4yr, hoping that since you base your daiquiri on it it will work. Toby, am I a fool?

Also, perhaps this week you could share the recipe for the Orchard? Had it a couple of weeks ago and it was a new favorite.

Love the Flor 4. Am enjoying a dram of the Flor 7 right now on the lanai in Bonaire. I think that the Flor 4 is a little drier than the Mathusalem but it is a great alternitive.

Looking for the specs on the Orchard, will get them to you when I find them.

Toby

Toby,

Celebrating the New Year in Houston, friends have a Meyer lemon tree that has been put to good use in a Meyer Lemon Semifreddo. I was wondering if you have a suggestion as to cocktail use? They have a well stocked bar by most standards, but nary an eye dropper, tincture or velvet rope in sight.

Thanks in advance.

Enjoy,
Gary

Can anyone recommend any cocktail books that would be similar to these fantastic cocktails?

Alchemist wrote:Hi Toby here. I would love to post the actual specs for these drinks so they can be made more closely to how they are done at The Violet Hour. Good work, you were really close. There are a few things that may trip you up, such as house made bitters, ice, tins, and the joy of having someone make your cocktail and then wash your glass for you when you are done.

I am going to give you the same specs I give to the bartenders. Enjoy.

Cheers,
Toby Maloney Head Mixologist, The Violet Hour

Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan, The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock, and The Craft of the Cocktail by Dale DeGroff seem to be the trinity that get the most buzz. Market Fresh Mixology by Bridget Albert is also getting a lot of attention these days.

G Wiv wrote:Toby,

Celebrating the New Year in Houston, friends have a Meyer lemon tree that has been put to good use in a Meyer Lemon Semifreddo. I was wondering if you have a suggestion as to cocktail use? They have a well stocked bar by most standards, but nary an eye dropper, tincture or velvet rope in sight.

Thanks in advance.

Enjoy,
Gary

I would just use the Meyer lemon as one would use regular lemon. A gin silver fizz sounds like a winner to me.

Cheers,
Toby

Leyla a wrote:Can anyone recommend any cocktail books that would be similar to these fantastic cocktails?

Alchemist wrote:Hi Toby here. I would love to post the actual specs for these drinks so they can be made more closely to how they are done at The Violet Hour. Good work, you were really close. There are a few things that may trip you up, such as house made bitters, ice, tins, and the joy of having someone make your cocktail and then wash your glass for you when you are done.

I am going to give you the same specs I give to the bartenders. Enjoy.

Cheers,
Toby Maloney Head Mixologist, The Violet Hour

I would start with Imbibe by Wondrich, then move onto (MY Brain is not working at all right now) The book by Dave Embury available through Mud puddle books, then read Jigger Beaker and Glass (Amazon) from cover to cover just to get some history then start perusing Joy and Savoy.

There is a thread on eGullet, in Spirits and Libations about cocktail books that you might find interesting.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=40252

Cheers,
Toby

ETA: Link to cocktail book thread.

Alchemist wrote:then move onto (MY Brain is not working at all right now) The book by Dave Embury available through Mud puddle books

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, I believe.

Llama wrote:

Alchemist wrote:then move onto (MY Brain is not working at all right now) The book by Dave Embury available through Mud puddle books

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, I believe.

Thank you. These 16 hour days are turning my brain into Jello. I just ordered it as the text book for the bartenders for the new bar in Minneapolis. And then I think I for got to mention Jerry Thomas's book. Since it was the first written it is also required reading. I think that the history of cocktails is very important to get in the beginning so you get the context.

Cheers,
Toby

MincyBits got me some nice bottles and lots of bitter herbs (gentian, wormwood, and 5 or 6 others) as well as The Joy of Mixology for Christmas.

I gathered up a bunch of mason jars and Llama's Bitters Experiment No. 1 should be starting soon.

I know this isn't really a "homemade" question, but when do the new winter menus come out, Toby?

So Toby,
It's no surprise that I've got a bit of a man-crush on you bud. I discovered VH for myself one night last January and have since haunted it, bringing the friends, flings (more than a dozen), two priests, and even the neighbors. As a young 20something, your place allows range: it's a place I take mentors and quirky people or White Ladies I'd actually care to have a Conversation with before we're doing the Triple Kiss or are Between-the-Sheets with my Monkey Gland. Sorry, couldn't help it. Unfortunately, though, it doesn't work at all for bros or girls who I'd rather look at than listen to. Oh well.
With all that said, and hopefully without sounding too seedy, I hold quite a reliable record for closing after taking a girl to your place for a first date. And for that I humbly thank you.
As much as I love the date-place efficacy though, it makes me almost sad that it's not just a place you can hang out alone reading. After all, I'm starting to find myself picking up women just to have the excuse to visit, which is almost troubling when I'd rather be feeling Fitzgerald or Faulkner. By candles or a fire. There's a certain appropriateness there: "This Side of Paradise", "The Beautiful and Damned", "The Sound and the Fury", "Sanctuary", and "As I Lay Dying" (~>The Last Word) all sound like excellent cocktail titles from two inveterate drinkers. There should be some place, somewhere to engage at once with both the livelihoods and past-times of these men of letters.
If not at VH, I would heartily suggest, nay beg you, to attempt to ply Steve Lombardo with your wares and get him to set your stylings up at RL (far more comfortable setting than Gibson's/Hugo's/LuxBar). Seriously, we could use a place like that. Dark, comfortable corners.
While I'm still on this love-fest, I'm almost ashamed nobody has asked you for "Hush and Wonder", "Iron Cross", "la Paloma", or the poetically brief "Golden Age". Come on people! and I feel it would only be proper for you to improve/-of a Brandy Alexander for your proprietor. But, I do have one semi-serious criticism, and that's the absence of something which had been present: the brioche "elvis" was so f*ing good! and now it's just peanut-jello and bacon bits! WTF!? Dude, not cool. I used to share that stuff with everybody, strangers included, because though dietarily-imposing, it was so. f*ing. good. and won everybody over. The first version of the deviled eggs was also the best. Hey - I couldn't *just* blow steaming congratulatory smoke up your a$$... but oops, you may not have had anything to do with this.
Anyways, I owe you for inspiring fresh egg nog and other libations over the holidays, and I would love to get your feedback on some rude cocktails of my own, including an attempt at a prosciutto e meloni pousse and an improved mimosa with hyacinth. I could continue to pester you with self-assertions by Ginza bartenders and clam-bake pipe-dreams, but I'll save all that for later. For now, you are the man. And again, I humbly thank you for spoiling me with your trade.

That's one of the more... interesting... first posts I've read.

Dear LTH Forum,

I never thought it'd happen to me...

Llama wrote:That's one of the more... interesting... first posts I've read.

Hopefully they will improve.

Great, I'm the forum's newbie whipping boy. Guess that's what happens when you enter a lair of pretension under the aegis of enthusiasm, but oh well.
Toby - took a moment to netstalk a youtube you posted for "iron cross" and "southside". During the southside you mentioned angostura + gin go together like ham and eggs; I'll admit I'm really hungry right now, but why not try that?
I've been working down a "prosciutto and melon"-- trying out infused (rendered fat + hazelnut oil) ryes, brandy, and cognac, then pairing that in a pousse with muskmelon derivatives and a hint of lime. Undecided about egg white for body.
...But what really sounds good is a playful semi-savory ham+eggs with thyme or marjoram and a floated yolk. Not entirely unprecedented, given the shape of some hangover helpers, and I'd be more than happy to imbibe my test subject share. Yet I think I'll eat first before dedicating more thought to this.

Btw, I'd love it if you would school the bartenders at the Drake; elder matron client wanted to meet there this afternoon for cocktails and it was a watery grave.

Don't resent it, embrace it! I dug the whiff of Barry White coming off your post. Be that guy from now on!

arbitry wrote:Great, I'm the forum's newbie whipping boy.

Hardly...you should see what happens when folks really get ticked off.

I thought that was an excellent first post, not entirely sure what the griping is about.

Re: the bacon and egg, you might want to try this at Otom, if it's still available and see if it is to your liking.