Vermouth

Tuaca Italian Liqueur and the Livorno Cocktail

December 13, 2008

My initial association with the word Tuaca is a horse. Why someone named a Quarter Horse after an Italian liqueur, I’ll never know. I’ll admit I was surprised to discover the current owner of Tuaca the horse had never heard of Tuaca the liqueur. Then again, even though I had heard of it, I don’t […]

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Zen Green Tea Liqueur and the Matcha Cocktail

December 11, 2008

I have fond memories of witnessing a traditional Zen Buddhist tea ceremony at the Smithsonian Museum. We were given small sweets, and after the ceremony, a taste of the matcha tea. It was bitter and strong, not like any tea I had tasted before. I can still remember that taste today. Thus, when I read […]

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MxMo XXXIII: Made from Scratch — Swedish Punsch and the Suédois de vanille

November 9, 2008

It’s Mixology Monday again. This month, Doug Winship at the Pegu Blog has declared the theme to be “Made from Scratch.” We are to make at least one of our own ingredients and decide if it’s worth the effort. I have written about Swedish Punsch before. This mix of Batavia arrack, neutral spirits, sugar, water, […]

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Astoria Cocktail

September 7, 2008

By modern standards, the Astoria is a very wet martini. I was telling the owner/bartender of the Three Lions Pub that the Astoria was my current favorite take on the martini, and he nearly fainted when I told him it was a 2:1 gin to vermouth ratio. He makes his martinis by rinsing the glass […]

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National Rum Day and the El Presidente

August 16, 2008

Here in the United States, we have a day for everything. There’s a national pound cake day, national pecan day, and even something on a stick day. August 16 particularly appeals to me because it’s National Rum Day. Just how this designation was set I haven’t been able to ascertain, but who cares? It’s an […]

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MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail

June 16, 2008

It’s time for Bourbon this Mixology Monday, thanks to the fellers at Scofflaw’s Den. This was one MxMo that Bryan, my chief taste-tester, was very eagerly awaiting. As always, I used MxMo as a justification to buy a nice bottle. This time it was Ridgemont Reserve 1792. This is a very smooth bourbon, a definite […]

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Incidentally

March 14, 2008

Vermouth can make a great replacement for wine in recipes. One night we had no white wine in the house when Bryan went to make one of my favorite dishes, a chicken and garlic stew that calls for a hardy addition of white wine. I did have plenty of white vermouth in the fridge, which […]

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Aperol

March 9, 2008

I picked up a bottle of Aperol at Washington State Store #101, which for those in the know is the store to know about, since it’s the most likely to have interesting items on the shelf. Tonight I opened the bottle of Aperol, and on first taste new I was going to like this “little […]

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Happy Discovery

February 22, 2008

The Larry’s Market in Redmond Town Center carries vermouths and other fortified wines. In fact, they have a wider selection than the state liquor store here in Redmond, or most any place I’ve found on the Eastside. They carry Cinzano, Martini & Rossi, and Vya vermouths, as well as both Lillet blanc and Lillet rouge, […]

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Lillet variations and the Bon Homme Richard

February 11, 2008

I spent much of today eagerly refreshing my RSS feed and reading the new Mixology Monday posts, hosted this month at Jimmy’s Cocktail Hour. I wasn’t sure what to post on myself – as a rank newbie to the cocktail world, most of my variations have involved trying out the variations I’m finding in many […]

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