More progress on the summer reading list

Read Brad Thomas Parsons's "Bitters" today. It's more a recipe book than a historical record, but it feels like a valuable reference for that nagging feeling I have that I'll be making my own bitters sooner rather than later.

What strikes me about DIY bitters, however, is that any recipe I develop that requires my own bitters will then require that I carry said bitters with me. There's something to be said for being able to recreate a cocktail in someone else's bar with the ingredients in said bar when called upon.

I like the suggestion in the book of holding a "bitters making party" where you and your guests pool resources to create batches of bitters and then reconvene a month or so later to compare results. That's an idea I can get behind.

I'm feeling punchy

4th of July here in the US, so a punch is in order.

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Raw materials.

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Oleo-saccharum.

Link: The 10 Best Budget Rums →

It's not a bad list, though I'd swap out the Appleton Special Gold for Appleton V/X (also mentioned in passing). It's not much more expensive where I live - about $18 a bottle - and it's an overall better Jamaican rum. But the author is in NYC, so V/X priced itself out of the running for the article. Luckily you don't have to hold yourself to the same artificial limit.

Summer tasting list

Well, the official Tiki Oasis 2014 schedule is out and it's packed full as usually. The highlight for me every year is whatever Martin Cate is talking about and this year he's talking about a (rum) revolution. Per the description, we'll be tasting rums from Angostura, Denizen, and Privateer. And the event is also sponsored by Lost Spirits, Owney's, The Real McCoy, Penny Blue, and Rhum Clément (maybe more tastings or a cocktail?). Lots of fodder for future episodes and I'm starting my summer research now. 

• Lost Spirits Navy Style
• Lost Spirits Polynesian Style
• Denizen Merchant's Reserve
• Privateer

And those Lost Spirits and Denizen rums are the new hotness so I guess I'd better catch up.

Summer reading list progress report

I recently posted a summer reading list. Perhaps I need to make it a longer list. I've recently completed The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart and The Bar Book by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager at Portland's Clyde Common.

I enjoyed both - I like to think I pick up (steal?) something from every bartender I observe and books are a natural extension of that process. 

Even above that, The Bar Book was a revelation. I want to get a copy for everyone I know that has even a passing interest in mixing cocktails at home (or beyond). There is literally page after page of no-nonsense information.

My 3 favorite things about the book:

1. It taught me things I didn't know, such as optimal shaking time on a cocktail (I often over-shake a cocktail it seems) and inspired me to learn a real damn technique to stir a cocktail.
2. It re-enforced things I understood to be right. The ratios in a drink are not accidental and measuring is important. No, really.
3. It didn't directly contradict any habits I've developed (sigh of relief).

I'm going to go re-read it and then finish Potions of the Caribbean.