A brief update on my life

[xiphias]

Things are going well. yehoshua helped get the weekend off to a profitable start at think tank, by encouraging his co-workers to drink there after work. That was useful.

Yesterday, temima came over to the bar to have lunch, and visit me as her house was getting de-bedbugged. That was really nice.

My boss sent me home with homework: I have to design three tiki cocktails by Monday. Today, during the slack time between lunch and dinner, I played with a couple concepts, but nothing panned out. I still feel that some of these OUGHT to work out, somehow, but I'm not getting it. THE FLAVOR BIBLE suggests that one flavor combination which works well is coconut, ginger, and green tea, so I tried the coconut rum (NOT Malibu -- an actually drinkable one), ginger liqueur, and green tea liqueur, and there's some potential there, but it's not coming together.

My coconut, chocolate, and amaretto one ended up tasting exactly like a Yoo-Hoo. Not bad, but not at all tiki.

Comments

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

I used to know a Naval officer who made a delicious Navy grog by layering white rum, gold rum, and black rum, then carefully inserting a single ice cube. That thing had such a high percentage of alcohol that ice would form spontaneously on the outside of the glass. At least, that's the explanation he offered. I only know that it was delicious and deadly.

Having no knowledge of bar tending, but a love of bitters, I can't resist asking: Could you do something with a sweet or flowery rum (like the French rums made from sugar cane) and some form of bitters in place of the sour flavor? Or wouldn't that count as a tiki?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine how the alcohol percentage would do that. It does sound good, though.

I've been wondering about what to do with bitter flavors. Grapefruit juice is a typical tiki ingredient, and that's somewhat bitter, but I don't really know of any other ones.

Maybe using orange bitters and grapefruit? Tiki is characterized by tropical fruits -- especially citrus and pineapple, rum, coconut, and, to a lesser extent, almond syrup. So I want to stay within that conceptual space while trying to be creative.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

*frowning in concentration*
Orange, grapefruit and ginger? Or is there a drink like that already?

[trinker.livejournal.com]

coconut and ginger and green tea is too much.

isn't there a kiwi-flavored liqueur now? Or am I thinking of something else? I think there's a loquat one that I loved.

kiwi and green tea? loquat and ginger?

pineapple anything.

guava anything.

passionfruit anything.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I know that our bar doesn't currently have kiwi or loquat liqueurs, and my assignment includes creating things with what we actually currently have. And, annoyingly, we don't have guava or passionfruit.

We DO have lychee, but we already have a couple of drinks that use it well. But we don't really have anything that focuses on lychee + coconut, so that's something I'm playing with.

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

A number of my friends are on fire for Patron Citronge right now.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Stuff's good, and we carry it, but I think it's more expensive than I want to use for a tiki cocktail.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

what constitutes a "tiki cocktail"? - fruit juice and...? - when I imagine its taste, it seems like a summer drink - why create them now, as the weather is getting colder? just wondering...

also - I am still requesting some good non-alcoholic drinks that taste like bar drinks and are not fruity juicy (never liked those fruity "ladies' cocktails") - you once got me some non-alcoholic bottles of something that tasted like campari - liked it! - maybe there's some potential there - and what was that stuff? and where can I get some more?

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Was it chinotto? (Whole Foods has a version also.)

And as for tiki drinks, I think it's the association with summer that makes it a favorite escapist theme in colder weather :-)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Sanbitter, not Chionotto, but same manufacturer, and it's listed on that same page as a "people who bought A also bought B".

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

It IS a summer, tropical drink, which is why we're doing it now. As things get colder, why not have a little bit of summer?

The stuff I got for you is called Sanbitter, a non-alcoholic aperitif made by San Peligrino. The best place to get it is Italian grocery stores. Close to you, try calling the Waverley Market Framingham and ask them -- (508) 875-4516. If they don't have it, I'm sure they can get it.

[plantmom.livejournal.com]

"My coconut, chocolate, and amaretto one ended up tasting exactly like a Yoo-Hoo."
LOL. *Snort*

[plantmom.livejournal.com]

Also, Midori (melon), or is that too wussy/expensive?

[paper-crystals.livejournal.com]

I had a combination of Midori and pineapple juice that was quite good at Arisia one year...

[plantmom.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

We have it at the bar, and it's useful, and, with tiki drinks, "wussy" doesn't enter into it.

As far as expensive goes, one can use expensive ingredients, so long as one doesn't use MUCH of the expensive ingredient. And Midori isn't THAT expensive, anyway.

The only reason my mind didn't go there is because I personally don't like melon that much. But I think it's a good idea, and I think I'll play with some of those ideas. Thanks!

[plantmom.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. I'm not wild about Midori either - too sweet for me - but balanced with something sour/bitter, who knows?
For my first recipe for the local market I'm doing them for has a pasta made with parsley and lemon, combined with oven-roasted delicata squash basted in EVOO mixed with honey and red wine. The contrast between the caramelized squash and the lemon in the pasta = yum.

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

That sounds incredible! Where are you presenting this deliciousness?

[plantmom.livejournal.com]

Okay, a little backstory. I work for a big-but-wonderful company called Wegmans. There is a teeny tiny store in town, not a CSA but the next best thing, which sells things like Murray's chickens, which are certified humane, vegetable fed, no growth hormones, etc. Farmers & Artisans, as the store is called, sells very little that's not grown within a hundred or so miles of here. Their mission is to help stop/reverse the trend toward food grown on factory farms, both to improve the lives of farmers, and to provide higher-quality food to consumers.
I've been a customer of theirs for ten or eleven months or so. Their meats and cheeses, pastas, breads, veggies and fruits are wonderful. I can't say enough good things about Murray's chickens, which are, in addition to the above, absolutely delicious. I won't buy anybody else's artisanal bread anymore, and one of their alpine cheeses is the only one I'll allow to touch my pasta or salads.
I recently asked one of the owners if they could use some printed recipes for products they carry, and she said yes. It may seem old-fashioned, but from my experience at the big store, people like the tactile part of holding a card with a recipe in their hand. So I've been dusting off my Photoshop skillz, adding to my design, layout, and printing skillz, and hoping I can help them.
We haven't talked compensation yet, but that can wait until I see if they like what I do and it has a positive effect on the customers there.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but I'm passionate about this, obviously. :-)

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

Farmers & Artisans sounds wonderful!

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Skip the ginger liquer and try working with slices and juice from the pickled ginger you find in asian markets for sushi.

I'd also suggest trying something icy with green tea liquer and pomegranate or cranberry and a salted rim.

Also try the combo of chocolate liquer, coconut vodka, and a little bit of something ginger.

Alternately, try coconut, ginger, and orange bitters.

[mswae.livejournal.com]

So what did you wind up coming up with?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Nothing, yet -- other priorities at the bar kept interfering.