plattetude

At 79. Such a career.

Tonight, Vieux Carré.

Sorry to butt in, but... Creme de Violette!

Ooh, or Forthave Yellow. I've never tried it, but I love their stuff and I bet it would fit nicely.

Or maybe Genepy? If that's kosher, which I'm not sure.

Strega would probably be a reasonable substitution. But it'll lack some of the herbal complexity. Ah well.

From there, try a Monte Cassino, a Monte Carlo through a Last Word lens -- 3/4 oz rye 3/4 oz Benedictine 3/4 oz yellow Chartreuse 3/4 oz lemon It's freaking magical.

At 64, from heart attack. Excellent jazz pianist. Soloist, duo recordings with vibraphonist Joe Locke, pianist for Maria Schneider Orchestra (on all but one recording I think? and most of their live gigs), co-leader of Herbie Nichols Project, stalwart in Ben Allison's Jazz Composers Collective from back in the 90's/early aughts. Great talent whose loss leaves a big hole in the NYC scene. Nate Chinen obit

Yes, and also RIP Frank Kimbrough. Huge loss for NYC jazz scene, paused or not.

My NYE menu -- I batched these and sent to my SIL to have along with our Zoom get-together. Cuz I'm a dork like that. We begin with something light, fun, fruity, and BUBBLY. You know, just like 2020 has been. Merry Berries 1 oz Averell (or Sloe gin of choice) 1 oz Pasubio (sub Cappelletti Aperitivo) 4 oz sparkling wine of choice Grapefruit peel Stir in mixing glass with ice*; strain into flute (or coupe or… whatever works); top with sparkling; express grapefruit peel and drop in [water break] Moving into something a little deeper and heavier, an odd duck

Nursing a Sharpie Mustache. Such nice. Equal parts Beefeater, Rittenhouse, Bonal, Meletti, with a couple dashes of Bittermens Tiki bitters. Orange twist.

Last night, a Bijou. Followed by a wee experimental glass of a scaffa (i.e. room temp) Bijou riff, replacing the Beefeater's with Smith and Cross. Worth repeating!

Cobbled together a cocktail menu of seasonal drinks for a couple of virtual events by my choir (and Stephanie's former choir), held over the past two days. I've been partaking of each of: Glüwein (standard prep -- bring a 1:1 simple syrup to a simmer with a cinnamon stick added, squeeze in juice of a medium orange, stud the orange with a dozen cloves, reduce at a low simmer for 30 mins, add bottle of dry red wine, heat till warmed, serve with a fortifying shot of whatever suits you -- PF 1840 cognac worked nicely for me) Winter Gin and Tonic -- a gin and tonic with spiced simple (cin

Jazz Standard is a HUGE loss. That was a great place to see a lot of great, great artists. Damn.

Tonight, realizing I had some egg white in the fridge and an open bottle of red wine... a New York Sour.

Yeah, I had a couple of not-too-fantastic experiences in the dining room, but the few times I sat at the bar were superb. But really, I was drawn to the cocktail book on the strength of some amazing Leo Robitschek creations I've stumbled on over the past couple years.

Courtesy of my new cocktail tome, THE NOMAD COCKTAIL BOOK, a sublime manhattan riff 1903 1 oz Ferrand 1840 Cognac 1 oz Laird's Bonded Applejack 3/4 oz Cocchi Americano 3/4 oz Cocchi Torino 2 dashes Scrappy's Grapefruit bitters

Some unused egg white in the fridge, so thoughts turned to... Pisco Sour 2 oz pisco 1 oz lemon (I went with a lemon/lime split) 1 oz simple egg white Dry shake; shake with ice; strain into coupe. Dot foam with Angostura. When I shared a pic of it with my Peruvian colleague, she insisted she'd get me some *good* pisco next time she goes home. This is me arguing.

Busting out some autumnal options these days. Warday's 1 oz gin (Beefeater) 3/4 oz applejack (Lairds Bonded) 1 oz sweet vermouth (Cocchi Torino) 1/4 oz green Chartreuse Stir, strain into chilled coupe. Lemon peel garnish. So so good.

I know, "really, another Negroni variation?" Yes, really. Kingston Negroni, Joaquim Simo's brainchild Equal parts Smith+Cross, Campari, and sweet vermouth. This stuff all just marries together beautifully. Good grief. (I subbed Forthave Red, which is an exceptional Campari substitute, a little softer and fruitier and really freaking delicious, with Cocchi Torino, my standard sweet vermouth.)

Continuing the Negroni theme... The Jitney by Leo Robitschek 3/4 oz mezcal 3/4 oz Campari 1/2 oz coffee-infused dry vermouth 1/2 oz blanc vermouth 2 dashes absinthe Grapefruit twist Can a cocktail be both subtle and assertive? Delicate and in your face? Why yes, yes it can. N.B. For the infused vermouth, crack a handful of coffee beans and steep in whatever volume of dry vermouth you want to devote to this. (I did 4 beans in about 3 oz.) Let sit for an hour or so, strain, and refrigerate. The original specs call for Cinzano vermouths, but I used Dolin. Based

Continuing the Negroni theme through the week (it's good to have a guiding hand for a change in what to mix): Negroni Tredici (Toby Maloney) 2 oz gin (original spec calls for Tanq) 1 oz Punt e Mes 1/4 oz Campari 1/4 oz Cynar orange bitters You'd think given how little Campari is here that this would skew less bitter than it does. But yeah, It's got plenty of bitter going on.

Because both inspire one to drink? And used to be colored by beetles?

Negroni Week!

When I heard this last week, I cued up a bunch of Keith Jarrett Trio albums. Indispensible stuff.