jessiebaylin: Lost, Lonely and Vicious (1958)

West End Deli

House made merguez sausages, roast onions, salady thing - West End Deli: via abstractg

The Bronx cocktail

45ml Tradewinds Gin
22.5ml fresh squeezed orange juice (from the tree above)
1tsp Noilly Prat
1tsp Punt e Mes
2 drops Peychaud’s Bitters

Combine over ice. Shake. Into a (chilled) (cocktail) glass.

From Gaz Regan’s excellent The Bartender’s Gin Companion (although his recipe is from David Wondrich’s Imbibe, so you tell me how to attribute this correctly)

Today marks the start of my daily Polaroid project. Wish me luck.

Today marks the start of my daily Polaroid project. Wish me luck.

Bottle-aged Negroni experiment

On New Year’s Eve, I began a little experiment to see what sort of effect, if any, temperature has on bottle-ageing negronis. I’ve been pleased with the results of the bottle of negroni I began ageing in August 2010 and quite like the mellowing effect time in bottle has on the majestic trinity of gin, vermouth and Campari

If you’re a stickler for due scientific procedure, point your browsers elsewhere. This was spur of the moment stuff and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t mix close to two litres of negroni simply to empty dregs of various bottles that were strewn about the house.

The gin component was largely Gordon’s with the remaining balance made up of Bombay and Gabriel Boudier saffron gin (I still don’t get that gin) while the vermouth mix was a blend of Antico Rosso and Antica Formula. Campari is Campari (part of me has always wanted to try switching the Campari for Bolognese Amaro Montenegro and seeing what happens, but that’s for another time). Half a litre of each spirit was poured into a bucket, mixed, and then carefully poured back into bottles of gin to be put away – one in the fridge, the other under the stairs where I keep my wine.

Four-ish months later and out they come, poured over ice and stirred vigorously to try and bring the “cellar” negroni to typical drinking temperature while cutting the drinks a little. Each was given about three minutes to rest before being looked at. I was actually surprised by how noticeable the differences between the two were.

Fridge-aged: Very floral and citrus-spiked aromas, suggesting a lighter drink. Not the case, the mouthfeel and texture of the drink still quite thick. Taste-wise, very similar to a typical negroni, although certainly more mellow.

Cellar-aged: Ah shay, indeed. Lots sweeter on the nose, it almost smells caramel-like. Similar rich mouth-feel as its fridge-aged sibling, but those bitter wormwood and gentian elements of the vermouth really sit up on the finish. I daresay the cellar-aged negroni also ends with a longer drag of flavour than the fridge-aged version.

My gut feeling is that, similar to wine, keeping things cool keeps things fresher while warmth hurries things up some (think cool fermentation versus a warm fermentation). Complexity is all good and well, but to me that fresh, invigorating kick of a negroni is one of the characteristics of the drink I really enjoy, so short of trying to find lighter vermouths (or experiment more with other spirits in place of the ol’ Punt e Mes), negronis left to age in a cooler temperature are looking like my bottle-conditioned gin, Campari and vermouth cocktail of choice.

RIP Star Anise

According to Star Anise chef-patron David Coomer (left, pictured with Pata Negra head chef Kurt Sampson) Saturday April 16 will be the celebrated Shenton Park fine diner’s last service.

Get in while you can and rock the ma hor, suckling pig and passionfruit parfait - or indeed anything on the dessert selection - one last time.

RIP Star Anise

According to Star Anise chef-patron David Coomer (left, pictured with Pata Negra head chef Kurt Sampson) Saturday April 16 will be the celebrated Shenton Park fine diner’s last service.

Get in while you can and rock the ma hor, suckling pig and passionfruit parfait - or indeed anything on the dessert selection - one last time.

Project Amusé

Epic dill-hit Nordic kingfish, by Gianfranco Monti - one of the many rocking dishes presented as part of last night’s Project Amuse event where each of the chefs from the Restaurant Amusé brigade presented a course.

(And before you start hating, G actually is of Nordic descent and not just jumping on the Noma bandwagon)

Project Amusé

Epic dill-hit Nordic kingfish, by Gianfranco Monti - one of the many rocking dishes presented as part of last night’s Project Amuse event where each of the chefs from the Restaurant Amusé brigade presented a course.

(And before you start hating, G actually is of Nordic descent and not just jumping on the Noma bandwagon)