A comparison of different falernums. - Tiki Drinks and Food

A AceExplorer Grand Member (8 years) Deep in the Jacksonville Flori-duh jungle. Joined: Apr 03, 2008 Posts: 2566	A AceExplorer Posted posted on Wed, Oct 7, 2015 7:11 AM On 2015-10-07 06:27, Swanky wrote: I'm sure you can dial in the recipe with your falernum and make something great, but I prefer to reach for the bottle I know is going to make the recipe the way I expect it and the way it was originated. Thanks, Swanky. Three follow-up thoughts and questions: I may be misunderstanding you - I'd like to know more about your thoughts on "how drinks were originated" with bottled falernums, I'm not sure that's what you meant. My understanding is that at the time our tropical cocktails were developed, it was often done with falernums that were made from scratch, and that this was a more common practice than today. Do you think there were a number of bottled falernums available to Vic Bergeron, Donn Beach, and others of the times? Taylor's bottled Falernum is weak, and from my experience, it had little influence in a drink and I will never buy it again. Its shortcoming is responsible for me making Falernum at home. I know Reynolds is highly rated, but it is only available to me by mail order. I don't have it, and it may be great stuff. You have a lot of experience, and I'd like to hear if you think Reynolds compares well to home-made My homemade, no matter when and where I use it, adds a pleasant "layer" among the other layers in a well-balanced cocktail and does not overpower drinks. I make Kaiser Penguin's Falernum #8 because I don't think Falernum #9 is a major improvement. Making Falernum is not a bad deal if you have a microplane grater for zesting limes and take a few minutes to learn to use it well. Making Falernum is a fun way to spend an evening at your bar or in your kitchen with a friend. Cocktail folks work in creative ways, making syrups is something I associate with that. It seems to lend more "authenticity" to tropical mixology, and I find this to be a very enjoyable aspect of tropical cocktail mixology. I don't strive to be a Falernum evangelist at all. I'm just not sure how to react to comments against using homemade Falernum. When I first got involved in the tropical cocktail and tiki scene, I had opportunities to speak with a number of authors and speakers at tiki events and ask detailed questions. I recall they all spoke highly of homemade, except when you're in a hurry or are serving a large number of guests in a short period of time. This was before Reynolds was selling theirs, so if it's really better than sliced bread, I will have to get some. Making this post made a boring meeting at work much more tolerable.

On 2015-10-07 06:27, Swanky wrote:
I'm sure you can dial in the recipe with your falernum and make something great, but I prefer to reach for the bottle I know is going to make the recipe the way I expect it and the way it was originated.

Thanks, Swanky. Three follow-up thoughts and questions:

I may be misunderstanding you - I'd like to know more about your thoughts on "how drinks were originated" with bottled falernums, I'm not sure that's what you meant. My understanding is that at the time our tropical cocktails were developed, it was often done with falernums that were made from scratch, and that this was a more common practice than today. Do you think there were a number of bottled falernums available to Vic Bergeron, Donn Beach, and others of the times?
Taylor's bottled Falernum is weak, and from my experience, it had little influence in a drink and I will never buy it again. Its shortcoming is responsible for me making Falernum at home. I know Reynolds is highly rated, but it is only available to me by mail order. I don't have it, and it may be great stuff. You have a lot of experience, and I'd like to hear if you think Reynolds compares well to home-made My homemade, no matter when and where I use it, adds a pleasant "layer" among the other layers in a well-balanced cocktail and does not overpower drinks. I make Kaiser Penguin's Falernum #8 because I don't think Falernum #9 is a major improvement.
Making Falernum is not a bad deal if you have a microplane grater for zesting limes and take a few minutes to learn to use it well. Making Falernum is a fun way to spend an evening at your bar or in your kitchen with a friend. Cocktail folks work in creative ways, making syrups is something I associate with that. It seems to lend more "authenticity" to tropical mixology, and I find this to be a very enjoyable aspect of tropical cocktail mixology.

I don't strive to be a Falernum evangelist at all. I'm just not sure how to react to comments against using homemade Falernum. When I first got involved in the tropical cocktail and tiki scene, I had opportunities to speak with a number of authors and speakers at tiki events and ask detailed questions. I recall they all spoke highly of homemade, except when you're in a hurry or are serving a large number of guests in a short period of time. This was before Reynolds was selling theirs, so if it's really better than sliced bread, I will have to get some.

Making this post made a boring meeting at work much more tolerable.

Post #752158 by AceExplorer on Wed, Oct 7, 2015 7:11 AM