Cocktails with Al ( Image heavy)

Hello, Hard day?, Take a load off. Welcome to the Lagoon Room.




I hear you like Tikis? I've got some around here somewhere.





You know what I was just thinking about? COCKTAILS!! Now there are some fine mixers on this board. Since I've been posting on TC, I have had some great drinks, mixed by some great bartenders. Mai Tais, Reverb Crashes, China Clippers, Scorpions, Monkey Pods, Pain Killers, Hell in the Pacifics, Tahitians, Fog Cutters, Queen Park Swizzles, Suffering Bastards, Hurricanes...Hell, the list just goes on and on. My point is, if you want to know how to make Tropicals, ask TC, People here know what to do.



Now, what I mean to do with this thread is explore a different cocktail every week. I'll post my thoughts on recipe, presentation and drink-ability. It is my purpose to invite debate. I hope to see some spirited discussion on this thread. Everyone has an opinion and it is all good. Lets here what you have to say. Be vocal.



Now some post about form and process can get a little preachy. Remember, Manners are the way we show others we respect them, so please be courteous. If you want to storm this thread as some arrogant, self absorbed, King of the Bartenders, please don't, just write it in your blog so I can avoid reading it.Thank you.

Room 135 will live forever

Thanks Jeff

A gift from OMIH Fil Slash, Thanks Fil!!!

First drink we'll tackle- The Planters Punch (coming soon)

Glad to see the resurrection of the Lagoon Room. (Don't let Bamboo Ben see those white walls.)
Good thread, too. GROG definitely want to know more about the recipes, taste, and mixing of cocktails from the experienced alcoholics----(oops)---- mixologists on the board.

On 2007-04-19 08:42, GROG wrote:
(Don't let Bamboo Ben see those white walls.)

I was just thinking that since Ben hit me with that. Great pics Al, utopiandreem & I were bummed to have missed out seeing it in person last Saturday, maybe next time.

Birdie Num Num

[ Edited by: Tiki Bird 2007-04-19 15:38 ]

Fantasic setup!! I vote to move it to the "post pics of your home bar here" thread in Creatiing Tiki though.

What a beautiful room! :o I hope you don't mind if I steal a few ideas (and that sofa) for my own humble space! Great job, Al!
Cheers! :drink:

What recipe is that Electrosol used in? :lol:

Al, your Lagoon Room is beautiful. We really enjoyed our visit there. I was very impressed with your creations. And the Tiki Season begins... :D

Al-ii I really enjoyed The Waikikian that I had in the Lagoon Room, What's the story on that one?

Good to have you "back" Al!
Looks great.

On 2007-04-19 07:16, Al-ii wrote:
First drink we'll tackle- The Planters Punch (coming soon)

Wow, you read my mind! That was the drink I was going to suggest as I read through your post. A great drink to start off with, especially considering it's historical significance and all. Much mahaloz for the fantastic Planters Punch that you made for us at the Lagoon Room - it was the best!!!

On 2007-04-19 07:16, Al-ii wrote:
First drink we'll tackle- The Planters Punch (coming soon)

Oops! I missed that part but it's okay because I also really enjoyed The Planters Punch that I had in the Lagoon Room, What's the story on that one Al?

TOTAl-ii TIKIFIED! You've got great taste Al. Can't wait to break in that bar.

Wow nice Bar. Invite me next time! lol :D I love the top -less Wahine, do you know know anything else about the piece Al? Very Nice

Beatiful bar, and all the furniture is awesome. I am looking forward to getting a virtual drink there. :drink:

One thing that I would like to bring up on this thread. Al's Lagoon Room is well stocked, and he can pretty much make up any drink at a moment's notice. He even had dry ice, for christ's sake! I am actually setting up my home bar this week, and I would appreciate advice on how to stock a tiki bar - I'm talking alcohol, mixers, tools, glassware, swizzles, accessories, etc. I would like to be able to whip up just about any drink from the grog logs or throw a small party without hesitation. Granted, I already have a fairly good selection of rums, mixers, a couple of shakers, a blender, some glassware, and of course tiki mugs. Still, I'd like to hear advice - it would help me out, and I'm sure would be beneficial to others, whether they are setting up a tiki bar in their house, or they already have one in full swing.

On 2007-04-30 17:36, Mai Tai wrote:
One thing that I would like to bring up on this thread. Al's Lagoon Room is well stocked, and he can pretty much make up any drink at a moment's notice. He even had dry ice, for christ's sake! I am actually setting up my home bar this week, and I would appreciate advice on how to stock a tiki bar - I'm talking alcohol, mixers, tools, glassware, swizzles, accessories, etc. I would like to be able to whip up just about any drink from the grog logs or throw a small party without hesitation. Granted, I already have a fairly good selection of rums, mixers, a couple of shakers, a blender, some glassware, and of course tiki mugs. Still, I'd like to hear advice - it would help me out, and I'm sure would be beneficial to others, whether they are setting up a tiki bar in their house, or they already have one in full swing.

I love it...doesn't this just smack of a new job for the experts...TIKI BAR CONSULTANT. The consultant comes to your house, shows you the best way to fung shui your bar so everything is neatly organized, back-up stock is easy to find, any good bar-tender could slip behind the bar and get busy, the vendor takes you on a Bev-Mo shopping spree where you ante up your Visa, you are trained to all the proper glass-types/garnish sprays, and are left holding your Grog-Log and ready to RUMBA!!!! How much would you pay for a service like this? Many of us do the best we can to get things set up, but having a professional teach us the basics in our own home....PRICELESS. :D

Hey Al

Thanks for starting this thread. I have been very very lucky to live within falling over distance of Martiki's place so I get to pick his pickled brain frequently.

In one of his more humble moments he mentioned how much he was indebted to you for helping him lay out his groundwork of drink making magic.

So lets get this mixology masterclass in session!

I'm looking forward to soaking up some knowledge and talking cocktail.

Mahalo
Mahalo

You know Bill, that's a good Idea. Here are some simple tools and glass wear ideas you can use for your home bar. You wont need all of them, and, I'm sure I left stuff out. The main thing is that you enjoy the process.

You will need some shot glasses. Go with the traditional and thegraduated kind, new or retro, plain or fancy, the Idea is to have fun with it.

These shot glasses are in every bar in America, very utilitarian.

I have cup measures, for when I'm making a big batch.

Glassware, you have to ask yourself: What am I making? What do I need to serve with? My advice is buy glass at places like Cost Plus, Bevmo, Pier One or Crate and Barrel. You want to buy cheap so you won't care when glasses break. And they will break. Here are some examples, hardly comprehensive.Chimneys (Highballs), Pilsners, Buckets (Lowballs), Martini, Pint, Hurricane and Wine Glasses. All great vessels to serve Tropical drinks. I also recommend: Brandy Snifters Champagne Flutes, Martguerita Glasses, Etc...

I like retro glasses but many are beat up, scratched and foggy. Drinks look bad in damaged glassware. Bamboo, Tiki Shot, Scorpion Bowl, Amoeba, Coconut, Liqueur, Fancy Chimney, Tiki Mug

Squeezers, Bottle Toppers, Can and Bottle Openers, Cherry Pickers, Scoops, Measuring Spoons, Ice Picks, Knives, Ice Tongs, Muddlers, Ice Buckets, Mixing Spoons, Corkscrew, Strainers and Measuring Spoons. Again the Idea is to have fun, not break your back tracking this shit down.

Retro Ice

Picks,Garnish Fish, Umbrellas, Dragons. You'll also need A Blender, Fruit Juicer, Straws, BIG STRAWS (for Scorpion Bowl) And stuff for Garnish, we'll talk more about that later. Tomorrow I'll post on stocking your bar. What did I forget? Let me know?

Dumb question....I never thought of a cherry picker....is that what you use to get cherries out of jars?

A couple things I didn't see: Cocktail Shakers! and strainers

And a quick note on bottle toppers. These may seem like a luxury, but it really is far easier to pour small measured amounts from a bottle with a pour spout. Also, anytime you finish a bottle with a cork top, save it! It is a lot easier to reseal bottles with a cork than a twist top.

And a question: What do you use to measure out small amounts for ingredients like Pernod?

[ Edited by: TofuJoe 2007-05-02 09:29 ]

On 2007-05-02 09:28, TofuJoe wrote:

And a question: What do you use to measure out small amounts for ingredients like Pernod?

[ Edited by: TofuJoe 2007-05-02 09:29 ]

Eye dropper!

Shakers!!! You love 'em, you need 'em, you can't beat them. I like the "Boston" style shakers, the metal shaker that fits around the pint glass. When you buy them look for the metal shaker to be big enough to fit a low ball glass. Pint glasses aren't much smaller than Buckets, but, it will make a difference to look for the larger diameter. I like retro shakers with cool graphics, but, I've had problems with the tops sticking, now my old school, fancy shakers go up on the shelf. Look at the big stainless "professional" shaker, it's my favorite.

Ice crushers, here are some cool old Ice crushers and my favorite juicers. If you come to the Lagoon Room ask me for a little juicer, I may have an extra.

Oh yeah, ice crushers! Those are cool! Which leads me to a thought, do you have some kind of fridge or mini fridge behind the bar? For either keeping certain mixers cold, or for storing ice, or both? Do you have an ice maker, or do you pick up additional ice at the store? Where do you store your dry ice?

Great pics....these are helpful. :)

Alright Al'ii,
Enough prep - get to the mixin'.
I'm gettin' thirsty over here.

I have to say that I'm loving this thread. For some reason equipment gets me excited. Anywho, I'll be lurking on this one unless I have something to add; thank you for all the advice.

I really loved the pic of the laboratory glassware . . . now that's some serious mixology!

Hey !

What's up with the freakin white walls!!!

How can you live like that!!!

Shame on you Al!!!

ARRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

Heya-

I went through this after my move last year-

It got to be crazy to keep all our kooky alcohol in a liquor cabinet- people have known my wife & I were "into" booze- I had a confusing library of exotic liquors- I had to coordinate!
I went into my drink library and did a spreadsheet of my favorite drinks, also noting the drinks that are common for socializing, frozen, layered drinks and "shots" (74 in total, ugh) I then consolidated my highest ranking "must haves"
and came up with a core "party" 12, not including primary drinks like "Rum & Coke" " & The Screwdriver" etc.
The common list that follows allows for DOZENS of drinks.
My core list was reduced to the following:
Bourbon & Good Bourbon & a good Rye (my oldest friends)
Good Vodka & Great Vodka
Gin
WhiteRum (Bacard/swill)
Rum Dark (Myers, Black Seal)
Rum (Coconut Rum)
Spiced Rum
Rum Special (Zaya, Appleton etc.)
Overproof Rum
Contreau
Triple Sec
Chambourd
Creme de Cacao
Blue Curacao
Banana liquor
Pineapple Juice
Cranberry Juice
Apricot Brandy
Orange Juice
Grenadine
Bitters
Creme of Cococnut
Passion Fruit Syrup
Orgeat
Simple Syrup
Cola & good Ginger Beer

These are not in order of priority, but drop the exotic items and you can get by...

FRESH FRUIT- as available
Barware:
2 shakers, a blender
Measuring Shot Glass, citrus squeezer,Jigger, measuring cups for multiplying recipes
Cutting Board, paring knife, swizzle stix, straws, garnish box
strainer, mixing spoon.

Hey Al, here's a question for ya. I'm actually setting up my tiki bar right now. I'll show pics of it in another thread, but it's actually a bar that a fellow Tiki Centralite graciously passed down to me. It's great! Anyways, after a thorough cleaning, which it desperately needed, Coco Loco and I lugged it into the house yesterday, and attached the top. I pulled out all of my booze from the various nooks and crannies in Casa de Mai Tai, and I'm starting to load up the bar with my hooch. Is there any particular way you have your booze organized under your bar? This bar looks a lot like yours, it's a three sided wrap-around. I was thinking spirits on the left side, liquers in the middle section, and mixers on the right side. Any thoughts or advice?

Um, Alvin, when you gonna get around to mixing a few?

I never thought a hardcore TCer would need prompting to mix an exotic drink, but, like, GET TO IT BOY!

And - why not invite a guest over as kind of a Guest Star of the Week, and have them order a cocktail?

Good question Mai Tai.....when I get my bar organized I want to do it in a mixologist friendly way. I wish I had a sink in my lounge....I'll bet that comes in handy. Got the small fridge, the ice-maker and plenty of glasses. I am loving all the info here Al...keep it coming. :)

Hey Thanks Bincho, for posting the liquor list. See Beach Bum Berry's "Grog log" for another list. Bill, Professional bar setups usually only have bottles stacked one deep or if they're stacked two and three deep they are on risers so that each "Layer" of bottles is higher than the one in front so you can see it. Check this out next time you go to a bar. I can't tell you how many times I lost a bottle only to find it just out of sight line. I've also learned it is easy to mix from smaller bottles, 750 ml instead of half gallon bottles, because of ingredients "hiding" behind the larger bottles.

Cammo, come by anytime I'll E you my number. I was going to post on my plantation punch, but, I use Jon English's Fassinola and I discovered it is rare as hen's teeth. I used to get it at High times and I have a supplier in SD, but no one else is going to find this stuff. I am trying a substitute everyone can buy, and will post soon. Many of my recipes have hard to find ingredients and I'm trying to make this so everyone can make these recipes.

Hiphipahula I got the naked girl in Palm Springs. That's all I know. Philippines maybe???

Here is some links on Fassionola
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fassionola

http://www.answers.com/topic/fassionola

There was a thread around these parts last posted this past December (started in 2003)...

Fassionola?

Therein it was lamented that Jonathan English's Brand Red Tropical Gold Fruit Mix (aka Fassionola) was no longer being produced and most of the thread dealt with what might make for a suitable substitute.

Toward the end of the thread it seemed that TV's Passion Fruit Syrup was close, not the same, maybe better, maybe too artificial, etc. The matter was never really resolved. Did anyone ever get anywhere with that?

Did anyone ever come up with a recipe that successfully matched the qualities and character of JE's Fassionola?

Mr Gnoman,
Thank you for the comments. I have read that thread and I appreciate those who contributed to it. I respectfully disagree with the statement that Fassionola is similar to passion fruit syrup, or is an acceptable substitute. If you reconstitute Jon English's Fassionola you with water or pineapple juice you get a drink that taste "like" Hawaiian Punch. Add water to Passion Fruit Syrup and it taste markedly different. The difference is similar to Hershey's Chocolate Syrup and Torani chocolate syrup, one being made with a base of Chocolate, the other being made with a base of clear sugar syrup flavored with a little chocolate essence. Fassionola is fruit punch concentrate. Smart and final, I'm told, has a fruit punch concentrate. I'll get some this weekend and see how it works. I've been looking for Hawaiian Punch Concentrate, so far, no luck. Mind you I still get Fassionola from

Americas Finest Bar Supply Specialists
John Malloch
858.695.1655
John likes you to call ahead with order so he can pull it and have it ready at Will Call. open Mon-Fri, 9 to 5.


I've tried my Planters punch with TVs passion fruit syrup instead of Fassionola, It's not as good.
Mahalo,
Al

[ Edited by: Al-ii 2007-05-17 13:23 ]

On 2007-05-17 11:21, The Gnomon wrote:
Toward the end of the thread it seemed that TV's Passion Fruit Syrup was close, not the same, maybe better, maybe too artificial, etc. The matter was never really resolved. Did anyone ever get anywhere with that?

Did anyone ever come up with a recipe that successfully matched the qualities and character of JE's Fassionola?

Getting frozen fruit punch concentrate from the local grocery store and then boiling it up with some extra sugar to form a syrup seems to work OK, but then I have nothing to compare it to. :P

As for pure passion fruit syrup:

This stuff, "Condensed Passion Fruit Drink" (imported from Taiwan by the Summit Import Co. and found at my local Chinese grocer) is hands down the best passionfruit syrup I've ever had.

Mbanu,
Thanks for posting, I want this thread to be about personal favorites and surreptitious ingredients. I'd also like to thank Gavin for finding the Fassionola.
Mahalo,
Al

Al,

Your Lagoon Room is so freakin cool!! Everything works perfectly togehter. Can you also mix in some decorating tips with the drinks tips. You mixed up the drinks in minutes, like it was nothing. The Planter's Punch was mighty tasty and also the Scorpion. I have got to get some of that Fassionola.

[ Edited by: Tigerlily 2007-05-17 21:44 ]

Can you also mix in some decorating tips with the drinks tips.

Do I look like Martha Stewart? :)

Martha,

Can you please suggest the appropriate menu to accompany the Planter's Punch? :lol:

Al,
Is there much of a difference between the Red, Green, or Gold Tropical Mix?

Also want to mention what a difference each individual ingredient makes.
Obviously, fresh fruit is key. You made us Punch with juice of one whole lime and one whole lemon, and Anejo Aniversario rum and it was quite possibly the best cocktail I have ever had the pleasure of sipping at any bar you have ever tended.
Jenn said it was the Best Drink She Ever Had. The perfect blend of tart and sweet. Not too sweet. Complex.
The night after the Tiki Farm thing you were mixing a different rum and sweet and sour, that was a delicious concoction as well just an entirely different cocktail.

Thanks bro.

On 2007-04-19 07:16, Al-ii wrote:
Hello, Hard day?, Take a load off. Welcome to the Lagoon Room.

Thanks Jeff

Your welcome Al.
Thank you, for having us over after the event on that Sat.
that was very nice of you,
Glad you liked the cone, I wasnt sure if you'd dig it or not.
Its not very tiki, but what is said says it all.

Hope to spend some more time at the Lagoon room.
Jeff(bigtikidude)

Hey Al, are we good with the supply source for Jon English's Fassinola now? Or a suitable substitute? I'm thirsty for some Planters Punch!

Bumpin' this topic, now that Al's back in town.

I just recieved my three bodles of English's Red Tropical Gold Fruit Mix from John at America's Finest. I hope I ordered the right thing and this the Fassionla? If I read the post correctly I can use this as the fruit syrup in tiki drinks?

Martha Stewart....white courtesy phone....Martha Stewart white courtsy phone.

We need more Al-isms...guidance on mixing and pics of the bar and tools. :D

Gasp!.... so thirsty..... must have.... Planter's Punch!!!

On 2007-05-12 10:36, Al-ii wrote:
Hey Thanks Bincho, for posting the liquor list. See Beach Bum Berry's "Grog log" for another list. Bill, Professional bar setups usually only have bottles stacked one deep or if they're stacked two and three deep they are on risers so that each "Layer" of bottles is higher than the one in front so you can see it. Check this out next time you go to a bar. I can't tell you how many times I lost a bottle only to find it just out of sight line. I've also learned it is easy to mix from smaller bottles, 750 ml instead of half gallon bottles, because of ingredients "hiding" behind the larger bottles.

Cammo, come by anytime I'll E you my number. I was going to post on my plantation punch, but, I use Jon English's Fassinola and I discovered it is rare as hen's teeth. I used to get it at High times and I have a supplier in SD, but no one else is going to find this stuff. I am trying a substitute everyone can buy, and will post soon. Many of my recipes have hard to find ingredients and I'm trying to make this so everyone can make these recipes.

Hiphipahula I got the naked girl in Palm Springs. That's all I know. Philippines maybe???

Here is some links on Fassionola
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fassionola

http://www.answers.com/topic/fassionola