The Cheese Board, what are you drinking?

not to put a damper on things but i have like 10 other amari kicking around here i don't think any of them would make an adequate replacement for sibilla....nonino actually might be the best option as far as making that drink palatable but sibilla has this distinct honey/floral thing that is totally unique to it.

It is super hard to get amaros where I currently am and was super psyched that they started carrying Cynar in the main grocery store here for like $15 USD a bottle. But of course I didn't buy it right away because I was leaving for a couple of months and now it's been sold out. I am adding sibilia to my list for when I am back in NY.

Yessss Sibilla.

I pretty much logged on to thank Wm Crump, here, for the trifoliate oranges he sent me. I have an infusion in a combination of vodka and Everclear that is a little oranger than Mountain Dew in color, after just a few days. It's so piney that I think even as bitters it'll be best used with gin, but we'll see.

Hahahaha, you're very welcome. I told my daughter yesterday that when I got them I knew I had to send you a boxful -- "they're an instrument I don't know how to play...I can go plink plink plunk, but I bet Bill can actually get a tune out of them."

As much fun as I've had with these things, I'm almighty tired of the cleanup.

I don't want to jinx it, but other than the smell staying on my hands for a long time, I've been okay - but I'm only dealing with a few fruit at a time and washing things right away. The cutting board where they've been resting hasn't been cleaned yet, so ... we'll see. But it was partially melted by a stove burner at some point in the past and was going to be replaced anyway.

I only talked about these on Facebook, not ILX, so to catch this board up: a friend found a stand of trifoliate orange trees near here in NE Mississippi and brought me several pounds along with a couple of seedlings. They're a variety of orange so far off the beaten path that horticulturists haven't settled on what genus they're in, Citrus or Poncirus.
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/44591246_10157796354033709_8356580403103924224_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1.xx&oh=f1e1f53bb0846cdda723889f2ba4a7b2&oe=5C454C6E https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/44675140_10157796354048709_5356970355904741376_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1.xx&oh=dc62748ab2de31f3d6c633c1e897d5e9&oe=5C43747B

The oil in the rind (and pulp) is very piney so you get a weird orange/pine mix in flavor and scent, and it's so resiny it takes solvents, not soap, to clean up.

They remind me a LOT of pumelo - I mean, that pineyness does, even the smell of it reminds me of peeling pumelo. (The overall flavor is not like pumelo, but I have no idea what I would guess if I were tasting it blind.)

I have a few left I haven't juiced yet, and haven't decided whether to try to make curd, or just use it for cocktails (esp tonight). I should probably juice them and see how much we're talking about, and go from there.

That looks crazy.

Omg want!!!

Looks kinda like rangpu limes but with massive seeds.

rangpur*

I was in Perth last week and had an absolutely banging 2005 Cabernet from Xabregas. Reasonably priced too.

we're drinking Lagunitas IPA and following election results

Rangpur is a comparison I hadn't thought of - but the same way that rangpurs or makruts have that strong, really fragrant oil, so do the trifoliates. Different fragrance, but in that ballpark of being a low-juice, high-oil citrus.

Today I'm probably drinking something with cider? One of the few advantages to living in NH, getting fresh unpasteurized cider from down the road.

Maybe I should start an amaro thread. Anyway, I picked up a bottle of amaro Sibilia today and am excited to try.

Very few available around here -- just the usual suspects Campari, Aperol and a couple others -- so I'm probably going to spend a stupid amount of money next time I'm in Atlanta.

I went with your three TJs recommendations by the way!

how were they? I just like raclette in general. I wonder how creamy the small french soft cheese was. I was lazy about the st marcellin like one from vermont that we got and i just nuked it in the microwave for 30 seconds instead of putting it in the oven. It totally overflowed the crockery. I told L, is it ok if I just eat the overflow with my fingers off of the microwave plate?

Bringing them to a party this weekend, will let you know.

What did LP say?

she was fine with it. I had to wash the plate after though because I couldn't get it all up.

There is this other amaro that I have been eyeing mostly because of the presentation of the bottle but I keep putting it back. Has anyone had the Forthave Spirits Amaro Marseille?

I love amaro, but I'm no expert. Bought averna for a thanksgiving cocktail that nobody else really cared for. So I've been drinking it often.

bundaberg ginger beer w/whiskey

yum! was making old fashioneds a few days ago until i ran outta rye (saddest emoticon). have a nice-looking recipe for a cynar cocktail with grapefuit juice but crappy stores near me don't carry any aperols far as i've seen. probably better in summer but i want to try https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/cynar-julep

oh that looks great, I love Cynar and have a bottle

Someone gave us a little bottle of cardamom bitters and they set off a Calvados old fashioned perfectly (my preferred calvados old fashioned uses less sugar than a regular bourbon one would, fyi).

I'd be on for an Amaro thread. Think I mentioned my love for Amaro Nonnino upthread somewhere.

drinking that Cynar julep right now, yummmmmm

I'm curious yet apprehensive about Cynar. Does it taste like artichokes?

not really, just thick bitter sweet depth, very very dark even for amaros (I am not an expert by any means, I learned most of what I know from call all destroyer's cocktail thread)

another good way to try it is the "Little Italy" - 2 oz rye, 3/4 oz sweet vermouth, 1/2 oz cynar, stir w/rocks and garnish w/orange or cherry, basically a manhattan w/cynar

That sounds good, I will try as soon as I replace the rye.

My go to with Cynar is the Tobacco Road, 1 of mezcal, a little less of cynar, peychauds bitters, stir like an old fashioned.

Some recipes call for a splash sherry, some for salt on a big ice cube.

xpost Cynar doesn't taste at all like artichokes. It's a little vegetable, but I like the balance of bitter with smokey caramel. I had a bartender make me a cynar cocktail recently "his choice" and it was soooo good, it was a take on a manhattan but there was some blood orange infused liqueur that they had made in it too. I mostly drink cynar at home with just some soda water.

I tried the sibilia yesterday. A shot, with one ice cube and in a bit of soda water. That bitterness was long lasting.

Love Cynar, just finished a bottle on the back of getting into Bitter Giuseppes.

We do have a classic Fernet thread obv: How do you take yr Fernet-Branca?

xp ooh that looks good too!

currently sipping a Bitter Giuseppe, tyvm

I was looking at the books on amaros/bitters online but everything seems recipe heavy which I am kind of not into. Amazon (booooo, I know) has a $5 off coupon on books right now so I was perusing a nice liquor book to get.

just made julep. cynar is legit af imho. will def. be trying tobacco road @ some point, but next up is prolly Guiseppe. another thx in general for the tip on this stuff in general!

ooof, superfluous general

I got turned onto cynar from a master somm who said it was his favorite amaro for anytime. So even though the label is cheesy, it's really solid.

stuff is a little pricier than i'd anticipated. since i'm a poor student rn this may be my only bottle for awhile. but school's out, finals just finished. and i'm enjoying the heck outta this

How much is it where you are? For some weird reason when I saw it in the grocery store in chile it was like $15USD (a lot cheaper than I expected). In the US it was in the $20-$25 range.

~$45. i hate bevmo but there's not another proper store in my immediate area afaik to look for this kind of ingredient

ouch! yeah it's $25-28 here in Oregon

Ugh that's bad. The amaro sibilia I got was $51 and I was waffling on whether I would rather get a sherry and ny amaro but decided to just go with it. When you travel at least you know what to make room in your luggage for.

Also when I was in astor wines I saw a 70 proof cynar and I just could not deal with figuring out if that was something I wanted or not.

It’s good!

has there ever been a quincie/Yerac irl crossover? sounds like a rollicking good time