Cooking the book - Zero cookbook

2/20 Not so fast Buster! You ain’t done yet

I made the paloma last night for my class guests, they were happy, except one person did not drink it.

They got very interested in the project and we tasted Vermouth and Orange liqueur to great approval from all.

Now on Tuesday morning, I am using my staff as tasters, and progressing through the book with Bijou, p61, which tasted a little medicinal, maybe there are too many flavors in this one. 3 different syrups mixed together, that’s a lot of flavors.

We tried the gin as Gin and Tonic, very good.

We also tried the black Manhattan without the 2 dashes of angostura bitters and it was a lot better, there was too much bitterness yesterday.

Onto Negroni, which is the last cocktail in the second chapter, Classic cocktails. It is quite similar to what we tasted so far, the aftertaste is great, the initial sniff is very orangey with spices, it has bitterness and astringency but not too much. This was easy to drink.

And I am waiting for the ingredients for the next batch of cocktails, which are all special creations and don’t necessarily exist out of their book. I can’t wait to discover these flavors. And create my own.

Deliciousness: my home-made brandy, with orange liqueur and orange juice, was a hit. 2oz Brandy, 1 oz orange liqueur, 2 oz orange juice. Everyone liked it.

I thought I was done with chapter 2, but not so, I still have to make and fizz the champagne from page 194, and make 3 cocktail recipes. The mix for the champagne has to be well chilled to accept plenty of bubbles, so I am putting everything in the fridge for tomorrow.

The essential oils arrived today, so I made Absinthe. It is delicious, smells and tastes like the real thing.

For the cooking class tonight, I served my new Brandy cocktail with a splash of selzer water. It was well received, however one person did not touch it and another did not finish it. The flavors are strong and spicy, not for everyone.