When Booze Disappears

If you like making cocktails like I do, you've probably run into this problem yourself: When Booze Disappears.  Now what do I mean by "disappearing booze"?  I'm talking about that special ingredient that makes a whole slew of tasty drinks possible suddenly stops showing up on the shelves of your local liquor store.  Many like-minded cocktailers, following the Lemon Hart saga, know exactly what I'm talking about.  And let's not forget about the Falernum of my youth: Sazerac.   Sure, there are substitutes, but remember: you can't spell "substitute" without spelling "sub" first - as in sub par or subhuman.

The latest booze to pull a disappearing act at my home bar is Wray and Nephew's Berry Hill Allspice Pimento Liquor.  The stuff is legendary in The Reminder Room.  Oh,  and don't get me started with St. Elizabeth's Dram.  That stuff is like a clove hammer-drill wrecking any drink it gets dropped into.   No subtlety at all.  The difference between the Wray and Nephew and the St. Elizabeth Dram is like the difference between voluptuous, erotic portraiture  enjoyed with a nip of Madeira beside the fireplace and hardcore pornography viewed in a cold, dank, slimy cement basement with your pants half-off.  No thank you.

So what to do?  Try making my own.

Dram #1

1 C sugar
1/2 C water
100 all spice berries
1/2 tsp powered all spice
Boil ingredients for 10 minutes,  let cool, add 2 oz of wray and nephew overproof rum and let sit covered overnight.

Also over night soak about 30 berries in 2-3 oz overproof rum and combine both mixtures in the morning.  Strain and add 3-4 oz of dark Jamaican rum such as Kohala Bay.  Bottle and put in fridge. With the much booze in it, I am thinking it will last awhile - at least a few months.

Pour Yourself a Tall Cool One

Episode #447 - Pour Yourself a TALL Cool One 

{click link for audio and playlist}

http://kfai.org/node/41997

Stop shoveling and start listening! That was my motto last week and it continues this week.  I mean at this point, with the winter we’ve had, what’s the use  Just put the shovel down and pour yourself another tall, stiff one. Time to lay around and relax. 

On this  program, we revisit with Groove Holmes and his B3 organ when he explains to us exactly why “It’s Gonna Take Some Time.”  To do what exactly? I’m not sure, but stick around to find out. 

Plus Henri Rene brings oil paintings to life when we hear from his RCA records release Passion in Paint. 

Also The Sounds of Sunshine explain their philosophy of the world by pointing out that “Love Means You Never Have to Say You’re Sorry”  - yeah right. 

And finally, before the night is through, we attend a “Group Therapy” session with a guy named Billy Strange.  Sound intriguing? Well it is.

Catch ALL the action, and some great cocktail tunes, on Jet Set Planet, Friday Nights at 9 on KFAI- your source for all things Higher-Than-Fi.

A peek behind the scenes... playlist BEFORE the show

Tonight's show (2/28/14)  Genre	Artist	Title	Album
WOW	Mel Henke	The Twisters	La Dolce Hendi
HACK SPY	The Secret Agents	Theme to Star Trek	Mission: Impossible
CHORUS	Joe Sherman	Mr. Wonderful	The Seventh Dawn
LATIN	Mongo Santamaria	In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida	Feelin' Alright
FUNKHAWK	Groove Holmes	It's Gonna Take Some Time	Hunk a Funk
GOOF	Alvino Rey	Bloop Bleep	Greatest Hits
DYNAMICA	Pete Rugolo	Bongo Riff	Percussion at Wrok
LATIN	Edmundo Ross	Meditation	Latin Boss Senor Ros
DYNAMIC MONO	Henri Rene	Absinthe	Passion in Paint
LATIN	Tito Rodriguez	La Brisa Y Yo	Charanga Pachanga
PIANO	Peter Nero	Picasso Summer	Midnight Cowboy
ORGANASM	Sir Juian	Going out of my Head	Love is Blue
ORGANASM	The Mustang	Undergrad	Dance to Swing Organ
CLUNKY JAZZ	Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars	Architectonics	Jazz Structures
BLUES HACK	Bob Sharples	Louisiana Blues	Go-Go Au Go-Go
PIANO	Don Randi	It's only Love	Rubber Soul Jazz
LALO	Lalo Schifrin	Two Petals, a Flower and a Girl	There's a Whole Lalo Schifrin Goin On
PIANO	{N} Neil Wolfe	All the Things You Are	Piano My Way
SUNSHINE POP	The Sounds of Sunshine	Anything Can Happen	Love Means You Never Have to Say You're Sorry
FLUTASTIC	Hubert Laws	You Make Me Feel Brand New	The Chicago Theme
EASY NOW	Anita Kerr	Happy Cat	Touch Love
GUITARS	Billy Strange	Group Therapy	Bunny O'Hare
NOW SWINGERS	Frank Pleyer Big Band	Make Up	Europhone 521
SOUNDTRACK	Pete Rugolo	Collier's Riff	The Sweet Ride
ORGANASM	Groove Holmes	Soul Message	Soul Message
EXOTICA	Omega All-Stars	Return to Paradise	Percussion for Playbots
OUTRO	Booker T. and the MGs	It's Your Thing	The Booker T. Set

I've just scratched the surface of this soundtrack LP.  Look for a few tracks on this week's Jet Set Planet!

Beware the Raven!

Stop shoveling and start listening, that’s my motto. 

On tonight’s program, we’ll spend a vacation day at the beach with Santo and Johnny, visit with the Farmer in the Dell courtesy of a record called Kiddie Rock au Go-Go, hear from the soundtrack to the film Bunny O’Hare and take a Hammer Blow from Skip Martin and the Orchestra – ouch that hurts!

Oh, and by the way, beware the Raven!

http://kfai.org/node/41861

Valentines Day Special on KFAI’s Jet Set Planet

Romantic songs and tales from the likes of Chaino, Anthony Newley, and the Sensuous Woman.

http://kfai.org/node/41715

Jet Pilot

1/2 oz lime

1/2 oz grapefruit

1/2 oz cinnamon syrup

1/2 oz falernum

1 oz dark Jamaican Rum

3/4 oz Gold Rum

3/4 oz Lemon hart 151 rum

dash angostura bitters

6 drops of Pernod

4 oz crushed ice

Put everything in a mixer (top down preferably) and blend at high speed for 5 seconds. Serve in an old fashioned glass. Garnish with a cherry and a cinnamon stick.