Whisk(e)y loving objectivists’ corner

Looks like a healthy coffee habit in the back there too :slight_smile:

Well spotted David!

I’m as fussy about my coffee as I am about my whiskies and wines.

We bought a Gastroback (aka Sage/Breville depending on where you live) dual boiler machine and two of their digital burr grinders when we lived in Austria. Not as flash as a Gaggia or La Pavoni, but a solid, reliable and competent machine nonetheles. One grinder is set for drip filter for a Hario V60, the other is set for espresso.

Coffee is whole bean Micro-lot from https://pactcoffee.com.

I’ve been a customer of theirs since 2012 and it is, by far, the best tasting coffee ever to have graced my palate. Nothing I tasted in Europe (even from the boutique roasters) comes anywhere close.

I’m very geeky where it comes to coffee - I routinely ‘calibrate’ the espresso extraction by time and extracted brew weight and I brew the drip filter using a timed coffee scale. Once you’ve found what you like, consistency is the name of the game.

Are you into coffee by any chance? If you are, have you checked out James Hoffmann’s YouTube channel?

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Check this out. My ECM is there somewhere

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How did I miss that thread? I’m off down another rabbit hole…! :blush:

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Oh probably best not to get me started on the coffee thing :wink:

Fully plumbed dual boiler with rotary pump. Eureka Specialita grinder. Coffee tends to come from a number of artisan roasters from around the Edinburgh area.

I keep it all right next door to my whisky collection :wink:

And yes I keep an eye on what James is doing. One of my best friends actually knows him personally and I keep meaning to get involved lol

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Ah, yes. You can do that with that lovely, naturally soft Scottish water!

That is an extremely well stocked whisky cupboard!

I have a feeling James would be an extremely interesting chap to get to know.

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By all rights I hear he’s a bit of an arse lol

LOL

Maybe not someone to get to know then! :rofl:

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Not a fan of this one. It was on sale so I had to try. Bouquet is off-putting. Taste is lacklustre.

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A new, firm favourite of mine, and very reasonably priced:

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beautiful copper color.

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Can’t beat some Auchentoshan. The Three Wood is probably my favourite of theirs (that I’ve tried anyway).

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Great story about my first encounter with Auchentoshan!!

I had flown from Australia to London, got off the plane at 6am, drove to Swindon my home town, spent the day catching up with family without putting my head down for a nap.

My best buddy turns up at my folks house at 6pm and says “I’m taking you to a Whisky tasting evening”. Here we go!!!

It was an excellent evening I tasted six different Whisky’s from Auchentoscan and tried to listen to someone important from the distillery talk about each one.

Unfortunately my face was on the table by the forth and I was snoring!! My best bud gave me a nudge so that I didn’t miss the fifth and sixth.

Best nights sleep I have had in my life and instantly cured me of jet lag :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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New arrivals
Glenfarclas 18y (Travel Retail)
Caol Ila 13y (Gordon & MacPhail Smoky Discovery Series)
Benromach 11y 2009/2021 German Exclusive

I also reordered the Kilkerran 12 (which I really liked a few months back)

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Christ, I’ve added too many to track this month…lets see

Smws -71.87 - 10yo glenburgie
Whisky brokers 10yo Glen Garioch
Laphroaig 10 (for making cocktails)
Cotswolds - 2017 odyssey barley (was £22 in Tesco, seemed rude not to)
ardnamurchan AD 07.21:05

I’ve probably forgotten some!??

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I have an 18yo rum finished single cask auchentoshan which is delightful.

You’re dead to me! :wink:

Though to be fair, I’m sure there are cocktails that would benefit from the smokey, phenolic dimensions of Laphroaig 10…

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Sorry to sound like a whisky snob, but I have much better Islay whiskies than a L10, as well as a few smokey Campbelltowns and Mulls!

I have a favourite cocktail called a South Coast (which only seems to exist in my local bar) which is L10, Ginger syrup, Raspberry Syrup, Citrus and Soda. It creates a bright, spicy, smokey fizzy blast of flavour. It’s a genuinely delicious thing and I can’t get enough of them. But I can’t keep making it with expensive whisky! So for £28 on amazon, i got the L10.

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Do you have a spec for that particular cocktail please, sounds right up my street :slight_smile:

Sadly no… as the local bar are obviously quite protective of their recipe. But they do occasionally give me the odd secret and I can make something at home that largely resembles it!

Home made Raspberry Syrup (2/3cup sugar, 2/3cup water, 1 cup raspberries) boil down until you lose maybe a 3rd of the liquid, strain, cool, bottle.

Home made ginger syrup (same water and sugar as above, and about 2/3 cup of chopped peeled ginger). As above, but I add about 1tsp of basic citric acid, which was the missing element that they told me about on my last visit.

oh also vermouth! sweeter red vermouth.

25ml measure peated whisky
25ml measure vermouth
1tbsp raspberry syrup
1tbsp raspberry syrup
Top up with soda to taste
I tend to use maybe a 330ml glass, but with super large ice cube taking up most of the volume, so this shouldn’t be a hugely long drink.

You can adjust syrups to taste, if its coming off too sweet you can back off a little. or work on balance.

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