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May 27, 2007

two things

Filed under: — Nat @ 9:03 pm

First: Laura made a delicious asparagus curry with chickpea pancakes for dinner tonight. Highly recommended if you like Indian food. And, well, if you don’t, what the hell is wrong with you? Indian food is delicious.

Second: I picked up a bottle of Tanqueray Rangpur gin, which is a newish gin distilled with Rangpur limes, ginger, and bay leaves. It’s stunningly good in a simple gin and tonic, and it also made the best martini I’ve ever had:

  • six parts tanqueray rangpur gin
  • one part dry vermouth
  • one-half part orange bitters

I tend to like my martinis on the wet side (as my friend Peter would say, otherwise it’s just a big glass of gin), and I’ve recently fallen in love with the old-style addition of orange bitters. The slight lime flavor of the Rangpur mixed incredibly well with the orange, and the whole thing is just wonderfully smooth and tasty.

Definitely pick some up if you can.

4 Responses to “two things”

  1. Laura Says:
    May 27th, 2007 at 9:57 pm

    The gin & tonic with the Rangpur didn’t even have a squeeze of lime in it, correct? It didn’t need it. Lovely.

  2. Nat Says:
    May 27th, 2007 at 10:05 pm

    Not even the slightest drop, no. I didn’t want to overpower the gin, so I figured I’d have you taste it before adding any lime.

    I’m glad I did; it was basically perfect without anything else.

  3. Dr. Bamboo Says:
    May 29th, 2007 at 9:54 am

    Hi Nat,

    I found my way here via the “City of Pittsburgh” LJ community. Like you, I’m a CMU alum and cocktail enthusiast (to the point where I started my own cocktail-themed blog. Oh, the humanity!)

    Anyway, I’m glad you liked the Rangpur. It seems to be getting some not-so-great reviews elsewhere, but being a gin fan myself, it’s nice to see it getting a thumbs-up from you.

    Cheers!

    Oh, and as for your question about local bitters sources; I’ve never found any bitters locally other than Angostura. Fee bros., Regan’s, etc. (which are internet/mail order unfortunately) seem to be our best option. I’ve managed to find some syrups (Passion Fruit for example) by asking at independent coffee shops. Orgeat is tough to find, but I’ve been using almond syrup, which is a pretty good substitute. Falernum is also something I believe has to be ordered from out of town. Shoot me an email and I can at least tell you where I managed to score some syrups.

  4. Nat Says:
    June 5th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

    Yeah, I ended up sending Fee Bros. mail asking about local sources, and they told me they didn’t have any but would happily do mail order.

    So I guess I’ll just go that way.

    Thanks for the offer on the syrups; will do.

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