Its worth having a look at herbal haven (http://www.herbalhaven.com) -*not endorsing!* they sell live herbs, but they sell lots that can be used in bitters/aperitif)/digestif that are really hard to come by. (planning on making a corsican-mint bitter!)

Photography is one of my true “loves” (along with cocktails!) it is great for low-light stuff, my 40d pretty much goes to sleep at dusk.

I hope you ask the bar before you show up with a camera on a tripod, though I would love to see the look on the bartenders face if you do!

-Oh, and Happy 2 years birthday! I hope there will be many a cocktail made to celebrate the occasion! -Perhaps something of your own concoction? -A Jay Royale? -A Hepburn Stinger “with the juice of a few flowers” in it?

(sorry, I have made rather awful references to cocktails that Katherine Hepburn drank in a few of her films!).

Anyway, in a word, Cheers! to the 2 years! I shall go and make a Manhattan in your blogs honour!

Yes I’ve been in to photography for years now. Don’t really take many photos beyond drinks these days though, don’t have the time! The 5DII is somewhat cutting edge with regards to video – no other Canon SLR has been able to do video, and the one Nikon one that could didn’t do it very well. It certainly has its compromises – no autofocus, not much exposure control, useless without tripod – but the quality in low light is hard to beat (perfect for bars!) and the shallow depth-of-field lets you play around with focus a lot.

First of all I tried it with standard basil which was nice (and green!)

But then, with thanks to a herb garden of a friends, I tried it with Thai Green basil, and purple basil (different from red).

The thai green basil adds this extra kind of zesty zing to it, and the purple basil ads an extra undertone of bitterness, that isn’t over powering but was a nice addition.

Best of all was a mix of the thai green and purple basils I found -made an amazing hue too! I really enjoyed it, but it did start to add more complexity that others might not be too fond of in such a drink!

I’m planning to visit Le Lion this summer now! Cheers Jay/Le Lion!

Best regards,
Rhett

Only one little aspect wasn’t so great…: I find the music a bit annoying…

Cheers!

Dominik MJ

Blair – The ice cubes come from a Hoshizaki machine. They come out at about -2°C and are then frozen down further to -18°C. Sometimes the cubes are slightly humid out of the machine, hence then sticking together when frozen further. The dasher bottles are indeed amazing, and can be purchased from APS in Hamburg – see their catalogue.

Here I am having a Sazerac and the video is making me thirst for a Gin Basil Smash! The mark of a true videographer!

What I especially enjoy about your podcasts is the way you set the tone of the show by showing locations and interior shots of the club. It’s almost (but not quite) as good as being there.

A few things I picked up on:

a) tasting the balance of sweet and sour off the back of your hand. interesting…
b) looked like kold-draft cubes to me. but they were stuck together, how can this be?
c) the bitters and syrups bottles in the long shot were awesome! any idea where they can be obtained?
d) i liked the way that the barspoon was utilized to get every last drop out of the strainer. now that is one good bartender!
e) the level of the music bed underneath the vocals was much, much better.

killer show, jay! i am excited to see the upcoming presentations!

cheers!

blair

The images of Hamburg at the beginning set the scene nicely; these videos will be the death of me! (Well, the death of my credit card, paying for flights to visit these bars!)

Think I’ll definitely have to try one of these over the summer

Out of interest, what camera are you using? Although I’m sure all the talent is firmly behind the lens….

Despite that, lovely video, lovely scenes from Hamburg, lovely effects, lovely editting, lovely music. I’m from germany myself and fell in love with the Gin-Basil Smash last summer (I prefer it with lime juice though) ever since Jörg Meyer posted about it on his now “out of print” Bitters Blog. Have yet to find a person, man or lady, who doesn not enjoy this wonderfully balanced drink.

Thanks for introducing a great drink and a great bar to a more international audience.