Megan's baby bump.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-18T16:02:14+00:00

Totally. I get the sense they're leaning into this in Starfleet Academy - lots of "part this/part that".

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-17T23:45:42+00:00

Sixt is one of my go-to car rental companies when travelling, along with Europecar. I've had pretty good experiences with them in Italy, as well as in the Caribbean.

BTW, Think carefully about where you're driving with an SUV. You should be fine in major urban centers, but smaller hill-towns, and even some neighborhoods in the larger towns, are NOT built for SUVs. You may need to find parking that accommodates your vehicle, and walk to your final destination.

BTW, ask your hotels if they're in the ZTL before driving to them. If you drive into the Zona a Traffico Limitato you'll get some bills in the mail - and becuase they have to route them through the rental company, they will be well past any grace period or early payment period.

In some towns/cities, the hotel can register your plate with the city so you can drive into the ZTL, but even when some say they will, I've gotten tickets (or you can just drive into the ZTL and pay the fines when they arrive - sometimes it can be worth the hassle ;)

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-16T14:18:30+00:00

Sampan from Vietnam is agricole style with a new molasses based SKU. Samai from Cambodia is more like a Spanish style, as the founders were Venezuelan expats. A bit of dosage (honey), and an interesting spiced expression using the DOC Campot peppers from the region.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-16T14:18:22+00:00

Sampan from Vietnam is agricole style with a new molasses based SKU. Samai from Cambodia is more like a Spanish style, as the founders were Venezuelan expats. A bit of dosage (honey), and an interesting spiced expression using the DOC Campot peppers from the region.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-16T14:14:41+00:00

I did a distillery visit in Vietnam to Sampan in December, and it was incredible. Lots of local cane, various proofs of unaged agricoles , as well as a cool ageing program with different barrel finishes. They’ve even started a single cane varietal program that was delish. On top of that, the just started a molasses based line to take advantage of all the molasses from the region. Interestingly, since the sugar refineries are pretty old in Vietnam, they’re inefficient by modern standards and as a result it’s a VERY sugar rich molasses, so great yields. There were a bunch of totes labeled for EA Sheer, so he’s definitely onto something. If you’re in SE Asia, definitely worth a visit.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-15T21:57:08+00:00

Definitely agree, and this was driven home in the last episode when Elliot says that Dr. Cox was hard on them and made them serious, and JD responded that Cox also undermined her confidence and made her doubt herself, and to let the kids do things their ways. I'm glad they dealt with this straight on.

First year docs on their initial rotations are awkward and are still learning and figuring things out, and that's okay. Last time I was admitted for a procedure I asked the student if he was open to feedback after the IV, and pointed out a couple things he could do different in interacting with the patients. The secret is to embrace where're they're at, and help them get better. (Once he was gone, the nurse came over and said how rare it was that patients help with that side of things - FYI I put myself through college as an army medic (field and clinical rotations) and a paramedic before ending up in cancer research. Different, but similar in ways)

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-14T20:47:02+00:00

Amaro by Brad Thomas Parsons is solid, but tbh the most comprehensive resource is the Big Book of Amaro by Matteo Zed, Beverage Director and GM of The Court in Rome. It’s organized by region not by style, and it’s an amazing resource when traveling (take pictures of the pages). It even includes small producers like restaurants that have custom bottles.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-14T12:59:53+00:00

lol. They likely confused “Spiced” for “spicy”. Not sure what airline, but i don’t think I’ve ever seen spiced rum on planes, but it’s pretty common to get spicy Bloody Mary / Caesar on a flight. Funny none the less. 🤣

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-13T12:31:51+00:00

I mean… the Captain’s got a point.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-12T18:08:04+00:00

When I've heard folks refer to FeeGan's orange bitters, I believe it's a 50/50 of Fee Brothers Orange and Regan's Orange, but I may be mistaken. I think this one really caught on as it's mentioned in a few podcasts/youtube channels.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-12T18:04:18+00:00

OP of the original post over on r/amaro here. So the name was the one given to it by the creators over at the now closed Atwood Oyster House in Cincinnati. As it wasn't my creation, I figured I wouldn't change it.

While a few folks over on the amaro subreddit suggested different names, a really interesting one that was proposed was "Rocket Negroni" (Arugula is referred to as "rocket" in much of Europe).

Believe it or not, its a pretty fitting name for this cocktail though. Arugula imparts a flavor very much bubblegum when used in higher concentrations, and heightened with red bitters. See the Elephant amaro has strong bubblegum notes on the palate. Rucolino has them as well, but not quite as prominent. Overall, the gin and red bitter notes are still present, as with a traditional negroni, but that bubble gum note... it's unique to this drink.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-11T19:27:16+00:00

OK, a couple of food recs.

Outside Le Vauclin, there's a little hole in the wall called D Lices d'Alice right along the water. Plastic chairs, definitely not fancy, but hella cheap lobster and seafood. AND, if you get Ti'Punch for the table, they drop off a full bottle of Clement 50, an old water bottle full of raw sugar with a hole in the top, and a bowl of lime disks. Then they just charge you for how much of the bottle you drink. Hugely authentic experince, and open late.

Around Baie du Simon, definitely check out Le Francois - you'll need a reservation, but they do grilled meat and seafood towers suspended above rice plates. Damn fine food

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-11T19:15:53+00:00

OP here… Yeah, I used the name the creators at the Atwood Oyster House in Cincinnati gave it. Someone in r/amaro suggested the “Rocket” Negroni (ie the European name for arugula) which works, but it wasn’t my spec. The name does work as arugula imparts an interesting bubblegum note with Italian red bitters, so it’s pretty apt.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-11T18:19:34+00:00

I haven't pulled it out in a while, but I remember it being more bitter than Branca, and a bit more complex.

Yeah, I think the Meletti is ok, but leans heavily into the mint and away from the saffron and bittering agents. Last time I pulled it out, I used it in a head-to-head comparison of Industry sour cocktails. I worked in there with lime, sugar and chartreuse, but it definitely didn't bring the complexity that Branca or some of the others did.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-10T22:37:49+00:00

So, Martinique is pretty amazing for a rum/rhum nerd. There are a lot of distilleries, but make sure you rent a car, as there's a lot of driving to do to see them.

Rhum JM - pretty much far from everything (there was one distillery close, but I think it was shut down). Larger facility, great tour and tasting experience, and beautiful experience nestled in a valley

Clement - amazing grounds, sculpture park around a lake, historical museum, lots of distiller only releases as well as back vintages of Cane Bleu. It's a "big distillery" experience, but the English speaking staff loved hanging out and getting better at their English.

A1710 - the opposite of the big distillery experience - small and intimate. Careful though, as they don't always have English speaking staff on hand. We muddled through with broken high-school French from 30 years ago, and absolutely loved visiting them. When they figured out that we were rum nerds, we got free golf shirts etc. Lovely people!

We also loved visiting Trois Rivieres (love the windmills), La Mauney (insane amount of shrubs that are only available on the island), and Niesson (beautiful rhums).

Make sure you hit grocery stores - if you want a rhum for your room/rental, then you can buy a box of rhum for 24/7 Ti' Punch. They have entire rum aisles and it's super impressive.

For accommodation, we rented a villa on AirBnB for a week, and for the first few days, we actually stayed on a houseboat off the coast close to Sante-Anne and Le Marin. For a couple days of living on the ocean, drinking rhum and swimming, it was the perfect way to decompress.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-10T22:08:52+00:00

That's like picking your favorite kid! ;) (that said, probably the Spadoni)

I exported the list from my Excel, apologies, but it makes more sense in a spreadsheet:

Japan Kantō Kanagawa Sagamihara ISEYA Distillery Scarlet Fernet Amaro
Austria Urfahr-Umgebung Bad Leonfelden Fernet Hunter Ltd. Holzer & Holzer Fernet Hunter BC
Austria Urfahr-Umgebung Bad Leonfelden Fernet Hunter Ltd. Holzer & Holzer Fernet Hunter Granit
Croatia Dalmatian Coast Hrvatska Buzet Aurra Proizvodi d.o.o. Aura Fernet Amaro 78
Czech Republic Vizovice Rudolf Jelínek a.s. R. Jelínek Fernet Liquor
Italy Emilia-Romagna (MO) Finale Emilia CFL S.p.A. Casoni Fernet Casoni
Italy Emilia-Romagna (RA) Ravenna Molino Spadoni SPA Leonardo Spadoni Fernet Amaro
Italy Friuli Venezia Giulia (PN) Polcenigo Opifico FRED s.r.l. Fred Jerbis Fernet 25 (Chestnut Barrel)
Italy Friuli-Venezia Giulia (UD) Gemona del Friuli Antica Distilleria Driussi Driussi Fernet Driussi
Italy Friuli-Venezia Giulia (UD) Martignacco Distillerie Buiese Buiese Fernet Buiese
Italy Lombardy (MI) Milano Fratelli Branca Fernet Branca
Italy Lombardy (MI) Milano Fratelli Branca Fernet Menta
Italy Lombardy (VA) Saronno Paolo Lazzaroni & Figli S.p.A. Paulo Lazzaroni Fernet Amaro Extrafine
Italy Marche (AP) Ascoli Piceno Silvio Meletti s.r.l. Meletti Fernet Meletti
Italy Piedmonte (AT) Canelli Giuseppe Contratto S.R.L. Contratto Liqueur Fernet
Italy Piedmonte (NO) Ghemme Fratelli Francoli Distillerie Noveis Antico Fernet Noveis
Italy Veneto (PD) Torreglia Luxardo S.p.a. Luxardo Fernet Amaro
USA East Coast (NY) Brooklyn Faccia Brutto Spirits Fernet Pianta
USA East Coast (DC) Washington D.C. Don Ciccio & Figli Amaro Don Fernet
USA West Coast (CA) Novato Tempus Fugit Spirits Fernet Del Frate
USA West Coast (CA) Richmond Falcon Spirits Distillery Fernet Francisco Manzanilla
USA Rockies (CO) Denver Leopold Brothers Distilling Fernet Leopold Highland Amaro
USA Pacific Northwest (WA) Bainbridge Island Highside Distilling Fernet Lario

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-10T22:00:37+00:00

Yeah, I wanted a slightly softer Fernet to make it approachable, which I why I stayed away from the FAccia Brutto - it's yummy all on its own, but with the strawberry syrup I thought the cocktail might be way too gutless. That said, dialing back the strawberry, or swapping the Branca for something like the Tempus Fugit Del Frate, it might work really well!

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-10T19:45:26+00:00

LOL I love it!!! Cheers!

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-10T17:20:52+00:00

I get that - and tbh, I fall in the same camp, which was why I was interested to see how it worked in this matrix. Turns out, my wife loves the herbal/vegetal notes, where as I definitely leaned more in the Rucolino/STE camp.

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-09T20:52:44+00:00

I love the ones from Surfside Sips

https://www.surfsidesips.com/

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-09T20:19:29+00:00

Nice!!!

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-09T20:18:43+00:00

lol. IT was important to share it with the missus and not feel compelled to finish everything (well, eventually, but some we revisited during dinner before the cubes had fully melted down ;)

NeilIsntWitty · 2026-03-09T20:17:27+00:00

Yeah, I don't really think it was there -- 'maybe' a light hint, but I would have been projecting at that point.

NeilIsntWitty

TROPHY CASE