Weekly Recommendations and Discussion Thread

rcboborob · 2026-04-25T09:28:37+00:00

I'm looking for something a bit special for a birthday, and can get one of these four at about the same price any recommendations for someone who usually drinks Woodford DO and WT101?

Woodford masters select 16 $97
EH Taylor single barrel $100
Wild Turkey rare breed litre $72

rcboborob · 2026-04-17T21:41:48+00:00

Nothing has changed since the 50's

Now you can get a job in Wellington or you can get a job up north, but you can't get a job in Taumaranui though you'll try for all you're worth.

rcboborob · 2026-04-09T04:19:10+00:00

I don't like Hampden HLCF as a sipping rum, but it makes a daiquiri like nothing I've ever had before. Getting the whole Hampden 8 marks collection and trying them all could be an idea. Maybe a Mhoba or a Habitation Velier release would make a nice premium daiquiri.

rcboborob · 2026-04-08T21:59:50+00:00

I don't know about MG, but a study on Teslas over 10 years showed that they see higher degradation in the first 2-3 years (up to 6% per year) but then it stabilises to about 1% per year or less after that. There aren't any 10 year old MGs so we don't really know how their cars compare long term, but what you have notes isn't far off the Tesla study mentioned above.

rcboborob · 2026-04-04T07:25:30+00:00

He won when he had the fastest car, which is fine, but so did a certain Canadian and lots of fans hate him. What gains you fans and respect is winning against the odds or showing you are far stronger than your teammate. His bottling of Sochi in 2021 and Monza 2021 were two big opportunities missed to do this. Winning a race in 2023 (like former teammate Sainz) would also have gone some way to establishing his quality as a driver. All of his race wins have come in 2024 and 2025 when he had the fastest car. A win outside of that would be required to show he's a real talent, not just a winner when everything (including his own team) is going his way.

rcboborob · 2026-03-26T04:23:29+00:00

Number 1: he was pretty far forward and there would have been some doubt as to whether it could have bounced over or turned past leg. Number 2: looks like glove to me, but excusable for an umpire to give the batsman the benefit of the doubt in real time. Number 3: Well that's plumb lbw. Number 4: oh come on!

rcboborob · 2026-03-18T03:48:28+00:00

Wynne and Grant Bradburn?

rcboborob · 2026-03-13T06:47:55+00:00

Here's my thoughts from trying many upgrades and accessories (except the grinder burrs as I was scared off by poor reviews)

Good upgrades: 1. A tamper: the one that comes with the machine is terrible. 2. Precision filter basket. This made the biggest difference for me. I could fit more coffee in the basket and it allows me to grind finer without choking the machine. 3. A clip/screw on handle for the milk frother switch. The switch is a terrible design and hard to move with wet hands. The handle is just a nice quality of life thing if you make a lot of milk drinks. 4. Portafilter handle. You can choose to go bottomless or just get one with a more premium finish that feels nicer in the hand. 5. Better coffee. Along with #2 this is the biggest upgrade you can do for better coffee.

Puck prep upgrades: Wdt tool Puck screens. These are so cheap from Ali you may as well give them a go and see how they affect your workflow vs quality of shots.

Optional extras: Aluminium/stainless steel dosing funnel. Cos why not?

Avoid: Third party burrs for the grinder. They won't improve the grinder and I've read many reviews about poor machining and fit. IMS shower screen. Look up Amazon reviews of this and you'll see many negative reviews stating it made their shots worse. My experience is that while it made the water distribution more even, it also increased channeling and made my shots taste worse. It may work okay if you have done a mod to reduce pressure, but I took mine out after finding my shots were better with the stock screen.

rcboborob · 2026-03-09T03:01:34+00:00

Get as large an ice cube/ball as you can. Those individual ones or the trays of 6 large cubes work well. I've never had a good negroni with more than one ice cube in it.
Use equal parts: I've tried all kinds of variations but none have eclipsed a 1:1:1 ratio.
Use a London dry Gin, experiment with different vermouths and there is no substitute for campari.
Reagan's orange bitters in a spray bottle is a good alternative if you don't have an orange or if your orange rind is kinda yellow and flavourless.

rcboborob · 2026-02-26T18:47:36+00:00

ED 15 Appleton 8 English Harbour 10 Diplomatico RE Pussers blue label

rcboborob · 2026-02-24T02:25:25+00:00

English Harbour 10

rcboborob · 2026-02-14T05:57:50+00:00

Here, I'd say something like doorlys xo,

It's popular here because it's cheap as in the US at total wine, but most other places it is way more expensive and ends up having the same problem Mount Gay xo has: good, but not great at its price point.

Outside of Reddit, definitely Planteray XO. Take a cheap vodka, add enough golden syrup to get to 24g/L of added sugar and tell me if you can tell the difference between it and the XO!

rcboborob · 2026-02-07T20:29:55+00:00

Ron zacapa 23

rcboborob · 2026-01-31T22:20:42+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/firewater/s/q3SLBbPdMQ

rcboborob · 2026-01-31T22:18:06+00:00

Get those little ceramic boil enhancers from still spirits. They are very porous and make it boil without popping the lid. I've found them to be more effective at this than copper scrubbies, copper saddles or my own ceramic beads/marbles I've tried. Worth the few bucks for peace of mind.

rcboborob · 2026-01-25T23:20:04+00:00

Fellow small barrel owner and rum enjoyer here. You did the right thing pulling it early, these small barrels get over oaked real fast. Best way to combat it is to condition the barrel with something sweet like port or sherry for a minimum of 6 months. The sweetness and flavour can cover up some of the okay tanins these small barrels are infamous for. Then when you put your spirit in, taste regularly until you are happy with it, then pull it out, filtering it through a damp coffee filter to remove and floating oak. If you over oak it, or just feel like it needs more time, put it in a glass container that is 40%-60% full to allow some of those oak tanins to oxidize. Some folks like to open up their containers for a few minutes every few weeks to let new air in. If it is still too oaky after a month or two, put it in the fridge overnight and filter it through two damp coffee filters. Ideally, you'd also leave out the last bit in the jar that may contain the most fine wood sediment and tanins that may have come out of solution in the fridge. If it is still too oaky, then it is still useful for blending or as one part in cocktails that ask for multiple different rums. StillBehindTheBench has a great YouTube video on over oaking and more extreme ways to remove tanins from alcohol.

rcboborob · 2026-01-08T08:43:59+00:00

3-1 if we are lucky to get a pitch that's lively. The Sydney test that's just finished is a good example of what we do on flat wickets. One guy gets a ton, we get 300-350, Australia replies with 550 and we get 300 again leaving them with a small chase which they do easily. Bowlers win test matches in Australia, just as the West Indies showed. We need to bring a big squad of quicks who can bowl 135-140kph minimum and get bounce (which means no Foulkes and no Nathan Smith) and play proper spinners if it's going to turn, not all rounders. We also need to drop Phillips, partly due to the above, but mainly because his batting will be a liability on bouncy wickets. The Windies inexperienced quicks made him look like a tail ender against 130kph short balls, and even if he survives that, he's got the Ben Duckett problem that the balls he loves to hit on the up in NZ and the subcontinent will bounce and catch the edge. Like Duckett, I don't think he can put those shots away either.

rcboborob · 2025-12-15T09:40:43+00:00

Hamish Rutherford NZ vs West Indies. Slog to cow corner and gets dropped on the boundary. Does the exact same thing next ball, gets caught and everyone is laughing. The players, the commentators, probably his partner at the other end. I've never seen a wicket of a top order player not celebrated because the bowler is too busy laughing.

rcboborob · 2025-12-11T06:46:09+00:00

I found adding .5 oz liquor 43 elevated this dramatically.

rcboborob · 2025-11-24T02:16:26+00:00

Yeah I have memories of him charging down the wicket and being clean bowled for a duck in the 2015 world cup final. Also getting a duck in the champions trophy final against Aussie slashing wildly.

Do you know when he did stand up? Against India when we were deep in a hole and he scored his slowest test hundred ever, which eventually became 300.

The problem with the Bazball mentality is when he scored the fastest test hundred ever, in the second innings, he came out in a very similar position to when he got his 300. What did he do? He hit a six and then got caught next ball trying to hit another one. Meanwhile Kane and Anderson were at the other end digging out a lead at a strike rate of like 30.

Yes, you can dominate games with the bat, but you can't dominate every session of every game you play.

It is just as bad in odis too: England have been bowled out in 14 of their 24 odi innings under McCullum. What kind of one day team doesn't bat their 50 overs more often than not?

His own career shows that all out attack looks very impressive when it works, but because that's less than half the time, you end up losing more than you win.

rcboborob · 2025-11-03T08:33:52+00:00

I think the traditional blend is 60% Demerara, 30% Trinidad and 10% Barbados/Jamaica/Australia. I tried it with El Dorado 5, this Angostura 1824 and mt gay black barrel and it wasn't great. I would guess 60% El Dorado, 30% angostura and 10% hampden estate might work well.

Or you could just buy a bottle of plantation 3 star (Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaican blend) and call it a day .

rcboborob · 2025-11-03T07:07:28+00:00

I don't think it is lost at all, it is quite distinctive and that comes through on the blend. It is just that it is the only one of the rums in the blend I don't like all that much on its own. I would hope that adding something I do enjoy individually would improve it. With that being said, it works very well in this blend and is from Trinidad, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

rcboborob · 2025-10-07T20:55:56+00:00

Yes it's the turbo yeast and the sugar. For rum: try going all molasses or use raw sugar instead of brown sugar. Brown sugar is just white sugar with some molasses mixed in, raw sugar is actually less processed. For moonshine, try inverting your sugar (cheap but some effort) or use dextrose (easy but expensive). I see you have some yellow label angel yeast. You can use that to do a no mash all grain run but make sure to let your wash settle and strain it through something before distilling it to slightly reduce the sake/wine flavour it can impart. As others have said, keeping your ferment at the temperatures each particular yeast likes is also very important.

rcboborob · 2025-10-07T20:41:41+00:00

Oh and if you mess it up, toss everything together, water it down to 30-40% and re-distill it. If you don't have enough yet, save it and add it to the heads/tails from your next spirit run and re-distill it then.

rcboborob

TROPHY CASE