Let’s talk Khachapuri, particularly the adjaran / adjaruli style (Georgian cheesebread that a lot of Armenians make)

Oh wow. Thanks so much. Shockingly I’ve never tried to buy it

Unfortunately I’ll be buying blindly from robert’s links. Found the stores and will get a mul vodka and the aged brandy . Dad will flip.

We’ve only had it here if brought from the motherland

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I knew it was around since I’ve seen it at St. Vartan’s food festival.

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No, I’m talking about cognac. I suppose one could quibble about whether it’s technically “cognac,” but that’s what they call it, and it’s definitely brandy. I’ve actually been to Tblisi and tasted it there. I believe this was the producer:

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Interesting. It’s available in Connecticut and Washington.

It looks like we don’t have a choice. There seems to be only a single producer of mulberry brandy that is exporting to the US. So aged 1 year or 3 years is what we’re left with. Evidently aged in mulberry wood barrels. Hmmmmm.

But it looks like it is from Artsakh (nagorno karabakh) where it is the best

I see Karabakh at Mission Liquor, Khent at Remedy, and Artsakh at both.

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I did miss the khent. Good eye.
The Karabakh is labeled as mulberry vodka . . . which may be just a nomenclature difference for the same thing or it may be different. I’m not sure, but I dismissed that for now until I look into it a bit more.

I suspect it’s actually mulberry eau de vie rather than vodka flavored with mulberry.

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You could very well be right. I have no experience with this product so I’ll try the ones labeled as a brandy first before I look deeper into the “vodkas.”

This review of Vodka Ijevan backs up my theory that it’s eau de vie. I think “vodka” is just a bad translation.

http://www.interbaltproducts.com/otherspirit.php

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I suspect you’re right on this.
I generally prefer in-aged eau-de-vie, but the fact that the liquor is aged in a barrel made with wood from the same type of tree has me intrigued.
I’ll go for the brandy.

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So… not to derail a thread about Armenian and Georgian liquor but… I actually went to Tony’s Khachapuri and it was fantastic.

Located in a strip mall on Cahuenga, sandwiched between Stout Burger and whatever Danny Trejo is doing over there, Tony’s operates as a small sub menu of Bahn Oui.
They currently have four options, original (which is just cheese and egg), soujouk, chorizo (with cilantro, chilies and shallot) and kale (with cauliflower and feta).
With nothing to go on but this thread, I really had no idea what I was in for except that the pictures Nemroz posted looked amazing.
We opted for the original to get a baseline and the chorizo because it felt more unique.
The space itself is tiny and, especially because of the location they seem to do most of their business through delivery. We wanted to eat in because getting something hot out of the oven always seems like the best option.
The khachapuri come out piping hot with a beautiful yellow yolk right in the middle. The chef told us to mix everything together and then rip off pieces of bread and dip them in this molten mixture of cheese and egg.
The result was almost magical. The bread is soft and chewy with a decent crust and a wonderful springiness like a well made bagel. The cheese is warm and melty, with a good kick of sourness.
I was completely blown away and I would definitely be back.

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Is it bad to suggest the ones sold at the Big Mama’s & Big Papa’s Pizzeria chain?

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Not if they taste good?

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this is exactly what the thread was about actually and in fact it started because of Tony Khachapuri’s insta. Looks like they didn’t bake some of yours fully. Thanks for going for it! I think there are better, more traditional places to visit.

Which do you recommend, because I agree - those look nothing like what I had in GA/AZ.

I’m actually looking for recs myself via this thread… now that that Adana converted to a Papillon and i dont find them great i dont have a go to… tony’s was promising but above doesn’t look like my original posting. researching

This was my first experience so I have nothing to go on but I loved it. The kitchen also seemed to be slammed and they were apologetic that it took so long, so they might not have let it sit in the oven as long as it needed.
They get a shitload of orders from delivery apps.

I’m actually thinking of going again tonight, so I’ll report back if it’s any different

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