FlaSoxxJim

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Mar 19, 2011 -> 09:03 PM) finally got my hands on some Bulleit bourbon.. Very very quality stuff.. 10 dollars cheaper than Templeton Rye as well, cant go wrong with this stuff. Thanks for the suggestion Jim! Definitely agree it is a bargain at its price point. Glad you found it. If you have ever had bourbon cocktails that came off as a little too sweet, revisit them with the Bulleit. it usually lends a dry and crisp finish to the cocktails that don't quite come together with KY bourbon. Now if you want a real bargain in a traditional rye, go find some Old Overholt. A better mixer than sipper, Overholt still has a great rye flavor profile. two years ago you could get it for about $11. With rye's recent popularity (of which I wholly approve), it may set you back as much as $16 now, but it's still well worth a try at that price.

Any Luck? Back to draught Guinness at the extra innings St. Paddy weekend bash at the local Irish pub. Still my favorite beer in the world.

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Mar 19, 2011 -> 01:45 PM) Gotta love prohibition era whiskey History never tasted so delicious Are you a fan of Bulleit? A very good rye-heavy "frontier bourbon" that subs well for rye in just about everything.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 19, 2011 -> 12:19 AM) The fools at Loyola Chicago admitted me to their law school today. Not sure if I'll end up going there, but there's a decent chance. It's nice to know I can at least go somewhere next year. Congratulations!

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Mar 19, 2011 -> 01:28 PM) I love Templeton Rye. Two glasses of it put me to sleep like a baby for some reason. Awesome! I adore rye, and have never even heard of this one. Only available in Iowa, Illinois, New York, and California for now, but I see Binny's stocks it. Putting that one on my list of spirits to try.

So here's the beer lineup we presented at the cancer research Belgian Beer benefit event I co-hosted yesterday: • Palm Ale (a "gateway" beer for those new to Belgians) • Blanche de Bruxxelles witbier • Westmale Tripel — the original Trappist pale tripel • Chimay Red — we did Cinq Cents last time around and wanted something not as big as the Blue • Malheur 10º — An AWESOME beer I had never had before last night • Brooklyn Local 2 — wanted to showcase one American interpretation We complemented the beers wit cheese and meat plates and Lindman's framboise sorbet I made that went over very well. We knew we would challenge some tastebuds of some of the more pedestrian beer drinkers but I think we actually tickled a lot of tongues with such an array of offerings. What do y'all think?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 18, 2011 -> 02:35 PM) Michael Gough, 94. He played "Alfred" in the original Batman movie series. Best Alfred ever.

QUOTE (G&T @ Mar 18, 2011 -> 08:11 PM) I just discovered that my liquor store has Busnel Calvados for $27. It didn't say what exactly it was and it was in the liqueur section rather than brandy so I decided to look it up first. There were only 2 bottles, so I better grab it tomorrow. That's a good price for the VSOP and it would be a steal if it was the 12 year. Have you picked up Ted Haigh's Forgotten Cocktails book yet? here are several very good drinks in there that put calvados to good use.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Mar 18, 2011 -> 10:09 AM) Interesting read on the way to work this morning: Phosphate With a Twist Darcy is great, always a wealth of information. As soon as I get through Dave Wondrich's outstanding Punch book and my recently purchased reprint copy of Stan Arthur's 1930s New Orleans cocktail book, Darcy's soda book will be the next alcohol-fueled educational venture for me.

QUOTE (G&T @ Mar 18, 2011 -> 10:02 AM) What made me feel worse was the Guiness. One damn Guiness and I woke up with a pounding headache. That is the Guinness Gods punishing you for only having one.

Guinness for me tonight as well, on the eve of our charity Belgian beer tasting. I made $90 worth of framboise honey sorbet for the event today.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 15, 2011 -> 09:46 PM) Why not buy stock in Bell telephone is 1930 and stash it somewhere? I smell a spinoff time travel thread.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 15, 2011 -> 10:22 AM) If I could go back in the time, the first place I would go is Alexandria to stop the fire. then maybe go see the birth of Jesus. What? No quick stop off to take out Baby Hitler?? Seriously, the loss of Alexandria's royal library is absolutely among the great tragedies in human history. Now, back to the Bigfoot and Atlantis Show.

QUOTE (G&T @ Mar 7, 2011 -> 07:33 PM) I've had the Westmalle Tripel and wasn't impressed. That dubbel looks great now though. I am having a South Hampton Tripel and it is fantastic. Bubblegummy, berries, banana. Awesome. I wonder if the Westmalle Tripel you had wasn't manhandled somewhere along the way. It is a great beer. As much as I love Cinq Cents, I think Westmalle may have it edged out. Plus, it deserves props as the original Trappist tripel. It is also one of the six or seven beers we will be serving at a charity Belgian beer tasting to benefit cancer research at my institute next Friday. I get to co-host the event and provide the commentary regarding Belgian brewing history and traditions while a beertender friend (a gal who knows her beers amazingly well) will provide profiles of the specific beers we're featuring. We were able to lock down five of the beers at a meeting today and we are duking it out over the last beer or two. Meanwhile, on the spirits front. . . I have been obsessed with La Palomas for the last week and a half — going back and forth between using blanco versus reposado tequila, and hitting every Mexican grocery in a two-county radius to procure no less than three different Mexican grapefruit sodas (Jarritos, as well as Mexican sugarcane Squirt and Mexican sugarcane Fresca). This evening the Missus helped me set up a blind taste test comparing each of those three sodas as well as Jamaican Ting to see which one distinguished itself in a La Paloma. I think Jarritos has come out on top, with Ting being the least favorite — ironic since I adore Ting in rum drinks. More proof that endemic ingredients (e.g., Mexican grapefruit soda plus tequila versus Jamaican grapefruit soda plus rum) are often what takes a drink to the next level. Tasted on their own, Ting far surpasses any of the others as far as intensity and actual real grapefruit flavor. All of the others are very light on their own, which is why they do nicely in the La Paloma by letting the tequila flavors come through.

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Mar 6, 2011 -> 12:05 PM) saw Blue Velvet at the Music Box last night.. Aside from the mass amount of showerless hipsters it was a great experience to see one of my top 5 movies of all time on the big screen. "What's your favorite beer?"

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 9, 2011 -> 06:43 AM) There are several bands in the tourny I do not care for, but I can respect that they are on the list. I'm not much of a metal fan, but understand Metallica being on the list. And as far as searching for "expert opinion" to back up opinions of musical taste, Jethro Tull won the first Grammy for Heavy Metal. A flute is heavy metal I guess. Was Tull anywhere on the list? Ian had quite a laugh when Crest of a Knave won the Grammy. Chrysalis Records (the band's label at the time) even took out an ad in a British music industry magazine with the line, "The flute is a heavy, metal instrument!" To be precise, the award was in the hard rock/heavy metal category and not specifically heavy metal. Most folks were expecting Metallica to win for "And Justice For All", and I was hoping Jane's Addiction would take it with "Nothing's Shocking", but as a long-time JT fan I was happy enough that they got the nod. The year before, Zappa finally won a Grammy for "Jazz From Hell" in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category. I sort of think of both the Tull and Zappa Grammys as unofficial lifetime achievement awards to make up in a small way for the lack of awards in the past.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 8, 2011 -> 01:30 AM) Why the F*** am I not working here yet? Hawaii does seem to be the, er, . . . hot spot . . . for vulcanology. Git yer arse out there already.

Cairns is a great embarkation point for a lot of great destinations other than GBR. Port Douglas, the Atherton Tablelands, Dantree National Park, and Cape Tribulation are all within easy access. One of the most phenomenal places I have ever visited.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Mar 4, 2011 -> 12:11 PM) Jimi Hendrix...I guess I can hear Jimi, but I don't hear Jimi. Doesn't really fit the "everyone loves it" aspect of this thread, but I don't love the idea that I occasionally hear that some people consider George Harrison to be the most talented of the Beatles. Nonsense. Hipster nonsense. I'd certainly place George as the most technically proficient of the three by quite a bit, but there simply is no Beatles without the never to be equalled Lennon/McCartney collaborative songwriting.

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Mar 2, 2011 -> 02:27 AM) I found out today that the UPS driver who delivers to my company was Ribbie. Either that or he likes lying about the fact that he was. That would be an odd thing to lie about — but an equally odd thing to be the standout moment in your professional career. Happy B-Day, Ribbie Rubarb!

I just did a side-by-side tasting of my home-infused coconut rum with commercial Cruzan coconut rum, and it wasn't even close. If you like the taste sensation of gulping down Coppertone suntan oil, then by all means buy the commercial stuff. If, on the other hand, you want your coconut rum to taste like fresh coconuts and not chemicals pretending to be coconuts. . . then you should pony up some money and invest in the commercial production of Flaxx's Kick-Ass Coconut Rum. You could be a very drunk millionaire in no time.

The Thursday Drink Night online cocktail nerd cocktail session this week is themed Charlie Sheen. Duh. Winning!

Chlamydia infection is easily testable now. . . so I have read.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 01:37 AM) Here's what I just ate, a far healthier alternative: grilled cheese with cut up hot dog inside. Scrumtrulescent. I read that and just threw up a little.

I went to the hooch shop last night to pick up a bottle of Cazadores reposado tequila as the bottle at home was about gone. I was pleasantly astonished to find them selling the Cazadores añejo for the exact same price — $10 less than I had ever seen it go for — so I traded up. This evening I am sipping a Jalisco Old-Fashioned based on one created by PDT's James Meehan and published in Joanne Weir's Tequila Guide. • 2 oz Cazadores Añejo • 1/4 oz agave nectar • 2 dashes bitters • orange twist garnish Shake w/ice/strain/garnish This is nice and really drinkable. The Cazadores isn't a particularly robust or aggressive añejo, but I'm still a little surprised at how much a bit of agave mellows it out in this cocktail. Next up I think I'll revisit The Oaxaca Old-Fashioned, subbing the Caz añejo for the reposado the recipe calls for and pairing that with the crazy good and surprisingly affordable Del Maguey Vida mezcal.