FlaSoxxJim

QUOTE (chimpy2121 @ Jun 22, 2010 -> 02:30 PM) Am I the only one who thinks Summer Shandy sucks? If you like Rum and Coke try the Captain Morgan Lime Bite. If you are a Captain Morgan person, give Sailor Jerry a spin in your next rum and Coke or Cuba Libre if you haven't yet. It really is a much tastier spiced rum than any of the Morgan stuff. Two other very good spiced rums (a rum style that is awful for the most part) are Kraken and Old New Orleans. Kraken is easy to find and it has about the coolest label ever, while ONO is almost impossible to come by outside of New Orleans.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 22, 2010 -> 01:42 PM) I've been drinking a lot of "Eclipse's" (I'm sure Jim has 7 different names for this drink). It's just Blue Moon and Guiness combined. I find it allows me to not get tired of the fruity Blue Moon as quickly since I have some Guiness in there to balance it out. Any names I'd have for that Blue Moon/Guinness combination cannot be repeated in polite company. I actually don't totally hate Blue Moon, there are just way better witbier options out there that are easy to come by. Blue Moon beats the heck out of the Gawdawful AB ShockTop though. Blech. I've rarely encountered a Bell's product that isn't top notch, and Oberon is no exception. Lighter bodied than what I usually reach for but one of the better American wheats I'd say.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 22, 2010 -> 01:05 PM) The key phrase. Indeed. And as easy as it is to make a good one, it's amazing how many crappy mojitos get served up at bars. Caipirihnas are a thing of beauty. CanofCorn, what is your Cachaça of choice??

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 22, 2010 -> 10:51 AM) Call me a pansy, but I've been making frozen mango margaritas lately. Frozen chunks of mango, ice, a few teaspoons of sugar, a healthy amount of tequila, some Grand Marnier, some water, and blend. Yummmmm. That doesn't sound bad at all. When I do the frozen mango-ritas I like to use agave nectar instead of sugar and also add an ounce of Old Sint Marteen mango liqueur. Yumm!

QUOTE (Tex @ Jun 22, 2010 -> 09:50 AM) I've been mixing some of the classic tiki drinks, and despite the fruit juices, the better ones are balanced with the alcohol and very tasty with some depth of flavor. Sadly, we lost the art of mixing drinks. Good job picking up Beachbum Remixed, it's a great addition to his collection with some awesome new recipes. A warning though — for all of the drinks that call for honey mix (1:1 honey and water), you either need to double the amount called for or use the given amount but use straight honey. I'm the biggest Jeff Berry fan there is, but comparing the old Grog Log and Intoxica recipes to the ones rewritten in Remixed, he got those amounts wrong by switching from straight honey to 1:1 syrup but forgetting to double the amounts. I think an absolutely fabulous new recipe in Remixed is Steve Remsberg's Planters Punch. A hardcore drink with a full four ounces of Coruba, but one of the best planters interpretations I've ever had. Remsberg has probably the world's best private rum collection and says he spent 20 years experimenting with planters variations before settling on this one, and it's an absolute winner. If you can find Scarlet Ibis Trinidad rum, there is a Remixed cocktail from NYC's Death & Co. bar that uses Ibis and muddled cardamom pods that is outstanding. And if you can find good, fresh white grapefruit juice (pretty hard this time of year), the Reverb Crash in Remixed is quite good. Lately I've been putting a dent in my bottle of Pisco Capel mixing up Pisco Sours, a classic drink for those of you who aren't scared of egg whites as a drink ingredient: • 2 oz pisco brandy • 1 oz fresh lime juice • 3/4 oz 2:1 simple syrup • 1 medium egg white (@ 3/4 oz pasteurized All Whites for the squeamish) • Dash Angostura bitters Shake well first without ice to emulsify, then again with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, add dash Ango. When I'm mixing for friends I add the Ango with an eyedropper and then swirl it on the foamy top of the drink for a nice visual. naturally the ingrates forget to leave me a tip. Tonight after work I'm going to pick up a bottle of Canton ginger liqueur and some mango puree and blend up some Ginger and Mary Anne's. It doesn't get much more summery than that.

Spending four days in a beach cottage on the north end of Captiva in the last half of July. Really looking forward to it.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jun 21, 2010 -> 11:05 PM) I'm not political at all, but holy s***, how the f*** is this oil thing still going on after 62 days? You don't need to be the least bit political to understand that this oil thing is going to be still going on for decades after they figure out how to stop the flow. I wish everyone involved could drop politics and posturing and actually do something constructive.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jun 20, 2010 -> 03:29 PM) It's not exactly a drinkable beer. It's a syrupy mess. I'm not a huge fan either. With one or two exceptions, I much prefer when dogfish sticks with what they do best - high-octane high alpha American ales.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jun 18, 2010 -> 08:10 PM) So a long while back a friend gave me a Dogfishhead Raison d'extra in exchange for dog sitting. I finally cracked it and I have to tell you, it might be the hardest to drink beer on earth. Mind you all that don't know, it clocks in at about 18% ABV. not exactly a session beer, is it?

"I need help with my Carmex situation" sounds like the medically disturbing follow-up thread to "it's about my penis".

QUOTE (G&T @ Jun 6, 2010 -> 10:18 AM) Yeah milk stouts are awesome. And Left Hand is the best I've tried. We were back in Chicago for an engagement party last weekend. My father-in-law to be is getting into beers so we grabbed a bunch and I introduced them to some new stuff. Nothing new for the thread except for the Ommegang Triple Perfection which was phenomenal. Double Simcoe, Ommegedon, Hennepin, a bad raspberry lambic, Night Stalker and some god awful Wisconsin beers were featured. The WI beers made me yak. Left Hand's milk stout is very good, but I think Mackeson is still the top dog in that style. Tough as heck to find in the states now that Hudepohl-Schoenling isn't around to contract brew it, sadly.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jun 6, 2010 -> 12:14 AM) I haven't read any of the posts, but I would just like to say: I am a man that enjoys amaretto sours. Just had to get that off my chest. I don't think that's much of a guilty pleasure, they can be quite tasty. I've started to really dislike commercial sour mix and it's artificial taste though, so I'd rather do them with fresh homemade sour mix. I also just made up a batch of homemade orgeat (almond syrup) and I think a teaspoon or so of that in an amaretto sour will really kick it up a notch. Today is International Cachaça Day, however, so Caipirinhas will be the order of the day.

QUOTE (T R U @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 12:33 AM) I heard my dad use the phrase "cool beans" twice in the same convo when on a conference call once.. I use "cool beans" in conversation on a regular basis, but I'm actually saying "cool beanz" so that makes me cool right?

Well done, Jason!

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 25, 2010 -> 05:55 PM) That's because he's awesome in everything. Willow is the exception that proves the rule, I guess.

QUOTE (Tex @ May 28, 2010 -> 08:15 AM) It is so nice that someone of your age can still have fun at Disneyland. the day nurse just puts me on the monorail in the morning and then comes to take me off 11 hours later.

Thanks all for the warm birthday wishes. Alas, I spent the day in Anaheim at Disneyland with the wife so it was a very fun but booze-free day. Heading out to Catalina tomorrow where I'm sure the drinks will be much easier to come by.

QUOTE (G&T @ May 22, 2010 -> 07:51 PM) About a week ago, it was announced that a local microbrewer would be serving a gose. So today I grabbed a growler of it (I have come to love my growler) and I am sipping it now. I know nothing about the style, but I know there aren't many around. This is not as tart as I expected, but the mouthfeel is nice and creamy. Similar to a white ale with a bit extra lemon zest. A light spice note is present along with a light tartness. Pretty good beer. Oh and the story of how this beer came about is chronicled on the brewer's blog. very cool. And I have had that same stuck mash experience ona smaller scale when brewing all grain witbiers. Not fun. The style has always sounded intriguing (never had it). In character it is equal parts Belgian wit and Belgian gueuze lambic., but German in origin. Wild. I'm in Los Angeles now and have a growler of IPA in my hotel fridge from a passable brewpub here at the hotel. Sounds like your beer is better though.

Heads up for anybody who will be in the UK this coming Solstice Day (June 21st). , with actual modern day druids coming out of the woodwork to be on site for the event. My wife and I went several years ago and totally by accident made the trip to Stonehenge on the Solstice. The guards who normally keep people away from the stones other days can make a special allowance to Solstice Day visitors and it's kind of a fun experience. Sort of like teh parking lot at a Grateful Dead show.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ May 20, 2010 -> 12:35 AM) I'm going to be moving to London from the 3rd of June it seems, will be staying out near Mile End and Tower Hamlets in the East End of London for a couple of weeks before I get my own place there. It's pretty close to where they are building the new Olympic Stadium for the 2012 games I think. Pretty cool! You've been able to live and work in a couple different places now, which I think is awesome. Just don't chum it up too much with the Brits. I'm assuming it was one of them sent your ancestors off to the Australian penal colony a couple centuries ago, eh?

Happy Birthday Fellers!

QUOTE (SnB @ May 18, 2010 -> 12:02 PM) If I make one meal every 2 weeks, my wife is ecstatic. crock pots are my friend. My wife's new job is nightmarishly time-consuming, so I'm on the hook for dinner 3-4 days a week. I'm a pretty solid cook so that's fin and well, but neither of us much care for the clean-up detail.

A rained out game night like tonight has me thinking it's about time for another knightni list.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 17, 2010 -> 04:30 PM) If I was going to pick one of these 2 tours, which would you go with? Leeds Castle, Canterbury, and Dover or Oxford, Cotswolds, Stratford-on-Avon, and-Warwick-Castle We are for sure going to do a day tour of Bath, Stonehenge, and Windsor Castle already. Basically that would fill 2 days outside of England. And than we were going to spend 2 days in England. Within England one day was going to be set aside for a double decker bus tour, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and Wicked. The bus tour will allow us to see almost all of the key areas, plus it includes a river cruise. Not too bad for 30 bucks a person. The 4th day would be for the changing of the guard, pub crawling, etc. I'm sure you mean outside of London, not outside of England. Otherwise I think your first stop should be a good geography book. if you're a rabid fan of The Bard then the Cotswolds and Stratford-on-Avon trip is the one. But the Dover cliffs are pretty breathtaking and the rugged terrain along the coastline is pretty cool.