FlaSoxxJim

I'm pretty sure I've crowed about a noveau (sp?) tiki drink called the Blackstrap Betty that one a 2008 drink competition and has spread fairly widely within the plugged-in tikisphere. When last I spun this drink I did it without the Cruzan Single Barrel Estate rum the original recipe calls for, and the results were very good but not exactly what the inventor of the drink envisioned. Now with Cruzan Estate in hand, I mixed this curious drink up again, and it really is excellent. Several ingredients that usually do not quite mesh with one another (e.g., lime and Coco Lopez) work wonderfully well together here. No single extreme flavor, this drink still achieves an impressive depth of layered flavors. The blackstrap rum, lime, and coconut cream create flavors reminiscent of Beachbum Berry's Coconaut but they are far more balanced here. The Cruzan Estate and the pineapple juice contribute to get a nice Painkiller vibe going. And the splash of Licor 43 adds some sweet complexity without overpowering the drink as I find Licor 43 can do. This is an elegant yet playful drink worth trying. And in the spirit of try, try again. . . I think I'll have another.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 07:23 AM) I have a question for everyone participating in this thread Everyone(I think) has a first love/puppy love crush/relationship, and it usually ends in total disaster due to the inability to deal with new emotions and feelings. How many of you had a first love that ended amicably, how many of you had a first love end in insane craziness that left you with some rather embarrassing memories, and how many of you are actually still with(married) your first love? Since I posed the question I will start. My first true love was with a girl I got with in my freshman year in college, she was a senior at my high school and ended up going to SIU with me. We dated for 3 years off and on, and when I decided that we werent meant for each other, I broke up with her for good. She got the last laugh, she dated the guy who lived in the apartment behind me, and basically drove me up the wall with insane jealousy(i know, i know, I broke up with her). It took about 6 months and a crazy 1 night stand to get her out of my mind and get my head right. My first great love was a neighborhood girl a year behind me in high school, but best friends with one of my friend's (bassist in my high school band) sisters, so the summer before my junior year in high school we spent a lot of time as part of the larger group of delinquents hanging out in the neighborhood. During that time I quietly fell totally head over heels for her, and unbeknown to me so did another best friend of mine (the drummer. . . what an ABC afterschool special we were!). Long story slightly less long. . . I won the day and the girl during the course of the next few months, we dated for a few months and then she broke up with me and on the rebound I got swooped up by a girl of incredibly lax morals which was just what I needed at the time. Love of my Life sees that other girls are interested in me and rethinks her decision to kick me to the curve, and besotted as I still am I go right back to her without a second thought. It's all going extremely well at this time, except two years has gone by and I have to head off to college. We manage the long distance thing for a year, but when it's time for her to go to school she goes to Western and I'm at UofI. She decides she wants to explore her new independence (and does so behind my back), and we break up while we're home together over Christmas break. So. . . this in no way ended amicably, though of course I got the "want to stay friends" line. Thing is, she was absolutely one of the most beautiful souls/spirits of anyone I ever met, and even as I moved on to other loves/losses/loves, I always felt I was a better person for he time I spent with this girl. And, eventually it turns out she felt the same way. We reconnected a few years ago via email, and although we have families and lives that are literally and figuratively a thousand miles apart we're very close again. So basically it's totally weird. We had as bad a breakup as you can have, but have ended up in the long run being close to each other and important to each other, although in a completely different way than when we started out together.

Tuna salad on toast with Campbell's split pea soup.

QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 01:56 PM) I don't think he's talking about a bomber. Tremens is expensive. I'd bet that $12 for a 12 oz. Possibly, but I have two bars here where I can get Tremens in the large bottle for about that much.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 11:33 AM) yeah I've had it many a times. Ish aint worth the price IMO. At least in belgium its like 6 euros which aint bad. "Best beer in the world" is wholly subjective, I agree. But I think Tremens, and all of the Malle products I've sampled, are superb. And $12 as a sit-down restaurant price for a bomber-sized bottle of Belgian craft beer I don't think is a bad price. If the same place is charging you $4-5 for a pint of American megaswill, I'll gladly skip that and drink the good stuff. At a beer shop, that same bottle is costing you $7-8, so, I don't think $12 at a bar or restaurant is too out of line.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 10:26 AM) I try to make it there like once a month, if you can afford to eat later on (the next morning will hurt,) you can just walk in and sit at the bar at around 10 PM during the week from what I have experienced. UN. REAL. Oh, and they do have the supposed #1 beer in the world which is called Delirium Tremmens...I have not had it yet and it is $12! Make sure you go with someone and get a mac & cheese as well before hand - try it with andouille and red peppers The last time I was in there, they were playing a very odd Japanese alien softcore porn hahaha Delirium Tremens is indeed a phenomenal beer, and I am happy to be a proud member in spirit of the "Confrerie van de Roze Olifant" (Brotherhood of the Pink Elephant).

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 05:49 PM) Just went there last night for the first time to grab dinner with some friends, got the Megaburger and fries for $5. Good burger but not the best Ive had. Very solid though. Their burgers washed down with a few well-poured pints of Guinness was a hard dinner to beat back in the day.

I made it into the Southtown little league write-ups twice. Once for a sprinting shoestring catch in left field that saved a couple runs, and then for the only homerun I ever hit in little league that helped us clinch a playoff spot. The outfield catch was wild because I normally played 2B and didn't have a ton of outfield experience running routes, but I got a good read on the ball off the bat and just hauled ass to get to where the ball was headed and caught it about three inches off he ground. The homerun was fun because I was the small, speedy, singles/doubles leadoff hitter and out of the blue I just totally crushed this ball and sent it into the middle of the infield of the ball field on the opposite side of the park.

QUOTE (SnB @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 04:57 PM) i was waiting for a Jim reply! I was away camping with the family for the last four days, and out of the loop. Definitely seek out one of the Islay malts. It's an extreme flavor experience and you may not immediately know what to think of it. With repeated tastings though, these smokey miracle scotches become favorites for many.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 02:56 PM) Shamrock Shake time at MCD's I'll have what Uncle O'Grimacey is having!

QUOTE (SnB @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 01:12 PM) so i'm turning into a little bit of a scotch guy lately. recommendations? I'm just dabbling into it, so I don't know that much about it. I know single malt >>>>>> blended. My favorite so far has been glenlivet. It's hard to beat a good single malt. For many years it was about the only alcohol I drank apart from beer and the occasional glass of wine. My favorites are the Islay malts — peaty-smokey, dry, with slight hints of seaweed and salt. Laphroaig is my favorite and luckily readily available and affordable, but Lagavulin and Ardbeg are also great. There are a half-dozen other Islay distilleries whose products I've never had a chance to sample. I also quite like Talisker, produced by a lone distillery on the Isle of Skye. On the opposite sie of the flavor spectrum are the Speyside malts that I also like. Glenlivet comes from here, as does Glenfiddich. Cragganmore, Macallan, Knockando and Balvenie are my favorite Speysides. I'm not a huge fan of either the Highland or Lowland malts, with Glenmorangie being probably the biggest exception. Most of them just seem sort of one-dimensional compared to the Islays and Speysides.

QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 13, 2010 -> 11:55 AM) I'm pretty sure that's what people say about weed so...what's the secret ingredient in your drink? Homemade Jasper syrup (lime juice, Angoustura, and nutmeg) and pimento (allspice) dram, Trinidad and Jamaican rums, and a touch of honey. Seriously amazing bit of alchemy going on in this drink. I'm in shock over how well it all comes together.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 13, 2010 -> 01:55 AM) You should all be drinking what I'm drinking. If the whole world was drinking what I'm drinking there would be world peace. At least until everyone finished their drinks. Podgy and Jasper. . . The drink that ushered in world peace. I'm telling you, this drink is my Mona Lisa, my Citizen Kane, and my Hamlet all rolled into one. Somebody get the Nobel Prize Committee on the line.

You should all be drinking what I'm drinking. If the whole world was drinking what I'm drinking there would be world peace. At least until everyone finished their drinks. Podgy and Jasper. . . The drink that ushered in world peace.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 12:48 AM) :lolhitting Boy I gotta tell you Jim.. I might have to PM you a funny/crazy story that nearly happen to me about 3 years ago on that subject. That sounds more like a story we'd all love to hear. . .

Brewpubs and brats sure do seem like a likely pairing. . . and indeed they were back in the day. Back when the Weinkeller was still open in Berwyn, you had a turnkey destination for authentic German weissbiers, bocks, alts, and outstanding brats, weissworst, and tons of other great food. At it's best, the brewery operations were lauded enough that Seibel Institute was just as happy having students intern there a they were sending them off to Weihenstephan. Fire force a closure some time in the 90s and I've dearly missed the place ever since.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 12:27 AM) Not speaking for Chaos, but to each his own as far as advice. Hell I'm going to be 24 this year and I got 28-29 year old friends asking me for advice on women. (gfs, or not since I've had alot of experience) Unless its marriage (god help me), I probably will never need any advice on women. Have you learned to avoid the ones with Adam's apples?

QUOTE (daa84 @ Feb 11, 2010 -> 06:55 PM) so if i end up in last in this vote, does that actually mean i win? i see whot you did ther.

:cheers

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 11, 2010 -> 03:12 PM) Tiffany's dude. Doesnt have to be something expensive, its the box that matters. Yeah, but he's sure spent a lot of money already trying to get in that box!

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 11, 2010 -> 01:45 PM) I understand what you are saying, and of course it is your choice. I just looked at these, and they do offer a view that has not been viewed before. Same sick event, but fascinating pictures. And I don't think it's any sort of morbid curiosity that makes people go back and take it in again. I just don't have the fortitude to be able to do it.

Last Airbender looks promising. But where's Appa? Maybe they're leaving him out so he doesn't come off like a CGI cross between a buffalo and the Snuffelupagus from Sesame Street.

and

Still exploring some maple syrup cocktails, and even getting away from rum once in a while. This evening, I've been rocking the Maple Leaf, and continuing to grow my appreciation for bourbon as a venerable American spirit. Variations on a theme, instead of rum, lime, and maple syrup, this drink features bourbon, lemon, and maple syrup. And it comes together beautifully. For American whisky/whiskey, I'm certainly more likely to reach for rye than bourbon, whose sweetness I think often overpowers other cocktail components. Admittedly, I think I also carried a deep-seated bias against bourbon based on early encounters with mass-produced, cheap brands during my formative drinking years. That began to slowly change as small batch bourbons began to be marketed. Still, while I usually had a bottle of Maker's Mark or Knob Creek on hand to for those very occasional times when I'd crave a bourbon cocktail, this liquor was never a heavy favorite for me. Like I said, though, I recognize my tastes for classic artisanal cocktails are maturing, and I'm really enjoying breaking the rum and beer routine now and then. Interestingly, I'm not doing a small batch bourbon at the moment. Reading through a few of the classic cocktail guides (circa 1890-1930), several interesting cocktails specifically called for Old Forester. The first bottled bourbon dating from just after the Civil War, showcased in cocktails that looked worthwhile, and a good $10 cheaper than the cheapest small batch, I gave Forester a try. I was surprised at how much I liked it. Signature bourbon sweetness up front, but finishing a little more on the dry side, and with interesting flavor notes along the way. A closer look at the product reveals that Forester's relative dryness is the result of a higher than usual rye content in the mash. Aha! This is why I'm liking this one. But. . . Back to the drink. Please think about spinning this one up with your bourbon of choice. Three easy ingredients, shake on ice and strain, and it's really very good.