The Emerald.

by Al Butler


A finer line up I couldn't imagine

Nancy Uisce, has been a dear friend and mistress of mine for many a year. She has kept me warm on cold winter nights, and helped me smile even as darkness threatened. Old friends she has called to my side when lonely, and through gentle guile given me new ones with which to laugh and joke. She is indeed charming and beautiful in her own right, with the strength to make any man fall deep into a dream of love, or a rage of passion. But, for all of her many attributes, Nancy is a rather plain old girl, steady and true yes, but not easily dressed up.

That is why cocktails made with Irish whiskey are few and far between, good ones that is.

Nancy Uisce; simple but tempting.

We have all seen and heard of the bright green concoctions ladled out on St. Patrick’s Day. Lovely golden Whiskey overwhelmed by crème de menthe and other equally vile ingredients, served in a martini glass as an “Erin” or “Everybody’s Irish”. Ever wonder why you don’t see these any other time of the year? It’s because they are terrible, and the idiot posers who choke them down can do so but once every three hundred and sixty five days. Nancy’s power rests in her simplicity, sadly, too many people ignore this fact, and they not only harm their guests, but so too negatively skew other’s perceptions of the spirit.

Well, there is one Irish whiskey cocktail that I enjoy which embraces the natural body of Nancy Uisce, and that is “the Emerald”.

Served "up" the Emerald has a bit of class.



Ingredients:
2 oz. Irish whiskey
1 oz. Italian vermouth
1-2 dash orange bitters
Orange peel to garnish

Method:
Fill a mixing glass with cracked ice; add your vermouth, whiskey and bitters. Stir well until cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add an orange peel for garnish.


Notes: Be patient when stirring, you want to let the ice do its work of diluting (not too much) and of chilling the drink. The orange peel garnish really adds a nice boost to the cocktail, if you give it a little squeeze over the glass after straining, and a quick run around the rim.

The name is the only thing green about this smooth drink.

The only thing green about the Emerald is its name thank god. The rather basic logic is, "If you mix rye, which they drink in New York, with vermouth, you get a Manhattan; therefore, Irish whiskey and vermouth must be an Emerald." Honestly it matters not, for this simple and elegant cocktail can be served any time of the year and is sure to please any who are enthralled and beguiled by Nancy Uisce. The smooth and mellow flavor will ease away doubt and worry if but for a short while, and grant the drinker a respite from fear and care.


Cheers
AL


Al's St. Patrick's Day Holy Trinity

 

The Holy Trinity

 

It has been said that during the fifth century when St. Patrick was trying to convert the native peoples of Ireland to Catholicism he used a simple shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. If you don’t know what the Trinity is (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) just pretend you do for now. Not being a man of the church myself, no offence, or perhaps just inadvertently, to the followers of the faith, I have my own Holy Trinity, and I practice its catechism each and every 17th of March. For, what better way to honor that famous Saint than to embrace the holy three from Eireann’s isle; Bailey’s, Guinness, and Bushmills, on his revered day of remembrance?

So I share with you my St. Patrick’s Day rituals through three drinks, timed well throughout and balanced for occasion. It is something of a marathon so remember to pace yourself, it does you no good to be passed out from drink come noon and be missing the rest of the day.

Ulster Fry, from Norn Iron

In the Morn: Play a bit of music, and eat a hearty Breakfast for the day will be long. If you are feeling adventurous try an Ulster Fry it will definitely fill the stomach. I always start my day with a cup of coffee or tea, and on any regular day a sugar or two suffices to liven it up. But today is not just any day, so we start off by mixing in a bit of Bailey’s Irish cream with our morning coffee, just to get things gliding along. You could go with a traditional Irish Coffee as well, but I found out long ago that drinking whiskey at 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning is not only frowned upon by society, it also has the negative effect of weakening the constitution too quickly. For some reason Bailey’s is OK on Holidays.

Bailey's and coffee, 3-4 of these to start.

Bailey’s & Coffee

Ingredients:1 cup of good strong coffee
1-1.5 oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 tsp. sugar (optional)

Method:
Pour your coffee, add baileys and sugar then stir. I do not ever recall actually measuring out the Irish cream, a squint of the eye and a tip of the bottle seems to suffice.

Afternoon: Traditionally a visit to the Pub is in order at some point during the afternoon, however long ago I stopped making this pilgrimage for Pints of celebration. This is due to several factors not the least of which is that most loathsome of concoctions “Green Beer or Ale”. I have yet to come across a person with a glass of that in hand who after but a moment or two I’ve not felt like maiming in some cruel way. It is vile, “Plastic” and has the magical power to summon what I call “an instant Eejit”. I prefer to have my pint of Guinness poured properly or a nice half & half served with a clear line of float, neither of which are guaranteed on this day due to all the attention being given to mixing up pitchers of “Green Plastic Paddy”. So I pour at home and avoid being locked up for assault.

About right.

 Pints of Guinness

Ingredients:
16 oz. Guinness
A fecking pint glass

Method:
Pour the Guinness slowly into a tipped glass and let it settle for a few minutes.

Don’t overdo it with the pints five or six should suffice to prime yourself for dinner which will be there before you know it. Or you can simply skip the meal and add two more pints of the black and a bit of soda bread to absorb it.

Evening: The music gets turned down to a dull roar as darkness begins to creep in. And if you have skipped dinner your head takes a bit of a swim. If this happens eat something light and wash your face with cold water, always works for me. Now is the time to reflect upon your day and all the things you have not accomplished, better perhaps to chat with a friend or two over a glass of your favorite Irish Whiskey. Note I say friend, for having to dance around in polite, politically correct, discussion with people at this point is pretty much a losing proposition, friends accept you for who you are even if you do end up giving them a cuff or two for being a Hippie. Steer clear of anyone who does not seem to be enjoying the Holiday as much as you are (your wife for example) and this part of the day will go off well.

 

Because I am a man and don't care what you think.

 

Whiskey Rocks

Ingredients:
2 -3 oz. Irish Whiskey (I prefer Bushmills ten year old Single Malt)
Rocks/Old Fashion glass
Ice

Method:
Add a couple of ice cubes to the rocks glass, then pour your whiskey in over it and serve. Let the ice seep a bit and give the drink a wee swish with your wrist. This is a sipping drink to be enjoyed with a fine cigar, pipe, or cigarette. Let the warmth envelop you as the day winds down, and you toast a parting glass to your mates.

So there you have my St. Patrick’s Day Holy Trinity, if controlled and consumed in moderation you’ll have no problem finding your way to bed. If not? Well, I pray you wake not in a dumpster or beside the woman you thought was Christina Hendricks but in the Morning's early light turns out to be a Rosie O’Donnell look alike.

Please drink Responsibly. Really!
 

Cheers
AL

Irish Coffee

by Al Butler

Irish Coffee

As it is March, my favorite month of the year, I will be focusing on drinks and cocktails that have originated from Ireland, including Norn Iron. This week we have the classic Irish Coffee which some say originated at Shannon Airfield in the 1940s or 50s as a way to warm up frozen air travelers on their arrival. No matter who or why it was created, the end result is a strong and warming experience in a glass. I’m going to keep this brief, as I have found over the past months, that what I say, or write, about a particular cocktail or libation is of little interest to the general populace.

Ingredients:
1.5 ounces Bushmills Original or Black, Irish Whiskey
3 ounces hot coffee
1 teaspoon Brown sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon heavy cream

Method:
Pour coffee into a warmed Irish coffee glass .5 inches from the rim. Add sugar to taste, stir to dissolve. Next add Bushmills Irish Whiskey. Top with slightly whipped cream, poured gently over the back of a spoon.

Black Bush, and brown sugar really make this drink sing.

The sugar portion of this drink is optional. But, if you are going to add it use brown sugar, it mixes well with the whiskey and coffee flavors, offsetting the bitterness of the others. Whipped cream is essential, and adding a good dollop has been deemed an art form. Master bartenders pride themselves on their ability to “top off” a coffee neatly and cleanly. There are many methods for getting this done but I feel that lightly whipping fresh cream so that is it still somewhat liquid, and gently pouring over the back of a spoon you get a decent enough presentation without too much effort. NEVER under any circumstance are you to substitute canned Reddi-Whip for fresh cream. If you do then you are a peasant, and you should not be reading this blog.

Well there you have it. A warm, comforting Irish Coffee to either end your evening, or as an after dinner drink instead of dessert. I have loads more I could write on this, one of my “go to” winter drinks, but like I said no one is listening and I'd rather be sipping a glass instead.

Cheers
AL

Scratching the Itch; Summoner Wars IOS

by Al Butler

Summoner Wars IOS App

It has been rather cold up here in the Northeast; negative zero temperatures each morning, with the thermometer not getting above freezing throughout the day. I cannot speak for others but, for me, such frigid conditions tend to stifle my board gaming hobby a bit. Normally, about once a week, I will grab a title from my library after work, set it up, and try and play a solo variant or two, or perhaps simply organize the components so my OCD is satisfied. Not in this weather though, for by the time I get back to the igloo, I mean house, all I want to do is eat something and curl up in a warm spot.

It’s exhausting to say the least. However, the itch to play remains, and so like any good Junkie I have found a way to scratch it and satisfy the addiction.


Many board games have been converted into IOS (apple) apps that can be played electronically on either an iPad or iPhone. A particular title I have had my eye on is a box game Summoner Wars by Plaid Hat Games, which has been available for IOS for quite some time now, so I decided I’d give it a try. The download was free, so it was a far cry less expensive than buying the Master box set ($30-$50). I figured this way I could not only try out the game cheap before going all in but, I could also keep my ass warm in bed under comforters, electric blankets, three cats, etc. while I played.

Tap or drag to move during movement phase.

The concept for Summoner Wars is similar to several popular collectible card games: you control an all-powerful summoner with the ability to cast magic and bring various types warriors to fight battles. It uses a card-based mechanic for building magic and summoning new cards, however each card is put on a grid-based field, creating a physical strategy on top of resource management.

I Feel, the iPad is a perfect fit for Summoner Wars. An entire table with dozens of moving cards is condensed to a single screen. Managing the field, your hand, the discard, die rolls, and every other aspect of the game is laid out in a smart and intuitive way, which makes learning and gameplay flow easily. Every card in play has all of its main statistics visible from the field view, and any further special abilities can be read with a quick double tap.

Double tap any card to view up close special abilities.

I’ve played dozens of games and have even bought a couple of expansion decks to add variety. Each race, Elves, Dwarves, Undead, etc. have their own unique special traits as well as strategies for playing them. The AI opponent rarely becomes predictable even after working the same deck combination over and over, but I think a human opponent in online play would really make this title shine even more. Yes that’s available too.

Ranged attack!

The one thing I suggest strongly to anyone who decides to load this app, is to run through the tutorial in full and read the manual before trying to play a match. I being "all knowing" failed to do so and got my ass kicked due to skipping this most basic step. Once I went back and read it, all was good again.

Play the tutorial and read the rules.

So there you have it, I will continue to scratch away at the itch by playing Summoner Wars for IOS each night while all comfy and cozy neathe the covers. At least until things begin to thaw out a bit around here, and I can stand on the dining room floor and not have my feet turn blue. I have also decided to add the Box Set back onto my list of games to purchase.

Summoner Wars App Store Link.

Cheers
AL