Bushmills Rocks.

One of Northern Ireland's Greatest!

I've made mention over the past year, on many an occasion, that my most beloved of drinks, is simply a Bushmills Irish Whiskey on the rocks. It is a very beautiful and calming libation, one that has been by my side for the last twenty eight years. Through the hardships of my early twenties, to the golden prosperity of my thirties, and later, Bushmills was there helping to keep my tempestuous soul tame.

It was March of 1985, that my romance with this fair lady of Northern Ireland began. It had been a rather depressing day, cold, and dreary, with dark skies threatening sleet and snow. I was worn and tired from another seemingly endless trek of pounding the pavement in search of work. Chilled to the bone I wandered into my local pub named the Celtic House and sat down at the bar. Not having much money in my pocket, I thought I'd go with what we used to call "the Hard Stuff" to stretch that coin as far as it could go. Tommy the barman came over with a hallo and asked me what I would like, as I was half frozen I replied: "anything that will thaw me out, just not a pint thank you."

With a smirk he turned away and grabbed a bottle of Bushmills (white label), poured out a fine dram and said: "That will do the trick I'm sure." I eyed the golden liquid with a skeptics glare but upon putting it to my lips, and feeling the warmth return to my limbs, I could not help but smile, and give my savior a nod of appreciation. From that moment on I was enthralled.

Soothing just to look at.

Ingredients:
2 -3 Oz Bushmills Irish Whiskey (I prefer the 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.

Now some may say that the ice is a waste, and that the only way to drink good whiskey is to have it "Neat". Usually I hear this from men who either are of refined taste, like our friend Jon Clark of Oregon, or men of ignorance who drink whiskey more as a symbol of machismo than for the flavor. Neat is simply whiskey in a glass with a drop or two of clear water added to bring out the wonderful qualities of the spirit. I prefer my drinks cold, and rarely if ever imbibe liquor neat. The ice will add water to the spirit as it dissolves which in my opinion serves the same purpose as adding a couple of drops, but with the benefit of chilling the drink.

I have a personal ritual that I perform with my Bushmills, which along with the spirit helps sooth my savage heart. After pouring I wait at least one minute to let the ice to begin to do its work. Then I will take my glass by the rim, and with my wrist, give the tincture a quick spin moving the ice around in the golden liquid. I find that in so doing the water smooths the drink quicker, plus it makes that happy tinkling sound that always makes me smile.

Neat or Rocks, you cant go wrong with a dram or two of this fine whiskey. Especially now that the weather has changed and colder days are the norm. So fill up your glass, take a seat in your favorite armchair, and relax. Northern Ireland's fair, golden, maiden will softly ease your troubles away.

Cheers
AL

 

La Paloma

Tequila rediscovered

 La Paloma "the Dove" is the official drink of Mexico, not the margarita, and is in my humble opinion a much better cocktail. Who named it such or even invented it will have to remain cloaked in mystery. You will have better luck finding Cortez's golden city in the clouds than figuring out this drinks origins, but so what? No matter who came up with it, you'll not find an easier or more refreshing tequila cocktail to put together at home.

Tequila? Yup that's what I said, because tequila is not just for Anti-Semites anymore.

This liquor has had something of a bad rap associated with it. Usually upon mention, one thinks of Frat boys doing shots of Jose Quervo shouting at the top of their lungs. Or an evil coven of middle aged housewives mixing up a "pitcher of Margs" as they formulate plans to take over the local PTA so they can ban books from the library.  Lastly let us not forget, that rather famous episode with Mel Gibson, where he spewed forth an Anti-Semetic rant at a police officer after being pulled over. It seems Mel was a bit in his cups at the time and there was a bottle of tequila in the seat next to him.

Loves Tequila! Jews? not so much.

For decades I have had an aversion to tequila. The very smell of it would make me shiver as foggy memories of youthful over indulgence clawed at my mind. The night of "Thirteen Golden Margaritas" broke any and all desire to even even look at the stuff, and to this day, if asked "would you like a margarita Al?" I always say; "No, make mine a Bushmills."

Yet, as I have been on this journey of cocktail discovery, and have learned so much about various spirits and their attributes, I just had to give this national treasure from Mexico another look. What I found should be no shock to anyone, and that is; tequila has levels of quality just like every other distilled spirit out there. Without going too far into the various types of tequila, that would take ages to get through, and to be honest I doubt too many of you care,  I will touch upon the single most important point.

Harvesting Blue agave for tequila.

Tequila is made from the blue agave plant indigenous to Mexico and no spirit can be named such without this base. The more blue agave, the higher quality liquor you end up with. The Mexican government regulates this very severely and all tequilas must have at the very least 51% blue agave as part of their mash. Jose Quervo, the most commonly known brand in the US, is what is called a "Mixto". Which is a tequila made with 51% blue and 49% of whatever other agave the distiller has available. Essentially it meets the bare minimum of requirements to carry the name.  Fear not though, for brands that are 100% agave are available here in the states, Patron being the most well known. These are usually much more expensive than Mixtos, but in my humble opinion worth the cost. A tequila cannot claim 100% status without approval of their government, as such if you find a brand that says it is check the bottle over to find "product of Mexico" printed on it somewhere etc.

As I have said over and over again use quality spirits and you won't be disappointed, and in this case it is a necessity.

Now what to do with this fine spirit.

La Paloma

Ingredients:

2-3 ounces 100 % agave tequila (I used 1800 Reposado)
.5 -.75 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice
Grapefruit soda (another Mexican invention)
1-2 pinches of salt
1 lime slice

Method:

Fill a Collins glass with ice, add Tequila, Lime juice and salt, top off with Grapfruit soda and garnish with a lime slice. Viola you are done!

I had to use Izze Grapefruit soda as it was the most easily available to me at the time and it worked out great. This may be a very simple drink to make, however the complexity of blended flavors is anything but. The salt and citrus come in first along with a bit of fizz from the soda, after which the tequila rolls up softly on the tongue completing the experience. I recommend this highly for anyone who wishes to safely experience tequila again. You will be pleasantly surprised and if not, well you can donate your bottle to me to experiment with. Just make sure it's 100 % Agave before you try.

Cheers
AL

The Sneaky Bastard.

The "Sneaky Bastard"

Spend any amount of time playing table top games with our friend Tuna, and you will quickly realize that he is something of sneaky bastard. He loves to sit back quietly with a disarming little smirk on his face, and build up points, or cards, or whatever the goal may be. Then with a flourish, he will play the most devastating hand or strategy to not just end the game, but to do it all in one brutal and demoralizing move. Think of the old card game Gin Rummy (always liked the name of that one) and you will know what we mean. I cannot count the times Mike and I have been pummeled by our quiet friend with his sly, cunning, and most of all sneaky, play style.

So, to honor our dubious friend, Tuna, I have come up with a cocktail that is aptly named "the Sneaky Bastard".

Essentially this drink is nothing more than an old school daiquiri made with dark rum rather than white and served on the rocks instead of in the traditional cocktail glass. I chose a really sweet, dark rum called Zaya, which is aged twelve long years in white oak casks and distilled no less than five times. This stuff is so smooth that it can be consumed neat, which many purists insist you do. Some may balk at my using such a fine stand alone spirit in a cocktail, on the grounds that there is no need to soften or dilute something crafted so beautifully. And you know? I agree to a point. Yet as Tuna is as fine a person you'd ever wish to meet, I decided to use top quality ingredients in his very own drink, so you pendants can simply "Piss Off".

Ingredients:

3/4 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
1 & 1/4 ounce simple syrup
2 ounces dark rum (Zaya)
lime wheel, for garnish

Method:

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add lime juice, simple syrup, and rum. Shake vigorously. I like to shake drinks till I feel the metal of the shaker frost in my hand. Fill a rocks glass with ice, and strain your drink into it. Garnish with a lime wheel, or for Tuna two skewered pepperoni chunks.


What ends up in hand is a very smooth drink with a tart after twist due to the lime. It puts off a pleasing earthy vanilla bean scent that comes from the Zaya rum. Now, as not everybody likes heavy sweet cocktails you can alter the above ingredients a bit to create more of a tart pop by increasing the lime to 1 full ounce and reducing the simple syrup to 1 full ounce. Thus your count would be 1, 1, 2. Essentially you build to taste.

Our good friend Tuna: The original "Sneaky Bastard"

I not only served these up to Mike and Tuna last game day but to Valerie and Jasmine as well and they seemed to enjoy it too.

Lastly, just like Tuna, these little cocktails WILL sneak up on you if you are not careful, I know firsthand as I think my last one just hit me hard.

Cheers
AL

The Hot Donna

As most of you know I am always looking to expand our menu of game day drink options. In the last year and a half we have gone from Mike's homemade beer and Bushmill's rocks, to a listing of no less than five other drinks that have become standards. I have made some absolutely terrible cocktails (the Negroni) as well as bunch of mediocre ones in my desire to bring good cheer to our group. It is trial and error but every once in awhile I concoct something that we all agree is worthy for our refined pallets, and  it is these drinks and these alone we add to our list. 

So it is I bring to you the "Hot Donna":

the Hot Donna

2 oz. Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey

1.5 oz. Chambord Raspberry liquor

6-8 oz. Lemonade

To make: Fill a shaker with Ice, add 2 oz. Jack Daniel's then 1.5 oz. Chambord, last 6 oz. or so of Lemonade. Shake for 30 seconds. Fill a Collins glass with ice then strain your drink into it slowly. Garnish with a lemon wheel and if you need a bit of extra gay pop an umbrella in there as well.

This refreshing drink is a simple take on the Lynchburg Raspberry Lemonade of Tennessee. However to create the original, one must deal with creating the right combination of simple syrup and fresh squeezed lemon juice. I found it easier to make up some lemonade ahead of time and use that instead. Simplicity is the key to Game Day cocktails as one does not want to spend too much time in making elaborate drinks when you could be at the table laughing at Tuna for failing to hold Greenland during a game of Risk.

Both Mike and Tuna, who managed to be pushed off the wagon by us, found the drink to be a perfect blend of sweetness mixed with citrus that didn't overpower the senses with either. 

Yep! Hot!

We named this cocktail the Hot Donna after Laura Prepon's character Donna Pinciotti on That Seventies Show. Because, it is red, cool (Donna was very cool) with a sweet tart personality. That and cause Donna was/is hot and we all wouldn't say no to a ride around the block with her.

Cheers

AL

Salt My Donuts

This is a recap of today's trip to Novare Res for beer and board games...

We didn't have many people there but those who did show up were awesome.

It was only Valerie and myself and we didn't break out any games. Whatever. It was great.

We talked a lot about beer and a little about games.

My highlights:

1. Tried some sour beer. It was incredible although one of them didn't smell so great. Thankfully it tasted amazing and it's fairly easy to avoid breathing in while drinking.

2. Tried something from Maine Meadworks that had Lavender in it. Wait, this wasn't a highlight. It was awful.

3. I received a gift of three donuts. Best one: (dark?) chocolate and sea salt. Now I have to salt all of my donuts, which I'm fairly certain makes them healthier.

4. We had a side room with comfy couches mostly to ourselves the entire time.

Black Cherry Cola

"Grey Goose Cherry Noir"

                                                      

Some months ago on a sleepless night I wandered down to my living room at 2:00 am and picked up a Forbes magazine. Too tired to actually read, but too awake to sleep I simply thumbed through the pages looking at all the nice advertisements for cars and watches I'll never own. About halfway through the magazine I turned a page and found a large ad for Grey Goose Cherry Noir Vodka. For those of you who do not appreciate, or possess a love of fine spirits it will be hard to explain how so very excited I became upon seeing this new product. I read every last word over and over along with the few recopies they added to tempt the pallet. I had been waiting for this top shelf brand to start infusing their product as I knew they would do it well. To be honest I wanted to skip work the next day and drive to New Hampshire just to see if I could get a bottle.

Well after many a month and much searching I finally got a fifth and decided that I would share with my friends one of the cocktails Grey Goose suggested in the original ad, called a Black Cherry Cola.

"Black Cherry Cola"

Black Cherry Cola

1 1/2 Parts Grey Goose Cherry Noir

3 1/2 Parts Cola

1/2 Part Grenadine

To make these is simple: Fill glass slightly above the rim with cubed ice, add in Vodka, then Cola and lastly the Grenadine in that order. Add a soda straw and garnish with a fresh cherry.

Stir the drink slightly with straw to mix ingredients, just a light spin should do it. If you over stir (which we all do) the carbonation tends to dissipate leaving you with a flat beverage.

As we live in the frozen northeast fresh cherries are hard to come by so when we got together on the 21st I had no garnish. However, the group seemed to approve, well, all except Brian who somehow has developed a "Moral Objection" (his words) to the spirit Vodka in any and all of its forms.

The flavor of this cocktail is rather sweet, with a slight herbal twist. Valerie said it tasted like a cherry cordial and most agreed. This drink will more than likely not become a standard for our game day gatherings until I can refine my portions correctly. I think I used too much grenadine in a couple and I failed to go gently on the stir. Practice makes perfect and though it will pain me greatly I will mix and consume until I have this one down to a science. A small sacrifice for my friends. Mike mentioned that the cocktail would be a great summer drink, and I agree, we'll leave it for warmer weather and sunny days to introduce once again.

"You got me straight trippin Boo"

Lastly I do not like the name of this cocktail. Black Cherry Cola is too generic to my liking, so I have decided to call these Queen Latifahs. Because they are black, sexy, and sweet just like she is. 

I am open to suggestions as to names of course so feel free to put in your two cents.

Cheers

AL

The Dark & Stormy

Our most popular game day drink.

 

 

The Dark and Stormy.

6-8oz. Ginger Beer (we use Gosling’s brand)

 

2 oz. of Gosling’s Black Seal Rum

 

1 Lime wedge.

 

To make: Fill a glass with fresh ice. Pour in the Ginger Beer gently so as not to make it head. Top off with the Black Seal. When topping off pour slowly so the rum floats gently on the top leaving a definite line between it and the Ginger Beer. Squeeze the juice from the lime wedge in last and place the fruit in the glass. You should now have a very lovely looking drink before you, however we suggest stirring it a bit before drinking as with all the rum on top a first pull can be rather painful. Once stirred, the cocktail will become a dusky reddish orange almost the color of a sunset.

 

Gosling’s Black Seal owns a copyright to the Dark and Stormy, thus if you make it with any other dark rum it cannot officially be called a D&S. We use Gosling’s Ginger Beer because it is not too powerful nor too weak and it adds just the right offset to the smooth tasting Black Seal. You can use any you like and some actually prefer Barritt’s but for us we’ll stick with what works.

I introduced our gaming group to these delectable drinks last summer and they have become the staple of our gatherings. I was not surprised that Tuna took to them like a pirate to booty, he likes dark rum after all, as well as booty and perhaps being a bit of pirate overall. However everyone, who has joined us on a game day including Big Mike, absolutely loves them. We actually ran out of rum one fun filled afternoon so now I double up on the supplies. You and your friends will love these too I guarantee it and a good drink with good friends goes a long way to building great times.

Cheers

AL