Tag: Booze & Such

On one of the days this past weekend, I wanted to serve Whisky Macs to my guests because a) it’s a warm, festive drink and b) why should I be the only one to suffer the next day?

For the uninitiated, one makes a Whisky Mac (back story is here) with these two ingredients:

Of course, the Scotch was no problem, but the Stone’s Ginger Wine…?

Nowhere to be found.  Some bastard must have crept into my house unnoticed and drunk it without my noticing him.  I had to resort to serving the usual (gin, single malt, wine, etc.) but I was mightily embarrassed, I can tell you.

Which is bad enough, but the thought of New Year’s Eve without a Whisky Mac… [shudder]

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the range — and then the liquor store.

I will confess that I am no longer the beer drinker I used to be.  [pause to let howls of rude laughter from The Englishman and the other regulars at the King’s Arms to die down]  Seriously, I have.

As I’ve matured in years, I’ve moved on to spirits like gin, Scotch and [list of spirits redacted because of length]. Nevertheless, I still enjoy a beer or two or three, depending on a) the beer and b) the company I’m socializing with.

My besetting problem is that I just cannot find a decent beer in the U.S. that can hold a candle to English beer, specifically ales such as Wadworth 6X, Fuller’s London Pride or even Boddington’s.  The last tastes completely differently Over Here compared to its regular domicile Over There;  I suspect it doesn’t travel well in cans — does any beer? — and although London Pride does not suffer the same fate, I either have to go rooting for it in divers liquor stores hereabouts — it does not have good distribution — or else head to The Londoner several miles away, which means I can’t drive back because, well, pints.

And I don’t want to drive all the way up to Boulder CO just to buy Wadworth 6X because quite frankly, it’s sold in cans and even 6X liketh the cans not (when I’ve drunk them Over There), and I’m not going to drive a thousand miles or whatever it is, only to find shit beer at the end of it.

Likewise, I’m not interested in touring the “craft” breweries around here (even though there are dozens) because in the past I’ve discovered that recommendations from others always fall short.  (Readers please take note before you offer up suggestions in Comments.)

I’ve often thought that Mexican Modelo Negro is the closest in taste to the English ales, but until now I’ve never bothered to test the hypothesis.  So as a public service, I set one up.  Here are the culprits:

As you can see, the Negro is considerably darker than the Pride, and drunk side by side, it has a harshly-bitter taste compared to the English ale.  (I should also add that I got rid of some of the Negro’s fizz, and let it warm up just a little from refrigerator temperature as I did with the Pride.  Don’t tell me I shouldn’t do that, by the way:  I loathe fizzy drinks of any kind, and dislike ice-cold beer unless drunk on a hot day in South Africa, when I drink Castle Lager in any case.)

The worst thing about the Negro (speaking from past experience) is that after just two or three of the things, my mouth starts to taste like I’ve been drinking vulture vomit and I’m forced to change to something better-tasting or at least a little sweeter (e.g. gin, dark rum & Coke or Southern Comfort), and we ahem  experienced drinkers all know where that action takes us.  That taste, by the way, never happens to me when I’m drinking beer in England and once embarked on a course of 6X or London Pride I stick with it, as many of the aforesaid denizens of Wiltshire and London may attest.

Mr. Free Market doesn’t frequent pubs all that often, as he doesn’t like getting “full” on beer, and drinking whisky at British pub prices makes too huge a dent in even his capacious wallet.  So when I go Over There, we end up drinking either in his garden (in summer) or his living room (all other times) and because there’s no driving involved, only stair-climbing (don’t ask how many stairs are involved in negotiating Free Market Towers), I end up getting a lot more shitfaced than I do at the King’s Arms, where I generally have to call time after only half a dozen pints so I can find my way home, wherever that is.  No such restriction exists at the Towers, which means I have, on occasion, had to sleep (okay, pass out) in one of the several living rooms or parlors that are scattered about the ground floor.

Anyway, what disturbs me in all this was a conversation I once had with Mr. FM, in which he confessed that he’d rather lost his taste for beer — and the awful thought occurred to me that perhaps I may be heading in that direction too.

So, Readers:  have any of you discovered a similar scenario in your drinking?  (As always, I’m not interested in hearing from casual drinkers or teetotalers:  your opinions are as those of a virgin on sex etiquette at an orgy.)  Let’s hear from The Well-Exercised Elbow Set.

Yesterday afternoon was spent in the company of the Son&Heir. involving  diverse activities such as cataloguing the serial numbers of my paltry gun collection (“Dad, this is so sad —  you have got to buy some more guns!” );  beer and poutines at the local pub;  and finally, a little Scotch-tasting back at home.  I’d bought this particular single malt at Total Wine a while back, intrigued by the label, but held back tasting it until suitable company showed up:  ergo, the S&H.  And what a joy it was:

Glen Fohdry has a good pedigree — for me, anyway, as I love Speyside Scotches — and this  “double maturation” thing intrigued me.

Great googly-moogly:  what an excellent Scotch.  I’m not going to go all Scotch-snob on y’all;  I’ll leave that to the S&H, who detected a “strong port finish” (unsurprising, given the casks) but never mind the taste (which is wonderful), just the smell of the stuff puts it in the Top 3 on the Kim List of Desirable New Scotches.

Run, do not walk to your nearest Total Wine store (I think it’s a “proprietary” or “tied” Scotch, i.e. exclusive to Total Wine), and grab a bottle or two for yourself.  I think it’s a product of the Speyburn distillery, but I’ll have to check.  Whatever, it’s brilliant stuff.

No need to thank me;  it’s all part of the service.

Glen Fohdry makes different cask finishes, apparently, such as this one (matured in American casks):

And there’s the usual array of vintages (12-, 21- and 29-year-olds), all of which I plan to try soon.

But it’s going to take a lot to wean me away from the “French cask” stuff, I promise you.

SOTI I saw this as a cure for a hangover:

Okay, this looks like something an expensive hotel would serve, just to build the tab.  Here’s my revision:

Adding anything but ice or water to booze makes expensive booze taste like cheap booze, and the more extraneous shit you add, the worse.  Don’t ask me how I know this.

If you really want to have food wrapped around booze, pour a glass of anything into a bowl of cold minestrone.  It won’t make you any sicker than a Bloody Mary, and is much cheaper.  Don’t ask me how I know this, either.

And if you MUST have a Bloody Mary:  vodka + tomato juice, with maybe a little salt and pepper.