Water, soda. The dilution opens up the flavor.
The science is there.
Although you do look boss as fuck if you drink it straight.

a borderline room-temp creamy porter sounds delicious.

Ah, Science, thy name is Schweppes.

yeah its not bad, im almost done with it

i just realized it

jerkass is






but seriously hes like semke's dummy account right

I keep Angostura around for Old Fashioned's and Corn n' oils. I keep Peychaud around for Szeracs.

I've been making and enjoying A Fresca's

2-3 Strawberries muddled with a healthy dollop of honey
Juice of 1 1/2 Lemons
Shot and 1/2 of Tequila Blanco
a couple of drops of all spice dram

Shaken with crushed ice

It's a nice fruity drink but the tequila and allspice dram keep it from tasting too girly.

I'm still looking for a good go to cocktail that's not too strong that I could order in just about any old bar/restaurant. I mostly drink cocktails that either pretty close to straight booze, not very good unless they are made really well (eg old fashioned, mint juleps) or involve ingredients that a lot of places don't stock (eg ginger beer for dark and stormy's). I'd sooner have a beer or a glass of wine than order anything with tonic or club soda or cola, but sometimes you'd just rather have a cocktail but its not the right social setting for a martini or a vodka rocks.

Wanted to throw some to something I had last weekend that I forgot to post about:





Yellow + Blue - Malbec 2008


My local craft beer store also has a boutique wine section and I got to talking to the "wine guy" about this product. Yellow and Blue (I think) are an American company but this particular wine is made in Argentina (San Juan province) and imported. They are a very forward thinking company and environmentally conscious.

They "bottle" all their wines in a "tetra pak" like the one above which allows the end consumer to get more wine than a regular bottle and it's less heavy so they save on shipping and packaging costs. The wine itself is 100% organic with no pesticides and 100% sustainable processes.

I poured it into a decanter through an aerator and it was GOOD. Maybe the best $12 "bottle" of wine I've ever had. Granted I'm no sommelier but I thought it was a pretty good find. Cheap, tasty, green, and I get more than a regular bottle?

Yes please.

Mmm, yes, used to be a staple weeknight wine for me when I had to lug everything up three flights. Plonk, but nice plonk.

I'm sure "Semke's" sick of being associated with my responses. (I am.)

I declare myself sovereign.

To set chronology straight, I came before him.
And because of me, he posts on this board once or twice every three weeks.
You can suck a dude's dick over the internet every once in a while for some sort of passive character connection with artistic expression?
So rock and roll, guys.

Shit that looks awesome. There are a few boxed organics around here that I usually pick up for the missus. Seems like they last for a week or more, and then the fuckers just vanish into the recycling bin, flat as paper... it's nice.

Whatever. You're my bunboy.

I need to look into this. The wife gets migraines and I'm noticing this weird sinus thing every time I drink red - not to mention the danger of a Goutbreak!

I have a shop around the corner that can probably order this for me. If not, Derris, add it to the growler you're bringing me.

I may or may not have ended up bar hoping with half a dozen clowns in costume last night.

Two of them may or may not have eventually ended up drunkly groping each other while falling out of costume at some point in the evening.

I can unequivocally state that I did not end up with white pancake makeup smeared all over my crotch.

What makes you think that wine would be any less likely to give FEMgar headaches or you sinus issues? Is it that its organic because I can't think of a reason that would make much of a difference. FEMg has an issue with drinking red wine where it sometimes gives her migranes and other times just prevents her from sleeping well. Not sure what causes it. Researchers seem to disagree on whether its histamines or tannins or something completely different. I think it can vary greatly person to person though so what I've read that makes the most sense is just to drink a half a glass of something and if you don't get a headache from it within in 15 minutes, its probably ok for you to drink a glass or two. Keep a record of the wines that don't f with you and stick to them or look for commonalities when getting something that you haven't had before.

my wife has self-diagnosed herself with an intolerance for red food dye. not sure its true or not, but does seem to be a pattern and a lot of literature about it out there.

For her it's tannins, for me, it's that I tend to drink 3-4 bottles at a time, or drink a bottle after 3 martinis....

But it is an excuse to try again!

Had this before. It's fine. There are much better $12 wines out there, but I can't remember what wines I drink because I typically get drunk and don't remember what they tasted like.

I thought I hated rum after multiple disastrous bottle sessions of Captain Morgan in undergrad. Then I found this:



I know there are better, but this stuff hits the spot for a quite reasonable price.
Jamaican me so molassissy sassy slop ploppy drunk.

you had this?



so good.

Nope. But some seemingly legit sites listed it slightly below the Appleton Estate. Can you compare or just know you like Kraken? 'tevs, I'll give it a go.
And to think I thought all Jamaican rum tasted like Meyer's.

It's different since it's a spiced rum. I guess it's sort of like a way better Captain Morgan's and it's not terribly expensive either.

Appleton is good.

You might want to try Barbancourt for a different experience as well. They age them in oak which adds a little of that bourbon flavor but still with the molasses hang in it. AN added 8 proof i always referred to as the voodoo extra.



Mount Gay is a good golden go to down here, which are perfect for Rum & Tonics a regular asked for cocktail.

But, you may also want to try Goslings[sure you've heard it], which is a dark rum very molassesy often served with ginger beer [dark&stormy] and that is how they market it to the states.

Lots of rums out there to try. I would stay away from anything spiked or spiced if you know what I mean. Stick to nature.

Martini for me

I had my Mount Gay and Tonic early on. Sauvignon Blanc, Geyser Peak, now. The wife opened a nice Pinot Noir '07 Tolosa with friends. I might finish that bottle.

this was pretty awesome. For a 10% brew, it was incredibly easy to drink. Very smooth, slightly sweet, but not as sweet as some Abbey styles.
Highly recommended.