CS Booze Club.

[fireheart]

The other, interesting I guess, things of the night was the first time I've had a car bomb (some one needs to rename that, it's a terrible name), which I still don't really get, and a pickle back (Which I totally get, however I still hate doing shots b/c I'm a wuss :P).

Ever tried a Fresh Pussy? (cocktail)

(yes it's an actual cocktail-it's peach schnapps, vodka and cranberry juice)

[Jester]

So the Fresh Pussy is basically the vodka version of the Red Headed Slut, one of my other favorite shots, which is Jagermeister, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice.

For those wondering, yes, there is a Blonde Headed Slut...substitute pineapple juice for cranberry.

And no, to my knowledge, no one's yet come up with a cocktail called a Brunette Slut.

However, there is a cocktail called a Lindsay Lohan. It's a Redheaded Slut...with a splash of coke.

[thansal]

However, there is a cocktail called a Lindsay Lohan. It's a Redheaded Slut...with a splash of coke.

That's...

That's really terrible

Seriously, oy vey.

And, because I feel I must, I'm way too much of a wuss to do a French Pussy or a Slut.

:P

[fireheart]

That's...

That's really terrible

Seriously, oy vey.

And, because I feel I must, I'm way too much of a wuss to do a French Pussy or a Slut.

:P

Fresh, not French. Although you could have a fresh French pussy if you wanted I guess....double shot of vodka?

[thansal]

Ha!

I can't read. We could make it French with a bit of Cognac or something :P

[Jester]

I'm way too much of a wuss to do a French Pussy or a Slut.

I can't comment on the other shot, but I will say that the Red Headed Slut is FAR tastier than the way it sounds when described. It's like a Long Island Iced Tea....it it doesn't sound like it would work, or should work, and yet it so very much DOES work.

[KiaKat]

All this talk about bubbly made me want some!

Yes, folks, bubbly isn't just for holidays anymore. Good, inexpensive bubbly pairs with food just as well as wine, beer, or your favourite spirit. Better, even, as most bubblies have a higher acid content and therefore cut through fats and sugars to let all the flavours hit your tongue with a burst of OMG YUM.

Tonight's choice is Secco, an Italian sparkling wine produced from a blend of Glera and Pinot Bianco grapes. For an Italian sparkling, it has a surprisingly small bubble (bubblies are rated on the size and persistence of their foam), especially given that it's not a Prosecco DOCG. Hell, I think this might be better than most Prosecco's I've had. And at less than $15/btl, it's a great value.

Charles Smith (of Two Buck Chuck fame) is the winemaker for this wine - his wife is one of the sisters involved in its creation - but don't let that turn you off. This is not a hugely mass-market wine, but rather closer to his other NW US projects, like Chateau Smith. Well-crafted and carefully made, with an eye to following natural winemaking processes.

[Jester]

More accumulated notes from my notes that I take on beer in my phone. I transcribed these all to my computer today anyway, thinking that I'd be getting a new smart phone, and not merely doing research on same, as it turns out I did. So, here are some beers I have sampled, along with one very highly recommended wine.

Abita 25th Anniversary Vanilla Double Dog: It is pretty well known that, while I love Abita Amber, everything else I've tried by them has been rather disappointing to me...until now. This beer is dark brown in color, with a subtle nose of vanilla and brown sugar. More importantly, it is DEEEEELICIOUS! Pleasantly sweet and smooth, with pronounced vanilla and brown sugar flavors. Malty and yummy. A solid 7 out of 10.

Kona Pipeline Porter: From Kona Brewery in Hawaii, this beer is dark opaque brown in appearance, like a dark coffee, which apparently it’s made with. (My coworker said she could feel the caffeine affecting her, whereas I, Mr. Decaffeinated, could not.) The nose is rich and malty, with hints of coffee, chocolate, and brown sugar. Pipeline has a classic porter taste, with flavors of oatmeal raisin and brown sugar, and hints of chocolate and coffee. 7.5. (This score, as all of them, was my impression at the time I first tried it. But it should be noted that just about every day after that, I went to the bar where I tried it, a new small beer and wine bar in KW, and had a pint or two of this stuff until they ran out of it. It is THAT damn good.)

Anchor Steam Christmas Ale: Dark brown in color, this has a very subtle but pleasant nose. The taste started out okay, perhaps a bit too fruity, but it got more annoying and cloying as it went on. My initial 5.5 score dropped to 4 by the time I had the bartender dump the last half of it. 4.

*BREAK FROM THE USUAL BEER REVIEWS FOR A WINE REVIEW!*

Sartori Valpolicella: Truly an amazing red wine. It is smooth, luscious, mellow, and classic, with a lingering caress of a finish. Flavorful but light and smooth. Scores an 8.5 easily, and that is the opinion of both myself and my friend Popcorn. A wine worth seeking out. I know I will.

*NOW BACK TO THE BEER!*

Widmer Pitch Black IPA: In appearance, this is solid obsidian black with a light creamy head. The nose is full of malt and citrus hops. On the palate, the malt and hops are rather well balanced. A decent beer, with a good hop bite for a dark beer, though it does taste slightly thinner than it looks. Far better than I would have expected from Widmer, which as regular readers here will know, I tend to dislike., partly due to the fact that most of their beers suck, and largely due to the fact that they make the worst "hefeweizen" I have ever had. A surprising score of 6.

[Jester]

Beer review!

Today's offering: Coors Light. Aka "the Silver Bullet."

This is a light American beer brewed in Golden, Colorado, using the naturally running waters there and, apparently, not much else.

Color: pale piss yellow. Nose: None to speak of. Freshly laundered socks have more aroma. Taste: Water, with beer flavor added. Light on the flavoring. Avoid this beer whenever possible. Honestly, it's not even worth cooking with, unless the recipe calls for sparkling water. Truly the low point of American brewing. (Well, at least until low carb beers came along. Or as I call them, "bottled water.") Only real use for this is, on a hot day, to take a bottle out of the cooler and use it to cool your brow and neck areas. Heaven forbid you actually open it and *gasp* drink the crap.

"So, Jester, why in the flying hell are you, Mr. Beer Snob, drinking that fermented piss water?"

Because it was the only one in my fridge, and this month is the anniversary of the death of a dear departed friend whose taste in beer was only equaled by here equally poor taste in men. For her, I'll drink this swill.

Beer Score: 0/10.
Reason For Drinking This Beer Score: 10/10.

"Jester, the above review doesn't sound like much of a tribute to your friend."

Shit, she'd laugh her ass off. And keep drinking her lousy Coors Light. And that's all that matters.

[Cat]

Tried two new wines this weekend

"Naked Grape" a cabernet sauvignon from CA. Not overly bold, very smooth. Good dinner wine, no over powering flavor.

"Layer Cake" malbec from Argentina. Very strong tasting, caught me by surprise. Some spice and an acidic bite (that was not unpleasant, but interesting). Slowly sip this one.

Out of the two, I recommend Layer Cake more....but try Naked Grape if its there.

My beloved Herding Cat wine got a new label, is it now a boxed wine. I hope these aesthetics don't turn me off from it

[Jester]

I really need to go through this entire thread at some point and build myself a database of my beer reviews.

But not yet!

Today, I quite literally reached into my fridge, into the Craft Beer Section, and grabbed the first thing that caught my eye....which was Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout.

I like oatmeal stouts in general, and I have been rather happy with most of what I've tried from Breckenridge, so I have high hopes for this, while not necessarily expecting to be blown away. Something solid and good and perhaps even memorable.

And....we're off to a good start. While not pouring quite as thick as some of the motor oil-like beers I've tried and loved, there is definitely a motor oil quality going on here in, mostly in the color (motor oil black), and somewhat in the consistency (just slightly thinner than most of the motor oil-like beers I savor).

The nose is malty and rich, living up, at least so far, to the label's boast of "dark and dreamy."

Rich, slightly nutty, malty, slightly bitter....this is an excellent oatmeal stout. Not so much chocolate as it is a darker nut brown than most nut browns, with the bitter bite of a typical stout. If you like dark beers, you could do far, far worse than this lovely offering from Colorado.

My score: 7.

[Jester]

I finally started forming my review database, gathering all the beer (and other) reviews and notes I've done in here into one file in my computer, so I can refer to them more quickly than I can currently--and currently I would have to vaguely remember when I reviewed something and hope I could find it in the thread.

I am about a third of the way through, and it is tedious going. Meh.

That being said, I have had some fun moments walking down Memory Lane....or in this case, of Drinking Down in the Memory Lane Pub.

[Jester]

Live Rum Review!

Strange situation here. Some local liquor reps were in The Bar today with their boss who was in from out of town. We started talking rum, of course, and one of the local mentioned he had had the best rum of his life. The boss then said that when I got off work, if I wanted, he would meet me at the Other Rum Bar in town (yes, we have more than one rum bar here) and he would buy me a shot of it. Considering it goes for about $25 a shot, I was not about to say no!

Well, after I got off work, there was a voice message from one of the local reps saying that they had forgotten they had a dinner, but the boss had gone down to the Other Rum Bar and paid for the shot, and it would be waiting for me when I got there. Well, this was odd, but again, I was not about to pass up free rum!

Now, at this point, before I've tried the rum (which is sitting in front of me, mind you), my favorite rum in the world has always been Pyrat Cask 1623, a lovely little 40 year blend from Anguilla in the British West Indies which, at my bar at least, goes for $50 a shot, and which generally retails for about $300 a bottle.

Today's rum, the alleged challenger for my all-time rum affection, is Ron Abuelo Centuria from Panama. I have had Abuelo products before, and not been overly impressed or distressed (average basic rum, nothing bad), so I am intrigued to see what their ultra-premium is like, as opposed to their more "base model" rum.

The Centuria is a dark, dark amber color. Not dark like a dark rum, just deeply colored as an aged amber rum will often be. (My comments on the color might be slightly off, as I am in a very dark bar....nope, I was right. Just walked into a more lighted portion of the bar to confirm the color.)

The nose is a nice rummy aroma, but doesn't offer up anything extraordinary to my nostrils. A little smoke, maybe some leather, a hint of brown sugar maybe...but definitely rum.

But ah, what of the taste of this rum, hmmm?

(Taking my first sip) Wow. This is gorgeous. There is a little rum burn, but it mellows out on the finish. Around the burn are some very lovely flavors. I do not know that I can really identify them though. Odd thing about this rum, which I have seen with some other liquors....you get far more of the taste after you swallow it then when you are drinking it. (Taking a second sip) The initial mouthfeel here is a nice smokey burn, but then on the finish all kinds of flavors start jumping around for attention, such as (taking yet another sip) ... words escape me. This is very much like a fine cogac or scotch, in that there are multiple layers of flavor and complexity. My initial instinct was to compare this to Mount Gay 1703, a lovely 30 year Barbadan rum and one of my favorites, but this has more complexity and more richness than 1703. (Taking a sip of beer to cleanse my palate and take another crack at describing the Centuria...and then, of course, yet another sip of rum, letting it roll around in my mouth as my mind searches for answers...) The richness continues, with a sort of velvetyness that pleasantly contrasts the rum burn. While it doesn't taste like them, roses come to my mind--I don't know why.

So, how does Centuria compare to my favorite rums? Honestly? Rather damn well! It is more complex than 1703, not quite as sweet or sherry-like as Dos Maderas P.X. 5+5, not as citrusy as Pyrat Cask 1623, not as dark as Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 year, less brown sugary than El Dorado 21 year, richer than Pampero Anniversario; and compares favorably to all of them. Better than some of them, but not to my palate better than some. Overall, I would say this is my newest of my favorite rums, but Pyrat Cask still holds the crown. This is not a bad thing. The above rums are all exquisite, all fantastic, all wonderful, and all great for sipping. Most of them it would be a sin to mix. How much so? Well, to be honest, most of the above list are in the group that I tell people that, by law, if they order them with Coke, I must punch them in the face.

So, is Abuelo Centuria in that group? Absofuckinglutely! It would be absolutely criminal to use this as a mixing rum, or to put anything in it beyond an ice cube or two. Easily one of my top ten favorite rums. And while it did not dethrone Pyrat Cask in my heart, I can see what the liquor reps saw in this rum. Absolutely delightful.

For those thinking of going out and buying this, the reps told me that a bottle tends to retail for about $80. (At The Other Rum Bar, the shot runs $32.) In my mind, that is a bargain! A highly recommended, delicious, wonderful sipping rum. And one that now is at the top of my list for rums I will be suggesting to my boss that we need to add to the collection at OUR rum bar.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

[Jester]

A bit more on the Centuria: I just ordered a second shot of it because, well, one was not enough...and the first one WAS bought for me!

Also, with a lot of rums, sometimes you will put an ice cube or two in it to open up the flavor and/or smooth out the burn. I don't know if it would really open up the flavor of the Centuria, but I don't think it needs the ice cube to smooth out the burn, as the inherent richness and aforementioned velvetyness does that for you.

Also, there may well be another live rum review shortly, as there is yet another rum that has caught my eye here that WE don't have.

What? This is RESEARCH.

[Jester]

As promised, a second live rum review!

This one is on Don Q Gran Anejo, which the bottle says is a blend of rums aged up to 12 years. Don Q is a well-known Puerto Rican distillery, but until now I was only familiar with their Cristal (white rum) and Gold (gold rum). Until tonight, I had never seen or even heard of their Gran Reserva.

To their credit, the bottle is stunningly gorgeous. That, however, doesn't always mean anything, as my favorite rum of all time is in a deceptively simple bottle, and I once tried Barcelo Imperial because of its beautiful bottle....and it was, to me, basically turpentine!

But I digress. The Don Q Gran Anejo is an unknown to me, so I shall approach it as such.

Must digress here. Just got a text from one of the liquor reps, telling me that there was free rum at a party sponsored by one of their rums. Being already quite well-lubricated, and having to bike home tonight, I texted her back: "Are you TRYING to kill me?"

Back to the Don Q Gran Anejo.....the color is lighter than the Centuria, but still a very respectable amber. Looks good.

The nose is far lighter and subtler than the Centuria. Wait, why am I comparing it to the Centuria? It's half the freakin' price. Well, whatever. The nose is subtle. Rummy, but not obnoxiously so. Based on the nose, I would not expect too much burn.

Hmmm.

Decent. Clearly not the Centuria (STOP IT!), but forgetting that....it's okay. I have had better for less. (It is $16/shot here.) I lie. I have had FAR better for less.

No, it's not a mixing rum, but it's not that great a sipping rum. It's just over the border from mixing to sipping, but the crossing guards are still checking its credentials, if you follow me.

Decent rum, but overpriced. I knew I should not have tried this after the Centuria, but I didn't listen to my own advice. Silly Jester. Forgetting the fact that I am ending my stay at the Other Rum Bar on a lower level than I started it on, this is still only a slightly decent rum that is violently overpriced. I don't blame the bar, mind you, but the distillery, trading on their name. Frankly, I find this to be an only slightly refined version of the Don Q Gold.

If you're going to drop this kind of coin on a rum, I can recommend several other far better options. To me, this is an $8-10 rum. Although I had rums at that price level that were better than this.

Don Q, talk to the Columbians who make Medellin, or the Guayanans who make El Dorado. They could teach you so, so much.

Jester out.