There are more than just bananas in there...
The Thirteen Drinks of Halloween 2020 – Six
Six days into The Thirteen Drinks of Halloween and we are revisiting a childhood friend, repackaged for adults, with limited success. There’s a vampire, of sorts, so protect ya neck as we stand and make the Cereal Killer.
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This is going to be a disaster. Let’s just get that out of the way, right up front. This drink is by request of my dear friend, Leanne, who celebrates another trip around the sun on this day. She’s getting up in years, but still has a great outlook on life. It should be crystal clear, though, that this drink is entirely her fault. She sent me the recipe, supplied the ginger mead, asked me to make it and had a birthday to provide inspiration and guilt in equal measures, something she excels at. So without further delay, please join me as we stand and make, Out of the Chaos.
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There has been a large rise in “do-it-yourself” projects during “these unprecedented times.” We are no different from the rest of the country, we have redone the back yard, trimmed trees and bushes, made repairs around our house and grandma’s house and our outbuildings and the barn. We have started making our own pastas and breads, drying fruits and vegetables, making candleholders and coasters from old whiskey barrels. It’s funny how making things helps to fill the time. You could make a pretty convincing argument that this whole “Cocktails From Quarantine” series has been a big DIY project. We can’t go to the bars where we would normally enjoy our drinks, so we took matters into our own hands. The point is, there are a lot of folks out there who are doing what they can to make their corner of the world a better place and they are doing it on their own. That is mostly a good thing, so let’s make a drink today that honors the do-it-yourselfers out there, the folks steady crafting their way through 2020. Won’t you, please, join me now, as we stand and make, The Bitter Clipper.
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I had planned to make this one for our anniversary, but at the last minute I switched to the Tiki Peat, because this one had me nervous. Maybe it was because I didn’t watch enough Elvis movies when I was young, maybe it was the color, maybe it was something in the air, a feeling of autumnal foreboding that said, “Beware”. Was I right to avoid this drink? Did I get it all wrong? Is Nolan here with the truth? Find out in today’s action packed episode as we stand and make the classic Blue Hawaii.
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I was going to take the evening off, not make a drink at all, not write about it, not even take any pictures of that drink I was not going to make. My wife and I are celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary, so I figured no one would mind if we took the night off. We enjoyed a lovely bottle of mead I picked up a couple of years ago that we never got around to opening. I was ready to curl up on the sofa with some soft music and a book to wait out the child falling asleep, but she had other plans. Soon I was back in the kitchen, using some new tools to fill some new glasses, cause that’s my job. So, please join me now, as we stand and make the Tiki Peat.
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We are taking out all the stops today. Going hell-bent for leather and riding off into a cultural reference sunset. This drink has everything. Well, not everything, but it has got a lot of stuff and it is topical. People love topical things. So we are gonna work around National Coffee Day, biblical quotes, The Big Lebowski, the second most famous Thor and even the impending great debate. How are we going to fit that all in to one drink? Well, if you want to find out, won’t you please join me as we stand and make Donnie’s Element.
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We are all chasing something. Maybe it is the right house or job or partner. Maybe it’s that perfect lyric, the hook that makes the song. Maybe it is finally getting the smoke ring just right in your brisket. There are lots of things worth chasing. Honestly, most of us are chasing lots of things at the same time. While we are working at the next big thing on the career path, we are also seeking out that rare tiki mug or a Corgi Batmobile, while reading Kierkegaard to broaden our understanding of leaps of faith, as we strive to be better partners, parents and children in a world where the rules keep changing so quickly that may have given up on trying to understand and just cling to symbols as some sort of anchor in the storm. There is a lot going on out there and it drives me to distraction some days, that is one of my coping mechanisms, finding something to focus on that helps me close out the things that keep me awake at night. Daily chases and long term quests help with that. Today’s drink is another step on a long term quest, a puzzle that has been in the back of my mind for a couple of years now. If there are those among you who also yearn for knowledge, who feel the call to discern that which is hidden, I ask that you join with me now, as we stand and make, The Traveling Banana.
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Oscar Wilde said, “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” That may be true, he was a clever fellow who said lots of witty but true things, so we will give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. Experience is also about managing expectations. Sure, we all want to experiment and try new things, but we use our experiences to guide that exploration. For good or for ill, the things we have done help decide what we will do next. That’s a big part of why we learn or, more accurately, why we keep learning. One of the most interesting things about these last few months of daily cocktails, is how much I have learned along the way. Sometimes, it is a new technique or flavor or tool that I discover. There has been a cumulative effect that is way cooler than any eureka moment. My approach to drink making has evolved as I have learned more. I choose different tools now, as I upgrade from my basic kit, to things that fit me and my style better. Which couldn’t happen early on, because I did not have a style. I have noticed that my shaking style now is far different than it was when I started taking classes at Corsair, my pours are different, my attention to detail much more clear. This did not happen overnight and I am still learning and continuing to evolve, but I can see a real difference. That difference is experience and as we learned way back at the beginning of the paragraph, we get experience by making mistakes and I have made a lot of them. I am going to continue making mistakes, that is important. My grandpa always said that the only people who don’t make any mistakes are the ones who don’t do anything, so in that spirit I ask that you, please, join me once again as we stand and make the Donna Maria.
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Anyone else feeling a little lazy today? Maybe a bit tired of it all? Or, perhaps, overstimulated by the unending barrage of noise and trauma from all sides? There seems to be this sense of foreboding hanging over us. A collective state of “What next?” To be fair, there is a lot going on out there today. No matter what your poison, there is something for you. Want natural disasters? We’ve got hellish wildfires, tropical depressions in the gulf, snowstorms out west and if you’d prefer wildlife there is a tiger loose in Knoxville. Political intrigue more your thing? How about voter suppression, interference from foreign powers in our election, nearly five hundred bills still stalled in the Senate, whistleblowers exposing DHS malfeasance, or a president who totally did not say those things he is on tape saying during interviews where he agreed to be recorded. Oh, you prefer social unrest? We’ve got protests over police brutality, wehave got riots that devolve into looting being crashed by extremists looking for an opportunity to use deadly force to defend other peoples property, we’ve got fans booing at the first NFL game because the teams stood together with their arms linked in a moment of silence. That just barely scratches the surface of today’s news and all of this against the backdrop of a global pandemic with over 192,000 deaths in the US and nearly 1,000,000 deaths worldwide. So I’d say we deserve a drink here on the 19th anniversary of 9-11, a day when we are reminded not only of the terrible events, but of the unity that followed them. A unity that seems more like a dream now of a forgotten America than something we actually lived through and experienced. So, yes, I think a drink is in order. Won’t you please join me now as we stand and make, the Donn Day Afternoon.
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Remember Schoolhouse Rock? This drink is an absolute melting pot. A couple of things that pair naturally plus a couple that shouldn’t work at all but it comes together to make something unexpected and great; just like in Lady Liberty’s recipe. Won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Artichoke Hold.
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