I dreamt last night of the past. Of people I haven’t seen in years. Of watching the world go by, sipping a glass of whiskey or a pint of the black stuff from my customary table in the corner of an Irish pub, a cigarette burning lazily in the ashtray. Wandering into a bar where your drink was sitting at your table by the time you got there. That got me thinking about old friends and Irish whiskey and a drink I have wanted to try, so join me now, as we stand and make, the Dublin Minstrel.
You know what it’s like, you find something cool and you want to make sure other folks get to check it out. I am pretty sure we are at our best, when we are sharing. The Dalai Lama said to “Share your knowledge, it is a way to achieve immortality.” So, we’ve got that going for us. The way I see things, if you are on social media and you aren’t creating your own content or showing me what you were wearing, eating drinking, etc. you better be sharing something of value. It doesn’t have to appeal to everyone, but it shouldn’t be mean either. That’s my opinion, you are free to go find your own, naturally. So, there’s your whole “sharing is caring” lead-in. Won’t you join me now as we stand and make the never-to-be-classic, Dead Men of Whiskey Sour
Laura had the fire going when I got home and that got me to thinking about cooking out, eating under the stars and this unusual cocktail. It’s a bit of a weird one, to be sure and I don’t know if it is going to work, but just because we may crash and burn, well that’s not gonna stop me from trying. So join me now, as we stand and make the BBB-Q Cookout.
I realized after I posted last night, that the centennial post did have an unintentional sort of farewell sound to it. That got me to thinking, I could just call it a good run and hang up the tins and my daily essays. For a moment I had a sense of relief. I wouldn’t have to think about this stuff anymore, I wouldn’t have to budget time for the writing, I could just make a drink because I wanted to, not because I felt I had to. So, rather than clarifying, I decided to sleep on it. This morning, while driving in to the office, I was super frustrated trying to process some of the policies our county has announced for the coming school year. I wanted to scream at the futility of it all, at the difference between a plan that truly tries to solve a problem and a plan that effectively covers the greatest number of school board butts and protects votes from the most vocal people who piled into the room to demand minimal action. I know a lot of folks aren’t affected by this, but to me it is very personal. To escape, I cranked up the radio, opened the sunroof and tried to let the frustrations slide away. As I intentionally distracted myself, my mind drifted into flavor profiles, shaking techniques, what drinks I wanted to explore in the next few weeks, what kind of ingredients and tools I should invest in next. I realized that making drinks for others and sharing them is something I have become passionate about. Without even realizing that I had made a decision, I began planning tonight’s drink, Otis Redding popped up on satellite radio roulette to remind me that “A Change is Gonna Come”, but not just yet. For now, we are gonna keep on, keeping on.
I don’t drink a lot of beer, never have. Sure, I would have one if it was offered, just wasn’t my thing. I could appreciate it but for the most part I just couldn’t get into them and it made me jealous. People who liked beer, really loved it. I wanted that. I wanted to be a part of that club, to enjoy something so accessible on such a deep level. I wanted to see 99 bottles of beer on the wall and get excited as I sang along. But it was not to be. Over the years, I have learned to appreciate many beers and to truly love a few, but I am not a “let’s grab a beer” guy. Maybe I never will be. Still, I had a hankering today, so join me as we stand and make the Notorious BHB.
“The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings.” It goes on, but you get the gist. I always loved that poem, obviously I did not learn the original from Lewis Carroll, but had Walt Disney interpret it for me in his adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Now, there is a head screw of a story, whether animated or in the written form. Your world suddenly turned upside down, where nothing makes sense, where you cannot tell who to trust and where the inhabitants often delight in being confounding, even when it is to their own detriment. Let’s dig into that as we stand and make, The Red Queen.
There is not a lot of process here. Sure there is a format, but mostly it is off the cuff and I don’t really have any idea where we are going with these drinks and commentary. Hell, I am often as surprised as you are when we take one of these hard turns halfway through. That is a big part of the fun for me, to do some research, make a cocktail and then just riff for awhile. My intent is to do a bit of a “behind the scenes” thing today, but I often start with good intentions, we will just have to see where we end up. So, join me now as we stand and make, the To Hell With Spain.
Well, this wasn’t the plan. I guess we are all saying that way too much this year. I had a craving for something refreshing this afternoon, probably with gin and chartreuse, but then things happened in the world and I felt like I should address them, with a drink, which is how I process things now, apparently. So, join me as we stand and make the Devil Went Down to Georgia.
You know what day it is! You know what time it is! You could’ve been anywhere in the world, but you are right here, on your couch watching the online premiere of the musical, Hamilton. In honor of this auspicious occasion I typed Hamilton cocktail into google and this is what they sent back. So join me as we stand and make My Shot: An Alexander Hamilton Cocktail.
A couple of weeks ago I made a thing of beauty, the Earl Grey, Not, inspired by the great folks at Dux in Barcelona. We have honestly made that drink several times since then. We already had the tea syrup, it was easy and oh so good, plus Laura insisted. This afternoon, she requested another and I decided to play with an ingredient I have had sitting around since the first of the year. Since, I made this one up, based on a drink I made up a name for in the first place, it falls to me to give it a name, which feels like a heavy responsibility. So join me as we stand and make, the never to be classic, Coffee, Tea or Me.
