Boozers and Winos unite!

[WalterB]

I think you're jerkin' my chain, Kirstie, but, in case you're not, (and for the uninitiated,) Mad Dog 20-20 was the vino of choice (might still be,) of all the Cass Avenue wine connoisseurs of downtown Detroit of 1968-69. Of course, some people (disrespectful bastards) called them winos.

MD 20-20 was just about the cheapest vino of choice for all the street bums. The quality and taste were about a notch above shaving lotion

[Maggie Green]

I had a few tall glasses of Tito's with sparkling mineral water at the BBQ last night to keep myself refreshed. I'm glad I only got the small bottle, I'm out of practice.

It's pretty delicious!

Has anyone tried the alcoholic sparkling water? I've seen it advertised but haven't picked it up yet.

[PeterL22]

OK - sorry I've been MIA, but thought that as it has recently been 4th July, I would give Bourbon a go!
To start with a little project for you - my tame mixologist does a brilliant "Perfect Vanilla & Orange Old Fashioned " . I'm not a cocktail guy normally, open the bottle and pour is my motto! This is amazing though.
However, to make it you need to have Orange and vanilla bourbon- so here is the project - the recipe to make it!

You need 1 bottle of Bourbon ( use your favourite or the best you can afford)
2 oranges
3 vanilla pods
Bottle of Vanilla Gomme (syrup that is used in cocktails - available large supermarkets)


Cut & open the vanilla pods and scrape seeds from the centre.
Pour Bourbon into pan on stove and add vanilla seeds.
Gently heat.
Add orange peel and juice of half to whole orange (depends on size of orange and your own taste)
Add 50mls of Gomme.
Taste and add extra orange or Gomme as you wish

Allow to cool
Drink or bottle for future use

Talking of future use - tomorrow recipe for that Old Fashioned and a Manhattan!

[PeterL22]

So here are the cocktails

PERFECT VANILLA & ORANGE OLD FASHIONED
1 spoon caster sugar
4 dashes of Angostura Bitters
1 dash orange bitters
Add 50mls infused Bourbon (as per yesterday) incrementally with cubed ice stirring each time
Orange twist garnish

ORANGE & VANILLA MANHATTAN
50mls orange & vanilla Bourbon
25mls Martini Rosso
2 dashes Angostura bitters (or orange bitters)
Combine and shake over ice
Rim glass with orange peel
Fine strain and garnish with maraschino cherries


Drink & repeat as required!

[Maggie Green]

Ugh I can't do bourbon! The smell makes me ill!

[PeterL22]

Know what you mean, but I have to admit I find it smoother than whiskey.

Bourbon is actually a specific category of American whiskey and must be produced according to a strict set of rules. Here is an ABC as a reminder
A - American ( must be made in USA - not just Kentucky)
B - Barrels - must be aged in New charred oak barrels at 62.5% alc/vol or less
C - Corn - mash bill must be at least 51% corn (but less than79%) plus a flavouring grain (either wheat or rye)
D - Distillation - must be distilled to a strength of not more than 80% Most Bourbon is between 62.5 and 70%
E - Entry - must go into barrel at under 62.5%
F - Filling - must be bottled at minimum of 40%
G - Genuine - must not contain any artificial flavours, colours or other alcohols

Contrary to popular belief, Bourbon can be made anywhere in the US. Oddly, only Kentucky Bourbon can advertise the state where it is made so, for example, you can't have a Tennessee Bourbon!

[PeterL22]

Ok back to girly cocktails!
More cookery today
How to make Mango Tequila

1 bottle of tequila (I'm advised Patron Silver or Jose Traditional are good - but use your favourite I say).
2 or 3 mangoes
1 bag caster sugar (not sure if you call it that in US)
Splash water

Heat some of the sugar in a small amount of water.
Whilst it is heating, peel and chop the mangoes (2 or 3 depending on how fruity you want it)
put mango in pan with melted sugar
gently heat through, adding more sugar
Heat through to syrup then add tequila.\Sieve and taste and allow to cool.

You can then make the following :-
MANGO MARGARITA & MANGO TEQUILA FIZZ

Tell you about those tomorrow!

[Maggie Green]

Well what have you been drinking this week Peter? Inquiring minds want to know!!

[PeterL22]

Well what have you been drinking this week Peter? Inquiring minds want to know!!

Well its like this - a bit of beer, the odd Titos and I am trying a new rum.
I can't remember if I've said this and I'm too lazy to close this window down and go back to check; so forgive me if I've said this before.
Basically rums can be looked at by the places they come from and by the old colonial powers that once ruled there - e.g. Spain, France and Britain .
So I had a rum from Martinique recommended to me called Trois Rivieres. I dutifully looked this up and found that this was the distillery and they had several products - all looking good but some going into the real aged and luxury end of the scale (I'm talking £95 a bottle here).
I ended up getting a bottle at a (slightly) more modest £40 - their VSOP reserve speciale . You can taste that its French and the VSOP does give a clue - it has a brandy/spirit like taste to it. A little disappointing really - but that's the French for you (LOL)!
Back to my ex- Brit places like Barbados etc - Pink Pigeon and Bumbu are more to my taste.

I will be back more frequently, I promise.
Iechyd da!

[PeterL22]

Don't think this is repeat post, but I have recently found a great company (sorry but UK - so even if they ship to USA cost may be prohibitive) called Flavourly.
They do a sort of subscription, where each month they send you a box with 3x 20cl bottles of gin from a distillery, some tonic water (Fevertree of course) and some snacks. Great way to try different gins - otherwise you get stuck with full size bottle you may not really like!
My first box contained 3 bottles from a Scottish Distillery (they don't just make whisky up there you know) - Strathearn (in Perth) 2 bottles, and Orkney distillery.
Orkney is Kirkjuvagr (Old Norse for Church Bay) which is a smooth dry gin - good allrounder
Then 2 from Strathearn - Citrus gin - slightly yellowish with good lemon tones - works great with Sicilian lemonade, and my favourite (might need to get full bottle actually) Heather Rose which is a pale tea colour - lovely hints of rose and herbs. Really great and not overpowering - very refreshing.

Great idea - can't wait for next month's box!

[PeterL22]

Sorry about pause in bourbon - just got lost a bit!
few interesting bits about how bourbon is made

"Mash bill" - first thing that needs to be decided - the recipe of different grains used. For bourbon it must be 51% corn (but usually nearer 70%), while balance is made up of other grains, usually malted barley, or either rye and wheat.
Rye is the spicy, peppery grain that packs the punch (think tortilla chip in the back of the throat). Use more rye in the mash bill and you will get a heavier whiskey (e.g. Old Grandad), opt for more wheat (which the clever guys describe as smelling like a pampered baby when freshly ground - the wheat I think, not the baby!!), and you impart a sweetness for a lighter bourbon (could be for you Maggie) such as Makers Mark.
Process begins with the grains being coarsely ground and mixed with water and the mixture is heated to enable alpha amylase (present in the grains) to break down start=ch into simple (fermentable) sugars. Malted barley is a particularly good source of amylase.
Corn is mixed with water first and barley added last - and the mixture is mixed with paddles as it is heated. Sometimes the cooking is done under pressure.
Note that the USA is the only country to cook a mixture of grains. Places like Scotland cook the grains separately and then blend the different spirits after distillation!
95% of bourbon is made in Kentucky, and the state's nine bourbon distilleries lie within 40 miles of each other, partly due to the limestone-rich waters around Louisville. This limestone-rich water is sweet tasting hard water rich in calcium and magnesium, is great for distilling as its low iron and high calcium content aids yeast in fermentation.

To be continued............

[PeterL22]

Bourbon (continued)

Firstly, "Sour Mash" is not a positive selling point! Its not unique; in fact its standard practice in all bourbon production, the thing to look for is "sweet mash" as per Woodford Reserve (a great distillery) 1838 Sweet Mash Bourbon.
Most bourbons are double distilled - firstly in a column still which takes strength to 50 - 60%, and then again in direct heat copper stills known as doublers which remove further impurities and bring strength to 63-70% (few bourbons are triple distilled).
After the second distillation the spirit is called "White Dog" and some distillers have started bottling this and selling it. However, the most important part of bourbon making is the barrel aging process. Usually this is done for a minimum of two years and traditionally American White Oak is used for the casks (although it doesn't have to be).
The sheds in which the barrels are matured are called Rickhouses, and these rick houses are spread over a large area of the whiskey belt (also may be known as Tornado Alley) to spread the risk of damage and loss. Temperature alters maturation, because with heat the barrels expand and allow some whiskey to seep into the wood, when it cools the wood expels the whiskey - some producers heat their rick houses artificially to ensure these "cycles" occur!
Whiskies termed "Small Batch" are currently in vogue - these are blended from barrels in one area of a rick house (or even a single barrel) - the position of a barrel in a rick house may affect its maturation and flavour! There is no agreement as to how many barrels etc constitues "small batch", but it is a category recognised in law.


Bored with bourbon know - just to say I like Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace and more recently, Early Times Old Reserve! Oh, and that I prefer bourbon to Scottish and Irish whiskeys (even single malts like Laphroaig.).

Next post will be on Pink Elephants and Belgian beer!

[Maggie Green]

What in the world is a pink elephant?

I'm going to Hawaii next week so I know there will be plenty of Mai Tais in my future! Also a visit to the Kona Brewery which makes my most favorite beers! And they have delicious food as well : )

[PeterL22]

DT.jpeg (10.69 KiB) Viewed 121 times

Couple of quick questions Maggie one day I'll get you drunk!
Firstly, Kona Brewery - is that Sharka beer as in Sharka Blue with blueberries? - or is more research needed?
Secondly, What follows beer - black coffee of course! Kona coffee pretty good - so don't forget a visit there!

Pink Elephants - look here! - spoiler alert!!!

[PeterL22]

So this is it the Pink Elephant post - Now Delirium Tremens is the name for the hallucinations that alcoholics can get with alcohol withdrawal, and in the old days people use to joke about seeing pink elephants when they were drunk (I may be wrong, but I seem to remember a sequence in Dumbo with pink elephants).
But the cool Belgium brewery ( and Belgium is home to some great beers) called Huyghe has a range of beers it calls Delirium. There is , to my knowledge - Tremens, Red and Nocturnum.

Tremens is 8.5% (again typically Belgian)and is pale blonde. Really nice but gets more bitter as you swallow. A little spicy!
Noctorum - also 8.%%(who said Belgium is boring?). Dark brown/redand complex mixture of sweet, sour & bitter.
Red (my favourite) - 10% (yep double figures). Chestnut amber in colour, very spicy and quite bitter
Now this beer is from Belgium, I live in England , so where did I first come across it? Why, In a bar in Skyharbour Airport , Phoenix. Saw the name and though "I must try that!". Glasses also got me hooked too
If you get a chance give it a go - any of the three types is good drinking!

[LaurenLover]

I dont drink but I have a Arizona Madical Marijuana Card so I use lots of Cannabis. Maybe I should start a new forum topic.

[PeterL22]

I dont drink but I have a Arizona Madical Marijuana Card so I use lots of Cannabis. Maybe I should start a new forum topic.

Go for it my man - expert advice is always welcome!

[Hornylady9]

Peter, u have tried a lot of driffent drinks! Keep us informed.

Zany

[Maggie Green]

I gotta say I've been really cutting back from drinking since Hawaii. Have a had a couple of beers and a few glasses of wine in the two weeks since I've been back.

[PeterL22]

Hi Maggie and friends!
Two reasons for posting - firstly, to warn you I am back on-line; secondly to tell you (especially you Maggie) I have a couple of great vodkas to spread the word about