I hopped on the Handpresso wagon a couple of years ago, and have never been very thrilled with what it can do. I’ve mostly moved to pour over coffee on the road. If you’re thinking about the Auto ESE, try it before you buy it AND buy good pods.

Wayne Gipson attending Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company Picnic.August 1974 National Archives Identifier: 412-DA-14072 Drinking from a flask is illegal in most places. Hipsters and folks that employ the logic of “it really shouldn’t be illegal so it mustn’t be illegal” might argue, as those ass hats are always wanting to argue something with broken logic. When it comes down to it, flasks are illegal with the exception of about six places in the US.1 In short, a flask is an open container. That doesn’t stop many of us. We carry one anyway; we just don’t waste a lot of mental energy rationalizing its legality. So the flask goes with us to the concert, movie theater, bus depot, company picnic, tent revival, family reunion or wherever a drink might be hard to find.2 Still, it’s an inconvenience, at best. Carrying a flask in cargo shorts or a waist band or a jacket pocket or a sock, just ain’t my style. Add to that the risk of leakage, and I usually leave mine at home. Now, let me interject one thing here before I continue. In no way am I making light of Mr. Gipson’s baby bottle with the implication that it’s his flask. I just started wondering what is a flask, and what makes a good flask? Sure there are the hip flasks we all know, but there’s also wine botas, booze books, cell phone flasks (for those wanting to tote a 1991-looking relic), binocular flask, and the BeerBelly (for those with a total lack of vanity or pride). There’s no shortage of ways to take your liquor with you. All of these are pricey, and, let’s admit it…a pain in the ass. So, when it comes right down to it, a baby bottle with a big nipple might just be the best flask of all. Easy to explain, disposable in a pinch, in ample supply in many families, and there’s no need to hide it. Well done, Mr. Gipson. Well done. Those places are Butte, Montana, the Power & Light District of Kansas City, Missouri, the Las Vegas Strip, Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, the Historic District of Downtown Savannah, Georgia, and the shopping district of Fredericksburg, Texas. Check out the Wikipedia article on open container laws for the details. ↩ I’ve had a good pull of bourbon at a tent revival in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. I was in high school. This about sums up the nature of my church affiliation. ↩

Wayne Gipson attending Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company Picnic.
August 1974
National Archives Identifier: 412-DA-14072

Drinking from a flask is illegal in most places. Hipsters and folks that employ the logic of “it really shouldn’t be illegal so it mustn’t be illegal” might argue, as those ass hats are always wanting to argue something with broken logic. When it comes down to it, flasks are illegal with the exception of about six places in the US.1 In short, a flask is an open container.

That doesn’t stop many of us. We carry one anyway; we just don’t waste a lot of mental energy rationalizing its legality. So the flask goes with us to the concert, movie theater, bus depot, company picnic, tent revival, family reunion or wherever a drink might be hard to find.2 Still, it’s an inconvenience, at best. Carrying a flask in cargo shorts or a waist band or a jacket pocket or a sock, just ain’t my style. Add to that the risk of leakage, and I usually leave mine at home.

Now, let me interject one thing here before I continue. In no way am I making light of Mr. Gipson’s baby bottle with the implication that it’s his flask. I just started wondering what is a flask, and what makes a good flask? Sure there are the hip flasks we all know, but there’s also wine botas, booze books, cell phone flasks (for those wanting to tote a 1991-looking relic), binocular flask, and the BeerBelly (for those with a total lack of vanity or pride). There’s no shortage of ways to take your liquor with you. All of these are pricey, and, let’s admit it…a pain in the ass.

So, when it comes right down to it, a baby bottle with a big nipple might just be the best flask of all. Easy to explain, disposable in a pinch, in ample supply in many families, and there’s no need to hide it.

Well done, Mr. Gipson. Well done.

  1. Those places are Butte, Montana, the Power & Light District of Kansas City, Missouri, the Las Vegas Strip, Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, the Historic District of Downtown Savannah, Georgia, and the shopping district of Fredericksburg, Texas. Check out the Wikipedia article on open container laws for the details. ↩

  2. I’ve had a good pull of bourbon at a tent revival in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. I was in high school. This about sums up the nature of my church affiliation. ↩

Tweet-a-Beer is just that, a site for tweeting a beer to someone you know (or don’t) on Twitter. It’s actually a little more than that, it’s a site that uses the Chirpify platform to process payments via PayPal.1 It rolled out the door last week at SXSW, and, when the news reached me, I wasn’t quite in the mood to tolerate it. I’d been fighting a cold, was breathing through my mouth, had been awake too long and was dealing with a work situation that I’d created out of sheer stupidity. Later in the day, I was able to get my shite together and give it a spin. The first time I tried to buy a beer for my good friend Shawn Fleek, the transaction failed. His PayPal email address was unverfied. He rectified it, and I successfully bought him a beer. He was at Curious Comedy Theater while I was at home hopped up on cold meds.2 Here are the obstacles (as I encountered them)… PayPal is required on both ends of the transaction. This really isn’t much of an obstacle, as PayPal is under the hood of many online transactions. I’m not a big fan of PayPal, mostly because of the user experience and some of their Terms of Service over the years. I was willing to bite the bullet and give it a try, especially after Chris Teso sorta called me out on it very politely. PayPal Prepaid Payments Email. I got an email message that looked like it required some sort of action on my part. The steps to take that action were unclear (the click stream in the email was incorrect). When I finally found where I as supposed to activate Chirpify Prepaid Payments, it seemed like no action was required. Since this is a PayPal generated email, I don’t think the fault lies with Chirpify. Long story short, no action is required even though the email says that action is required. This may change. Unconfirmed PayPal Email Address. Shawn is courting financial ruin by having an unconfirmed PayPal email address. Well, at least he wasn’t able to get the money transfer on the first go. I sent him a DM, and he verified his email address. Five minutes later, I successfully bought him a beer. Other than those hoops, it worked. Presumably, if you’re someone that’s going to be buying beer for folks via Tweet-a-Beer, those folks are likely to already be setup in PayPal to be able to accept the beer. At the moment, I believe the maximum transaction is $5, though I believe you could buy multiple rounds for a person through the night. Buying rounds for a group might get cumbersome, but I bet somebody’s already testing a solution to make that happen. Now, who wants to tweet me a beer so I can test and comment on the recipient side of things? The people responsible for launching it may have a more complete/accurate description, but hopefully my thumbnail explanation will do for most folks. ↩ At the time of this post, I’m still on moderate doses of cold meds, though feeling much more human. ↩ High-res

Tweet-a-Beer is just that, a site for tweeting a beer to someone you know (or don’t) on Twitter. It’s actually a little more than that, it’s a site that uses the Chirpify platform to process payments via PayPal.1

It rolled out the door last week at SXSW, and, when the news reached me, I wasn’t quite in the mood to tolerate it. I’d been fighting a cold, was breathing through my mouth, had been awake too long and was dealing with a work situation that I’d created out of sheer stupidity. Later in the day, I was able to get my shite together and give it a spin. The first time I tried to buy a beer for my good friend Shawn Fleek, the transaction failed. His PayPal email address was unverfied. He rectified it, and I successfully bought him a beer. He was at Curious Comedy Theater while I was at home hopped up on cold meds.2

Here are the obstacles (as I encountered them)…

  1. PayPal is required on both ends of the transaction. This really isn’t much of an obstacle, as PayPal is under the hood of many online transactions. I’m not a big fan of PayPal, mostly because of the user experience and some of their Terms of Service over the years. I was willing to bite the bullet and give it a try, especially after Chris Teso sorta called me out on it very politely.
  2. PayPal Prepaid Payments Email. I got an email message that looked like it required some sort of action on my part. The steps to take that action were unclear (the click stream in the email was incorrect). When I finally found where I as supposed to activate Chirpify Prepaid Payments, it seemed like no action was required. Since this is a PayPal generated email, I don’t think the fault lies with Chirpify. Long story short, no action is required even though the email says that action is required. This may change.
  3. Unconfirmed PayPal Email Address. Shawn is courting financial ruin by having an unconfirmed PayPal email address. Well, at least he wasn’t able to get the money transfer on the first go. I sent him a DM, and he verified his email address. Five minutes later, I successfully bought him a beer.

Other than those hoops, it worked. Presumably, if you’re someone that’s going to be buying beer for folks via Tweet-a-Beer, those folks are likely to already be setup in PayPal to be able to accept the beer. At the moment, I believe the maximum transaction is $5, though I believe you could buy multiple rounds for a person through the night. Buying rounds for a group might get cumbersome, but I bet somebody’s already testing a solution to make that happen.

Now, who wants to tweet me a beer so I can test and comment on the recipient side of things?

  1. The people responsible for launching it may have a more complete/accurate description, but hopefully my thumbnail explanation will do for most folks. ↩

  2. At the time of this post, I’m still on moderate doses of cold meds, though feeling much more human. ↩

Jack Daniels + Banjo + Letterpress = Three Minutes of Greatness

I can’t lie, chances are you won’t find Jack Daniel’s on my shelf. I only have so much room, and other things are battling for the shelf space. I do order it frequently when I’m out ‘n about and need a little bit of Tennessee.

I don’t know if you can still pick up the posters, but Matt Morelock’s pickin’ ‘n stompin’ are worth several replays of the video.

The Tico Times has a brief look at the changing coffee culture in Guatemala where, historically, the farmers that raise premium beans drink instant coffee and make about $2 a day. Some farmers are now taking more control over the production process, adding more value before the beans leave their hands and pocketing the profit. High-res

The Tico Times has a brief look at the changing coffee culture in Guatemala where, historically, the farmers that raise premium beans drink instant coffee and make about $2 a day. Some farmers are now taking more control over the production process, adding more value before the beans leave their hands and pocketing the profit.

Kristian Day will be screening Capone’s Whiskey: The Story of Templeton Rye in some Iowa theaters very soon (approximately 25 screenings). I haven’t seen the documentary, but I’m a fan of Templeton (after sitting on the fence about it for a few months). I’d love to see it.

The screening locations and dates are on the Facebok page for Capone’s Whiskey: The Story of Templeton Rye.

This Week’s Tasting Notes

I’ve spent most of the last week in Los Angeles with Extra Special KDB, and, though eating and drinking with abandon, took very few notes. Here’s a quick look at two things. I hope to have some time later this week or early next to talk about cocktails and wine pairings with dinner at Providence.

36th Vote Barreled Manhattan
The phrase, “pre-made Manhattans,” should give most folks cause for alarm, but the folks at High West Distillery know what they’re doing with the 36th Vote. The recipe is simple: 2 parts rye, 1 part sweet vermouth and two dashes of bitters. Scale that recipe up to fill a white oak barrel for 90 days, and you get a well balanced Manhattan that’s great up (if you want all of the spiciness and herbal notes) or on the rocks (if you want to tame it just a bit). Now, the real trick will be finding this in Portland.

Allagash Curieux
Allagash has all but disappeared from Oregon as the company works out some demand and capacity issues (at least that was the story last year), but I got to sample it several times this week in LA. I think it’s quite a nice bourbon barrel aged tripel, though the price might be a turn off for some at $20.99. Jeffy swears that it’s not quite a good as it used to be, but it’s still really good and worth trying if you’ve got the cash.
ABV: 11%