Let Them Eat Cake (Too Many Fatties On The Dancefloor) - Andy Clockwise
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Let Them Eat Cake (Too Many Fatties On The Dancefloor)

  • Andy Clockwise
  • The Socialite

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Extra Special KDB and I don’t do a lot of baking. I’ve tried kicking as much sugar to the curb as possible. I don’t need the calories, and I didn’t lose 60 pounds over the last two years eating…well…eating cake. All that said, we wanted cake on last night. More specifically, we wanted cake in time to watch a two-hour episode of Downton Abbey.

Neither of us had a recipe we were dying to try, so she quickly went through some sites and ran into something that looked like it was worth investigating. Chocolate Whiskey Bundt Cake has whiskey, coffee, lots of chocolate, butter and sugar. You can grab the full recipe at Epicurious, and here’s what we used for three of the ingredients:

  1. we used Holy Kakow’s Oragnic Cacoa Powder for the unsweetened cocoa powder
  2. we used Extracto’s El Salvador Adelaida made in a Chemex for the coffee
  3. we used Noah’s Mill for the whiskey

I was also playing a little house DJ while we baked, and eventually put Andy Clockwise’s Let Them Eat Cake on repeat.

Pics in the next post.

I’m late to the game on this one, but Proof, from Zeus Jones is a whole barrel of awesomeness.

I’m late to the game in the sense that while the app still works, the promotional bottles of scotch that were sent out have long since disappeared. Basically, you can still buy scotch, and host tastings using the app. I’d love there to be a bourbon version.

This Week’s Tasting Notes

I’ve been eating and drinking quite a bit lately, but I’ve not been very good about writing or taking many notes. That said, here’s what I’ve managed to scrabble together when it comes to my holiday drinking the last few weeks.

Mary Unbound
This is mostly an excuse to have delicious pickles in a glass, and The Flint Hills Foodie will admonish me when he sees this.1 Every now and then, a man needs pickled vegetables, delicious pickled vegetables. In this case, I found myself with three jars of goodies from Unbound Pickling (many thanks to them) and wanted to put them to work in a Bloody Mary. I also plan a post this week with my tasting notes from each of the Unbound vegetables I’ve been using in drinks and on plates.

  • 4 oz. Knudsen Farm’s Tomato Juice
  • 3 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
  • 3 dashes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
  • Squeeze of Lemon
  • 3 Unbound Pickling Green Beans
  • 3 Unbound Pickling Okra
  • 3 Unbound Picking Beets
  • A little salt and pepper
  • Drizzle Unbound Pickling Beet juice over it

We drank these without liquor, but add 1.5 oz of yer favorite poison to it if you need to dial it in that direction.

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Seizoen
I’ve been drinking this offering from Logsdon Farmhouse Ales for several months now, and it was just named Willamette Week’s Top Oregon Beer of 2011. That announcement didn’t impact its availability too much, but I did notice some depletion at News Seasons Market. Try this beer folks.2
ABV: 8%

Heater Allen Pils
This is currently my second favorite beer that keeps finding its way into our home. It’s nearly half the price of Logsdon’s Seizoen so maybe that makes it my favorite. It’s really a coin toss. This is a Bohemian-style pale lager that Heater Allen says has a strong hop character which normally has me running for the woods. I find the hops to be balanced enough by the other things at work on the palate that it’s very drinkable. In the photo, it’s paired with a turkey/guacamole sandwich and roasted red pepper soup.
ABV: 5%

Yoshi No Gawa Winter Warrior
This is the latest sake that SakeOne is importing for Yoshi No Gawa, and I’m pretty happy with it. It’s got a little bit of fruity sweetness on the front, but a little earthy kind of note as well. I was psyched to have a friend pull a bottle from her fridge on New Year’s Eve as several of us sat down to some homemade pho. At $30, it might be a bit pricey, but I’m sure you can get a free taste if you’re willing to take a short drive out to SakeOne.

Pappy Van Winkle (20 Years Old)
We put 2011 to rest (and ourselves to bed) with a little nip of Pappy. I hadn’t had the 20 year for probably a few years, so this was a nice reminder of just what I like about Pappy Van Winkle…smooth spiciness with vanilla. Good stuff.

Ninkasi Double Red
Light hops and a slight smokiness made this a great pre-holiday lunch at Lair Hill Bistro when paired with their Brie on Baguette sandwich.

The rest of this list is pretty much where I’ve placed the stinkers.

Bear Republic Tartare
I almost didn’t even taste this sour Weissbier, as my first whiff reminded me of something gastric that rhymes with comet. Yes, the smell turned me off, and this thing was so sour I deemed it undrinkable with but a sip. Of course, this means Extra Special KDB loved it. Our palates do differ on occasion. I’ll be staying away from this (and nearly all sours).
ABV: 4%

Stumptown’s Decaf House Blend
I’ve been thinking of cutting my caffeine intake so I took this decaf blend for a spin using a Chemex Coffeemaker. It kind of tastes like coffee, but only barely. Does the decaffeination process strip out almost all flavors and notes? I must research and investigate. This is literally the first decaf I’ve drank in nearly 30 years.

Hales Nitro Cream Ale
I’ve enjoyed this lately on a few occasions, but on the first day of the new year, it didn’t suit my fancy.

  1. The Flint Hills Foodie and I generally have similar thoughts on eating and drinking, but the Bloody Mary is one drink on which we disagree. He foolishly thinks that a Blood Mary should be restricted to just one to two pickled green beans while I believe the Bloody Mary is a canvas deserving of anything from beef jerky to pickled Brussels sprouts. The more flourish, the better in my opinion. ↩

  2. One thing I’ve come to dislike abut Logsdon Farmhouse Ales is the beeswax seals. In a recent tasting notes post, I said they were a nice novelty. Well, that novelty is now just a pain. I suppose it’s a small pain to bear given the delicious taste inside. ↩

A Brief Look at C. W. Irwin Straight Bourbon

The folks at Oregon Spirit Distillers were giving tasting samples of some of their spirits the day before Thanksgiving. When an Oregon or otherwise Pacific Northwest distiller holds up a whiskey offering, I always try to give it a taste. Liquor store tastings aren’t the optimal place to give things a swirl and taste, but I was intrigued enough by the sample to pick up a bottle.

Neat
I was immediately reminded of Atomic Fireballs when I first tried the Irwin neat. A super cinnamon taste that left little on the mid-palate. The tip of my tongue took the brunt of the spice, and It seemed like a shallow, novelty spirit at this point. This did not happen in the liquor store, so I’m not sure what was going on with my palate.1 I decided to give it a little branch water.

Neat with Branch Water
This is where things changed for the better. That front end cinnamon spice mellowed out, and the bourbon really opened up, creating a tamed sipping whiskey with some hints of vanilla. Extra Special KDB and I continued to enjoy Irwin this way through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Their web site says that Irwin is the perfect blend of old west and new frontier, bold flavor with a smooth finish. It’s certainly worth a look, though I think the price point is a tad high (only by a buck or two) at $28. If that’s the price of supporting an Oregon distiller, I can’t complain. Again, it’s worth a look.

  1. This spicy encounter wasn’t repeated last evening when I revisited the bourbon neat. Those mellow vanilla notes were there without the Atomic Fireball effect. ↩

Van Winkle Bourbons Available Soon

Posting a press release is a bit lame, but it’s great news.

FRANKFORT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, KY (Oct. 25, 2011) – At long last, the iconic Van Winkle bourbons will be back on shelves soon! The popularity of Van Winkle whiskeys remains unmatched and in short supply. Known for their smoother and sweeter flavor, Van Winkle bourbons are aged years longer than most others and garner an impeccable reputation among connoisseurs. The collection consists of Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon aged 10 years, available in 90 proof and 107 proof; Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon, aged 12 years; Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbons, aged 15 years, 20 years and 23 years; and Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye Whiskey, aged 13 years.

The Van Winkle line of whiskeys has won a bevy of awards through the years, including 2010 “Spirit of the Year” from Wine and Spirits Magazine for Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Old; “Best of Show” and “Best Whiskey” at the 2010 Los Angeles Wine and Spirits Competition; a double gold medal at the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits Competition; and gold medals at both the 2011 International Wine and Spirits Competition and the 2011 Los Angeles Wine and Spirits Competition.

The fall release of Van Winkle bottles will be available in select stores toward the end of November.

About Van Winkle Bourbon

The Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery has a four generation history. The Van Winkle family’s involvement in the bourbon industry began in the late 1800s with Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle, Sr. He was a traveling salesman for the W.L. Weller and Sons wholesale house in Louisville. Pappy and a friend, Alex Farnsley, eventually bought the wholesale house and also partnered with Mr. A. Ph. Stitzel on the purchase of Mr. Sitzel’s distillery. The three of them merged the two companies and became the Stitzel-Weller Distillery.

In May of 1935 at the age of 61, Pappy opened the newly completed Stitzel-Weller Distillery in South Louisville. Its prominent brands were W.L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, Rebel Yell, and Cabin Still. Pappy had a heavy influence on the operations there until his death at the age of 91. His son, Julian, Jr. took over operations until he was forced by stockholders to sell the distillery in 1972. The rights to all of their brands were sold to Norton Simon, Inc. Later, United Distillers, who eventually ended up with the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, sold off all of the original labels around 1999.

After selling the distillery, Julian Jr. resurrected a pre-prohibition label, the only one to which the Van Winkles kept the rights, called Old Rip Van Winkle. He used whiskey stocks from the old distillery to supply his brand. Julian Jr.’s son, Julian, III took over in 1981 when Julian, Jr. passed away. Julian III has continued with the Van Winkle tradition of producing high-quality wheated bourbon. His son, Preston, joined the company in 2001 and the Van Winkles look to continue that tradition for generations to come.

In 2002 the Van Winkles entered into a joint venture with Buffalo Trace Distillery in Franklin County, Frankfort, Ky. All of the Van Winkle’s whiskey production now takes place at Buffalo Trace Distillery under the same strict guidelines the family has always followed. For more information on the Van Winkle family of bourbon please visit www.oldripvanwinkle.com.

I like watching folks make and talk about making the Old Fashioned.

americandrink:

Plenty of you already know the ins and outs of making an Old Fashioned, but let’s start the week out with a baseline.

Who better to set this standard than Chris McMillian. McMillian is something of a legend. He’s a fourth-generation bartender who’s been making classic cocktails long before they were popular (again). This video was shot at the Library Lounge in New Orleans but you’ll find him at at Bar Uncommon these days.

New Olreans Best Cocktails: The Old Fashioned by keithmarszalek.

You might want to click through to see the rest of his videos.

This Week’s Tasting Notes

Just a recap of things I’ve enjoyed this week.

Bear Republic Brewing’s Late Harvest Lager
This is a traditional German-style Oktoberfest beer that, for me, has one foot planted in summer (when drinking lagers is best) and one foot planted in the fall with its big maltiness. Easy drinking. It’s currently on tap at Concordia Ale House, and check out Bear Republic’s other beers as well.
ABV: 6.3% IBU: 25 Color: Copper

Trader Joe’s Edna Valley Petit Reserve Pinot Noir 2009
I don’t have a lot to say except this is a good bargain Pinot at $6.99, and that I paired it with an egg scramble, some great northern beans, a little left over ribeye and some salsa verde. I was shoveling my face with too much ferocity to bother with taking notes.

1792 Bourbon
The best thing coming out of the Barton distillery that I’m aware.

Breakside Brewery
A great place with some seasonal and guest taps. I got a taster that consisted of Victory Pilsner, and Breakside’s own Dark Mild, IPA, Belgian White IPA, NW Strong Saison and Aztec beers. The clear winner in my book is the Victory Pilsner which is one of their guest beers. That’s nothing to hold against Breakside’s brews; pilsners are just where my palate likes to play.

More next week…