House Spirits is a distillery in the inner SE industrial district of Portland that produces a vodka, a gin, and whatever else captures the fancy of the distillers. They share space and equipment with Ransom Sprits, producer of grappa and port, and Sub Rosa Spirits, producer of infused vodka.
Our tasting party began with brunch, then migrated to the distillery. Afterwards stragglers continued for chocolate. Yeah, it’s been a pretty good afternoon.
This is the one that is going to put you on the map. The one that will bring out the real Great American Novel. The one that will separate those of us what can hold our liquor and type in the footsteps of our patron saint, the late Hunter S. Thompson – with a red laptop under one arm and a fifth of Wild Turkey under the other.
This, folks, is AlcoWriMo. Only longer.
The idea is from my buddy Ken, who today said I should write the next Great American Novel in my free time, as he put it, “I’d love to see some thousand-page monster entitled BABOONS RIDING MY DICK FOREVER in bookstores.”
So. Get out your old fashioned glasses, an ice bucket and a bottle of bourbon, all arranged counterclockwise from your keyboard. Put four ice cubes in the glass, pour on just enough bourbon to make them float, take a sip & start writing.
It’s about time we brought back the sordid, alcohol-soaked underbelly of writing. How could Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Truman Capote, Edgar Poe, Stephen Crane, Theodore Roethke, Hermen Melville, Delmore Schwartz, Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulker, Jack London, O. Henry, Sinclair Lewis, George Sterling, Maxwell Bodenheim, Sherwood Anderson, Hart Crane, Dylan Thomas, Joaquin Miller, Eugene O’Neill, Malcolm Lowry, Jack Kerouac & our patron saint, Hunter S. Thompson, be wrong?
Celebrated Repeal Day at Teardrop Lounge with Xen, Mara, Curtis, and Sarah. Some time we’ll post a thorough review in these pages, but for now, let me quickly mention what a wonderful time we had and that Teardrop remains my favorite place for cocktails in Portland.
The Teardrop put up a wonderful list of special drinks that included a few of my favorites: the Jasmine, the Pegu Club, the Ward 8. And their Aviations are fairly close to perfect.
NABC cardholders, make sure I take you here when you’re in town.
Also, their monthly newsletter, which enumerates the daily drink special, is an inspiration.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Pour bourbon over 4 ice cubes in an old fashioned glass. Throw everything else away. Repeat.
Duchy Originals Organic English Ale
Wychwood Brewery Company, Ltd.
5% ABV, 20.9UK fl oz. (596.67 ml), $3.99/bottle
Bodine Value: 7.47
Total consumption time: approx. 1 hour
You discover some interesting things wandering the aisles of Russian-owned, Korean-managed, various-South-American-staffed markets in Brooklyn. Golden Farm, on Church Ave. at East 4th St. happens to have far more interesting imported beers than six-packs of the standard brews you’d expect to find. If you’re in the market for a somewhat obscure eastern european beer, try one of these places before lighting out across town to a distributor.
In this particular instance I stumbled across a shelf near the bread aisle containing most of the Samuel Smith product line and something I’d never seen before: Duchy Originals Organic English Ale. Being an imbiber who is always interested in unexpected bodega finds, I immediately grabbed a bottle.
The folks over at Beer Advocate have submitted 92 reviews for this particular ESB, so I shall quickly sum up my thoughts. When decanted carefully into a pint glass (beware of overage… it comes out to about a pint plus a healthy sip) you’re presented with minimal head and a pleasing coppery-brown hue. The nose is malty, with a trace of roastedness that reads slightly chocolatey. It’s tasty, but stays fairly close to the standard ideal ESB and thus isn’t terribly remarkable beyond noting that it’s pleasant. The flavor is mild, and I was glad the bodega hadn’t chilled the bottle as doing so would probably have rendered it nearly flavorless.
The label copy reads:
“Made to a traditional and exclusive recipe using Barley from selected organic farms including the Home Farm at Highgrove” and “profits donated to the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation”.
It’s clear they’re going for the crunchy hippie angle here, royal patronage notwithstanding.
Duchy Originals is Prince Charles’ organic food label which launched in 1992 and the Prince’s website claims that one million British pounds are steered into various charities due to Duchy Originals profits every year. It’s possible that the bottle I purchased was over a year old as the Prince apparently changed the name of his charity to The Prince’s Charities Foundation in 2006. Age didn’t seem to have a negative effect on the beer.
The verdict? Worth trying, but don’t expect much in the way of a new experience here.
I was at Lucy Brennan’s bar 820 a couple weeks ago and had her cocktail the Ruby, a drink based on beet-infused vodka. It was really good, the earthy flavor of beets is balanced by a nice citrus-sour element. The vodka derives a very interesting sweetness from the beets. And the color is wonderful.
I found instructions for the beet infusion on the blog of Imbibe Magazine in a posting announcing the release of Lucy Brennan’s book Hip Sips.
I scaled the recipe down a little. I used a fifth of vodka (New Deal) and one pound of beets cut in wedges (ninths to twelfths), and let it all soak for four-and-a-half days. On Wednesday I drained the vodka off the beets. What resulted is a deep red-purple liquid that has some translucence. The aroma is of beets, and surprisingly sweet.
I made a quick sour mix of
◇ 4 oz sugar,
◇ 4 oz water,
◇ 2 oz lemon juice, and
◇ 2 oz lime juice.
And then tried the Ruby.
Lucy Brennan’s Ruby
In a cocktail shaker over cracked ice, pour
◇ 3 oz beet-infused vodka and
◇ 1 oz sour mix.
Shake1 to chill, strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist.
This was a good drink when the bartender at 820 mixed it, but in my hands I thought it needed a dash of Angostura bitters to bridge the sweetness of the beets with that of the sour mix. It may be that the extra 36hrs of soaking pulled more sugars from the beets.
The color of the beet-infused vodka is amazing. There has got to be some ingredient that will make it look a little more like blood, you know, to appeal to the inner goth in us all. I spied a half a bottle of chianti sitting on the counter from dinner earlier this week …
Borsch
In a cocktail shaker over cracked ice, pour
◇ 2 oz beet-infused vodka and
◇ 2 oz chianti.
Shake to chill, strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a sprig of thyme and a tiny tomato. Maybe a thin slice of pumpernickel bread.
A little silly, being made from ingredients at hand, but simple and tasty. This would make a good savory drink for a brunch, instead of a Bloody Mary.
There are a number of further directions I mean to take the half liter of beet-infused vodka that remains. The Sub Rosa Tarragon infused vodka sounds like a natural pairing. Dry vermouth, even, should have some qualities that mix well with the beets, it shouldn’t take more than a little time to figure out the proportions. And maybe that Modern Spirits Oregon Black Truffle infused vodka2.
1. Do not allow the shaker to come apart while mixing or else the whole bar will be spattered with lurid red liquor that will raise more questions than you want to answer.
2. Which is on my Christmas list, if you’re so inclined.
This evening I had more than a couple (Imperial) pints of the Anchor 2007 Christmas Ale. It is really good. Dark-bodied, a scent of sarsaparilla, a slight sweetness, a slight hint of mint. It reminds me of the 2002, but without as much sap-iness as that vintage had. But it is a good year.
I hereby unleash the charge of the North American Booze Council: DRINK THIS !
A little over a year ago, NABC fellow Roninspoon and I found occassion to meet for a drink. Circumstances dictated a cigar bar, just off the piazza in Italy, or Las Vegas’ simulacrum of the same1. It was near closing time, the AOR band was seemingly enjoying themselves, and the bartender came out to take our order.
Roninspoon ordered a bourbon on rocks,2 I ordered a martini. To which the bartender asked, “What kind of vodka would you like for that, sir?”
“Gin,” I replied dryly, “the gin sort of vodka.”3
I have always been a gin man. There is something about the clarity that gin imparts to the mind that seduces me. My favorite drink is the Aviation. I love a half-dozen oysters with a martini in hand. Let the cry echo to the heavens, GIN GIN GIN!
Tonight, for Mixology Monday 21, hosted by Jay at Oh Gosh!, we formalized a couple of recipes that came out of a gin tasting4 we organized this weekend. Each of the two are variations on classic drinks. Each are equally wonderful before dining or late at night.
This past weekend we threw a tremendous party at the Prince of Cups’ residence. To call it a “weekend” is a misnomer, as we began last Thursday and ended last night. Don Red, contributor to this blog, issued a challenge to me, which was delivered verbally by QXZ, another contributor: to live-blog from the bar. This was, unfortunately, impossible. It will have to wait until that far-future date when the boston shaker is a blogject. However, over the course of the heavy assault on sleep and livers, I was able to taste a few interesting libations.
This is the kind of stuff that makes one proud to be be an American. Introduced as S. Res. 294 on 2007 August 02 to the 110th Congress by Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY),
“Whereas Congress declared bourbon as `America’s Native Spirit’ in 1964, making it the only spirit distinctive to the United States;
Whereas the history of bourbon-making is interwoven with the history of the United States, from the first settlers of Kentucky in the 1700s, who began the bourbon-making process, to the 2,000 families and farmers distilling bourbon in Kentucky by the 1800s;
Whereas bourbon has been used as a form of currency;
Whereas generations have continued the heritage and tradition of the bourbon-making process, unchanged from the process used by their ancestors centuries before;
Whereas individual recipes for bourbon call for natural ingredients, utilizing the local Kentucky farming community and leading to continued economic development for the Commonwealth of Kentucky;
Whereas generations of people in the United States have traveled to Kentucky to experience the family heritage, tradition, and deep-rooted legacy that the Commonwealth contributes to the United States;
Whereas each year during September visitors from over 13 countries attend a Kentucky-inspired commemoration to celebrate the history of the Commonwealth, the distilleries, and bourbon;
Whereas people who enjoy bourbon should do so responsibly and in moderation; and
Whereas members of the beverage alcohol industry should continue efforts to promote responsible consumption and to eliminate drunk driving and underage drinking: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate–
(1) designates September 2007 as `National Bourbon Heritage Month’;
(2) recognizes bourbon as `America’s Native Spirit’ and reinforces its heritage and tradition and its place in the history of the United States; and
(3) recognizes the contributions of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to the culture of the United States”
Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.
God bless these fifty United States & our liquor made from at least 51% corn, distilled to no more than 160 proof & aged in new, charred white oak barrels for at least two years.
Enjoy bourbon this month or you hate our freedoms.
