CS Booze Club.

[Jester]

It had Absolut, Peach Schnapps, TripleSec, and cranberry & lime juices. At least that's what the board said lol. Thanks Jester!

Hmm. Interesting twist. Here's how I would make it:

1 oz. vodka.
1/2 oz peach schnapps.
1/4 oz. triple sec.
1/4 oz. Rose's lime juice.
1/4 oz. cranberry juice.

Mix all ingredients in shaker tin with ice. Shake shake shake, shake that booty. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Variations:

--Rather than regular Absolut, you might want to experiment with Absolut Apeach, if you want it to be peachier. Matter of personal taste.

--Speaking of personal taste, you can experiment with the triple sec, try as much as 1/2 oz. if the 1/4 oz. version isn't doing it for you.

--Some people prefer their cosmos over ice, rather than served up. This particular cosmo lends itself well to that. To do this, just build the drink in a 10-12 oz. glass over ice, shake it in the shaker tin, then just pour the tin's contents right back into the glass. Perfect for a hot summer day.

--Instead of a lime wedge, consider using a peach slice as garnish.

--For those people (like me) who aren't fond of vodka and prefer things on the rummier side, substitute rum for the vodka, or hell, go whole hog and use Bacardi Peach Red rum. Peachy!

(Of all or these, if I had to choose one way to go, I'd go with the Absolut Apeach, the drink served up, 1/4 oz. of triple sec, and use both the lime wedge and the peach slice. Unless I was making it for me and the rum crowd of course, in which case it would be the Bacardi Peach Red, but everything else the way I just said it. Of course, as always, I could be remarkably wrong...)


Here endeth the lesson. Go forth and cocktailize.

[pzychobitch]

If I remember to post in here when I try something new, I will.

I work at a liquor store and it'll take months if not years to try everything.

[Jester]

A customer today asked if I knew how to make a Tic Tac. I didn't, but I told him if he told me the ingredients, I could probably get it pretty good. He did. I about barfed. Because the ingredients were vodka, OJ, sweet and sour, and Red Bull. Now, I know I am not a Red Bull fan, but really, does that combination sound appetizing to anyone here?

So I just stared at the guy, caught off guard, and asked, "Really?" Luckily he was not offended, and told me just needed something with some juice. I suggested one of our best fruity specialty drinks.

He had two.

[Dentarthurdent]

...the ingredients were vodka, OJ, sweet and sour, and Red Bull.

Oh barf.

When I was in high school one of my friends used to mix together various things from our lunch trays and dare me to taste them. The worst was when I thought her orange juice was chicken soup.

[sms001]

Now, I know I am not a Red Bull fan, but really, does that combination sound appetizing to anyone here?

No sir. No it does not.

I'm totes with you on the Red Bull thing, but strangely, I find the smell of them very good.

[Jester]

Evodia garnacha. A lovely, slightly dry, smooth red wine that, while mellow, holds up well to hearty dishes, such as spaghetti with meat sauce. Which I just made, and then drank the Evodia with.

How is it? Well, there's a reason I love Spanish reds, and this one puts forth another argument in favor of that love affair. It's tasty and flavorful, but balanced, and doesn't insist on being the star of the show. In short, it's a fantastic wine to drink with a meal. This vintage was 2010. Well worth whatever I paid for it--which sadly, I don't remember, but it was almost certainly $20-30 or less.

[KiaKat]

Did I recommend that one to you? I know it'd definitely be on the list...

If you're paying more than $15-17 (taking into account the increased cost in KW), you're overpaying. Here in NY, it's no more than $14, and that's at insanely overpriced boutique stores. Hell, my store charges around $12.

(side note - take a look at the ABV next time. 15%! It's such a well-balanced wine that you don't notice the alcohol. At least until you stand up from the table...)

Next time you're looking for a splurge, check out Mas Martinet wines from Priorat. Her entry level is Menut, a very simple label with an artistic representation of a bird. I have a feeling you'd like it, and I'm almost certain they have FL distribution.

[Jester]

Did I recommend that one to you?

No idea. Been in my wine rack for a while, and I pulled it out to drink with a pasta dinn I made myself that night. Don't know who, if anyone, recommended it, where I got it, or how much I paid for it.

Next time you're looking for a splurge, check out Mas Martinet wines from Priorat. Her entry level is Menut, a very simple label with an artistic representation of a bird. I have a feeling you'd like it, and I'm almost certain they have FL distribution.

What country is it from? I'll keep an eye out...

[Jester]

So there I was, sitting at the office the other day...oh, wait....I mean sitting at World of Beer Key West. Which, let's face it, has pretty much been my office the last few months since they opened.

They are doing a special promotion this week on Stone Brewing's beers. Towards that end, my bartender tells me, they got in a single twelve pack of Stone 06.06.06. Or as he refers to it, "Stone Six Six Six." Intriguing....but the significance is lost on me. He explains that it was a limited release batch that Stone made up in 2006, and they've done other such beers in other years. But apparently--though I may have this part wrong--the Six Six Six has taken on a mystique of its own, as it is apparently really good and equally hard to find. But they have twelve big bottles of the stuff, though he has no idea how they managed to score them. Luck, apparently.

Furthermore, he tells me, WOBKW will not be selling those 12 bottles to the general public, but have reserved them for the top 12 people on their leader board. The significance of that is not lost on me. "Hey, that includes me!" Hey, what can I say? I've been in the top five since the day they opened. It's good to be me!

Now, I've not been huge on a lot of Stone beers I've had. Their most famous is probably Arrogant Bastard. Love the name, hate the beer. Hated the Oaked Arrogant Bastard even more. And while their IPA is apparently pretty good, I'm not much of an IPA guy, and was not fond of that, either. But during their "Stonehenge" event, I tried a couple of Stone's stouts, and was very impressed by them. So, even though the big bottle of Six Six Six was $21, I figured what the hell? So I had him put it on my tab and took it home with me.

Often with beers like this, I will "cellar" them...let them sit in my fridge or pantry for a while. I still have unopened bottles of beers that I bought 2-3 years ago, actually. But not this time! I figure the beer is already 7 years old, might as well check it out! So, without further ado, here's my review, which I'm typing up as I sample the beer.


Stone Vertical Epic Ale 06.06.06 (California, 8.66% ABV): It has a flat black color with little evident carbonation. The nose is subtle but malty and rich, hinting at something promising. Perhaps some very subtle hints of chocolate or coffee, but it's hard to tell.

The flavor, however, is not so mysterious. Rich and deep, malty, balanced, sweet but not overly so, with definite characteristics of mocha and fine, rich chocolate.

Names of beers are often overly hyperbolic, with fantastic sounding names given to mundane or even bad beers. That is not the case here, as this beer is, in fact, epic.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

In other words, if you get the opportunity to buy this beer, and you like smooth dark beers, don't let the price tag stop you. Get it. Savor greatness.


A few of you may have noticed that I mentioned two other Stones that I really liked. Over the last few months, I've been taking tasting notes at WOBKW, but haven't really posted most or perhaps any of them. I plan on it, at some point, but having tried 360 beers in the last six months since they opened, even when you don't include the beers I'd had prior to WOBKW, that still a lot of notes. And I'll get to them. Eventually. But here are the notes on the two Stones I had this week, both on draft:

Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout (imperial stout, 13.0%): Beautiful black color. VERY subtle nose, almost imperceptible. Hints of malt and chocolate. Ho. Ly. Crap. This is delicious! Smooth, almost creamy, thick mouth feel, hints of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, malt, chocolate syrup...and yet all balanced and restrained. Truly astounding. 8.0.

Stone Espresso Imperial Russian Stout (11.0%): Black color with hints of ruby, and a tan head. Coffee nose with strong note of chocolate. Delicious and smooth. Good mocha flavor, good combo of sweet and bitter, a la dark chocolate. 8.0.


So, yeah, my whole opinion on Stone has been turned completely around. These guys make my kind of dark beers!

[Jester]

So I just finished the Six Six Six a few minutes ago. One big 22 pz. bottle, two glasses total, just over two hours. As I said...savor greatness.

[Dentarthurdent]

So I tried two new things tonight. Our local liquor store lets you build your own six-pack, and I grabbed up Stella Artois Cidre and Mike's Hard Black Cherry.

Stella Artois Cidre - No. Just...no. I am a big fan of hard cider. This is not delicious. It was really strong. It was like being attacked by an apple. It had a really weird aftertaste, too.

Mike's Hard Black Cherry - This was fairly decent when it was cold. As it warmed, it started tasting extremely nasty, like the flavor portion of cough syrup. A friend advised me to chug it to finish it. It was pretty unfortunate. Not nearly as disgusting as the...um...Lindeman's Kriek Beer, which pretty much WAS cherry cough syrup. But...it brought back unpleasant memories of my first time getting extremely drunk, when I sat with a one-liter of Jones Black Cherry Soda, a bottle of Jack, and went back and forth between the two of them until the soda was gone...then proceeded to get lost in the woods and lose my bra. But that's a story for a new thread...or better yet, NEVAR.

[sms001]

build your own six-pack, and I grabbed up Stella Artois Cidre

So glad you did. It's a premium plus item here (7.?? a FOUR pack!), so can't go in a build-your-own, so I've been hoping to run into someone who's tried it. Thanks for the heads up.

[Jester]

Mike's Hard Black Cherry - This was fairly decent when it was cold. As it warmed, it started tasting extremely nasty, like the flavor portion of cough syrup. A friend advised me to chug it to finish it. It was pretty unfortunate.

Your friend gave you really bad advice. What you should have done was add some ice to the Mike's. Now, one should never use ice in beer, but in ciders and flavored malt liquors like Mike's and Smirnoff Ice, there's really no reason not to. And the obvious plus of adding ice is that you don't have to chug something nasty.

So glad you did. It's a premium plus item here (7.?? a FOUR pack!), so can't go in a build-your-own, so I've been hoping to run into someone who's tried it. Thanks for the heads up.

Now, I'm not a fan of it either, but I know a lot of people who like the Stella Cidre. So if you find a chance to try a single one somehow, go for it.

[ReverendBSB]

I mostly drink Jack, but when I drink beer its either Modelo or one of my two favorite local brewers, Abita and Tin Roof. Tin Roof has a Watermelon Wheat that is exceptional. Very subtle fruit flavor and very crisp. I used to like Flying Dog but I cannot find it around here anymore.

[KiaKat]

What country is it from? I'll keep an eye out...

Priorat is generally considered to be the Rhone Valley of Spain. Grenache/Syrah based blends, usually with Cab or Merlot to shake things up a bit. Montsant is usually known as the "baby Priorat," and the big winemaking family for the area is the Perez family. Sarah is Mas Martinet, and her father is the bigwig behind Clos Martinet. In many ways, they ARE Priorat.