My friends, Hallowe’en means many things to me.  As you may have guessed, I have a bit of a penchant for dark stories and poetry (I mean, really, “The Raven”!).  This holiday, in all of its hijacked glory, is the one chance a year most of us have to assume another identity.  Of course, most people don’t see it quite so philosophically, but they still indulge from time to time.  This is never quite so obvious as in the Hallowe’en party.

I’m sure you’ve all got a good story that includes too much alcohol and some sort of costume mishap.  Most of my Hallowe’en party stories, however, are a bit tamer than that, because my younger sister’s birthday is October 31st.  As you might imagine, the notion of throwing a raucous, booze-laden costume party was never a particularly popular sentiment at my house.  Even when my sister would have been up for some pre-legal drinking, mum and dad would have wondered why they weren’t asked to the party.

All of this is to say that, after a childhood of Hallowe’en parties that involved birthday cake and presents, my sister’s 21st was destined to be one for the ages.  One of the things I really love about this holiday is the storytelling.  Allow me now to tell you the tale of that wonderfully mischievous night.

As I had already established myself as the go to bartender, I assumed that post for the night.  My friends and I planned out a cocktail menu in advance, and made sure that we’d stocked our home bar with a good selection from across the spectrum.  We were planning on some Brain Hemorrhages and other spooky drinks, and we all had our favorite liquors.  My sister’s favorite was <ahem> nothing yet, for she had just turned 21 and had never had a drink in her life.  ’Least, that’s what she told me.  As you can imagine, it caught me by surprise when she came up and asked for cocktails by name.

Well, the party went on, and as we were on the tail end of the main part of the party, I decided that it was my job to truly initiate my sister into adulthood.  I pondered for a minute as  to the best method of doing this, and decided that it had to be some sort of suicide cocktail.  Now, something within my clicked when I thought back to all those lame Hallowe’ens that I didn’t get to go trick-or-treating or hang out with my friends (’cause instead I was hanging out with her icky girlfriends), and I thought that this would be a great way to settle the score.

I’d provide the recipe for what I made her that night, but there aren’t enough bits in cyberspace to include all of the ingredients.  I quite literally  poured a little bit of every bottle into a shaker.  At first glance, that isn’t too bad; there are a lot of cocktails that use a lot of different liquors to great ends.  This cocktail, however, was not to be one of those.  Consider for a second what Bailey’s and OJ might taste like together.

Well, I have to give her props, she drank the entire concoction.  She was actually able to keep it down for about an hour and a half, too.  My sister learned two very important lessons that night: Big Brother has a long memory, and binge drinking is no fun.

I tell this story not to illustrate the inherent cruelty in it, nor indicate some long-standing resentment with my sis (quite the opposite , in fact, she laughs about it now).  Instead I tell this story because it’s one of those things that causes me to chuckle when I think back to my earlier days, and I was really in the mood to tell a story.  I suspect that this may not reach you until All Saint’s Day, in which case I hope you had a Happy Hallowe’en, and I bid you to ‘Remember, remember, the 5th of November!’

Caw!

Hi all.  Let me first apologize for staying so silent over the last few months; a busy work schedule combined with a homework-heavy semester in my MBA program have prevented me from writing as much as I’d like.  The flip side, though, is that I have a good excuse to drink when I slow down enough to take a breath.  Over the last month I have been trying this drink out at various restaurants and bars in my local area, and I think it is time to debut my newest project, The Rainstorm.

2 parts Disaronno

1 part Sloe Gin

Fill with OJ

This crafty imbibation was made on a whim from a challenge I offered to a bartender: make me a martini based in Disaronno.  The Rainstorm must be served cold; if you let it warm up, the sweet flavors all start to meld together into a syrupy mess.  Also, the brand of sloe gin makes a big difference, as does the amaretto.  I had one made at a restaurant that used Bols for both, and it just wasn’t the same.  Made correctly, with the right brands (I use Hiram Walker at home), the Rainstorm is an opaque reddish pink, somewhat reminiscent of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.  This is definitely a drink to have as dessert, not with it, unless you are the kind of person who likes deep fried Coke syrup.

As I’m a fan of double entendres, the title of this article doesn’t just refer to the drink above.  There’s a storm a-brewin’ in the States that could have some far-reaching effects.  A group of college presidents, anxious about the binge drinking and associated troubles that are prevalent on their campuses, have signed on to a statement called the “Amethyst Initiative”.  The AI is a call for ‘an informed and unimpeded debate’ about the drinking age in the United States, and whether it should be lowered.  This has, of course, started a debate that threatens to break the very bonds of the ‘dispassionate’ discourse that these academicians hoped to achieve.

***My opinion, for what it’s worth.***

The Amethyst Initiative seems to be a way for some college presidents to say “We can’t control our student bodies.”  While I can come up with a number of reasons to have the debate, it seems odd coming from institutions of higher learning.  On the actual issue, I’ve always thought that someone old enough to die for their country (in the military) should be old enough to drink in it.  I also believe that all forms of abstinence, be it sexual, chemical, or social, are dangerous, especially when the subject is not a willing abstainer and is presented with a chance to indulge.  In this point, I agree with the AI; legally preventing our youngens from imbibing makes them more likely to binge drink, and less likely to seek help when it goes too far.

***

Of course, our friends to the north spend a good amount of time laughing in our general direction, at least when they’re young.  I’m not sure how they feel when they’re older…maybe I’ll get a few responses to this article.

The issue aside, I have wondered over the last year or so why they called the project ‘Amethyst’.  Well, turns out, the explanation is on their website.  Amethyst is of Greek origin, meaning ‘not intoxicated’.  She was a target of Dionysus’ rage (lust?) one day when he was drunk on red wine.  She cried out to Diana for help, who turned the girl into white stone.  Dionysus, seeing what he had wrought, cried copious tears into his goblet, causing the red wine to spill all over the girl-statue, turning it purple.  Since then, amethyst has been used to ward off the negative effects of intoxication, and was used extensively in drinkware and bacchanal jewelry.

The Raven on a cruise ship. It does happen...

Alright folks, as some of you may know (those that get my Twitter feed do, #theravenbn) I just got back from a wonderful vacation to Alaska. I took a cruise with my girlfriend’s family on the Coral Princess, which picked us up in Vancouver and stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, and dropped us off near Anchorage. The trip witnessed a few firsts for me: my first trip to Canada (Vancouver), my second trip to Canada (a creepy little town in the Yukon called Carcross), my first sighting of a calving glacier (Marjorie was very active that day) and my first introduction to Alaskan Ale.

Based in Juneau, the Alaskan Brewing Co. has been in operation since 1986 and was, at it’s inception, the only brewery in Alaska. They produce 8 varieties of ale on a regular basis ranging from light to dark and including a summer and winter ale. The best known of their offerings is by far the Alaskan Amber, and for good reason: this is a really good beer and is available in most of the western states of the lower 48.

Alaskan Amber

This was the brewery’s first beer and is based off a recipe used over a century ago during the Alaskan gold rush. I’m not the best at verbalizing taste profiles, but the Amber is well-balanced, with the sweet and bitter parts mixing well. This beer is available at virtually every bar in Alaska, and is well worth a taste for any drinker.

Loyal readers will know that I’m not much of a fan of lighter beers, and I would be remiss if I did not spend some time discussing the darker end of the offering. Alaskan Brewing regularly offers two dark beers, the Oatmeal Stout and the Smoked Porter. The stout ranks very well among the craft beer stouts I’ve tried. It’s not as chocolaty as some, but easily a stout that I’d keep in my collection. The real story though is the Smoked Porter. I can’t tell the story quite as well as they do at the brewery, but it goes something like this: across the street from their facility is an old salmon smokehouse. One day, one of the brewers was sitting at a local bar with the owner of said smokehouse and the conversation started to drift to and fro, as conversation often does in a bar, and it came out that the smokehouse went dormant for part of the year, on account of the fishing seasons. One thing led to another and soon the two businesses had worked out a deal where Alaskan Brewing Co. would smoke their malt during the smokehouse’s off season.

The result is Alaskan Brewing Co.’s award winning Smoked Porter. The only way to really describe this flavor is to compare it other smoked foods…the first thing that hit my mind was salmon. (Note, this has nothing to do with my previous MxMo post; instead, I was in Alaska and had just enjoyed some smoked salmon.) That’s not to say that the beer tasted fishy, but rather the smoke imparted the same flavor on each of the base foods. It is worth noting that this beer requires that you like at least one of the components (porters or smoky flavor); those who aren’t fans of either probably won’t like this concoction. If you enjoy either flavor, I personally recommend trying this beer.

Just so no one accuses me of selling out, I must say that I discovered that I am not a fan of pale ales or IPAs, and their offerings didn’t change my opinion. I’m told that the Alaskan pales are quite good, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Alaskan Brewing Co. also has a program they call the “Rough Draft”, in which their brewers create small craft batches of varying flavors. A recent offering was based in jalapeno, and the current Rough Draft (which I may not be allowed to reveal yet, so I won’t tell you the name) is a very spicy (though not hot) beer. I was the only one in the group that really liked it, but I like strong flavors. The Rough Draft beers are generally only available locally, but I’ve heard rumors of some making it to Seattle.

John, Ben, Annie, Bonnie, Raven, and Tony (in the back!)

The brewery itself is an experience. They offer free tastings for all of their currently produced beers. I spent a good half hour discussing beer with Tony Hand, one of the brewers there. Anyone making the trip out to Juneau does themselves a disservice to miss the brewery, the tour, and the sampling.

Well, my new life as a boozeblogger has forced me to expand my cocktalian knowledge in ways that I never could have expected. Over the last few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time with my contemporaries, and I’ve stumbled upon a weekly online cocktail event. Spending so much virtual time with people who are considerably more advanced than I when it comes to mixology. The first thing I noticed was that I was lacking in a few key bottles, which I’ve tried to remedy (see The Liquor Cabinet).  The second problem I ran into was my lack of mixers, and not just any mixers: syrups!

As I sat and watched the chat room, I saw these cocktail enthusiasts talking about odd ingredients like orgeat and falernum.   I was intrigued, and totally baffled.  Thankfully, cocktalians are a generous bunch, and they pointed me toward a few recipes.  That threw me for a loop…”Recipes?!” I said, “Where can I buy it?”  They chided me for my ignorance and explained that the store-bought stuff is never quite as good as the stuff you make yourself.  Dearest readers, you can guess what happened next…

But first, a quick overview of the syrups.  The first syrup I decided to make was falernum, a lime and ginger concoction from the Carribean.  Falernum syrup is rum based (duh) and is used most often in tiki drinks (and that family) (again, duh).  That being said, a few minutes of watching the chatting opened my eyes to the myriad of uses of this delightful island beverage.  I knew if I was going to have a chance at trying some of their drinks, I was going to have to make  some falernum.

Enter the recipes.  As this was my first time making syrups, I decided to use other people’s recipes.  I was pointed to this recipe from Gabe over at cocktailnerd.com, and this recipe from Matt at rumdood.com, and this recipe from Rick at kaiserpenguin.com.  I had three to choose from, and so I went with a combination of all three (but mostly Rick’s).  My recipe:

Step 1:

All the stuff I used to make falernum.

Zest of 8 limes.
.5 cup of ginger (julienned)
50 cloves.
Whole nutmeg.
Ground allspice (this was due to the lack of whole allspice).
8 oz. of a good rum (I used Wray and Nephew, another find from my besotted buddies.)

Toast the spices for a few minutes. This was something I’d wished I’d looked at sooner; the ground allspice took on a burnt smell rather quickly, but thankfully the carbon flavor wasn’t in the finish. Steep all of this in the rum for a day or so (I got distracted and let mine go for almost 5 days…oops! Hopefully it made it better.) Strain and discard the aromatics.

Step 2:
Make a simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water). Let the syrup cool and combine with the steeped rum.

Isn't it lovely? Isn't it wonderful?

***
The orgeat was a much simpler story; I came across an article on the Mai Tai, and the recipe called for this almond syrup I’d never heard of. A little research made the travesty of my ignorance profoundly obvious. There are a number of people out there that will threaten you with bodily harm if you attempt to make a Mai Tai with anything other than orgeat. That being said, there are a lot fewer ingredients to orgeat syrup, but the process is a bit more involved. Unfortunately for everyone here, I’ve misplaced the recipe (which is boozeblogger speak for ‘I forgot to save the link).

The basic process goes like this: take some blanched almonds, soak them in water. Pull ‘em out and pulverize them, then soak them again. Strain the water through a cloth, wring the almonds well, then replace the mash into the same water. This last step confused me, but then I read further. The purpose of this process is to remove the oil from the almonds while passing the flavor to the water.
The base for the orgeat is either a brandy or vodka, and it’s mixed with a 2:1 simple syrup. Mine didn’t turn out that well, but it was my first attempt, and I’m going to try again.

It’s been a long month, and I have to apologize for my lack of posting. Between taking classes for my MBA and the academic calendar my 9-5 is inextricably linked to, May is a very busy month. I’ll do my best to get something more over the next month, and then of course July is Tales month…armed with my laptop, I’m going to attempt to transmit as much as I can through my mild intoxication.

Caw!