Sláinte! Uisce Beatha na Éireann

March 15, 2016March 15, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 35 Comments

Week 11 in the Year Of Drinking Adventurously! Irish Whiskey. (I hope I got my Irish translation right!)

That’s me waving to you from the cliffs of Dun Aengus on Innis More, one of The Aran Islands off the West Coast of Ireland. I’ve been to Ireland three times and I’m sure we’ll go again. I’m trying to figure out how to move there permanently, that’s how much I love it.

So Irish Whiskey… It’s a permanent fixture in my liquor cabinet. Most of the time I have a bottle of regular old Jameson’s in my stash.

Sometimes I splurge and buy the Red Breast, which is a “single pot still” style. A pot still is like a huge kettle where the batch is boiled, the vapors rise, are collected and cooled to produce the whiskey. Since the pot has to be cleaned after each use, only one batch of whiskey is produced from the single pot.

My imbibition of Irish whiskey generally involves a glass and some ice. Sometimes not even the ice. Occasionally not even the glass! (Just kidding!) However, I have a fun, terribly-named, politically incorrect cocktail for you to try. Actually, I’m not sure this qualifies as a cocktail. If you go to Ireland, do not ask for this drink. You will be deported. And for Paddy’s sake, don’t tell anyone you learned it from me or they’ll never let me back in.

~~The Irish Car Bomb~~: (Don’t say I didn’t warn you…)

Fill a shot glass with a half shot each, Jameson’s Irish whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream
Drop the shot glass into a pint glass of Guinness and watch it “explode”
Chug the whole thing in one fell swoop so you don’t lose a drop!
Enjoy responsibly! Oh wait, too late for that…

When we travel to Ireland, it’s primarily for my husband’s work. His company has a facility in Galway. I get to tag along, but that means that for most of the time, I’m off traipsing around by myself. That’s not a recipe for disaster, no. The girl who fancies herself a writer wandering around the gorgeous countryside, listening to fairy tales and visiting the pubs on her own? Not to mention the lovely ~~men~~ people and some of the best whiskey on the planet. What could possibly go wrong?

There are pubs that cater to the foreign visitors and there are those that are more for the locals. In Galway, I like to go to this place called Garavan’s – definitely more of a local hangout than a tourist place – where they pretend to want your business but they really don’t. And they haven’t forgiven England for… well, everything. Even stuff that’s not their fault.

So anyway, it’s dark inside, the tables are all close together with little stools crowded around. They still have a small room at the front where ladies used to have to sit separately from the main part of the pub. I think sometimes the bartender wants me to go have a seat in there. But then I can’t see the hurling match on TV. And ask him lots of questions while he tries to ignore me.

Garavan’s has a collection of 125 different whiskeys and a whiskey tasting menu. The last time I was there I tried the Irish writer’s collection – a sampler of 5 different whiskeys from a few of Ireland’s most famous writers like James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and William Butler Yeats. I forget what all I tried. But I definitely remember that the one I liked best was The Yellow Spot 12-year-old single pot still whiskey. And I remember something about the Women’s Rugby World Cup – Ireland versus England. And that they turned the TV off during “God Save the Queen.” Things got ugly when Ireland started to lose. And I made the mistake of asking for an ~~Irish Car Bomb~~…

Go visit Lula and see if she found the pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow!

“La fée verte” (The Green Fairy)

March 8, 2016March 8, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 69 Comments

Week ten in The Year of Drinking Adventurously. Absinthe!

So I know you all will find this hard to believe, (that’s me being sarcastic) but this is not my first time dancing with The Green Fairy. Because you know how cautious I am about trying new things. Try not to laugh out loud… It’s only a recent indulgence, however. That’s because absinthe had been banned in many countries around the world since the early 20th century. In fact, it wasn’t until 2007 that a French distiller was allowed to import absinthe into the USA — the first time since 1912.

So what’s the deal with absinthe? Its main ingredients are wormwood (which gives it its bad reputation), sweet fennel and anise. The rumor that absinthe is highly addictive and psychoactive is false. Nevertheless, that myth led to the aforementioned ban in the USA and much of Europe around 1915. The unintended consequence of this action was to give absinthe a dark, sexy, mysterious allure. Tell someone they can’t have something and it becomes even more desirable than before. Finally, the myths have been debunked and absinthe is once again available for your drinking pleasure!

I know I’ve complained about the difficult time I’ve had finding some of the more exotic beverages since I started this virtual booze cruise, but absinthe was not a problem. There happens to be a distillery right here in Philly that produces a lovely product. Voila:

Vieux Carré from Philadelphia Distilling Company, the first East Coast distiller to produce absinthe. At 120 proof, this Green Fairy packs a wallop. Traditionally, the spirit is prepared for consumption by placing a sugar cube on top of a specially designed slotted spoon, which is then placed on a glass filled with a dose of absinthe. Iced water is poured or dripped over the sugar cube to slowly and evenly distribute the water into the absinthe.

I did not do this, for two reasons…. First, I kept forgetting to buy sugar cubes when I went to the store, and more importantly, I like the taste of undiluted absinthe. The anise flavor is quite pleasant, actually. And no you won’t have hallucinations. Well, maybe if you drank a really, really lot of it… But that could happen with any strong spirit. Take my word for it.

Anyway…

Absinthe has long been associated with Bohemian culture and thus was a popular drink among artists and writers like Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Charles Baudelaire, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, and Marcel Proust. Its connection to such legendary artistes has only added to the fascination. Absinthe possesses a mystery, mythology, and seductive appeal. I recommend it without reservation.

So drape yourself in black, draw the curtains closed and pray for rain. And while you’re dripping your absinthe over sugar cubes, reading poetry by candlelight, listen to some music that will complete your experience: The Cure – Prayers For Rain. And don’t forget to see how Lula danced with the Green Fairy!

A cocktail fail but a food and beer win!

February 9, 2016February 8, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 36 Comments

Week 6 in the Year of Drinking Adventurously!

The Far East is not being well represented so far! This week is another fail, I’m afraid. The beverage to sample this week was supposed to be Huangjiu, which translates to ‘yellow wine’ or ‘yellow liquor’ but really isn’t quite either one. Like Japanese sake, it’s a unique thing of its own. Which I hope to try someday, maybe when I get back to San Fransisco for a visit. I think I should be able to get back on track next week.

So, since I can’t tell you about Huangjiu, I’ve decided to torture you with the beer brewing adventure instead! The first batch -a Belgian blonde ale- is kegged and ready for consumption. Most brewers name their beers so this one is called: Blondes Prefer Gentlemen. The next batch is an English Ale so I want to name it Naughty Princess Meg! (Not that I’m a princess or anything…) Here’s what it looks like:

I’m not really going to torture you with the process. You’ll need more than my blog to figure out how to brew your own beer. Anyway, once it’s all cooked up, it goes into a fermenter, which is nothing more than a glorified 5-gallon bucket with a valve in the lid to release the air bubbles created by the yeast “burping” out CO2. Next, it gets transferred to a glass “carboy” for secondary fermentation and to let the dissolved particulates settle to the bottom.

Three weeks or so later, it should be ready to go into a keg or bottles and chilled to your desired drinkable temperature. We were able to drink Blondes Prefer Gentlemen this weekend in celebration of America’s biggest unofficial national holiday: The Superbowl.

The first Sunday in February is a time of great rejoicing or great sorrow, depending on which football team wins. It is also a great time of feasting and merrymaking. At the party we attended, most of the gathered crowd cheered for the Broncos who eventually prevailed. When your team isn’t playing (we’re in Philadelphia Eagles territory), the party is more about the food and drink.

One of my few domestic skills is baking. Not desserts, cakes, pies and the like… No, I bake bread: Italian loaves, French baguettes, brioche, challah, cinnamon bread, English muffins, AND pizza and stromboli! And yo, it’s Philly, so the native dish here is the cheese steak. The cheese steak Stromboli (actually 2 of them) I took to the party was filled with a grilled New York strip steak, sauteed peppers and onions, and mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Served with my own marinara, it was wiped out in minutes!

Anyway, that was my Superbowl weekend. I hope you all enjoyed yours! Weekend, that is, I know not everyone was glued to the fiasco that passes for the National Championship. Back to drinking adventurously next week!