What the pulque?

May 10, 2016May 13, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 41 Comments

Week nineteen in the Year of Drinking Adventurously! Pulque and it’s a fail!

Pulque is another product of the agave plant — the result of fermenting the nectar, and skipping the distillation process. It goes back all the way to Aztec culture in Mexico. What results after fermentation is a slightly sweet, milky, viscous liquid that is tradtionally served by dipping your mug into the communal vat. The places where pulque is served are called pulquerias. There is one in New York City, but…

My friend Jeff, I believe this was destined to be a fail because according to your book: “Pulqueria is one of the very few places in New York (or most of the East Coast, for that matter), where a drinker can actually taste the real deal.”

and: “Right now pulque’s virtual lack of availability in the states has proved to be one of its greatest assets.”

My chances of finding pulque in the suburbs of Philadelphia were astronomically low to non-existent. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Lula doesn’t have a Pulqueria in Memphis, either. However, she is a resourceful gal and thus I will not underestimate her in this endeavor! So go visit her blog to make sure! Now, if you are really interested in tasting this other product of the agave plant, you can visit Pulqueria when you are in New York City. And for info, you can find it on Yelp! and Open Table.

Despite the pulque fail, the weekend brought me some adventure. I had friends over for food and drinks on Friday night, Saturday was the Kentucky Derby party and the once a year imbibation of mint julep. Once a year is enough – a little goes a long way. So in lieu of pulque, here is the recipe for the classic mint julep:

1 oz simple syrup (1 cup sugar in 1 cup water and heat till dissolved)
sprig of fresh mint leaves
3 oz bourbon (use a Kentucky bourbon, accept no substitutes!)

In a glass, muddle the mint leaves in the syrup. Add to a shaker filled with ice and bourbon. Shake and serve in a rocks glass or better yet, a silver cup!

And this weekend’s best adventure of all? I got to read. An actual book. To me that is one of the best adventures one can have!

Edmund C. Tarbell – *Girl Reading, 1909*

Another tequila sunrise…

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 44 Comments

Week 18 in The Year of Drinking Adventurously – TEQUILA!

Yes, tequila, my old friend… we have some stories, don’t we?

I think of tequila as the official party booze. (And rum, too. But that’s another chapter.) Who doesn’t love a good Margarita on a hot summer day? Don’t answer that — it’s rhetorical. Thursday is Cinco de Mayo – not Mexican Independence Day, like most people think. Rather it’s a day that commemorates a decisive battle won against the French Army. And an excuse for Americans to get drunk on someone else’s holiday. (We do that for St. Patrick’s Day, too. Any old excuse works, really…)

Tequila is made from the blue agave plant, must be distilled in Mexico to be classified as tequila, but may be bottled elsewhere. Not all tequila is 100% agave tequila, so read your labels. The finer tequilas, like my current bottle, 1800 Silver Tequila Reserva, is 100% agave. This is one spirit I would never cheap out on. You will pay dearly for it, after the fact.

So how do I like to drink tequila? Well, I do love me a Margarita -Meg is short for Margaret, after all. But the first tequila cocktail I ever had was a Tequila Sunrise. And yes, it was because of The Eagles’ song of the same name. Obviously I discovered The Eagles before Jimmy Buffett or I’d have been Wastin’ Away in Margaritaville… And I might not have been of legal drinking age at the time. And I might have sneaked off to New York City with my friends. To see Siouxie and the Banshees at Radio City Music Hall. Epic…

The Tequila Sunrise:

3 ounces orange juice
1 1/2 ounce tequila
1/2 ounce grenadine

In a tall glass or Collins glass… The drink is mixed by pouring in Tequila, ice, then the juice and, lastly, the grenadine. The signature look of the drink depends on adding the grenadine without mixing with the other ingredients. A spoon may be used to guide the syrup down the glass wall to the bottom of the glass with minimal mixing. Oh! Pretty!

Of course tequila makes for a fun shot, too. You sprinkle salt on the space between your thumb and index finger, have a lemon wedge ready, pour a shot of tequila, and “lick, drink, suck.” That is lick the salt, throw back the shot, and suck the lemon wedge, people. I heard you all snickering.

Oh and the whole worm thing? You know, eat the worm at the bottom of the bottle and you’ll have hallucinations? That’s a myth. Skip the worm, that’s just gross, sorry.

So mosey on over to Lula’s blog and see how she tequila’d!

Veni, vidi, vici… Grappa!

April 26, 2016April 26, 2016 ~ Meg ~ 28 Comments

Week 18 in The Year of Drinking Adventurously! Grappa!

This week the virtual booze cruise takes us to Italy to drink grappa. This, of course, presents me with another opportunity to regale you with stories about me doing stupid stuff on foreign soil!

But first, grappa…

Grappa is made from pressed skins and seeds of the grapes used in winemaking – the refuse of the process. It is classified as a brandy and has been consumed for about seven hundred years. The fact is – it’s ingredients are essentially the offal of wine. Thus the traditional consumers of the product tended to be the lower classes. According to Jeff’s book: “But like every other food or beverage wth extremely humble beginnings, it’s evolved to invite even the most discerning connoisseurs.”

Of course, there are rules as to what can be classified as grappa. Like where it’s been produced, how it’s been produced, etc. It is a distilled product, a spirit, not just fermented grapes. And the distillation process has improved to the point where the end result is not the rotgut it was once reputed to be!

The traditional way to drink grappa is after a meal with a cup of expresso. I don’t know about you all, but I can’t have caffeine after about 4:00 in the afternoon, or else I’ll be up all night (and not to get lucky) so that option was immediately off the table. Thusly, I drank it on the rocks. (Go figure, right?) And… was pleasantly surprised! Maybe, because I like brandy? I don’t know.

Once again, I am at a loss to compare to anything else I’ve ever tried. It doesn’t have a traditional brandy taste, it doesn’t taste like wine at all. I even taste tested it alongside straight vodka, because, well… it is clear, after all. That makes sense, right?

Anyhoo… I can sincerely recommend giving grappa a try. You might not want to drink it on a regular basis, but after a nice Italian meal with some decaf expresso? Why not?

My trip to Italy in 2009 was limited to Rome, Naples, and Pompeii. Italy is one of those places which needs a month to properly explore. I loved it. Talk about the living la dolce vita. The art, the history, the food, the wine, and most importantly — the people.

I never realized just how laid back Europeans are compared to Americans until I visited Italy. My story is this: it was a Friday afternoon, the sun is high in the sky. We’ve been wandering around since lunchtime — The Pantheon, The Spanish Steps, The Trevi Fountain, The Mouth of Truth…

Audrey_Hepburn_and_Gregory_Peck_at_the_Mouth_of_Truth_Roman_Holiday_trailer

(I am Gregory Peck to Harry’s Audrey Hepburn. Actually, he’s pretending I’m some random stranger in this photo…)

Needless to say, with all this walking around and accompanying silliness, we worked up a thirst. We found a lovely little cafe (not hard to find, they’re everywhere) to stop for a drink and a rest. And inevitably I had to visit “il bagno” before we ventured on. Fun fact: some Italian restrooms are co-ed. How forward thinking of them… And the stalls automatically sanitize themselves. Nifty, right? If only they warned you ahead of time…

Imagine my surprise when, upon exiting the stall of the bathroom, I… a) get showered with a fine spray of disinfectant, because I stopped dead at the sight of… b) a really cute guy leaning against the sink waiting his turn! Speechless, I stared open-mouthed until smiling, he shooed me out of the way. I may or may not have washed my hands. But hey, I got automatically sanitized so that counts, right?

Don’t forget to visit Lula and see if she conquered grappa!