Food and Drink

Wine Snob

Food and Drink, Travel / By

We just got back from Washington wine country where we tasted some of the best wines, arguably, in the world. The climate is ideal for grapes and the abundance of wineries means there are many varieties and choices, almost all of them excellent. With our sophisticated palate, we learned to appreciate the subtleties as we sipped wine after wine in the cozy tasting rooms. We ended up gravitating toward….. wine-based slushies. Yeah, a sweet, delicious Slurpee that may have had wine in it. They packed a Buzz, for sure. Wine tasting is really fun!

  • Jet Cannon
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We’ve got No timing

Food and Drink / By

May 22 is National Craft Distillery Day.

Where are we going to be on the 22nd?  Wine country.  Bad planning.  

Well, maybe there’s a small distillery in Walla Walla, WA.  And maybe they’re open on Sundays.  

– Jet Cannon  

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Wine. Nectar of the Gods

1 Comment / Food and Drink / By

As if wine reviewers needed any help in blowing it out their…. well, let’s just say they are immensely imaginative in their descriptions.  

But now they are getting help.  This is from Scientific American:

“In the world of wine reviews, evocative writing is key. Consider the following: “While the nose is a bit closed, the palate of this off-dry Riesling is chock full of juicy white grapefruit and tangerine flavors. It’s not a deeply concentrated wine, but it’s balanced neatly by a strike of lemon-lime acidity that lingers on the finish.”

Reading the description, you can almost feel the cool glass sweating in your hand and taste a burst of citrus on your tongue. But the author of this review never had that experience—because the author was a piece of software.

An interdisciplinary group of researchers developed an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of writing reviews for wine and beer that are largely indistinguishable from those penned by a human critic.”

Lord, help us.

– Jet Cannon 

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Casablanca

Food and Drink, Travel / By

Hunter S., Contributing Editor-At-Large, currently in Greece, suggested we feature a Casablanca cocktail in Buzzed Boomer.  Or he just wanted us to know what he was drinking. We’re not sure. He did include a nice picture.  A stickler for details, he wasn’t sure how it was made.  The InterWeb has a number of Casablanca cocktail recipes and they are all completely different.  In the classic movie, nobody orders a Casablanca.  What drinks are specifically ordered are a French75 and a champagne cocktail.  But since Rick (Humphrey Bogart) calls his bar a “gin-joint” and himself a “saloon-keeper”, we are going to drink….. gin….. when we watch or think about that great movie.  No champagne added.  Just ice-cold gin. 

Here’s looking at you kid.

– Jet Cannon

Photos:  Hunter S. and BBC

The English garden

Food and Drink, Recipes / By

We occasionally can imagine ourselves as Lord Grantham at Downton Abbey.  Especially the servants bringing us cocktails.  No so much all the hassles and drama.  So we’re looking forward to the new Downton Abbey movie coming out.  

Anyway, Parade magazine just featured some summer cocktails including The English Garden.  That recipe is by Fiona, Countess of Carnarvan, who oversees Highclere Castle with her husband The Earl of Carnarvon.  She writes books about gardening and cooking and running 300 room castles.  But this recipe is from the BBC!  (BBCgoodfood.com)

  • 5 mint leaves, bruised
  • 30ml gin
  • 2 tsp elderflower cordial (use more or less, depending on how sweet you like it)
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • large handful of ice
  • cloudy apple juice, for topping up
  • 1 long strip of cucumber, peeled using a vegetable peeler
  • STEP 1 Mix the mint leaves, gin, elderflower cordial and lemon juice together in the bottom of a tall glass using a long-handled spoon.
  • STEP 2 Add a large handful of ice, then top up with the apple juice. Stir well, then drop in the strip of cucumber before serving.

Step 3.  Get out the lawn chair and signal to the servants!

Cheers!

– Jet Cannon

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Green Tea Magic

Caffeine, Fitness, Food and Drink / By

“Not only can green tea aid weight loss and help you recover faster after a workout, its potent antioxidants may also lower levels of “bad” cholesterol levels, while simultaniously increasing levels of “good” cholesterol levels, according to Harvard researchers. How does it work? Studies indicate that the polyphenols in green tea may block cholesterol from being absorbed in the intestine and also help the body get rid of cholesterol.”

So says Best of Life Online. See the rest of Foods Men Over 45 Should Eat by clicking here.

 

  • Jet Cannon
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Black Coffee Buzz

Caffeine, Food and Drink / By

It’s nice to be reminded of the benefits of drinking black coffee while we’re drinking black coffee. And we are at the moment.  Eat This Not That’s Casey Clark recently captured the good and the bad and it’s mostly good.

Black coffee can reduce the risk for Type 2 diabetes, cancer, liver disease and heart disease.  Good start.  It also may create a healthy gut microbiome and keep that all-important lower GI tract humming. Coffee may make changes in the brain that enhance concentration, motor control and alertness. It’s been found to reduce the risk of dementia, depression, and suicide.  It can be a great pre-workout elixir.  

On the negative side, coffee may make anxiety and acid reflux worse.  That’s it?!  We’ll have a second cup!

  • Jet Cannon
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Bees Knees

Food and Drink, Recipes / By

We recently sampled a Queen Next Door cocktail at South City Kitchen in Atlanta. The gin, honey and lemon drink is essentially better known as a Bees Knees. The experience was also a good reminder that adding a little egg white to the shaker delivers a nice frothy foam on top to jazz up your presentation. Make honey simple syrup by adding water to the honey and stirring that up before adding to the shaker. Shake all ingredients warm before adding ice. Save some lemon slice for garnish. That’s a tip kids. Write it down.

  • 2 oz gin
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 1 oz honey simple syrup

Adjust to your preferences. Cheers!

  • Jet Cannon
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Mayo Mayo

Food and Drink / By

The 5th of May is coming right up and before visualizing a Margarita or two, consider prepping for a different traditional Mexican beverage. Bevspot.com has some interesting choices like Michelada, Sangrita, Paloma, Horchata, and Mexican Coffee. Go forth and explore!

  • Jet Cannon
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Bourbon Buzz

Food and Drink / By

The Kentucky Derby is coming up this weekend. Get out the mint, simple syrup or brown sugar, bourbon plus a fancy hat and get ready to enjoy a classic Mint Julep. As the official drink of the Kentucky Derby, over 120,000 cocktails are typically served on Friday and Saturday. 120,000!

  • Jet Cannon
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They’re Not Good for you, they’re just Good

Food and Drink, Trending / By

An article in New York magazine’s Grub Street by Emily Sundberg observed that twenty-somethings are suddenly on to martinis.  At least in New York.  She suggests a number of theories to explain the new trend.  We just think, well, where have you been?

We loved this paragraph:

“Martinis are also a move away from the whole natural-wine bonanza of a few years ago, a drink that offered some kind of higher moral imperative of being closer to the land and less processed or whatever. Martinis offer no such sanctimoniousness: “They’re not good for you, they’re just good,” posits chef and entrepreneur Jonah Reider. “A martini is judged on the execution: so impossibly ice cold it’s surprising its not solid, one elegant garnish, dangerously filled to the top of the most inconvenient un-ergonomic glass shape of all time — and preferably with leftover martini sitting in a spillover cup sitting on ice.””

Twenty-somethings…. welcome!

– Jet Cannon

 

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The best alcoholic beverages to pair with potty training

Food and Drink / By

For you grandparents helping out with potty training the grandkids, Alyse Knorr in McSweeney’s offers some helpful, if not graphic, suggestions on alcohol-based coping mechanisms. For example:

Mojito

“Ordinarily, this drink makes the mixer very sticky, but you are already are sticky. Everything is sticky.”

Long Island Iced Tea

“Mixing one of these is about as much a pain in the ass as potty training. It also contains five types of alcohol, and you need every single one of them.”

For more helpful pairing selections click here.

  • Jet Cannon
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The Mechanics of Low Cal IPA

Food and Drink / By

Want to know how brewers successfully reduce calories in an India Pale Ale from around 200 to 100 calories?  Ask Popular Mechanics!!  They found ten low cal IPAs that still tasted good.  This is an except from their 2020 article.

“Scaling down the frequently boozy, often hazy, and always pungent ale into a lighter, more refreshing package is an incredible feat of beer engineering.

The biggest portion of calories comes from the typical 6 to 7 percent ABV. All that alcohol makes an excellent solution for extracting aromatic hop oils.  And then there are the calories from carbohydrates that provide a beer’s body and sweet balance to the bitter hop oils.

Cutting down the ABV is a matter of using less grain, but then they have to make up for the lighter hop character. Alternative yeast strains can be used for creating juice-like flavor compounds from the hop oils as the beer ferments to broaden the hop character.

Sadly, not all 100-ish calorie IPAs we’ve encountered were able to achieve the precarious balance of big hop flavor in a light and refreshing package. Our research turned up numerous duds that either lacked the hops to taste like an IPA, or were astringent and unpleasantly bitter.” 

But that was then and this is now and availability differs by area.  Meaning, we’ll have to do some shopping and sampling.  It’s a tough job……

Click here for the 2020 article.  Some of their finds may still be available in your neck of the woods. 

-Jet Cannon

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April Showers

Food and Drink / By

We’re still getting a lot of rain this spring so we wanted to brighten things up with a cheery-looking cocktail. Looking up recipes on the InterWeb had us all over the map for an April Showers cocktail. Cognac, brandy, etc. If that’s your cup of liquor go that route but we found a refreshing gin recipe we preferred.

Ingredients

3 oz gin (or vodka)

6 oz red grapefruit juice

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon simple syrup

Mix in a shaker with ice and pour into a cocktail glass. Or pour it into a highball glass with ice. Doesn’t matter. We just want a bright, sun-shiny symbol of hope for better weather!

  • Jet Cannon

Photo: Jerry’s-kitchen.com