A mellow Buzz is just what the Buzzed Boomer staff doctor would order, assuming we had a staff doctor. And Kat Odell answered the bell with “Day Drinking, 50 Cocktails for a Mellow Buzz”. Available from Amazon, the book has recipes with great pictures and uses beer, wine, cider, sake, sherry, vermouth and more to create low alcohol by volume drinks. Perfect for long sunny days or for just cutting back on the alcohol.
– Princess Colleen
Buzzed Boomers, let’s meet at Pat’s and also at Geno’s across the street from each other in Philadelphia and do a taste test. And this is one of those contests where everyone gets a trophy.
– Jet Cannon
A cocktail in a can? Sacrilege? Not necessarily. Baby Boomers are on-the-go movers and shakers. Taking the cooler full of beer up a notch, well, canned cocktails could be the solution. (Please bring a nice plastic cocktail-appropriate glass.) There’s no question of a portability advantage. See foodandwine.com for a review of various brands.
But do not imbibe at home. Please honor the code of cocktail makers worldwide and get out the shaker and the fresh ingredients when at the homefront.
For those of you whom exude class in a remote setting where cans might be appropriate but perhaps not quite right, consider the portable bar. With glasses, strainers, metal toothpicks, a shaker and storage for a couple bottles, these clever cases make proper cocktails away from home a reality.
Stay classy.
– Jet Cannon
As I found myself of late in the French Quarter, a veritable garden of earthly delights, my thoughts drifted to cocktails. As a younger man, I had assumed the cocktail had been a fixture of the libation scene since, well since forever. Not so. They are a fairly recent addition to spirits, beer and wine having only arrived on the scene in the early 19th century. There are a great many claims as to the origin of the word and who made the first one where. Most of the evidence seems to point toward it being something akin to an Old Fashioned.
But as I was seated in the courtyard at Amelie, in the Quarter, next to the fountain, I chose to believe that it was the Sazerac. The Sazerac gained popularity in the mid-1800s at the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans, which was named for the Sazerac de Forge et Fils brand of cognac. The drink was originally made with cognac, but the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century that destroyed European vineyards forced a switch to rye whiskey. Peychaud’s Bitters, which are a must for the Sazerac, were also created in New Orleans, in the 1830s, by a pharmacist named Antoine Amedie Peychaud (in fact, the cocktail was actually first mixed by Peychaud, before it even had a name).
Here’s looking at you Antoine!
-Hunter S.
Fat Tuesday says New Orleans and Hurricanes! Buzzed Boomer likes to emphasize quality over quantity and a proper Hurricane….Well it won’t take many to catch that Buzz. They tend to be strong. My research says there are lots of variants as far as recipes go so we have some latitude. See the InterWeb for a bunch of fancy recipes. A Buzzed Boomer key should be keeping it as fresh as possible. But even in New Orleans at Pat O’Briens, where the Hurricane was invented in the 1940’s, the Hurricanes are pre-mixed. Tourists! They’ll drink anything.
Originally the Hurricane was just dark rum, passion fruit juice, and lime juice. Pretty straight forward. I found pseudo passion fruit juice at the supermarket. It’s a blend of juices, including passion fruit, so it’s not the real deal. If you don’t have even that, orange juice and a little Grenadine to turn it red will do.
The glass is important, too. Kind of hurricane lamp shape. Didn’t think I had one but, by golly, I do. Courtesy of Alaska Airlines.
So, we will cobble something together drink-wise, make some cajun shrimp mac and cheese to fatten us up before Lent, and off we go!!
Cheers!
– Jet Cannon
A bar that honors the undersea element of our nuclear triad needs to be celebrated and, ideally, visited. Boomers is the nickname for the ballistic missile submarines that protect our freedom via their unfathomable deterrent to an attack on our country. An Ohio-class sub can launch 192 warheads wiping 24 enemy cities off the map. Boom.
So back to the Horse & Cow. Located in Bremerton, Washington and also Guam, the pubs contain one of the largest private collections of submarine artifacts. And the food and drinks are great. Taking the ferry from downtown Seattle to Bremerton is a scenic treat in and of itself. The pub is located right outside the gates of the US Navy submarine base in Bremerton and both are a only a short walk from the ferry terminal. The “sail” from the spy submarine Parch is just down the street. For Baby Boomers, having lived through the Cold War, it’s a visit you’re not likely to forget.
For more history, where the name Horse and Cow comes from, and more information, see horseandcow.com
-Jet Cannon
Longing to head out on the open road in your RV and see the country? Lots of Boomers have made it a reality. Follow the exploits of one such couple at
https://mailchi.mp/064bce9e8ee6/test-3592462?e=785bc70c1d
They rented out their house and hit the road in their Airstream trailer. Sign up for their newsletter and they’ll keep you posted on their adventures and how to avoid careless mistakes.
– Jet Cannon
