PappyVanWise

Washington City Paper is reporting as well

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2014/04/24/palena-restaurant-faces-eviction/

I have been reading great things about Monkey 47 gin, but so far I have had no luck spotting this primate in my normal hunting range and really do not want to have to order it from The Whiskey Exchange - I always get a bit carried away when I order from them, plus the shipping from the UK is brutal.

A few places in New York show having it online, Crush Wine and Spirits and Le Du Wines.  This probably means you can get it in DC, since it does get imported.

Network really resonates in a way today that no one could've expected in the 1970s.  It predicted a very small part of a future that was much more believable but in some ways just as bleak as 1984 or Fahrenheit 451, and now it basically has come true.  This movie and A Face in the Crowd (1957) are really amazing pieces of media fortune telling. 

Presenting the Academy Award Winner for "Best Movie" in 1976: "Rocky."

I would love to know other people's opinions on this film. Best Picture? Really?

A fun Oscars game is to re-award historical shows to see how the choices held up (fun for me, but I'm a film geek).  This can also be done for pro sports drafts and even James Beard awards.  Wine Spectator top 100?  Sure why not.

Rocky beat out Network, All the President's Men, and Taxi Driver for the Best Picture trophy.  Not sure that stands the test of time, but hey Cuba Gooding Jr has won the same amount of Oscars as Robert Redford, so go figure.

(and yes I left out Bound for Glory, Rocky would still probably beat that one today)

I managed to pick one up from a store in Indiana and another from a store in New York that have employees who don't mind shipping (be it legal or not).  It's showing up at bars around Richmond, but not in the ABC stores yet.  I'm drinking a glass neat right now, and I think it's pretty good.  Not a lot of heat, but that is expected from a 90 proof bourbon.  I'm not sure I've had anything with a definitive 20 year age statement, so it's a bit more muted than I'm used to.  It's not as sweet as say Elijah Craig. The taste is a bit earthier or woodier I guess, fitting it being Earth Day.  For $75 I think it's a nice, curious splurge that I'll enjoy sharing with my bourbon drinking friends, but I don't think I'll go near the $150 Old Blowhard.  It's not on par with the other three premium bottles I have (Four Roses 125, Bookers 25, and Parkers Heritage of Hope), but it's definitely more interesting than your average $40 bottle.

I've heard bottles like this can open up after a few weeks from the initial tasting, so I'd be curious to try it again around Memorial day to see if my impressions change.

Deschutes does have a very impressive distribution foot print, just need them to stretch out a little bit further and reach the East coast.

This is *exactly* what I'm trying to do with the Professionals and Businesses forum. Could someone write this dude and tell him to write his reviews there? I'll be happy to start a Richmond index.

I tweeted him a link to your post, hopefully he checks it out.

Someone in Richmond, albeit a restaurant owner, is trying to use Yelp as a force of good. Yelp for Good

"We all know the public can be too-quick-to-judge when writing online reviews about businesses "“ especially when anonymous. I've been guilty myself. Some even call out individuals by name in their criticism. As a business owner, negative reviews are very troubling, cause arguments among staff and partners, and while they can alert us to trends that we need to be addressing, this is not the constructive way to receive that feedback. Positive reviews on the other hand are a huge encouragement to everyone in the business.

For the most part, small businesses are solely on the receiving end of these reviews and rants and it makes a big difference. In 2011 Harvard Business School studied independent restaurant revenue based on Yelp star ratings[1]. They found that a 1-star difference in the star rating corresponded to a 5-9% difference in revenue. This only affected independent, local restaurants and did not affect regional or national chains. In a restaurant industry that often survives on 10% margins from the start, this is a big deal!"

Has anyone had either of the orphan barrel bourbons from Diageo yet?  I know a bunch has been written on bourbon blogs and other sites about the validity of the marketing claims and the source of the bourbon, but I've read very few reactions from people who actually own a bottle and have poured from it.  I'm hoping to get one in the mail shortly, and once Passover ends I'll share my thoughts.  I wanted to get the thread started, though, to see if anyone else has partaken yet.

For a little background from Diageo's marketing materials via BourbonBlog.com:

"The goal of The Orphan Barrel Whiskey Project is to share old and rare whiskey from our barrel houses with discerning whiskey adorers.  The first two whiskies to be released from the project will include the 20-year-old Barterhouse and the 26-year-aged Old Blowhard. Both are American Kentucky Bourbons, hand bottled in Tullahoma Tennessee and are expected to begin appearing on select shelves throughout the U.S. in early 2014 under strict allocation due to limited supply.  Additionally, Diageo is creating a separate new-to-world bourbon called Blade and Bow. Blade and Bow is anticipated to hit shelves in the second half of 2014 and is not a part of the Orphan Barrel Whiskey Project."

This article about yelp includes stunning writing.  

Whenever I see a story like this, I imagine it's an attempt for a restaurant to go viral.  A one time Yelp reviewer trashes a restaurant, the owner posts a cutting response, blogs pick it up, people comment on it, and all of a sudden it's everywhere. Like mini-versions of a reality show.

Comparing K/9 between starters and relievers is apples and oranges, but Kerry Wood is an odd case since pitched more seasons as a relief pitcher than a starter.  I think his one crazy strikeout season probably skews him for analysis anyway. Just checking out his stats now, and his rookie year as a starter he had a K/9 of 12.6, then his three next highest K/9 seasons were all between 11.2 and 11.4, but only one was when he was a reliever.  Dusty Baker really ruined some amazing arms in his day.

Also, baseballreference.com requires 162 innings pitched in a season to qualify to be ranked in their strikeout rating list.

Time to start the hoarding: Sriracha hot sauce factory smell deemed a public nuisance by Irwindale

From the Pasadena Star News article:

The popular Sriracha hot sauce found itself in hot water Wednesday night when the City Council unanimously declared the factory that produces the sauce a public nuisance.  After giving Huy Fong Foods six weeks to work with the South Coast Air Quality Management District to conduct testing at the factory, the City Council determined the odor coming from the factory has created a problem for residents. The council also determined the Sriracha factory breached its contract with the city.  The Council is expected to give Huy Fong Foods 90 days to address the odor problems before city officials enter the factory to fix the problems themselves.

Jim Hellwig, The Dingo Warrior, and the Ultimate Warrior.  No wrestler gave me more joy as a child.  Here's an old clip from the glory days of pre-WWF monopoly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ekag9oNBDQ

To Don Rockwell, for making my name change as quick and painless as possible.

Here's the thing I read about Bourbon from DCBeer.com Hill Farmstead, Bourbon, and the Ethics of DC's Gray Laws, and I probably found it from a forum on Talk Beer or Beer Advocate. Sounds like a handful of places have thought about doing it or have done it somewhat, but none really with the blessings of the brewery.

My next few VBT postings might make some of you pretty mad.  I received a mysterious package in the mail, full of West Coast beers, rarely see on the East Coast.  The first box was full of fresh IPAs, that taste best the fresher they are so I dove right in and began with the Fresh Squeezed IPA.

Although I deserve absolutely no credit for this, I'll go ahead and pat myself on the back for choosing wisely. This might be the best pure IPA I've ever had.  It doesn't have the honeyed sweetness of HopSlam or the IPA bite of something like Cigar City Jai Alai, just a crisp smoothness about it that I really enjoyed.  The hops recipe is Citra and Mosaic, which for me gave a very clean citrus flavor.  Not the usual grapefruit bitterness that American IPAs sometime have, but a really fresh orange, tangerine kind of taste. Sure it had some bitterness, but a very pleasant amount.  It also has a relatively low ABV at 6.4% that kept the taste from being too extreme.  If this was available in six packs in Richmond, I could see it replacing Oberon as my summer bottle

I should add the caveat that I was having BonChon for dinner, so my taste chemistry might've been compromised.  But if eating spciy Korean fried chicken can do this to an IPA, I'll grab a box every time.

Finally a question for everyone.  Why isn't there an enterprising store in DC that opens up a pipeline for beers not distributed on the Eest Coast?  I know some bars will drive to Ohio for Dark Lord day and then sell some pours, or drive to Dexter to load up on Jolly Pumpkin.  But for the every day beers that just don't get out here, I have to imagine with the way we beer geeks are these days, someone could work something out and make some money.  I know that Bourbon got into some trouble for selling Hill Farmstead (I think?) from their growlers, but couldn't some agreement be reached for willing West Coast breweries?  Just need someone to drive a refrigerated truck back and forth across the country a few times a month .

Tanner Roark stepped in admirably for Jordan Zimmermann today, who the stat-heads say is the real ace of the staff.  If Fister comes back healthy, and Roark and Taylor Jordan fill in this well when called upon to give the top of the rotation a break every now and then, the Nats should sweep up the NL East.  That being said, Go Reds!

Saw it in my local ABC, but didn't pull the trigger for the $100. Should I have?

Had the Bookers 25 this past weekend.  And if you have the money to buy a bottle for $100, I think it's a worthy addition to a home bar.  I think bourbon fans who have had the Four Roses 125th  and PVW 23 will always compare premium bourbons to those two.  This really isn't the same, having almost 40 more points on the proof.  Now, for a higher proof bourbon, it is still very flavorful and easy to drink. We had some neat, then added a bit of water, and it really opened up once it had the water in it. It has strong molasses/toffee tastes along with the usual vanilla and coffee that the regular bottling has.  It's a not an everyday drinker, but I think with 12 pours in the bottle you'll feel like you got your monies worth.  At a bar, I'd expect to pay $25 for a 2 oz pour, which helped make my buying decision a little easier, drinkers' math.

Has anyone ever been to a Mission BBQ?  One just opened in Richmond in a not very ideal location, but near a bunch of highways and the train station at least.  It's across the street from a Famous Dave's and a few miles down Broad St from Buz and Ned's second location.  Based on pure speculation, I'm sure the food rates somewhere in the middle of the two.

I love everything about that idea other than putting Luxardo (I'm assuming maraschino) in a Manhattan.

(Or was it the bitters, or Fernet, or something else?)

It was the maraschino, as noted above everyone was throwing out cocktails with it so I felt obligated to buy some.  I went with the Luxardo Maraschino in lieu of actual cherries for garnish due to space constraints and freezing concerns.  I found after messing around a bit, a room temperature cocktail thrown into the sphere would almost instantly melt through the bottom and water things down. Having a full alcohol mix, then placed in the freezer, allowed for little to no melting other than the slow melt in the glass.  I did make a sphere or two with cherries frozen into the ice, but didn't get to use them on Saturday.

Also, I did say Manhattan-esque, and it didn't end up being too sweet.  I originally made a Fancy Free, when I realized I didn't have the triple sec needed for the bourbon crusta recipe.  I then used Dolin Blanc instead of the Triple Sec, and ended up with our cocktail for the evening.

Fancy Free

• 2 oz bourbon
• 1/2 oz maraschino liqueur 
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

...Hollowing out the spheres sounds interesting, too, will be good to hear how it goes!

So this was crazy fun, and I suggest it for everyone.  I put the ice molds in the freezer with a toothpick sticking out from the top.  There's a little hole in the top of the mold, so it makes it very easy.  Then after an hour or so, I drained all of the water from the inside of the frozen mold and stuck it back in the freezer.  In a cocktail mixer I stirred up a manhattan-esque cocktail, measurements are approximates:

2 oz Bourbon (weller antique 107 proof)

1/2 oz Dolin Blanc

1/2 oz Luxardo

dash of Scrappy's orange bitters

Then put that in the freezer in a measuring cup to keep it cold.  When the ice was frozen, I took it out, got a plastic syringe and filled the sphere with the Manhattan, and then dubbed it the Day After Tomorrow, a Manhattan encased in ice.  Anyway, great fun and everyone enjoyed it.  I can definitely see making a habit of this, and keeping spheres in my freezer for any old cocktail night.

Anyone ever experiment with ice?  I came across this video from The Aviary using hollow ice spheres to chill an Old Fashioned, and an at home version for a Negroni.  I recently picked up the ice molds from the negroni link, and might take advantage of this rainy day to see what kind of damage I can do with them. 

Might make swear off pizza, first. Craft bloodys are definitely a thing though.

So semantically speaking....Robin was mixing American with an E and Batman assumed it was Scotch, right?  So our bourbon and rye cocktails aren't being frowned upon as the cartoon would suggest.

Saw it in my local ABC, but didn't pull the trigger for the $100. Should I have?

The two "premium" bourbons I've bought and tasted this past year have both been very worth it, I think.  One was the Four Roses 125th Anniversary ($80) and the other Parker's Heritage Promise of Hope 13th edition ($100).  I'm hoping that the Bookers 25 joins this club.  I know a few of the year's premium releases have been met with less enthusiasm from the bourbon community, such as the second release of Jefferson Aged at Sea ($80) and Old Bloward ($150?) from the orphan barrel project.  But I've been drinking Bookers since I began drinking bourbon, so I felt this was a premium bottling worth trying.  Planning on drinking it Saturday night with some friends, so hopefully I'll have some notes if it's still on the shelf for you Monday.