SeanMike

Is is March 7, 2009, at La Galleria at Lafayette Centre. 7 PM - midnight. http://www.cff.org/Chapters/metrodc/Chapte...&Event=9734 As for volunteers - I'm not certain. I will ask.

Hey everybody, The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Brewer's Ball is coming up in just a few months. Thanks to a good friend and a neighbor who has it, I've decided to try to help. I went last year and a had a great time. Tickets aren't on sale yet but they are looking for people to donate. That can mean a couple of different things. One is just a cash donation in exchange for recognition in the program or elsewhere; I can find the details on that if anyone is interested. Another is a donation in kind in terms of food or drink for the Ball, though I'm not certain what their current needs are. (I have had one member advocating that they have a table offering whiskey tastings...) More so, right now, they're looking for donations for the silent auction that raises a lot of money over the course of the night. Things like gift certificates, rare items, travel packages - anything like that they're interested in. If any of y'all are interested in helping out in this cause, please let me know and I will put you in contact with the right people. If you're just interested in tickets, send me a PM after the first of the year if you don't see any info in this thread. Some of you I'll be asking personally too. I hope to see y'all there!

It would make gummint work more fun. I saw it at Ace last week, forgot to buy it. Bought a six of it at Total Wine, polished it off in one night. Last night bought another six of it at Westover Market and managed to keep it to two of them.

I'm on my second six pack now of the Lagunitas Brown Shugga. Fun stuff!

Well that might explain the abrupt cancellation of our latest corporate event... So now here's the real question: what could take its spot in that building?

When we visited a few months ago, I was surprised by how much better the latest batch (21 at the time) was over the batch I'd picked up a while before (15). Rick showed us the "do it yourself" aging kits then, and had some of a close batch to what I had at home (14 vs. the 15 I have) that he'd aged in a small barrel and it was also notably improved, I thought. The rye that I tasted was quite good, I thought, maybe not a sipper but definitely a fun mixing rye. I'm definitely interested in the unchipped distillates but I'm going to wait a bit to see (not helped by the sheer lack of room that I have). For aaronsinger: VA ABC does carry it, but it depends on the store. Or you can go over to Ace. I'd highly suggest checking the batch number before buying. Given ol_ironstomach's notes on the #24, and my experiences with the #21, I'd suggest at least in the 20s. But Rick is a pretty good guy, and the tour I took there was fun - it was the first time I'd visited a distillery!

Waitaminute - you don't get paid every time you post here? I love the cha-ching sound of PayPal registering another "Thank you for posting!" from Don! On a slightly more serious note - maybe also it's because people know, hey, that Michael Landrum dude, he makes some good food, and has seemed willing to work with the community, I'd be willing to give it a shot, versus some random chain that just wants you to get drunk off sugar filled cocktails, eat processed cheese bites, and video tape it so you can show all your friends just what a great time you had.

At least instead of my usual "Where are my pants?" today is just "where is my jacket?" I'm happy though that I found my cell phone. That was the most fun I've had in a long time!

And it looks like now that's the only way to get his charcuterie: http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/...ites/10314.html

That stuff was good! I wrote up about it today - http://scofflawsden.com/blog/2008/12/04/dolin-vermouth/ - and now I've just got to (im)patiently wait to get down to Ace and stock up on all three kinds.

(I figured I'd go ahead and start a new thread...) Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology I think is by far one of the most important books a cocktail enthusiast can own. Admittedly it's aimed more at someone trying to become a bartender, it appears, but it is by far the book I reference the most often. David Wondrich's Imbibe! is a great history of cocktails coupled with good recipes and ideas. Speaking of that word, the magazine Imbibe is incredibly useful - and also covers beer, wine, coffee, and tea. Those are my big ones. I've got a bunch of other ones, but really, The Joy of Mixology and Imbibe! are the two most important on my shelf. I'm not fully up on a lot of them - I know there's New Classic Cocktails, for instance - and others might have other ideas, but I don't hesitate to suggest those first.

If we're going old fashioned we're going OLD fashioned.

I'm now quietly weeping into my Old Tom Martinez...

Being a steadfast trust-er of Jake's advice, I muddled a sugar cube with three dashes of Angostura, added in three ounces of Bols Genever, ice, stirred, and added a lemon twist. As per Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology. Delicious. Can't wait to try some other drinks...

A Bols Genever old fashioned.

I use it occasionally. It would be cool, if possible, if new entries or modifications to it were marked by date so when it's updated I'd know where to look. Just some idle wishing that only generates work for other people, not me...

You could make it a double feature with Natural Harvest, too.

Not yet.

The Salad Days Sour is quite wonderful. The Brunswick Sour is an amazing surprise. The Whiskey Skin I've been making over and over at home. The Japanese is even better now that they make their own orgeat.

My results are posted: http://scofflawsden.com/blog/2008/11/29/two-taste-tests/ (Short version: You gets what you pays for.)

It is my opinion that really, even if they're not technically required, I would not even consider PX unless I had reservations.

I'm taste testing between the two of them right now and, not to give away anything, I will say this: these two products are NOT the same. (If my taste buds let me, I'll handle this, then it's a Laird's tasting...)

Heckler & Koch? Oh, that's an "s"... Anyways, I've been thinking of having a bit of a taste test between the two.

I haven't had peanut soup since the last time I went to the Hardware Store back when I lived in Charlottesville. Does anywhere around here make it?

I'll be there, with date, once I figure out who said date is.