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What Are You Drinking Right Now?


deangold

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St. George's Akavit. Some hooch I have been tinkering with. Ketel One vodka steeped with mango, papaya, peaches, apricots, pineapple, ginger, grapefruit zest, vanilla and a light caramel of nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, cardamom and corrainder. A little sweet, a little bitter from the zest, warm, fragrant, good. Drinking it out of a dried coconut too. The spices remind me of Grenada, the namesake, and 2 months of hitch-hiking on boats through the caribbean...and around scandinavia.

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99 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. All I could smell was the Brett!
I was very disappointed in this wine, I had it as part of a vertical and it was by far the worst showing of the wines we had. Especially after a glass of the 1998 which was stunning even when young.
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I was very disappointed in this wine, I had it as part of a vertical and it was by far the worst showing of the wines we had. Especially after a glass of the 1998 which was stunning even when young.

I haven't had Beaucastel since I don't know when, probably the 97 or 96 vintage. I ahve always fount the wines to be a little one dimensional, but at least that dimension was extracted fruit & oak. This wine needed a good dose of sterile filtering to get rid of an obvious bacteriological flaw. My customers, who opened it and let me try it seemed to love it so I had to bite my tongue to not spoil their evening!

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2003 Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo Cutizzi - A great crispy wine with plenty of fruit, nice acidity, and no evidence of oak to be found. Thankfully this wine is best young so I will not have to wait to enjoy its five siblings.

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Basilica Sambuca. Di-ges-steeef!

Did you really need anything else to get your juices flowing?

Coss Beer followed by a Clyneleish (sp?) from Murray McDavid. I think its my favorite of their regular bottlings right now.... however I was thinking that about the Bruichladdich while I had that one open.

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I was very disappointed in this wine, I had it as part of a vertical and it was by far the worst showing of the wines we had. Especially after a glass of the 1998 which was stunning even when young.
I'll be opening an 89 tonight and will report back. :unsure:
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Last night, celebrating a birthday (his, not mine) we opened a bottle I acquired a few months ago, on sale at MacArthur Bev: 2001 Le Clos Du Caillou Cotes du Rhone Reserve. OMG this was a gorgeous bottle of wine. Nose of berries and flowers. Silky on the tongue with layers of flavor--raspberry, spice and flowers. It must have been quite high in alcohol though, because we both woke up feeling a tad hung over, without having consumed any other alcohol before or after. And we usually easily finish a bottle of wine together without blinking an eye.

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2001 Le Clos Du Caillou Cotes du Rhone Reserve.
If you like the Cotes du Rhone, you should try the Chateauneuf du Pape, it is heavenly (even better if you can sucker a friend into opening one of his Reserve Le Clos du Caillou).
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If you like the Cotes du Rhone, you should try the Chateauneuf du Pape, it is heavenly (even better if you can sucker a friend into opening one of his Reserve Le Clos du Caillou).

Are you offering, friend? I promise I won't think of you as a sucker, if you open one when I'm around. This CDR was tastier than many of the CNDPs that I have had...

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Tanqueray Malacca martini. Mmmm, discontinued gin.
Malacca was one of the finest gins I have ever tasted. It is so damned sad that they discontinued it. I can just imagine what one of Agaria's martinis would be like with it. Hmmm bitters...

Tonight was simple. A bottle of 2005 La Rosee de Monbousquet followed by several glasses of Macallan Cask strength cut with Acqua Panna (no not a nice highland spring water, but better than Arlington tap).

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I can just imagine what one of Agaria's martinis would be like with it. Hmmm bitters...

By the way, I found the Stirrings brand Blood Orange Bitters that I tasted at Agraria, at the Georgetown Whole Foods store, on the aisle where they have spices, salt, honey, etc. Aside from in a Manhattan, I have used it to add complexity to an apricot tart. Tasty stuff. I think I paid $7.99...

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Thursday night I had a glass of Castello di Lispida Amphora Tocai 2001. A follower of Gravner, the Lispida was round and really intense. Fermented in Amphora and fermented on the skins for 7 months, then returned to the Amphora for 14 months aging before bottling.

Went great with the roast suckling pig I was eating.

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My wife had a really crappy day today so she made me open something that sparkles. So we had a 1996 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elizabeth Salmon Rose. This along with the Roses from Krug, Dom, and Cristal mark the pinnacle of rose wines. The one thing that this wine has over the others in its glass is the price. I purchased a six-pack for less than a 2 bottles of the other three. This is the wine personifies what Joe Riley was talking about when he said that “Rosé Champagne = liquid panty remover”.

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We had a number of guests bring in and/or buy pretty good wines last night so I had quite a few tastes...

1978 Brovia Barolo Magnum (It was a Brunate I think)

1995 Allegrini Amarone

1983 Quintarelli Reciotto (I thought it was a 93 not an 83!!)

1996 Trimbach special cuvee Pinot Gris (pretty earthy and full)

Sepcys (?) 6 put Tokai

a 97 Sangiovese from Siema Imports

Gravner Anfora Ribolla Gialla

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Today I just took delivery of several bottles of Fee Brother's bitters (3 Orange, 1 mint, and 1 peach). So I have been playing around with the Orange. It really does wonders to a classic Dry Martini, but they elevate a Martinez* to another world.

*If you do not know what a Martinez is, it was developed around 1870 and is believe by quite a few people in the cocktail world to be the precursor to the Dry Martini, and for my tastes, is a far superior drink. But Agaria's Martini does give it a hell of a challenge.

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Today I just took delivery of several bottles of Fee Brother's bitters (3 Orange, 1 mint, and 1 peach). So I have been playing around with the Orange. It really does wonders to a classic Dry Martini, but they elevate a Martinez* to another world.

*If you do not know what a Martinez is, it was developed around 1870 and is believe by quite a few people in the cocktail world to be the precursor to the Dry Martini, and for my tastes, is a far superior drink. But Agaria's Martini does give it a hell of a challenge.

*add orange bitters and triple sec to your gin martini plus the obligatory cherry

Today I just took delivery of several bottles of Fee Brother's bitters (3 Orange, 1 mint, and 1 peach). So I have been playing around with the Orange. It really does wonders to a classic Dry Martini, but they elevate a Martinez* to another world.

*If you do not know what a Martinez is, it was developed around 1870 and is believe by quite a few people in the cocktail world to be the precursor to the Dry Martini, and for my tastes, is a far superior drink. But Agaria's Martini does give it a hell of a challenge.

*add orange bitters and triple sec to your gin martini plus the obligatory cherry

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Close, but for a Marinez the dry vermouth is replaced with sweet.

The recipe I prefer for this drink is as follows:

1 1/2 shot Gin

1 1/2 shot sweet vermouth (one dream I have is that someone will one day make a decent one)

1/4 shot Cointrau

2 - 3 dashes of orange bitters (until tonight it was optional).

Stir all ingredients, and garnish with lemon twist, no cherries.

I recently read a recipe that called for the replacement of the Cointrau or Triple Sec with Marashino, since I do not currently have said liqueur I will have to try this another time and report back.

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I recently read a recipe that called for the replacement of the Cointrau or Triple Sec with Marashino, since I do not currently have said liqueur I will have to try this another time and report back.

Steve, thank you for sharing. Your timing couldn't have been better. Inspired by the agrarian Brothers Brown, I just happened to have recently acquired bottles of Carpano Antico Vermouth, Luxardo Maraschino, and Regan's #6 Orange Bitters. Mixed with Bombay Sapphire in the proportions you suggested about 5 minutes ago, the resulting cocktail is a beautiful dark honey color with long legs and a nose-filling sweet, orangey, faintly bitter aroma. And just a wee spicy bite. Tis a thing of seductive beauty.

I'd do the comparison back-to-back with the Luxardo Triplum Orange liqueur right now, but there'd be no point; this one is gonna kick my lightweight butt. Tomorrow..I'll mix it the othre way tmorrow :unsure:

Note to self...buy some interesting gin next week.

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Note to self...buy some interesting gin next week.
I am glad that you liked it. As for Gin, these days I prefer Plymouth (Malacca used to be my preference, but sadly they no longer make it). It has a nice clean flavor, and is not too botanical. Where did you find the Carpano Antico?
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As promised (or threatened?) I conducted part II of the experiment today, and mixed one with triple sec instead of maraschino. Still tasty, but without the maraschino the orange flavor was considerably more concentrated, and I think I prefer the first version better.

FWIW, the Carpano was obtained out-of-town, in Brooklyn.

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A little help please.....

What is the appropriate drink to have when you've been searching your house for an hour for a set of keys that you really really really need and YOU CAN'T FREAKIN' FIND THEM DAMMIT!

AGGGH!

Just found 'em. Now what is the appropriate drink to have when you couldn't find your set of keys for nearly 2 months and you had to change your locks and get new keys because you couldn't find them? :unsure:;)

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Just found 'em. Now what is the appropriate drink to have when you couldn't find your set of keys for nearly 2 months and you had to change your locks and get new keys because you couldn't find them? :unsure:;)

I usually drink mojitos in the summertime when I lose my keys to best prepare me for either breaking and entering or tropical camping. The mint is invigorating and would probably hold strong for post tramatic lost keys stress (PTLKS) and locksmith screwed me big time pains.

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I usually drink mojitos in the summertime when I lose my keys to best prepare me for either breaking and entering or tropical camping. The mint is invigorating and would probably hold strong for post tramatic lost keys stress (PTLKS) and locksmith screwed me big time pains.

Hmmmm. I have rum, soda, sugar and I just bought some mint this morning that I was going to use for a lamb dish this week......

Is it possible to buy more mint on a weekday in the D.C. area? :unsure:

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mixed one with triple sec instead of maraschino. Still tasty, but without the maraschino the orange flavor was considerably more
I am sure that I would prefer the first version if only Triple Sec was available as opposed to Cointrau. I think that triple sec has a less refined and more upfront flavor than Conintrau.
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I am sure that I would prefer the first version if only Triple Sec was available as opposed to Cointrau. I think that triple sec has a less refined and more upfront flavor than Conintrau.

Fair enough, although it wasn't the vile garden-variety Triple Sec. Luxardo Triplum is regarded by many to be the equal of Cointreau for considerably less money. It's certainly nothing like the usual Bols or DeKuypers. YMMV.

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On Saturday we attended the wedding of one of my closest friends, it was held at a country club in Stafford. The food was simply horrible (processed cheese, an overcooked rib roast of utility grade), but this was made worse by the horrible wine. Before the cake was cut they passed out flutes of a clear liquid. By clear, I mean water clear, with a few bubbles coming-up from the bottom. I passed when they offered me a glass, but I made the mistake of trying my wife’s. I am not sure what God-forsaken sparkling wine this was, but it had no smell, no flavor and tasted like it was sweetened with corn syrup. After my wife tried it she leaned over and asked if I could chill a bottle when we got home.

We cleansed our palettes with a 1996 Duetz Blanc de Blanc. It is a splendid champagne, with a wonderful nose, and rich flavors.

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