What's up peeps!!! The weather is getting warmer, and the days are getting longer. Baseball season is two days away and that means more chances to taste some new brewskis. Here is a sample of a few new beers that I am going to sample in the weeks to come.
Blessed Sunday to one and all. With the Office of the President of the United States all up in the news these days, this post gives a glimpse of one of the many firsts during the Barack Obama administration.
This isn't the first time that I've written about Presidents and beers. I wrote a general post of Presidents and beer entitled Presidential Brewers from way back during the early days of COVID-19 on April 18, 2020. But the Presidents aren't only linked to beer. Some have been vinters and even mixing cocktails at the White House. And don't get me started on the alcohol consumption by the POTUS' throughout the years both at the White House and in public. But Barack Obama holds the distinction of being the first President to brew beer on the grounds of the White House. Let's go back in time to 2011.
When it became known that the White House was making the Honey Brown Ale and then the Honey Porter, homebrewers everywhere wanted the recipe to be made public. President Obama said the recipe would be made public. True to his word, in a post on the Obama White House website entitled Ale to the Chief: White House Beer Recipe by Sam Kass dated September 1, 2012 the following recipes were posted:
I've been meaning to dabble in home brewing. Maybe this is the beer that will get me into it. Have any of you made any of the White House honey beers? Whatcha think? Yea? Nay? Let me know in the comments.
For this cocktail, the ingredients are pretty straightforward: Vodka, Kahlua and Heavy Cream/Half and Half/Milk of some sort. The Russian part comes from the Vodka. The White from the Cream. How does the Kahlua fit in? Well, let's go down the cocktail history rabbit hole.
The origins of this cocktail lay not in Mother Russia, or their Cold War rivals the United States. No folks, according to cocktail history, the White Russian was created in the country of Belgium to honor a diplomat. According to the post White Russian Recipe from Vinepair.com:
The drink was conceived in 1949 when Gustave Tops, a Belgian barman, created the cocktail, along with its sister cocktail, the black Russian– a White Russian without any cream - at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels in honor of Perle Mesta, then U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.
Most obviously, Belgium is not Russia, so the drink doesn't take its name from its country of origin. It instead inherited Russia in the name because vodka is the main ingredient.
The magazine profile lists the following recipe for their Lite White Russian:
I've seen the recipe with equal parts vodka and Kahlua/coffee liqueur. Either way, the cocktail is delicious. Especially if you have ulcer and want to continue drinking without aggravating said ulcer. But I digress. Back to the magazine recipe.
The recipe lists three different vodka's that are recommended. Two are from Smirnoff. I'll bypass those. The third one is the one that caught my attention. Give it a look:
Black Cow is the world’s first Pure Milk Vodka. Made in West Dorset using the milk from grass-grazed cows. Using milk as our only source ingredient is what makes Black Cow so smooth.
At Black Cow we know milk is precious, so we don’t waste a drop. It starts with separating the milk into curds and whey.The curds make the cheese – including Black Cow Deluxe Cheddar – but, often, the whey ends up going to waste. We take that whey and, using a secret distilling process, turn it into the ‘world’s smoothest vodka’. So smooth you can drink it till the cows come home.
Has anyone had a taste of their vodka? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments box. Oh, and before I forget. How can I do a post about a White Russian and not show the Dude making it at his home bar with the 37th President of the United States Richard Nixon bowling in the background.
Here's to your health
Happy Holidays to one and all. This has been a holiday season that due to the pressures at work and personal issues has not felt very festive. But with a day off before Christmas, I decided to relax by looking through the New York Times Machine to see what ads I can come across. Now consider that Prohibition had been repealed less than two years when the December 17, 1935 edition of the New York Times was published. By this time, bars and restaurants in NYC were back in full swing, many restaurants advertising for the holiday season of 1935. But one particular spirits ad stood out to me because of not only its rarity, but also because of its name brand. Look at the following ad:
Poland Spring Gin’s nose has a bit of ethanol and barbershop aroma on the nose. There’s a slight hint of sweetish smelling green juniper cast amidst a hazy, slightly musty aroma.The palate is slightly acrid, especially at first. Intensely bitter, Poland Spring Gin has an apothecary-type flavor. Tell-tale note of green and slightly pine-forward juniper hits mid-palate, before fading quickly into a slight hint of cinnamon and spice.The finish is long, with bitter notes of inexpensive vodka, ethanol and rubbing alcohol.The astringency and dryness you might expect from an inexpensive classic gin are certainly there; however, especially on its own— Poland Spring Gin is a bit rough.
Woof. Not quite the positive review. The gin clocked in at 80 proof/40 ABV. I'm not sure as to when production started, let alone ended. I'll make sure to update the post if I find out more info.
Ever have the pleasure of drinking some of the Poland Spring Gin? Let me know what you think of it in the comments box. I'll be back soon with another post from the December 17, 1935 edition of the New York Times.
Metheglin is a special kind of mead made by mixing honey, water, spices, and herbs. This combination adds unique flavors that traditional mead doesn’t have.
Sweet, tangy, and refreshing, the Radler style was inspired by German cyclists who mixed beer with lemonade to quench their thirst on hot summer days. Our take on this style starts with a golden Helles lager, then adds a unique blend of lemons to capture that fresh-squeezed lemon zest. Its crisp, light body and clean finish make Porch Rocker the ideal cold beer for hotter days.
Long before sports drinks and the notion of staying hydrated, there was radler, a word meaning "cyclist." The background: In 1922, Franz Xaver Kugler, the owner of a Bavarian Gasthaus was running low on beer. He had thirsty cyclists and hikers to serve, so he concocted a mixture of dunkle lager cut with lemon-lime soda, which he had in abundance. Voila! Proto-Gatorade. Now radlers are more often made with pale lagers, but bock and dunkel lagers are used occasionally as well.
