Monthly Archives: August 2011

August 31, 2011 · 8:25 am

She is a thing of beauty

I’m not talking about Stella, but rather our long-awaited building permit.

I wanted to frame it, but we had to post it on the front door.

I never thought I’d be so happy to see holes cut out of the floor.

Future kitchen.

We are now the proud owners of a 100 lb. grease trap.  I’m becoming an expert in things I never thought I wanted to know.

Future bathroom. Don't worry, this is the small one.

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Filed under abv

August 17, 2011 · 3:54 pm

Searching for a Port in the stormy

The Dark and Stormy cocktail is one of my all-time favorites. Dale DeGroff’s recipe is this:

  • 2 ounces Gosling’s or Myers’s dark rum
  • 5 ounces ginger beer
  • Lime wedge

Pour the rum over ice in highball and fill with ginger beer. Squeeze in the lime wedge.

Gosling’s Black Seal 80 proof is definitely the rum you want.  For ginger beer, I’ve had good luck with Reed’s Extra Ginger Brew and Regatta.  I use more lime in mine – I squeeze the juice from 1/2 lime and shake it with the rum and ice, before pouring over rocks and adding the ginger beer.  A little salt is also tasty.
Thanks to Marymount School, our bar will have a beer and wine license only.  I do plan on having a full list of low-proof cocktails, however, which brings us to the point of this post.  Our list will most certainly have a take on the D and S.

Experimenting with some tawny Ports - Niepoort and Warre's Otima 10.

The Niepoort, while delicious, proved to have too much grape-y sweetness.  The Warre’s, mixed with the same proportions discussed above, would make most D and S fans smile.

Even the color of the Warre's was closer to the original.

Bermuda is far from Portugal and 40% abv vs. 20% abv is quite a jump, but the complexity from barrel aging and the natural sweetness found in both main ingredients makes it work.

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Filed under abv, Cocktails

August 4, 2011 · 9:30 am

Now I’m just bragging

Not that this has much to do with the content of this blog, but hey, there was some Sixpoint on board.

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Filed under Videos

August 3, 2011 · 9:30 am

Summer wines in Women’s Health Magazine

Thanks to my friend Andrea, I got a blurb in July’s Women’s Health Magazine.

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Filed under Alcohol in the News, Wine

August 2, 2011 · 9:45 am

Summer: before and after

Maryland blue crabs and some boxed love.

The 2010 Les Comptoirs de Magdala Rosé, a Vin de Pays from the Mont Caume region of Provence is my summer go-to wine.  A blend of Grenache and Cinsault, it’s light-bodied, fruity and crisp.  The producer is organic and biodynamic.  Best of all, you get 3L for around $30.   For those of you on the LES, September Wines & Spirits keeps a few of these cold.  Looking for some other boxed wine suggestions?  Eric Asimov just did a piece on them yesterday.  I’ve touched on the From the Tank wines and the Picpoul before.

The aftermath. The wine outlasted the crabs.

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Filed under Wine