Check out the review of Earl’s in the New Yorker. Guys, you rock.
Category Archives: Alcohol in the News
GQ’s New Rules of Wine
Found a great article today in the October issue of GQ: The New Rules of Wine. Some of my favorite lines:
*Of course grapes grown in different places taste different; that’s a banality no one disputes.
*…when you open a bottle of rosé champagne, people understand that you are spoiling them.
*Stop giving the wine list to the oldest, richest-looking dude at every table.
*And for the love of God, don’t sniff the cork.
Worth a full read!
Filed under Alcohol in the News, Wine
Summer wines in Women’s Health Magazine
Thanks to my friend Andrea, I got a blurb in July’s Women’s Health Magazine.
Filed under Alcohol in the News, Wine
Earl’s in TONY
Get your growler on. Photo by Paul Wagtouicz.
Earl’s Beer and Cheese is at it again. This time, they’re featured in the “Where to Drink this Week” section of Time Out New York.
Worth a trip uptown, indeed.
Filed under Alcohol in the News, What my friends are up to
A new wine wheel
I use Ann C. Noble’s wine aroma wheel in several of my classes. Say what you will about it. Supplying people with vocabulary to accurately describe what they’re smelling and tasting is a great way to get them excited about wine.
On Grub Street yesterday, a new kind of wheel popped up – one to decipher wine labels.
The accompanying article is worth reading. The teaser line is, “Without labels of jumping kangaroos, how would we know which wines to avoid?”
Some highlights:
On French labels…”It’s the fancy stuff, and it will taste sort of like dirt, but in a good way.”
On diluted French labels…”Take the French label and remove a lot of the words. Voilà! ”
On graphic design sub-class Pottery Barn…”American wine that tastes like the vanilla-scented candle they always put in those catalogue rooms.”
On nostalgic vacation labels…”These wine labels are sort of ingenious in that they skip over the wine entirely — “Who cares what grape it is! There’s a flip-flop on the label!” — and go straight to the lifestyle you imagine yourself having while you drink it….I have had enough hangovers to know with full certainty that these are cheap wines that taste like hangovers.”
Filed under Alcohol in the News, Wine
Royal Wedding wines
Cork Savvy published a piece I wrote about what to drink while watching the Royal Wedding. You can check it out here.
I guess at this point, it’s what to pair with the re-runs.
Filed under Alcohol in the News, Wine
Drinking on the job
I’m losing a day in the air, so I thought this could hold you over.
Earlier this week, The LA Times reported that French riot police were protesting a ban on drinking on the job.
French riot police. AP photo by Laurent Cipriani. Appeared in The Guardian. Their dark blue armored uniform has led to the nickname RoboCops.
Some highlights from the article:
*The Interior Ministry ordered the crackdown last week after several officers with the CRS, whose motto is “Serve,” were pictured swigging from beer bottles while deployed last fall at a student demonstration.
*Article R4228-20 of the French Labor Code, which bars the consumption of hard alcohol in the workplace, does allow public and private employees to enjoy about an 8-ounce glass of wine, a small beer or a glass of apple or pear cider while on duty. The rule was reiterated in an official directive to public workers in 1989.
*Even packed lunches issued to CRS officers deployed in their trademark navy blue vans and buses come with a small bottle of beer or wine.
*Police union boss Mangione told Le Parisien: “Decisions such as this should be based on studies of the real negative effects. There are none. This ban should be withdrawn.” He added, “We are being turned into priests, but without the communion wine.”
Filed under Alcohol in the News
“Earl’s a Pearl”
Super big ups to Adam, Corey, Mike and the rest of the Earl’s crew!
NY Mag’s Underground Gourmet gives Earl’s Beer & Cheese a glowing, 3 star review. “Some of the best (and cheesiest) bar food in town.” “As fine a convergence of food and setting that this precinct has seen since Rao’s.”
Yeah, baby.
photo by Danny Kim for NY Mag
Filed under Alcohol in the News, What my friends are up to
DIY
Julia Moskin published an awesome article in the NYT this week, “D.I.Y. Cooking Handbook“. She notes that before getting started, “it’s not necessary to understand lactic fermentation, or to learn the difference between bacon and pancetta.”
The article reminded me of some of the successful and not-so-successful undertakings of this blog. I need to post more “projects” like this. I’m thinking about tea infusions and rosé vermouth for spring.
Two of Moskin’s recipes caught my eye.
Horseradish beer mustard. Photo by Hiroko Masuike for the NYT.
Moskin sourced the recipe from Jessie Knadler and Kelly Geary:
In a bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup dry mustard, such as Colman’s; 1/3 cup sweetish dark beer, such as Brooklyn Local 2 or Negra Modelo; 1/2 cup drained prepared horseradish (a 6-ounce bottle); and 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate overnight to let the flavors calm down a little. The next day, taste again for salt and pepper, and whisk in a little more beer if the mustard seems too thick. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Use it to elevate a simple dinner of sausages, roast chicken or steak.
The other:
Vin d'orange. Photo by Hiroko Masuike for the NYT.
This time the recipe is from Sally Clarke, a chef in London:
Your citrus should be organic and clean, because anything on the peel will end up in the wine. You will need 3 tangerines or oranges with a good balance of tart and sweet plus 2 lemons or grapefruit, or one of each.
Slice them in thick wheels and place them in a clean container (glass or hard plastic) with a wide mouth and a tight-fitting lid. Now add 1 1/2 cups sugar; half of a vanilla bean, split lengthwise; a cinnamon stick, about 4 inches long;2 liters rosé; (about 2 1/2 bottles), and a cup of vodka.
Stir this well with a spoon (not wooden, as it may harbor bacteria that could inhibit fermentation) and fasten the lid. Keep the jar in the refrigerator, shaking occasionally to dissolve the sugar. After about 6 weeks, mix in 1/4 cup dark rum and strain everything through a fine strainer or several layers of cheesecloth. Store in bottles at a cool room temperature or in the refrigerator; it will last indefinitely. Lovely plain or mixed with sparkling wine or water.
Filed under Alcohol in the News, Beer, Wine
Beer on the rocks
The articles just keep coming this week.
Gothamist reported that Mayor Bloomberg refused to sample any of Brooklyn’s new brews at the ribbon cutting for their recent expansion, as they didn’t have any ice on hand.
To each his own, but ice in your beer in the middle of winter? Also, I’m sure there’s an ice machine somewhere at the brewery.
The author is attempting to determine where the mayor picked up this habit, but his press team has so far refused to comment.
Filed under Alcohol in the News, Beer
A Thirsty Spirit 