BEER (and apparently, WINE)

[snakefing]

Been experimenting with Campari lately. Someone got me a bottle, and it has been flaunting its voluptuous redness and rumored undrinkability for far too long.

After some trials, I can say that it is, in fact, horribly, awfully bitter. Nasty, vile stuff. Yet strangely addictive. One of the mysteries of the universe.

[LordVreeg]

Now THAT is interesting

[LordVreeg]

D'arenberg Dead Arm 00 last night,
since the wife and I were doing the V-day thing a night early.

Opened it around 4:30 and decanted (I swear, this  vineyard pours in extra sediment or something) to get it breathing properly.  Initial nose very tight but strong, strong, strong (this is one of the biggest Shiraz' around, flavor-wise).  So tough when I go out to dinner and try to drink something that should have been opened hours before.

Then I went and made a rub for the filets (Vocanic Black Salt, Proudhommes, and a little diced chocolate), pounded the rub into the filet's lightly, poured a little wine on top, and let marinate.

After we put MiniVreeg (Or V, as my Igbarians like to call him) to bed, I washed some spinach and put on some water for couscous.  Always add a little actual margerine (or canoleo, in my case) to the oil in the couscouse water.  It was around 6:50 by now, which matters for both the marinade and the wine.  Now the Rubber hits the road, so to speak, as we preheat the grill and put a tad of Colonna olive oil onto the meat and toss it on the grill.
I patted the spinach dry, and then cut up a lemon.  Light about 50 zillion candles and start a fire in the fireplace.  Couscous goes in the water, then pour about 2 fingers of the wine into big bordeaux glasses ('cause this thing historically drinks this way...I've had Dead Arm from 95 through 01, and have bottles of 99-05 in the cellar now).  Moving it around the big-bowled glass to check the legs, The smell of rich earth and leather wafts out mixed with the pure, dark grape smell.

Go out to the grill, flip the filets.  The rub is crusting a bit, so I back down the flame a bit (the olive oil can do that if put right onto a rub...creates a bit of a crust, not a bad thing, but too much and it tastes burnt).  
Set the table, turn down the lights, then squeeze the lemon into a wide pan (like an omelet pan) with a little canoleo spread, creating a lemon-butter.  Throw the spinach on that, and go rescue the now-medium-rare Filets.  Cut up french baguette, and get a small bowl out for the Colonna Olive oil with 14 yr old balsamic vinegar drizzled on it, for the bread.  Plate the flet's, the spinach, and the couscous in careful triad, and it hits the table.

Wine was NOT a dissapointment, strong, strong, strong (as this bottle normally is), with a lot of earth and strong leather and an interesting eucalyptus undertone.  Not as dry as I remember, but very kick ass, stood up to the rub well.  

[Ishmayl-Retired]

I forgot to mention, for my birthday, back in January, the wife and I went to Biltmore.  The higher quality Biltmore Estates wines, especially the Limited Release Syrah and the Sangiovese were exceptionally good.

I also went to a wine-tasting there, and they had the Limited Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Cardinal's Crest; both to me were a bit too woody.  I think they used the French Oak barrels on those, which I didn't like as much.

[limetom]

Tonight I broke out the bottle of Bushmills Original I got for a (very) belated birthday present. I also got a bottle of Jameson on my birthday.

Had the Bushmills with some local, organic pineapple I mooched off of a party the other night. This ended up being a very nice contrast. Some people like to mix whiskey, but I (almost) always drink it straight up.

The color is, of course, a very light gold. This is of course due to the age of the whiskey (very young).  

The smell (or nose) reminds me of wood and cinnamon, with perhaps a hint of vanilla or chocolate (or both); can't place my finger on which one.  If I had to pick of one thing it really reminds me of, it is Christmas; I don't really know why.  Comparatively, if memory serves, Jameson has a bit more of a medicine-y nose (thought not at all unpleasant).  And don't quote me on that for Jameson; haven't had any in a while, so my opinion is likely to change.

The taste is actually much more subtle than I would have guessed, as it is a lower-end whiskey.  The fire is almost all in the mouth; it is pretty smooth going down.  It starts off a little sweet, but also has a bit of sourness after lingering a bit.  Comparing it to the pineapple, it is much less sweet and a little bit more sour.  The cinnamon is a lot stronger in the taste than it was in the nose.  Also a hint of roasted almond; took me a while to determine just what fit that.  Both the cinnamon and the almond flavors last on for a bit, but both fade quickly.

I opened a can of Coke at the very end (when I had ran out of pineapple), and a sip of the Bushmills followed by the Coke brought out a very chocolatey flavor I hadn't tasted before.  However, I only mix Canadian whiskys; I prefer to leave Bourbons, Irish whiskeys, and Sotches alone.

Regrettably, I ran out of pineapple before I could move on to the Jameson for a decent review. ;)

[limetom]

[spoiler=Oh hai]

[/spoiler]

[LordVreeg]

Limetom, you make it all sound very, very appetizing.  ESpecially where you detect contrast.

[Ishmayl-Retired]

Sounds like something that would go very well with some some Absolut Vanilla vodka! ;)

[limetom]

Sounds like something that would go very well with some some Absolut Vanilla vodka! ;)

must[/i] stoop to mixing it, I supppose. :p

[limetom]

So I'm moving on from the Bushmills Original I reviewed earlier to my bottle of Jameson.  Just the plain-old unnamed Jameson.  Drinking it straight up, again.  It was raining, so I'm just having the whiskey.

Jameson is a bit on the dark side, color-wise.  The color reminds me of apple cider.  The color is a bit odd, considering it's a younger whiskey.  This means that they either colored it (not uncommon) or it was aged in a bourbon barrel (like other Jameson whiskeys).

The nose (or smell) reminds me of apple cider, with a hint of a citrus.  And the citrus is a lighter, sweeter fruit, more like a Mandarin orange or grapefruit than a lemon or a lime.  To continue the trend, if I had to pick one "thing" to describe it, I'd say Autumn.

The initial flavor is a bit sweet, but nothing really jumps out at me; somewhat of a distant fruitiness.  I think 'delicate' would probably be the word for the initial flavor.  As it sits on your tongue for a while, it takes on a bit of the taste of black pepper; this lingers as an aftertaste as well.  There is another later taste, somewhat bitter: I'll call it pine.  I've never actually gone and chewed on a piece pine, but that's what it reminds me of.  The pine taste also lingers on as an aftertaste for a while, but nowhere near as long as the pepper.  There's a bit of fire when you swallow that reminds me a lot of a dry wine.

Not a bad whiskey, especially in the nose, but it borders on being bland in the taste.  It is, after all, the cheapest stuff Jameson makes, and this shows (though only a little bit).  It probably would have been more pleasant having it with something.  I remember caving and mixing it with Coke a while ago; all the complexities were lost and the 'medicine-y' smell you get right from the bottle carried over into the taste.  Definitely better straight up.

Perhaps the pineapple (or maybe chocolate) would have helped.  Oh well... I still have half a bottle to find out with.

[spoiler=I Will Just Leave This Here]
[/spoiler]

[Llum]

Alright I went out on the town last night, tried a variety of beers.

Steamwhistle: good canadian beer, didn't really stand out. Nice pilsner, very light but a little acidic.

Coffee Beer: exactly like it sounds, beer with coffee in it. Doesn't really taste like beer, more like black coffee with a bit of beer poured into it (and cold :P)

Baltika 3: Best beer I've ever had. It's from Russia, light-medium but incredibly smooth. Smoother than a babies bottom smooth. A little crip, great beer. Similar to Kilkenny but not as light and a lot smoother. Not as carbonated as most beers ether.

Had some other beers, but those were mostly widely available commercial stuff (that's what you get for drinking at a commercial pub). Alexander Keiths/Becks/Kilkenny/Carling

[Kindling]

You intentionally drank Carling? Are you even human?

[Llum]

You intentionally drank Carling? Are you even human?

It was my friends, tried it. I'll agree its probably the worst beer on that I named :p We all decided it tasted pungent lol.

[Kindling]

Their advertising slogan for a while was "The taste of England"

Maybe the part of England they sampled to get to that conclusion was a landfill site...

[limetom]

Their advertising slogan for a while was "The taste of England"

Maybe the part of England they sampled to get to that conclusion was a landfill site...

I'd go with the Thames.