Category: Drink

The idea had been a solid one: walking around Boston’s North End, comparing the ricotta pie at as many Italian bakeries as possible.

Okay — I was comparing the ricotta pie. The rest of my party was comparing cannoli.

I get it — cannoli are good. Extremely good. But let’s face it. They’re no ricotta pie. I feel strongly about ricotta pie — to the extent that I fervently believe that if they held a Miss Greater Boston Italian Pastry beauty competition, an actual slice of ricotta pie would almost certainly win. Yes, the other girls would cry.

Until they ate the winner.

At any rate, we had taken a short break from pastry-eating and had stepped into an Italian deli to get warm. The rest of my group was oohing and ahhing over imported pasta and balsamic vinegar. I was looking at the olives in the deli case, when I accidentally made eye contact with the man behind the counter.

He gave me a half chin lift nod of recognition, then, seemingly recognizing something in me, he asked, “Are you an Olive Guy?”

As it happens, I am an olive guy.

“Yeah,” I said, trying to keep it cool, “I’m an Olive Guy.”

He looked briefly to each side, as if he might be overheard, then reached into the case and tapped a bin of small black olives. His voice dropped to just above a whisper.

“These, My Friend,” he confided in me, “these are the ’68 Barracuda of Olives.” He looked at me for my reaction.

I looked at the olives critically — I mean, it was already a foregone conclusion that I was going to buy the olives, but I didn’t want to look too easy. They were very small, about the size of black jelly beans, but darker. Much darker. The air around them almost shimmered as it was tugged at by their blackness.

“Yeah,” I said after a few seconds, “Gimme half a pound, please.”

My new friend didn’t move. He stood there, watching me impassively.

“Um, and another half a pound in another container,” I added.

He nodded very slightly with approval, and got me my olives.

They were extremely good olives.

’68 Barracuda

At this point, after that very olive-centric story, you could be excused for expecting an olive-based cocktail. And indeed there is a lot to be said for, and about, dirty martinis, the gold standard — the ’68 Barracuda, if you will — of olive-based cocktails, but that is a study for another time. No, this time, we’re going to go in the other direction — the Barracuda.

A Barracuda is a standard if not terribly well-known cocktail — very fruit-forward, and in spite of its name a fairly innocuous drink. Yes, it has a fairly lengthy list of ingredients, but it is a pleasant if not terribly memorable cocktail.

This is a tweak on the original.

Ingredients

• ice
• ⅔ ounce Galliano, an Italian, vanilla-forward liqueur, in a freakishly beautiful bottle
• ⅓ ounce grenadine
• 1 small Fresno pepper
• ⅔ ounce white rum
• ⅓ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
• ⅔ ounce pineapple juice
• sparkling wine — I used Cava.

Slice the pepper into a shaker, and muddle it thoroughly.

Add an ounce or so of white rum to the shaker, then “dry shake” it. This means to shake it without ice. (The capsaicin — the spicy compounds — of the pepper are alcohol-soluble, which means that the straight rum will extract them pretty well. They are not water-soluble, so the juices or ice would interfere with the process.)

Add everything but the sparkling wine to an ice-filled rocks glass, then top with the wine.

It’s up to you whether to stir, or not to stir.

The juices and grenadine give a dependable Tiki-like background flavor to a standard Barracuda. Regular white rum is happy to hide in the background, wrapped in a comfortable vanilla blanket of Galliano. The star of this show, singing out proudly like it’s ’80s Night at a Tiki karaoke, is the Fresno chile.

Why Fresno?

I’m glad you asked. For years my go-to chile has been a classic jalapeño. It’s got a great flavor. It’s hot, but not too hot. It’s been great.

But sadly, in recent years it’s let itself go. Eighty percent of the time it has no heat and even less flavor; it’s usually in lawn-clippings territory. The other 20 percent of the time it’s as if it’s sobered up and tries to make up for lost time, and blows the top of your head off. Fresnos are more dependable.

And, not for nothin’, they’re red, which suits this drink better anyway.

Featured photo: ’68 Barracuda. Photo by John Fladd.

Pairing wines with NFL playoff chicken wings

It is the NFL playoff season and time to have those football-centered house parties. The mainstay of those parties is, of course, chicken wings! Deep-fried chicken wings have southern roots, but coating the wings in a spicy butter-based sauce reportedly has its roots in Buffalo, New York, the home of the Bills, who just halted the New England Patriots in their pursuit of advancing in the playoffs. Recipes for preparing those cherished wings can vary from a lemony-pepper sauce to a Sriracha-based sauce to a myriad of mustard- or vinegar-based sauces with varying amounts of sweetness and spice.

It goes without saying that beer certainly has a place at the table with all those wings, sour cream and celery, but there are several types of wine that can also be seated next to those revered wings, and we will explore a few of them. When considering which wine to serve, there should be a balance between the buttery sauce coating those wings and a slightly acidic wine that refreshes the palate.

Our first wine, the 2017 Château de Fesles Anjou Chenin Sec (originally priced at $59.99, and reduced to $21.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), comes from the Anjou region of the Loire River Valley of France. The color of this chenin blanc is straw that somehow has a sparkle even though it is a still wine. It has a floral nose of citric blossoms that transform to the palate with dried fruit, honey and toasted bread. This slightly citric wine will clean the tongue of the rich, complex, sweet and spicy notes of those wings.

Our second wine, the 2017 La Grand Comtadine Premières Vendanges Vacqueyras (originally priced at $64.99, and reduced to $22.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), is a classic Mediterranean Southern Rhone red wine. Produced as a blend of 50 percent grenache, 40 percent shiraz/syrah and 10 percent mourvedre, it offers texture and complexity with ripe fruit that works nicely with the warm, red sauces coating the wings. The color is a deep red with a nose of dried plums. To the tongue, the fruit recedes with good, strong tannins of leather. This is a wine with body that will complement those wings.

Our third wine, the 2020 Vigne Regali Rosa Regale Brachetto D’Acqui Sparkling Red Wine by Banfi (originally priced at $19.99, and reduced to $14.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), is an interesting study of pairing the slight sweetness of this wine to a tomato, mustard, vinegar-based sauce. Castello Banfi is a family-owned vineyard estate and winery located in the Brunello region of Tuscany. Fermentation of 100 percent brachetto grapes takes place in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats, with bottling immediately afterward. This careful attention to time and temperature results in its slight effervescence and a rich garnet color. To the nose it is full of raspberries and strawberries. To the tongue there is a slight delicate softness that settles to a clean, dry finish. While this wine is frequently paired to desserts, it holds up well to barbecue-style wings.

Our fourth wine, Comte de Saint Aignan Crémant de Loire Brut Première Étoile (originally priced at $28.99, reduced to $14.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), is a blend of 60 percent chenin blanc, 35 percent chardonnay and 5 percent cabernet franc). The grapes for this sparkling wine come from the Crémant-de-Loire appellation of the Loire River Valley in central France, producing a color that is light gold (almost clear) with persistent but sparse bubbles. The nose is slightly nutty with notes of dark honey. To the mouth there are bold citric notes that will complement the freshness of a lemon-pepper sauce on your wings.

So, in settling in to watch your next almost favorite team roll through the playoff brackets, consider these alternatives to beer in pairing with those ubiquitous chicken wings.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

You’re going to need something

At about 3:30 a.m. on a recent Sunday morning, my youngest daughter woke up with a fever. As we are in a global pandemic and we happened to have a couple rapid tests on hand, we tested her for Covid, and sure enough she came back positive.

The following day, my son developed what I will delicately call an “annoying” cough — he also tested positive. Later that evening, my wife noticed that I, too, had developed an annoying cough. I could feel her cringing every time I coughed, or grunted, as she said. Spoiler alert: I had it too.

Hard to call it anything other than an outbreak. My wife remained like a beacon of strength refusing to succumb but for the rest of us, we had to work through what ultimately felt like a pretty standard, fairly fast-moving, if annoying cold.

We know we’re fortunate to have had a mild experience with the illness, but I also know that it’s tough to be stuck in close quarters with the same people day after day after day. It was like we regressed to the early days of the pandemic when we never left the house.

I love my family dearly, but all that closeness begs for a beer or two — especially since whatever variant I ended up with took it easy on my taste buds. I know my wife needed something as she dealt with — and tried to avoid — all of us.

As the omicron variant seems to be running roughshod through masks and vaccines and social distancing, I suspect I’m not alone in finding myself back in quarantine, if not dealing with the actual illness, then certainly isolating due to a “close contact.” Here are three beers that I think just might help you through it. Stock up now.

Peanut Butter Imperial Stout by Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. (Waltham, Mass.)

From the brewery’s “Indulge Series,” this is just that, an indulgence, a wonderful indulgence. This is rich and creamy and silky and so, so smooth, bringing together the delicious flavor of peanut butter and chocolate. You’re thinking this is like a peanut butter cup in a glass and that’s about right. Savor this one at the end of a long day spent in your house, alone.

Line of Sight Triple IPA by Stoneface Brewing Co. (Newington)

When you’re in quarantine, you’ve got to amp up the alcohol content sometimes. While I haven’t tried this one, at 10 percent ABV this should do the trick when it comes to alcohol. It’s at the upper threshold with regard to alcohol content for what I consider drinkable when it comes to IPAs. The brewery says it features notes of “ripe melon and sweet lychee fruits.” (Lychee is a tropical fruit that has a strawberry-melon flavor, according to the Spruce Eats.)

Velvety Antlers Brown Ale by Granite Roots Brewing (Troy)

Brown ales are perfect anytime, so why not when you’re trying to grab a moment of relaxation in the middle of your isolation? This brew is nutty and flavorful in a balanced, drinkable package — as it should be.

What’s in My Fridge

Celebrator by Ayinger Privatbrauerei (Aying, Germany)
My brother brought a six-pack of this fantastic brew to a family get-together on New Year’s Day and I’m personally quite thankful that he did. This “doppelbock” features a deep, dark, reddish pour — almost black, honestly — and a delicious maltiness. But don’t be fooled. This is not heavy at all. This couldn’t be more welcoming; I cannot imagine anyone not liking this. It has a touch of sweetness and maybe a touch of coffee flavor before you can embrace the incredible smoothness. I know “smooth” is an overused phrase when talking about beer and the like but it’s definitely the right fit here. Find this beer. Also, am I trying to butter up my brother with this description to make up for the fact that my daughter gave him Covid? No comment. Cheers!

Featured photo: Peanut Butter Imperial Stout by Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company. Courtesy photo.

Get to know claret

The Wine Lover’s Companion, a compilation of “nearly 4,000 wine-related terms,” defines claret as a term used by the English when referring to the red wines from Bordeaux. It’s derived from the French clairet, which refers to a Bordeaux wine with a style somewhere between a red and a rosé, or a light refreshing young wine. It originated in the Middle Ages when, as a dark rosé, spices were added to increase its complexity. “Claret” continues to appear on some labels, but to the French it has no legal definition.

Claret is known as a name for sweet, red wine sauce, poured upon spumoni or ice cream. August Escoffier, the noted 19th- and early 20th-century French chef and cookbook author who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods, created a cocktail called the Claret Cup, a concoction of red wine, sugar, oranges, lemons, cucumber peel and brandy; something to warm you on a cold winter’s day.

Times and tastes change, and today a claret is known as a blend that favors the way Bordeaux are composed, that is with a base of merlot or cabernet sauvignon, with additions of cabernet franc and petit verdot, but today’s blends are not limited to just those varietals.

Our first claret, the 2018 Francis Ford Coppola Winery Diamond Collection Black Label Claret (priced at $19.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), is a true Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, malbec and cabernet franc. Presented in a dark bottle with gold netting, this wine is the flagship of the Coppola Diamond Collection. The inspiration for this wine came from a bottle of 1906 claret found in the cellar of a Napa Valley property purchased by Coppola in 1975. While not fully understanding the origin of the term “claret,” Coppola liked the word because it implied something clear and pure; however, he was discouraged at first from using the term because Americans wouldn’t know what it meant.

The wine has a nose of dark cherries, and, to the tongue, berries, plum and anise emerge, accompanied by smooth tannins. As a blend, this wine varies from vintage to vintage, made from grapes that are grown across California to Oregon. The 2018 vintage is predominantly based on Napa Valley-farmed cabernet sauvignon grapes and has an alcoholic content of 13.9 percent.

Our second claret, the 2017 Ramey Wine Cellars Claret (priced at $46.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), is a blend of 44 percent cabernet sauvignon, 20 percent merlot, 14 percent malbec, 12 percent petit verdot, 8 percent syrah and 2 percent cabernet franc. Ramey Wine Cellars is located just off the square of downtown Healdsburg, California. The dream of David and Carla Ramey, the winery seeks to produce wines of the highest quality, sourcing their grapes from vineyards with which they have worked for many years. This claret follows the Bordelaise model of blending the different Bordeaux varietals, with fermentation occurring in the barrel and the blend assembled early so it is “elevated” as the finished wine. This claret rested on its lees 12 months in French and American oak barrels, of which only 24 percent were new. The wine was then lightly fined with egg whites and bottled without filtration and released in March 2020. Alcohol content is 14.5 percent.

Robert Parker gave this wine a score of 92 points, deservedly, given its highly structured notes of dark chocolate-covered cherries and tobacco, derived from the time spent on oak. It has a medium-bodied, plush feel to the tongue, with an exceptionally long finish.

These two wines, from opposite ends of the spectrum, are both called clarets, a moniker we discovered that evolved from the Middle Ages to today’s blends. They are examples of the wide diversity of wine structure, body and taste that can be experienced from attention given to the detail of blending certain varietals, coupled with divergent methods of production.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

So, you know how every three or four months you go through your pantry and get rid of all the food that you forgot about, which has expired?

Actually, you know what? We’ve known each other a while now, and this is a safe space. We can be honest with each other. It’s been at least a year and a half since you looked at the back of any of those shelves, hasn’t it?

It’s OK — no judgment. In fact, it sort of advances my point for me.

Anyway, you know how, when you finally get around to cleaning out the whole pantry, and take everything off all of the shelves, you find yourself looking at some exotic ingredients you barely even remember buying?

You must have had some recipe that called for lotus root, but seriously, when have you ever even considered using bee pollen? And that tin of smoked octopus? What were you thinking?

You know that feeling?

That’s an emotional road map to my liquor cabinet. I’ve got a truly distressing number of tiny sample bottles of liquor I totally meant to use in something, someday. Even worse are the almost full bottles of exotic liqueurs that are missing just that ounce or two that I used in that one cocktail that one time and then—

And then, what?

I’m not sure. Things get a little fuzzy when I think about it too much.

Anyway, this is all to scaffold my explanation for why, when I found a drink recipe I wanted to try and it called for a blackberry liqueur called créme de mûre, I balked at hunting down a bottle of it. Even if I was able to find a bottle of it, and it wasn’t too expensive, and it tasted good, when would I ever use it again?

Oh, yeah, right — like I could serve lemonade to guests next summer, and say with a straight face, “Oh, that? Do you like it? It’s créme de mûre. Remind me to get you some.”

I don’t know who could pull that off — somebody in loafers and a yachting cap, probably — but not me.

Anyway, I ended up making some blackberry syrup (see below) and figured that a small amount of it with a small amount of good vodka would probably make a decent substitute.

And it did. The drink was fine, just a little flat. It needed some acid, so I added some lemon juice, and it was better, then some more lemon juice and it was even better. At that point I realized that the bourbon in the recipe was distracting from the really good stuff — the little dance that the lemon and blackberry were doing—

And that’s how we ended up here:

Lemon 2 the Rescue

Ingredients

• 2 ounces nice vodka — this is another one of those times when you’ll want to avoid any harshness from the bottom-shelf stuff
• 1 ounce homemade blackberry syrup (see below)
• 2 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice

Shake all three ingredients with ice.

Strain into a coupé glass.

Congratulate yourself on being so clever

On first sip, this tastes a bit sweet. You ask yourself if perhaps it could be a little less sweet, but then, like a woman on a horse in gleaming armor (A point of clarification: The woman is the one in the armor, not the horse), the lemon comes thundering to the rescue and lets your palate know that “Shh — everything is alright; let me handle this.” And then she does.

It’s another good omen. We’re going to get through this.

Blackberry syrup

In a small saucepan, bring equal amounts (by weight) of frozen blackberries and white sugar to a boil. Stir frequently, and if you’ve got one, it wouldn’t hurt to hit the berries with a potato masher at some point. Let the mixture boil for a few seconds to make sure that all the sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat. Strain everything through a fine-meshed metal strainer, and allow it to cool, then bottle it, label it, and store it in the refrigerator for a month or more.

Featured photo: Lemon 2 the Rescue. Photo by John Fladd.

Take the beer less tasted

When someone asks me what kind of beer I like, I usually say something along the lines of, “I drink everything but I primarily gravitate to stouts and IPAs.”

That’s more or less accurate. I love stouts and IPAs and at the same time I’m happy with Pilsners and brown ales and sours and so on and so forth.

Still, it’s easy for me to get stuck on stouts and IPAs — now more than ever — as there has never been a greater variety and quantity of both styles available to us from craft brewers. Plus, they taste really, really good.

But one of my goals for the new year is to find more opportunities to step outside my comfort zone to explore not only a wider variety of styles, but beers that are especially unique.

There’s so much great beer easily accessible and I don’t want to close myself off to anything. I feel like we’re in this together.We might need to hold each other’s feet to the fire. Sure, we’re not going to like everything we try, and that’s OK, but you must be at least somewhat bored with trying yet another variation on the IPA featuring the newest, most exciting hop strain? Don’t worry, IPAs aren’t going anywhere.

Let’s keep an open mind and let’s dive in. Here are five unique New Hampshire brews I’m looking to seek out in 2022.

Razzmatazz Raspberry Wheat Ale by Throwback Brewery (North Hampton)

The description says “spicy and fruity,” and it features “aromas of raspberry sugar cookies,” and honestly, it scares me a little. But I like that it’s got a little zip with an ABV of 7.4 percent and that the brewer notes flavors of “bitter berry, currants and sweet caramel malt.” You start mulling this over, and how is this not an intriguing brew? (The brewery has a Raspberry IPA that fascinates me as well.)

Cranberry Wit by Great North Aleworks (Manchester)

The brewery says this slightly tart Belgian-style witbier is brewed with orange, coriander and cranberry. This sounds refreshing, exciting, not at all over-the-top and perfectly seasonally appropriate.

Spit Fire Joy Juice: Maple Smoked Peach Sour Collaboration by 603 Brewery (Londonderry) and Able Ebenezer Brewing Co. (Merrimack)

What a fascinating beer! This is just so interesting bringing together sweet maple smokiness and the tang of peaches. I feel like the smoke would add some balance and provide some depth to what sounds like a very sweet brew. This screams complex.

Bubblewrap by Loaded Question Brewing (Portsmouth)

This Belgian “singel” is brewed with “bitter orange peel,” Willamette hops and Belgian ale yeast. What I’m expecting is a light, refreshing Pilsner-like brew featuring some acidity and some fruitiness from the orange peel. I can’t wait to try this.

Monadbock by Granite Roots Brewing (Troy)

OK, this isn’t a brew that I would classify as especially unique or innovative. Based on the description, it sounds like this is about as traditional as it gets. Beyond looking for unique beers, I also want to revisit more traditional styles. The brewery says this amber bock “boasts rich malty caramel and fresh baked bread,” and honestly, how could that not be good? Sometimes, we get so excited about all the experimenting brewers are doing these days, that we, or at least I, forget what made us enjoy beer in the first place. I’m thinking this brew might be a good, delicious reminder.

What’s in My Fridge

On the Gogh by Breakaway Beerworks (Manchester) Yes, I’m trying to step away from IPAs, but before I do, I enjoyed this unfiltered, dry-hopped IPA that boasts big tropical fruit flavor and a little spiciness. This was quite nice and one I would recommend tracking down. Don’t let the spice scare you; it’s not overpowering and instead helps balance out the bold citrus flavors. Cheers!

Featured photo: Razzmatazz Raspberry Wheat Ale by Throwback Brewery in North Hampton. Courtesy photo.