Category: Drink

There’s a guy who lives about a block over who goes all out for Halloween — the one who puts cobwebs all over his front porch and hides speakers, so he can play moans, or the sound of clanking chains, or Alice in Chains, or something similarly unnerving. There will be fake gravestones all over his front yard, and maybe a mottled, fiberglass hand forcing itself out from the ground. This was the guy who rigged a 15-foot tube from his second-floor window last year to slide candy to trick-or-treaters.

That seems like it would be exhausting.

And there’s the family down the street who dress up in themed costumes every year. Dad might be Chef Boyardee, Mom is a sexy can opener or something, the toddler is covered in tangled yarn and is spaghetti, and the baby is a meatball.

Seriously, there’s not enough therapy in the world to make that worthwhile.

There are the kids in their 20s at work who have been spending the last few weeks putting together extremely niche costumes to wear to excessively hip parties:

“No, you wouldn’t have heard of her — she’s a really obscure secondary character from Hello Kitty, but the joke is, I’m telling everyone that I’m wearing Korean underwear, but I’m not actually wearing ANY underwear!”

Presumably there will be a lot of drinking and associated lifelong regrets involved. That sort of thing is behind you; you promised yourself, “never again” after the Battlestar Galactica debacle of 2010.

So, what’s your role in Halloween this year?

Judging a reality competition show.

What you will need:

• 2 lawn chairs

• a best friend

• candy

• raspberry margaritas (See below.)

The object of the game is to pretend each trick-or-treater is a contestant on a costume competition show. You are the judges and neither of you entirely understands the rules. You can greet each kid with a slightly bewildering compliment:

“Batman! The little-black-dress of the costume world! You pull it off effortlessly, darling!”

“Charizard! Pokémon is so last season, but you make it work. I choose you, Little Man!”

To a parent: “Are you her manager? Make sure she gets this outfit trademarked.”

To the teenager with a pillowcase and no costume: “I’m sorry, we’re going to have to send you home this week. The others just wanted it more.”

Will the children be amused?

Not even remotely.

Will you and your friend?

More with each successive margarita.

Raspberry Margarita

2 ounces blanco tequila – I like Hornito’s for this.

1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice

1 ounce raspberry syrup (See below.)

Combine all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker.

Shake enthusiastically.

Serve in whatever glass you feel like, from a standard martini glass, to a rocks glass, to a vintage Flinstones jelly jar.

The beauty of this drink is that while it is blood-red and seasonally spooky-looking, it is a straightforward margarita. There are only three ingredients, and it takes about 30 seconds to make. The bracing, smoky, slightly musky taste of tequila is balanced by the sweetness of the raspberry syrup. The raspberry flavor gives this drink a fruity roundness, without ever making it candy-like. If you want candy, you’ve got a giant, plastic bowl of it next to you.

Raspberry Syrup

Frozen raspberries

White sugar

Combine a bag of grocery store frozen raspberries with an equal amount (by weight) of sugar in a small saucepan.

Cook over medium heat. As the berries thaw, the sugar will pull out a surprising amount of juice.

Bring to a boil. Boil for 15 to 20 seconds to make sure all the sugar has dissolved.

Let the mixture cool, then strain it through a fine-meshed strainer. It will keep in the refrigerator for a month or so.

Featured photo: The Trick or Treat Margarita. Photo by John Fladd.

Add a fire pit and you have a party

The color of fall is all about us. The sun is bright and the sky is blue. This weather welcomes fall sports and backyard gatherings and tailgating. Yes, it is cool, and sometimes a bit blustery, but we still welcome the opportunity to relax for an afternoon or evening with friends and great barbecue fare paired to robust wines.

This last week we hosted a very small group of friends in our backyard to relax and exchange stories of happenings since our last get-together a month ago. We told them all to dress warmly as we will gather around the table, lit by an old Coleman propane camping light, adjacent to the fire pit. It was great.

So what is an appropriate menu for a fall backyard party? Something hearty like barbecued ribs with cornbread, along with sides of vegetable salads and pasta. Our recipe for ribs is a variation on the classic. In addition to the ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce, we add ginger and lemon for a clean, tart flavor that is softened with the addition of orange juice. Our cornbread comes from a recipe of Blanchard’s Caribbean Cornbread a close friend found online. It is incredibly rich with butter, corn and cheese. This fare goes well beyond a summer barbecue menu. It is hearty and needs wines that will stand up to it: zinfandels and syrahs.

Our first wine is the 7 Deadly Zins, a 2017 old-vine vintage from Lodi, available at the New Hampshire Wine & Liquor Stores (originally priced at $18.99, reduced to $13.99). This wine is blended from seven Old Vine zinfandels. According to their website, the wine “was born from a Catholic school upbringing and the winemaker’s lust for a hedonistically seductive wine.” Seven specific vineyards were chosen for this wine, all located in the Lodi AVA (American Viticultural Area). The zinfandel grapes are blended with a touch of petite syrah, then aged in American oak for 11 months. The color is dark red to purple, with lots of rich, red berry fruit to the nose. The oak imparts a touch of leather or tannins to the tongue with layers of plum, currants and toffee, all ending in a long slightly spicy finish.

Lodi is in the northern reaches of the San Joaquin Valley, east of San Francisco. The AVA, of more than 500,000 acres, of which more than 100,000 acres are planted, is best known for its old vine zinfandel. However, with its warm “Mediterranean-like” climate of hot days and cool nights, Lodi also produces large quantities of merlot, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc.

Our second wine comes from “across the pond” in the Rhône River Valley of France. Jean-Luc Colombo 2016 Terres Brulées Cornas Syrah (available at the New Hampshire Wine & Liquor Stores, originally priced at $57.99, reduced to $29.99) has been given a rating of 95 points by Wine Enthusiast and 92 points by Wine Spectator. This is a wine that all but asks to be picked up now and cellared, because it will continue to improve for another five or more years. The color is a thick ruby black with purple hints. To the nose there is plenty of fruit that continues to the tongue with ripe cassis, or black currant, and black cherry notes. Just as with the nose, to the tongue the fruit is intense, a bit of vanilla, along with moderate tannins. This wine will age well into the future.

The winemaker team of Jean-Luc and Anne Colombo have a background in pharmaceutical science and a passion for the syrah grape. The wine is made from vines that are over 30 years old from 20 different vineyards. Aged for 21 months in oak barrels, the wine is fined with egg whites and bottled unfiltered.

So don’t put the yard furniture away just yet. We still have sunny days and plenty of opportunity to get together with family and friends to enjoy the cooler weather with hearty fare paired to rich, hearty wines. Grab a blanket and light that fire pit to enjoy the moment into the evening.

Featured photo: Photo by Fred Matuszewski.

There’s something about fall ball

“Are you OK?” my wife asked.

I was gripping — white-knuckling — our living room coffee table as the Red Sox clung to a slim lead in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the division round of the Major League Baseball playoffs.

I was not OK. While I’ve increasingly become a fair-weather Red Sox fan as the game has evolved to be (too) heavily focused on analytics, rather than the good old-fashioned eye test, this was still the playoffs and this was still the Red Sox.

I took a pretty hefty swallow of my beer, in this case a Patina Pale Ale by Austin Street Brewery in Portland, Maine, and took a deep breath. It didn’t help, as the Sox quickly gave up three straight hits to allow the Tampa Bay Rays to tie the game. By now you know the Sox ended up winning so all’s well that ends well. But you get it. Things were dicey in the moment.

There is something about the flow of a baseball game that lends itself to drinking. It’s actually not that complicated. In addition to inning breaks, there’s a little mini break after each pitch that begs for a sip of beer.

If you do like baseball, fair-weather fan or not, there is something truly special about October baseball. It is so intense. The game hangs in the balance on every pitch. Beer does help with calming the nerves for overly intense viewers like myself.

Now that said, in a close playoff game, you’re not going to be paying close attention to your beer. I don’t think pulling out the most coveted can or bottle in your beer fridge is a great move in the middle of the game — you’re just not going to be able to appreciate it as much as you should because your attention is going to be on the game. (Save it for the post-game celebration.)

That’s not to say I think you should drink something lousy either. I’m just suggesting you choose something you don’t have to think about as much.

Super-hoppy beers are great but they tend to be high in alcohol and I feel the need to remind you that baseball games can run very, very long. The team needs you there for the ninth inning.

Big stouts and porters can be a nice choice but I wouldn’t bother with overly complex brews — again, you’re just not going to be able to take the time to pay attention to layers of complexity.

For game time, I’m looking for something simple. I’m talking Pilsners, pale ales and dry stouts. Maybe toss in an amber ale or something along those lines. I still want the beer to taste good but I don’t want to contemplate its nuances.

Here are three New Hampshire beers that I think pair quite well with October baseball.

Auburn American Red Ale by Able Ebenezer Brewing Co. (Merrimack)

The pour on this is quite dark but don’t let that fool you: This is about as sessionable a beer as they come. The brewery describes it as “smooth, crisp and satisfying” and I can’t do better than that.

Hank’s Pale Ale by Throwback Brewery (North Hampton)

This has a nice backbone of grapefruit in a very crisp and dry package. You’ll want to have a couple of these, regardless of how the game is going.

Dirty Blonde Ale by Portsmouth Brewery (Portsmouth)

Take a sip, don’t think about it and repeat. This light-bodied ale is a perfect choice when you just want a beer that tastes like a beer.

What’s in My Fridge
Pale Ale by Navigation Brewing Co. (Lowell, Mass.)
First, we should talk about the fact that I love that this brewery just left the name as “Pale Ale.” I love the simplicity. I enjoyed the beer right in its taproom, which is a neat spot in an old mill building. The beer was fresh and clean and featured some light grapefruit notes — very sessionable. Cheers!

Featured photo: Beer and Red Sox playoff baseball. Courtesy photo.

This California region’s wines deserve a closer look

When one thinks of American wines, what first come to mind are the Napa and Sonoma valleys. While they produce exceptional wines, consideration should also be given to the Santa Lucia Highlands.

Proclaimed as its own American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1991, this is an area of east-facing terraces of the Santa Lucia Mountain range, to the south of the breezy Monterey Bay. An area approximately 18 miles long and 1 to 2 miles wide, the 22,000 acres of the AVA are planted in 6,400 acres to primarily pinot noir and chardonnay grapes, the balance of the AVA being an unplantable mountainside.

Cloudy mornings, midday sunshine with strong winds, and evening fog create a cool climate, allowing for a long growing season, resulting in gentle ripening that ensures intense flavors with balanced acidity in the grapes.

What better place to sample some of the best chardonnays and pinot noirs than to check out Morgan Winery’s production of Santa Lucia Highlands wines? While I hardly need an excuse to enjoy two of my favorite varietals, the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet’s current sale of 15 percent off 12 or more bottles of chardonnay and pinot noir (running through Oct. 31) is certainly an incentive to seriously look them over.

Dan Morgan Lee came from a small town in California’s Central Valley. He had prepared initially for the study of veterinary medicine at the University of California, Davis, but while at college he discovered enology (the study of wines) and enrolled in the graduate program. Upon graduation in 1978 he became a winemaker at Jekel Winery in Monterey County. In 1982 Dan and his wife, Donna, opened the doors of Morgan Winery. Initially producing wines from purchased grapes, in 1996 Dan and Donna realized their dream by purchasing their own vineyard, named the “Double L” for their Double Luck twin daughters. Today Morgan Winery is known to produce consistent award-winning wines.

Our first wine, the 2019 Morgan Metallico Un-oaked Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay (originally priced at $18.99, reduced to $16.99), is light and bright and a great way to start this great trilogy of finely crafted wines. This is chardonnay in its purest form, unadorned by oak. The grapes are primarily sourced from Morgan’s “Double L” and mixed with grapes from three other vineyards. The grapes are cold tank fermented and not allowed to go through a secondary malolactic fermentation, thus keeping the bright crispness of pineapple and vanilla to the nose, with pear and some mild lemon citric flavors, producing a long finish to the tongue. This bright acidity is perfect for pairing with shellfish and light fare.

Our second wine, the 2018 Morgan Highland Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay (originally priced at $23.99, reduced to $20.99) focuses on classic crème brûlée, walnuts and butterscotch. The grapes for this cuvée come from the Double L vineyard and two of its neighbors. After pressing, the grapes were barrel fermented in 26 percent new French oak, with partial malolactic fermentation imparting a wonderful creamy richness, with a slight acidity to the tongue. To the nose the wine has slight citric notes, countered by caramel. The creaminess to the tongue is enhanced by apple and pear. This is a wine that is perfectly matched to cream-sauced pasta or pork.

Our third wine, the 2018 Morgan Twelve Clones Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir (originally priced at $31.99, reduced to $27.99), portrays the finesse of a great pinot noir with its aromas of blackberries and herbs. The grapes for this wine come from the original pinot plantings of the “Double L” estate, joined by grapes of neighboring vineyards. To the tongue the red and black berry fruit is complemented by dark plum and a bit of leather from the nine-month aging in toasted French oak barrels, of which 35 percent are new. This is a wine that can span a pairing of grilled chicken or salmon to beef or lamb.

These wines are inventoried throughout the state stores, waiting to be appreciated.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The first time I made my new commute, I used a GPS app to get to work and spent my time worrying about whether I was driving fast enough but not too fast and whether the guy in the truck with all the bumper stickers actually hunts that much big game or this is all some sort of elaborate role-playing for him.

The second time I drove there, I vaguely remembered that I needed to take Exit 9 off the highway. As I drove past Exit 10, I made a mental note to keep my eye out for signs for the next exit.

Somehow, I found myself at Exit 8.

That’s odd, I thought, I must have really lost myself in singing along to that Lionel Richie cover. I couldn’t be very far from where I wanted to get off the highway, so I decided to take the exit, then circle back if I needed to.

But it turned out to be the exit I actually wanted. Weird though, how I missed Exit 9. I decided to look for it on my way home that night.

I missed it again. This time I blamed Whitesnake and visions of Tawny Kitaen dancing on the hood of a Jaguar.

I didn’t see Exit 9 the next day. This time, I blamed the podcast I was listening to. Not to go into too many details, but it turns out that pigeons are fascinating.

As one week turned into the next, though, even I couldn’t be absent-minded enough to forget about Exit 9 every single time.

It turns out, there is no Exit 9, southbound or northbound. Just a suspiciously uninteresting stretch of highway. I wondered if this was one of those no-13th-floor-in-a-hotel things, but I had vague memories of other Exit 9s on other highways so that probably wasn’t it.

I started to research the missing exit, but I stopped short when I realized that any answer I found would be a dry, profoundly boring, bureaucratic answer that would strip away another layer of my rapidly diminishing sense of childlike joy and wonder. It would have something to do with zoning, or population density, or a ballot referendum or something.

In other words, exactly the sort of cover story the government would cook up to cover the secret entrance to a covert military base, or an academy for mutants, or the entrance to an underground facility where they train sexy kung fu accountants or something. In other words, something I’m probably better off not knowing about.

But, you might ask, would the government actually be dumb enough to go to all that work and still mess up on the exit’s numbering?

Have you met our government?

It’s enough to make a vigilant citizen need a cocktail.

The Secret Exit

This is a riff on a classic drink called a Missing Link. It’s extremely simple, but also suspiciously difficult to remember the details of.

What was I supposed to pick up at the liquor store?, you might ask yourself. I really like that new drink and I’ve used up all the … all the … you know, the stuff that’s like triple sec, but not triple sec?

Almost like an agent in a black suit had hypnotized you, or something.

Ingredients

2 ounces really good rum – the best you’ve got

¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

¾ ounce orange curaçao

5 drops rose water

Wet a martini glass and put it upside-down in the freezer to frost.

Add all ingredients, with ice, to a shaker. Shake, until unbearably cold.

Strain into your frosted glass.

This is one of those drinks that is at its best when you start with it blisteringly cold. At the first sip, it might seem the slightest bit too acidic. You might wonder if you should have added some simple syrup or something to mellow it out. Subsequent sips will taste more and more well-rounded, though, as it warms up and the rose esters start to hit your palate. You will make a mental note to make this drink more often.

Let’s see if you can remember to.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Maine and beer are a thing

Is there a better place in the world for beer than Portland, Maine?

Aside from just very high-quality, very fresh beer straight from the brewery or close to it, the proximity is off the charts. There are a few different spots where your trusty Uber driver can deposit you and you can just bounce from brewery to brewery to brewery on foot.

I’m not saying you should be having multiple beers at each brewery or even one beer at each brewery, but that’s just pretty cool. There’s something more relaxed about the brewery scene too — it’s much more laid back than walking into a bar, although Portland is pretty laid back regardless.

During a very recent visit to Belleflower Brewery in Portland, I counted approximately a dozen dogs and even more babies. Not really on the babies but you get the point: dog-friendly, family-friendly, you know, friendly.

If you like beer, regardless of style, it’s just a place you need to go at some point. Even if you’re not into hopping from brewery to brewery, there are countless tremendous bars and pubs featuring a wide array of the local brews so you can still experience the area’s top beer.

OK, this isn’t an advertorial. I just went to Portland a couple weeks ago and I’m still excited. That’s all.

Here are some highlights from my most recent Portland excursion. Is it going to be IPA-heavy? Yes it is.

Magpie Pale Ale by Belleflower Brewery

Belleflower, which was new to me, was one of the gems of the trip: great beer across the board. Loved this particular beer — super easy to drink and incredibly flavorful. This New England pale ale is very piney and boasts big grapefruit flavor. Magpie is Belleflower’s flagship brew and I suspect you’ll want to have a couple of these.

Abstract Object Milk Stout by Battery Steele Brewing

After a sea of IPAs, this was a welcome change of pace, featuring rich, dark malts and robust notes of dark chocolate and toffee. This is a decadent brew. The brewery also featured a version of this with Madagascar vanilla that I didn’t get to try.

Assume Positive Intent by Bissell Brothers Brewing

Bissell is the one brewery in Portland that makes me nervous. Not because I’m questioning the beer but because I’m terrified I’ll have to wait in line. I need not have been concerned as its tap room was, honestly, a little quiet. I liked that personally. I dubbed this the beer of the trip very early in the weekend and it may still have come out on top. This is delicious, exploding with tropical citrus flavor in a very drinkable package.

Portals Sour Ale by Definitive Brewing Co.

Another brewery that was new to me, Definitive cranks out a series of sour ales with its Portals series. This sour ale was brewed with Maine Blueberries and the blueberries are basically trying to jump out of the glass this brew is so flavorful. Not too tart, I’d definitely hand this to someone who says they don’t like sours.

Prime IPA by Goodfire Brewing Co.

This is like my dream IPA. It’s hazy, although I wouldn’t call it juicy. I might even call it dry with a fresh, fruity brightness. As the brewery says, this is an “all day kinda beer.”

What’s in my fridge

Glass DDH IPA by Northwoods Brewing Co. (Northwood)
My wife picked this up for me because the fishing-themed label has a fishing “fly” on it. She made the right call, not just because the label is beautifully done. This IPA is bursting with tropical flavor, including pineapple and melon, and finishes a little sweet (in a good way). I wasn’t familiar with this brewery but I will make sure to familiarize myself. Cheers!

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.