Category: Drink

March is unpredictable; so are these selections

Nobody knows what the month of March is going to throw at us. Exhibit A? March 2020 brought us essentially a nationwide lockdown.

On March 1, 2020, you had no doubt heard of Covid-19 but you can’t look me in the eye and say you had an inkling that in a matter of days you were headed for a full year of working from home. You could try to tell me you saw it coming but I promise you I won’t believe you. OK, OK, maybe I’d believe you if you are a medical professional. But most likely you are not.

March brings us bizarre, varied and often extreme weather. It brings us one of the biggest drinking holidays of the year. It also brings us a huge college basketball tournament. Sometimes, it brings us Easter. And fun fact: The Eiffel Tower opened on March 31, 1889.

What will March 2021 bring us?

With a month that’s this all-over-the-place, your beer choices are probably going to be equally random. Sometimes you get an 80-degree day in March, and that’s when you cue something light and refreshing. This March opened with bitterly cold temperatures, and, in turn, I stuck with big stouts and porters. Anything and everything in between is on the table.

Here are three random beers to enjoy this March.

Lighten Up by Lithermans Limited (Concord)

This double dry hopped pale ale is bursting with citrus aroma and fresh hop flavors in, as you might expect, a pretty light package — perfect at any time. Sometimes, I find that with all the super-hoppy IPAs available now, just enjoying a straight pale ale can be an enlightening and delicious experience. This is basically a toned down IPA but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more pleasing hoppy beer — juicy, crisp and tasty.

Fun side note: You can download the Lithermans Limited playlist right on its website (lithermans.beer) with Spotify or iTunes and “experience the musical stylings of Lithermans from the comfort of your own home.” Maybe other breweries do this too? I don’t know. But in a time where we’re all still finding ways to adapt, this is just another thoughtful way to recreate “normal” for your own sanity and beer-drinking enjoyment.

Farmhouse Noir with Raspberries by Stoneface Brewing Co. (Newington)

This is a complicated, unpredictable beer, making it perfect for March. This saison is quite dark on the pour and definitely brings some richer maltiness. But at the same time it’s also super bright and tart and just oozes raspberry flavor. It’s a little funky, a little sweet, maybe even a little chocolatey? This beer is going to keep you on your toes. Be ready for anything.

Beamish Irish Stout by Beamish & Crawford (Cork, Ireland)

Guinness gets all the attention in the United States on Saint Patrick’s Day and that’s just fine with me, but there are other traditional Irish stouts that deserve your attention. The Beamish Irish Stout is a little more decadent than a Guinness with a bit more chocolate and coffee character. Yes, drink this on Saint Patrick’s Day, but don’t limit yourself to that single holiday. This brew is incredibly pleasing and at 4.1 ABV it is exceedingly easy to drink for even the most stout-averse beer drinkers.

What’s in My Fridge
Sam Adams Gameday Beers by Boston Beer Co. (Boston) I love a good mixed pack and Sam Adams is the first company I think of when it comes to variety packs. The Sam Adams Gameday Beers pack features four lighter brews: Boston Lager, Cold Snap White Ale, Alpine Lager, which is new, and a Golden Ale. First, I think this variety pack would be perfect for summer, as these are all lighter, easy-drinking options. All of these brews are just “beers,” and I mean that in the best kind of way. They are flavorful, crisp and refreshing, and yes, agreed, these are perfect for gameday. Cheers.

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Jeff Mucciarone.

I’m finally attacking the intimidatingly large stack of books I’ve bought over the past year and never actually read. One of the most fascinating is Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya: The Story of Jazz as Told By The Men who Made it, by Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff (1955, Rinehart and Co.). Leaving its problematic subtitle aside (ahem, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and a parade of other unamused female musicians) the most fascinating part of the jazz story so far has been the descriptions of Storyville. Storyville was the celebrated red light district in New Orleans where, legend has it, jazz music was born. In New Orleans tradition, it has become mythologized so much that it has taken on a brassy, tarnished aura of being joyful and exotic. Nowhere more so than in the names of the “sportin’ men” and working girls who lived there: Flamin’ Mamie, Crying Emma, Big Butt Annie, Naked Mouf Mattie, Boxcar Shorty, Titanic, Bull Frog Sonny, Street Rabbit, Three Finger Annie, Charlie Bow Wow, Yard Dog, Knock On The Wall, and Tenderloin Thelma are all intriguing. Each of them deserves a song, an adventure movie, a mystery novel or at least a cocktail dedicated to them.

The two names that jump out at me, though, are Boo Boo and Big Boo Boo.

I don’t know who Boo Boo was. I don’t know how he got his name. I don’t know who Big Boo Boo was, though I like to think of the two of them as partners — Boo Boo being the brains of the operation, and Big Boo Boo lurking in the background, occasionally cracking his knuckles. If we were to make a movie about them, we would learn in one of the last scenes that Big Boo Boo had a beautiful tenor singing voice.

This is all conjecture on my part. For all we know, the Two Boo Boos might have been two women, calling to potential customers from their balconies.

Anyway, here are two drinks to honor them:

Boo Boo Shooter

It makes sense that if we are going to make a pair of drinks dedicated to Boo Boo and Big Boo Boo one of the drinks needs to be little and one needs to be big. This is the little one.

Ingredients:
¼ oz. hibiscus syrup (see below)
1 oz. jalapeño rum (see below)
½ oz. passion fruit juice cocktail (yeah — see below for that, too)
¼ oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
1 (seriously, just one) drop rose water

Add each ingredient to a chilled shot glass or very small juice glass. Drink it.

This is spicy, and sour, and floral. It’s rather delicious, but it hangs around in your mouth and your head for easily 10 minutes after you have drunk it, reminding you of all the exotic places you haven’t visited yet.

Hibiscus syrup: Bring 10 ounces of water and 9 ounces of sugar to a boil and boil it for a few more seconds, until the sugar seems to disappear. Take it off the heat and add ½ ounce of dried hibiscus flowers and 1 ounce of fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Stir, let it sit for half an hour, then strain it into a bottle, and store in your refrigerator. Depending on your hibiscus blossoms, the color will range from an exotic purple to a deep magenta.

Jalapeño rum: Roughly chop 4 or 5 jalapeño peppers, and put them into a large, wide-mouthed jar. Add a bottle of white or silver rum (again, probably not the good stuff; any subtleties of flavor will be completely covered up). Shake twice per day, then strain and bottle after 4 days.

Passion fruit juice cocktail: Find this in the juice aisle at your favorite supermarket.

Big Boo Boo

Yes, this is largely a scaled-up, highball version of the Boo Boo Shooter.

Ingredients:
1 oz. hibiscus syrup
2 oz. jalapeño rum
4 oz. passion fruit cocktai
1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
3-4 oz. plain seltzer or soda water (right now I like Topo Chico Mineral Water; it’s aggressively bubbly)
3 drops (again, seriously, only three) rose water

Fill a shaker with ice. Add hibiscus syrup, rum, passion fruit juice, and lime juice.

Shake until very cold

Pour into a large glass filled with ice. Strain it, don’t strain it — this drink does not stand on ceremony.

Add seltzer, and stir gently to combine.

Add rose water.

This drink tastes a lot like its namesake shooter but provides a more protracted experience. After a few sips you may decide that this drink is too spicy, or too sour, or too weird for you. A moment later you will find yourself going back for another taste. Then another.

Eventually you will probably find yourself back in the kitchen, making another, with a confused frown of concentration on your face. Which I think Boo Boo and Big Boo Boo would appreciate.

Featured photo: Big Boo Boo and the Boo Boo Shooter. Photo by John Fladd.

Napa and Sonoma offer a perfect spot for pinots and chards

Napa and Sonoma counties, known for producing some of our nation’s greatest wines, have been described as having a Mediterranean climate. While the valley floor of Napa and Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa can reach summer temperatures well into the 90s, the two counties have several cooler microclimates produced by air movement over the diverse terrain.

These counties lie north of San Francisco and San Pablo Bay. Combined they are about 50 miles long and almost 50 miles wide and are bordered on the east by the Vaca and Howell mountains, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The Mayacamas Mountains, a range that is more than 50 miles long, running from just north of the San Pablo Bay to Mendocino County, separates Napa and Sonoma counties with slopes that vary from hilly knolls to peaks that can climb to well over 4,000 feet. These mountain ranges and their lower, stepped hills, referred to as “benches,” augment the climate of the two counties, contributing to several microclimates throughout the area.

San Pablo Bay is a shallow estuary that mixes the fresh water of several rivers with the salt water of San Francisco Bay. This low-lying and gently sloping land shared by these two counties is known as the Los Carneros AVA (American Viticultural Area). The cold, brackish water of the bay evaporates into the hot, arid air of the two valleys to the north to produce cool foggy nights that can last well into the morning hours.

This climate is ideal for growing chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, varietals grown in the Champagne regions of France for the production of Champagne. The cooler climate of Carneros is attractive to the cultivation of these same varietals and is used in the production of California sparkling wines. With more than 6,000 acres cultivated in vineyards, the Carneros District was the first wine region in California to be defined by its climate characteristics rather than political boundaries. Elevations of these vineyards range from 400 feet in the foothills of the Mayacamas mountains to near sea level at the bay’s edge. With the combination of poor soil and cooler climates, the wines developed from grapes grown in this region have higher levels of acidity.

Our first wine is a chardonnay, Bouchaine Vineyard 2016 Chêne d’Argent Estate Chardonnay (originally priced at $32.99, reduced to $16.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets). Bouchaine is the oldest continuously operated winery in the Carneros district. The land was first owned by a native of Missouri, Boon Fly, who planted grapes and fruit trees in the late 1880’s. The land changed hands and was eventually purchased by its current owners, Gerret and Tatiana Copeland. This wine has a light, transparent gold color. The nose is light, with notes of citric and green apple along with a bit of smokiness. To the tongue the taste is full, citric, with a bit of grapefruit, yeasty brioche, and that same smoky sense, derived from some time in oak barrels. The finish is quite long. This wine will pair well with roasted chicken or grilled pork or can just be slowly sipped.

In the northern region of Sonoma County, 50 miles from San Pablo Bay, is Anderson Valley. About 15 miles long and running along the banks of the Russian River, it extends into Mendocino County. Elevations can range to 2,500 feet above sea level. Vineyards are planted from the valley floor to the benchlands of the nearby mountains. While we typically think of Napa and Sonoma counties as having hot summers, this area is different. Owing to its proximity to the Pacific, and flanked to the east by the Mayacamas Mountains, it is one of the coolest wine-producing areas of the state. Receiving about 40 inches of rain each year, it is also one of the wettest of the various grape-growing and wine-producing regions of Sonoma County.

The 2019 V. Sattui Anderson Valley Classico Pinot Noir (originally priced at $48.99, reduced to $23.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets) is a classic Burgundian pinot noir. V. Sattui, based in Napa, purchases these Anderson Valley grapes and trucks them to its winery in St. Helena — a common practice among wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties. The color is an almost transparent garnet red; the nose is of raspberries, which recede on the tongue to a dry and full-mouth sense of pepper spice with just a touch of leather. Given the cool climate, the wine is light with a low alcohol content at 13.8 percent. This wine will pair well with seafood or chicken.

Featured photo: Bouchaine Vineyard 2016 Chêne d’Argent Estate Chardonnay, 2019 V. Sattui Anderson Valley Classico Pinot Noir

What you eat or drink affects your brew

In sort of a famous family incident several years ago during a get-together at a restaurant, my dad complained about the Wachusett Country Ale he was drinking. He didn’t like it. The flavor wasn’t quite right.

As the brew is one of my staples and frankly, unarguably, one of the least offensive brews on the planet, this concerned me. Was it skunked? Did the bartender accidentally give him the wrong beer? Was something wrong with my father?

After a little investigation, he admitted he had popped an Altoid just as he was drinking the beer. Look, I’m not going to question the big guy. He must have needed a breath mint. But I feel sure the brewers at Wachusett Brewing Co. didn’t brew any of their beers to be enjoyed with an Altoid.

The point is, juxtaposition matters when it comes to beer.

This is not an article about pairing food with beer. This is some commentary on at least considering how one thing might impact another. It’s also about encouraging people to give beers another shot — in a different context, you might find different results.

If you’ve had a couple rich, smooth stouts, and then you make the jump to an amped up double IPA, well, it might work but the bitterness might be a lot to take on the first sip.

Recently I was enjoying a delicious Velvet Moon Milk Stout by Mighty Squirrel Brewing of Waltham, Mass., just savoring the rich coffee flavor and decadence of the brew. Then I followed it up with a much drier stout. It was not a good experience and left me disliking the second brew. I even bad-mouthed it to a friend.

I gave the brew another shot several days later and it was a completely different, completely pleasurable experience. I’m glad I came back to it.

Juxtaposition matters, of course, when you’re making a dramatic shift from one style to another, but it also matters when you’re sticking with the same style. If you’re enjoying a bunch of IPAs, sometimes the combination of hops from the next brew can hit you right or wrong.

Food has an impact as well, potentially bringing out the right or wrong flavors from the beer you’re drinking.

Just keep it in mind. If you try a beer and you don’t like it, you might just not like it, but consider the possibility that other factors have impacted how you feel about it. Try it again in a different context.

Here are three random beers that can probably be enjoyed in succession but I don’t really know.

ArrrVP Oak-Aged Robust Vanilla Porter by Great North Aleworks (Manchester)

Great North Aleworks takes its terrific Robust Vanilla Porter (RVP) and ages it in rum oak cubes, which accentuates the vanilla in the brew and gives it a little “bite,” while the beer maintains a dry finish. At its core this is still RVP, just a little different. The ABV is pretty low at 6.6 percent, making it approachable too.

Blueberry Ale by Wachusett Brewing Co. (Westminster, Mass.)

Just a coincidence that I referenced Wachusett earlier in the piece, but when you have had more IPAs than you should, this is a perfect choice. The subtle sweetness from the blueberries and the light body provide the perfect counterpoint to all that hop bitterness.

Unraveled IPA by Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

This is good stuff: very juicy but also smooth, if an IPA can be that. It’s also a crystal clear pour, making it very unique for this style. It also has big citrus aromas.

What’s in My Fridge
60 Minute IPA by Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales (Milton, Delaware) I hadn’t had this in forever and I’ll tell you what, this brew, now nearly 20 years old, absolutely stands up to today’s super-hoppy IPAs. Cheers.

Featured photo: ArrrVP by Great North Aleworks

Early on in the Covid lockdown, I decided to take ice cream to the workers at my dump. I wanted to do something for someone in essential services and I have a lot of respect for people who do hard, thankless work.

Every week during hot weather I would swing by the general store in our town on the way to the dump and grab them some ice cream bars or cold sodas. A small gesture of thanks.0

So I was at the dump transfer station, dropping off our trash and talking with one of the guys there, telling him some sort of stupid joke, something like:

Q: Why did the dolphin flunk out of ballet school?
A: Poor poise.

My friend laughed loudly enough to get the attention of one of the other guys working behind a giant stack of cardboard.

“IS THAT THE JOKE GUY?”

“YEAH!”

“DID HE BRING ICE CREAM?”

I’d kind of like that on my grave: THE JOKE GUY. HE BROUGHT ICE CREAM.

Anyway, one of my friends at the transfer station gave me a gift one week, a 1963 copy of The Barmen’s Bible — a well-worn cocktail manual from the time when bartenders could reasonably be expected to wear bowties.

This week, I was looking through The Barmen’s Bible and ran across a drink recipe that stopped me cold. Under a section devoted to “coolers” was something called a Honolulu Cooler — a solid name. A promising name. Until you get to the Southern Comfort.

Crushed ice — check

Lime juice — check

Pineapple juice — check

Southern Comfort … ?

Really, Oscar Haimo, President of the International Bar Managers Association, circa 1963? Southern Comfort?

As my wife pointed out, though, this drink is obviously called Honolulu because of the pineapple juice. It doesn’t necessarily have anything more to do with Hawaii than that. It could have been invented in an Elks Club in Akron.

So, this is what I figured. I’d make this clearly awful drink, figure out what was wrong with it (the Southern Comfort), then reformulate it to taste better.

As it turns out, there was a flaw in that plan.

The Honolulu Cooler is a solid, tasty drink. It’s shockingly good. You would think that Southern Comfort and pineapple juice would be cough-syrupy sweet, but the fresh lime juice keeps them on a leash. “Shhhh, boys,” it says, “these are our friends; be nice.”

It is refreshing and delicious. You could easily drink an injudicious number of these.

Honolulu Cooler

Juice of half a lime, about 1 oz.

1 jigger (1½ oz.) Southern comfort

Approximately 5 oz. pineapple juice

Fill a tall glass with cracked ice.

Add lime juice and Southern Comfort

Fill to the top with pineapple juice

Stir with a bar spoon.

A little research on this drink hints that it was actually invented and served in a large hotel in Honolulu. The more I thought about it, the more this made sense. It would be incredibly fast and easy to make for wide-eyed tourists and the use of a name-brand alcohol would allow the hotel bar to bump the price by a good 30 percent.

Of course, the fact that this is a perfectly good drink already did not stop me from reconfiguring it anyway.

My version uses lime syrup instead of lime juice, which would make the drink too sweet, but I countered that with the bitterness from Campari and a bracing note from gin.

Existential Luau

1 oz. lime syrup (see below)

1 oz. Campari

2 oz. gin (I like Death’s Door)

4 oz. pineapple juice

cracked ice or tiny ice cubes

Fill a tall glass – a pint glass or a Collins glass – with ice.

Add lime syrup, Campari, and gin.

Top off with pineapple juice.

Stir with a bar spoon.

This drink is pink, but not bubble-gum pink. It’s the color of a sunset. An apricot that someone has whispered a dirty suggestion to. The color of contentment at the end of a hot, trying day. The ingredients have a tendency to separate very slightly, so the Luau starts out a little bitter-sweet, then becomes more limey as you drink it.

As do your thoughts.

Lime Syrup

Juice of 3-4 limes

An equal amount (by weight) of white sugar

Zest of 2 limes.

In a small saucepan, bring the lime juice and sugar to a boil. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 10-15 seconds, once it’s boiling.

Remove from heat and add lime zest. Let it steep for 30 minutes.

Strain the zest from the syrup, so it doesn’t get bitter.

Label your jar so you won’t have an awkward moment a week from now, when your wife wants to know what’s in that jar in the door of the fridge. Or maybe that’s just me.

Featured photo: Photo by John Fladd.