bmags Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 map rooms the only one worth going to. Sheffield's is awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Actually that list makes it look like they just went off straight quantity of something (taps/amt. of beer offered at one time). Which is stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Just ordered the following wines from Wine Insiders; 2005 Geja’s Big Bold Red Black Fox Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Bayshore Pinot Grigio 2008 Pinnacle Cabernet Sauvignon Monarch Glen Merlot 2008 Tinto Figuero I'll report back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 (edited) QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 29, 2011 -> 05:56 PM) map rooms the only one worth going to. Sheffield's is awful. that's a shame to hear. I went to Hopleaf years ago and at the time it was easily the best in Chicago for Belgian taps and bottles - better even than Map Room. I didn't care much for the Yuppie-Cubbie clientele, but it sure didnt hurt the beer any. Has Clark St. Ale House dropped sufficiently in quality so as not to make that list? they never had the bottle selection of some places, but thy always represented the best of Midwest well on tap and the location is great - especially back when my buddy Steve had the Mango restaurant open just a couple doors away. I had my first Three Floyd's Alpha King at the Ale House so it will always have a soft spot in my heart. Edited January 29, 2011 by FlaSoxxJim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 29, 2011 -> 06:17 PM) Just ordered the following wines from Wine Insiders; 2005 Geja’s Big Bold Red Black Fox Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Bayshore Pinot Grigio 2008 Pinnacle Cabernet Sauvignon Monarch Glen Merlot 2008 Tinto Figuero I'll report back. I've had the Pinnacle cab sav - not sure of the year - and I thought it was very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 29, 2011 -> 11:32 PM) that's a shame to hear. I went to Hopleaf years ago and at the time it was easily the best in Chicago for Belgian taps and bottles - better Evan than Map Room. I didn't care much for the Yuppie-Cubbie clientele, but it sure didnt hurt the beer any. Has Clark St. Ale House dropped sufficiently in quality so as not to make that list? they never had the bottle selection of some places, but thy always represented the best of Midwest well on tap and the location is great - especially back when my buddy Steve had the Mango restaurant open just a couple doors away. I had my first Three Floyd's Alpha King at the Ale House so it will always have a soft spot in my heart. Sorry, I had a knee jerk reaction to Sheffields being on there. But I think what this list has wrong is rather than sheer quantity, which all have, it's does the make it easy for the customer to hone in and try new things. One thing map room does well is change their menu often and keep it manageable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Drinking Trader Joe's Vintage 2010 brewed by Unibroue. Really good beer for dirt cheap. If you have a Trader Joes, get the Trader Joes label beers. They are brewed by some good breweries and are cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) Wish we had Trader Joe's here, some of their store-branded beers and wines are crazy good for crazy cheap. It was funny when I was in LA with my wife last May, we made a hard-target search of Trader Joe's in striking distance that didn't require a car rental and we came up empty. Mind you, we were public transit hardcores on that trip too — took the Metra all the way to Long beach to catch the ferry to Catalina, made by wife take a friggin' public bus to Disneyland ($1.75 beats $30 any day), took the subway to Hollywood Blvd., Paramount Studios, and the Tiki Ti. And in all that time we did not come close to a single stinking Trader Joe's. Edited January 31, 2011 by FlaSoxxJim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 10:50 PM) Wish we had Trader Joe's here, some of their store-branded beers and wines are crazy good for crazy cheap. It was funny when I was in LA with my wife last May, we made a hard-target search of Trader Joe's in striking distance that didn't require a car rental and we came up empty. Mind you, we were public transit hardcores on that trip too — took the Metra all the way to Long beach to catch the ferry to Catalina, made by wife take a friggin' public bus to Disneyland ($1.75 beats $30 any day), took the subway to Hollywood Blvd., Paramount Studios, and the Tiki Ti. And in all that time we did not come close to a single stinking Trader Joe's. Your wife puts up with some s***! We don't have Trader Joe's either. This is still part of my Christmas beer haul. When I went there for beer, I didn't know what I was targeting, I was just kinda curious. I almost walked out without this beer but I saw the Unibroue name on the cases while I was standing at checkout. I grabbed two bottles for like $6 per 750ml. Probably the best bargain in the beer universe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 QUOTE (G&T @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 11:00 PM) Your wife puts up with some s***! We don't have Trader Joe's either. This is still part of my Christmas beer haul. When I went there for beer, I didn't know what I was targeting, I was just kinda curious. I almost walked out without this beer but I saw the Unibroue name on the cases while I was standing at checkout. I grabbed two bottles for like $6 per 750ml. Probably the best bargain in the beer universe. Yeah, I'm not typically quite that cheap. This was a work-related trip for me, so my airfare and all lodging were on the company dime, so we were hoping for a cheap flight out for the wife and squeezing a bit of shoestring vacation in. I put in for the travel moths ahead of time so my wife should have been able to lock into a cheap plane ticket, but due to end of the year budget crud they didn't approve the travel until the week before so the ticket cost my wife almost $600 instead of the $250 it would have originally cost. That was the difference that trip that turned us into LA public transit pros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Finally starting to feel somewhat close to normal after a week-long family-wide bout of flu. Celebrating with a mai tai made with a Martinique rhum agricole that is new to me — La Mauny 1749. La Mauny is the single largest Caribbean rhum agricole distillery, but the 1749 is a new offering first bottled for US consumption in 2010. Aged a minimum 1-year in used French oak vats, it's a gorgeous dark amber rhum, and the bargain price point of $24 enticed me to take a stab and buy this one instead of the standby Rhum St. James I went to the store for. Wow, this rhum produces an exceptional mai tai. Paired with Appleton V/X, curacao, lime, homemade orgeat and a little simple syrup, I think this mai tai is possibly even better than a St. James Ambre, and also better than one made with Rhum Clement. I finally located a store about 40 minutes south of where I work that stocks the St. James Hors D'age which has been sort of the elusive holy grail of adventurous mai tai rhum vieux (dark) agricoles. Next time I'm down that way I'll have to finally pick up a bottle, but at about $20 more than the La Mauny it had better be something really special. My hope is to one day have all four of the above-mentioned rhum vieux agricoles on hand along with a couple of rhum blanc agricoles, a couple of aged demeraras, and also Smith and Cross Jamaican pot still as well as Appleton Extra (12 year) and V/X to have an ultimate mai tai throwdown. I think Smith and Cross along with this 1749 could end up being a mai tai for the ages, but there are probably several outstanding combinations that a lineup like that could produce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Feeling the need to continue celebrating almost feeling human again, I followed my mai tai up with a Vieux Carré, a New Orleans classic cocktail. Invented in 1938 by Walter Bergeron, the head bartender at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans (home of the famous revolving "Carousel Bar", the name of the drink comes from the French term for New Orleans' famous French Quarter, . . . le Vieux Carré ("the Old Square"). If you are a fan of real rye Manhattans, this is the drink for you. Benedictie amounts vary in different recipes from 1/8 tsp. to 1/4 oz. I recommend pouring heavy and going with the full 1/4 oz. Benedictine is an interesting herbal liqueur on it's own and it's a really great mixer that can add a lot of subtle complexity to a cocktail. Here's a recipe for a classic Vieux Carré: * 1 ounce rye whiskey (I used Jim Beam this evening) * 1 ounce Cognac * 1 ounce sweet vermouth (I used Noily Pratt) * 1/4 oz. Bénédictine D.O.M. * 2 dashes Peychaud's Bitters * 2 dashes Angostura Bitters Stir all ingredients over ice; strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a simple lemon twist. Note that every ingredient in this one is alcoholic. Despite this frightening fact, the end result is an incredibly smooth, complex, and wonderfully balanced cocktail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco72 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I really like Knoxville, but I gotta say that it has one of the worst selections of beers of any place I have ever lived. Thankfully I still make plenty of trips out of state which will now be known as long distance beer runs. On the positive side, I'm still nursing the Sierra Celebration I bought in Atlanta and the Goose Island I bought in Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I love Goose Island stuff, almost always a very solid beer to a few that I really really like. And their prices are usually very reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Braved a sleet storm last night for an awesome dinner at a place called Black Watch. The food was outstanding and they have a mixologist for real cocktails. I had a blood and sand followed by a sidecar. The sidecar was my favorite but the blood and sand would be great to just have for a night without food. Neither were as good as the pork belly, but that's a different story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I ordered some Trader Tiki orgeat to try in comparison to my home made. $20 later I got it and tried a Mai tai. The trader tiki is good for sure but lacks in almond flavor. I would guess both orgeats have similar sugar levels as the sweetness is about the same. The trader tiki has little discernible almond but has a fruitier side. There isn't anything wrong with it, but I wouldn't waste it on a mai tai with Appleton 12 which has a fruit character that shines in the drink. This orgeat would pair well with VX. My orgeat lacks much fruit but truly captures the almond richness. Of course it's possible that mine is far too almondy, but from the recipes I've seen, I tend to doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 6, 2011 -> 01:59 PM) Braved a sleet storm last night for an awesome dinner at a place called Black Watch. The food was outstanding and they have a mixologist for real cocktails. I had a blood and sand followed by a sidecar. The sidecar was my favorite but the blood and sand would be great to just have for a night without food. Neither were as good as the pork belly, but that's a different story. Couple of solid drinks there. The blood and sand is probably my favorite scotch cocktail, beating out the Rob Roy by a fw lengths and leaving the rusty nail in the dirt. A tequila version of the blood and sand ala' the famous one served up at Tiki-Ti is also a nice change of pace. The sidecar has some great history. I spun up the very similar New Orleans brandy crusta - basically a sidecar with a sugar rimmed glass, a big lemon peel garnish and a dash of bitters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 6, 2011 -> 02:07 PM) I ordered some Trader Tiki orgeat to try in comparison to my home made. $20 later I got it and tried a Mai tai. The trader tiki is good for sure but lacks in almond flavor. I would guess both orgeats have similar sugar levels as the sweetness is about the same. The trader tiki has little discernible almond but has a fruitier side. There isn't anything wrong with it, but I wouldn't waste it on a mai tai with Appleton 12 which has a fruit character that shines in the drink. This orgeat would pair well with VX. My orgeat lacks much fruit but truly captures the almond richness. Of course it's possible that mine is far too almondy, but from the recipes I've seen, I tend to doubt it. I'm not surprised the homemade orgeat gets the nod over commercial - even with a top quality brand like Trader Tiki. That is the beauty of homemade syrups. If you are willing to do some homework and put a bit of effort into it, you can almost always come up with something superior to anything you can get at the store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 6, 2011 -> 05:28 PM) I'm not surprised the homemade orgeat gets the nod over commercial - even with a top quality brand like Trader Tiki. That is the beauty of homemade syrups. If you are willing to do some homework and put a bit of effort into it, you can almost always come up with something superior to anything you can get at the store. I wouldn't say that mine won out necessarily. both are good for different things. Problem is, I don't know what's more accurate to tradition. My guess is almonds are too expensive to make a cost effective commercial orgeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 7, 2011 -> 08:36 PM) I wouldn't say that mine won out necessarily. both are good for different things. Problem is, I don't know what's more accurate to tradition. My guess is almonds are too expensive to make a cost effective commercial orgeat. That is probably an accurate assessment. You are probably using a pound or so of almonds in your homemade, and that would indeed be expensive for a commercial producer. As far as authenticity goes, the research I've done suggests that there lots of orgeats with of varying flavor intensity, sweetness, color, etc. way back when. Any of them would have likely been hands-down better than the artificial tasting stuff that most commercial producers sell now. The orgeat that Trader Vic originally used in his mai tai was a "French Garnier orgeat" that doesn't seem to exist anymore, so the mystery as to what current orgeats taste most authentic remains largely unsolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Red Tide from the Grog Log. Oh yeah... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 07:03 PM) Red Tide from the Grog Log. Oh yeah... when did you get a copy of Grog Log?! red tide sings with homemade grenadine, thigh i think it's a little more balanced with an extra ounce of Appletons. At soonest convenience, mix up the QB Cooler one par back from the Red Tide. then try the brilliant Port of Call Rum Barrel on p. 71. My favorite tiki drink for a log time after I first tried it, but I cut the passionfruit liqueur back a bit and use Passoa instead of Alize. I also prefer Cruzan 151 over Bacardi for that one. Edited February 12, 2011 by FlaSoxxJim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 watching The Big Lebowski and knocking back a couple of White Russians is the battle plan fior the evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 10:40 PM) when did you get a copy of Grog Log?! red tide sings with homemade grenadine, thigh i think it's a little more balanced with an extra ounce of Appletons. At soonest convenience. Mix up the QB Cooler one par back from the Red Tide. then try the brilliant Port of Call Rum Barrel on p. 71. My favorite tiki drink for a log time after I first tried it, but I cut the passionfruit liqueur back a bit and use Passoa instead of Alize. I also prefer Cruzan 151 kver Bacardi for that one. I got it for my bday along with tiki mugs, swizzles, and a copy of Vintage Cocktails Revisited. Pretty awesome. I definitely used a homemade grenadine with Pom and turbinado. Really good stuff. I even put it on waffles once. Thanks for the suggestions! I assume I can just make a passion fruit syrup from the Goya passion fruit nectar? I would follow the recipe on tiki central. Looks like a fun time for nerds...like me. I whipped up a Waikikean using my homemade orgeat over the Trader Tiki (let's face it, mine is better). Super delicious. I might even up the orgeat. I love orgeat in the mai tai and the waikikean, but I can't stand the Japanese Cocktail. Maybe it's a brandy problem... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G&T Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 11, 2011 -> 10:47 PM) watching The Big Lebowski and knocking back a couple of White Russians is the battle plan fior the evening. I used to drink Blind Russians (Baileys instead of milk) and White Russians in college. Lots of blank spots. I love White Russians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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