In Search of a Decent Cooler

Took a break for the July 4th holiday and while I made a non-alcoholic cherry limeade drink for a gathering...it just wasn't worthy of its own post. Sweet and easy it was kind of like a fizzy punch: cut up limes, a jar of maraschino cherries, can of frozen limeade, and a liter of seltzer or club soda (I used lime flavored seltzer water). Meh. Refreshing and plentiful for a bbq, not too close to kool-aid, but certainly not high-quality. The website I poached it from (also calls for Sprite, not seltzer) said it was a dead-ringer for the cherry limeade the Sonic fast-food chain offers, but I wouldn't know.

In the same vein of summer coolers, however, I was inspired this week to try a sparkling strawberry cucumber sangria recipe from the Kitchn blog. Seemed tempting so I experimented on myself. 

Serves 6 to 8

2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup thinly sliced cucumber
1/2 cup orange liqueur, like Cointreau
1 (750-milliliter) bottle prosecco, cava, or other dry white sparkling wine, chilled
2 cups seltzer or club soda, chilled
Ice

The idea had great promise, but again:  Meh. There's actually so much fruit the bubbles get absorbed into it all, and the sangria turns flat rather quickly. Maybe it'd taste differently if I had Cointreau (mmm love that stuff) on hand, but I used triple sec and it was barely perceptible. Also weird - temperature. All my ingredients were pre-chilled, it was mixed in a cooler of sorts, I had 3 extra large ice cubes in it, consumed inside (instead of my humid af patio #lifeintheATL), and it still seemed cool-to-the-tongue-but-not-cold after one glass. Again, the volume of fruit probably has something to do with it? IDK. Perhaps there's a thermodynamics expert who can explain...

Anyway, the quest for a decent summer pitcher drink continues. I've got two tried-and-true sangria recipes that I have relied on for many a gathering, but I'm looking for something a bit different. Ideas?

Old Fourth Distillery

Old Fourth Distillery (O4D) is the first distiller to open in Atlanta since the Georgia state temperance movement trumped sanity in 1906. O4D opened in 2014, the same year I moved to town. In fact, it inspired me to dust off the ol' blog again several times - I vowed to stop by for a tour, tasting, and blog about it....alas it didn't happen until this week. Now back in the swing of things, I can give them a proper review. Although I'll start off by saying that my very first sample of their Lawn Dart citrus liquor product was at a neighborhood festival tent promoting a boozy lemonade at $9 for a 4oz cup. Underwhelming is being polite - it tasted like acidic moonshine straight off the still, ready to peel the enamel off your teeth. Shrugged it off as festival junk though, being poured by someone who probably didn't regularly work for the company.

Good thing I could see past that - they have a pretty decent product line. The tiny Edgewood St. facility is incredibly charming, in the heart of the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood (non-residents: city-central, blocks from where the MLK historic site is). They have tastefully appointed the storefront with relics of local pre-prohibition distiller's jugs, reclaimed materials from nearby demolished buildings of the era, and even a fairly realistic bookcase-camouflage door to the restroom. It's clear they're catering to the craft spirits/ale/hipster movement, but I really didn't get a pretentious vibe from the marketing or staff at all, just a genuine respect for history and some hometown pride.

I did the tour & tasting for $10 but for $30, you can do that plus pick out a bottle of their three offerings: gin, vodka, or the citrus vodka I mentioned. The "tour" is really just getting to walk past the glass barrier to where the copper stills and bottling lines are, but it's intriguing all the same. After a short overview of distilling 101, you can get a (nose hair-singing) whiff of the three different stages of spirit formation, and the different botanicals they use in their gin.

The vodka is sugar-cane based and unsurprisingly a little sweeter than some, but certainly not mistakable for a liqueur. It's clean and neutral as vodka should be. One of their experiments to capitalize on the sweetness was to infuse it with cacao nibs - while we didn't get to sample it, I could imagine it being quite good. The gin was my favorite, bright with cardamom and citrusy with a clean finish. No spruce or overly strong juniper flavors like you get with London dry style. I will definitely be purchasing some when I get to the bottom of my Aviation bottle.

Lawn Dart, however, is the ginger-lemon vodka they are investing the most marketing in for now. Not sure why as the ginger is surprisingly not prominent and the lemon is like actual lemon essence, and not sweet like you might expect from a mass-appeal product. It would probably be ok in iced tea or...well, lemonade. It just left me confused and wanting to go back to the gin. Can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I think if O4D actually made it sweeter, or into actual lemonade or a liqueur, it might be a bigger hit. It's caught in a phase where it's not lemon vodka and not lemonade; it just needs to commit to something. They claim it's like a drier limoncello, which might be accurate but I feel like even limoncello is committed to a higher viscosity and has a fuller lemon profile. But what do I know?

Limoncello debate aside, the whole experience was fun and left me wanting more. Really tempted to throw them some cash ($75) for the "First Barrel" program that will snag one of the 200 numbered bourbon bottles and an invite to their launch party in January 2019. (Which is totally now 'a thing' with distillers.) Seems a bit indulgent, but they did pour a sample for us, and it left a great first impression. 60% corn in the mash bill, plus rye and a little barley, which leaves it on the sweeter side - akin to a Maker's Mark or the like. Curious to see how O4D compares to the other local distilleries, but that'll just have to wait!

Bull Run Distillers

Recently I was in my hometown of Portland, OR briefly and on my way home from the airport I stopped for lunch in NW and across the street, an unassuming storefront for Bull Run Distillers happened to be open for tastings. Not even 2hrs back in PDX and you know I was ready to partake in the liquid culture.

Two tasting flights offered 3 (1oz.) pours, one for $5 and a higher-end option for $10. I was curious about the aged vodka and the single batch bourbon on offer so I went with the higher-end flight. Staff must have been charmed by Mama Metrosips and me out day drinking or something because they let me sample ALL of the products for the price of the $10 flight. #yay

Really enjoyed the Starka aged vodka - not sure I've tried one before; had aged gin, but this was very different. My taste buds aren't really sophisticated enough to pinpoint why, but guessing probably due to the aging in wine barrels rather than spirit barrels. Also liked the barrel strength bourbon. Living in the South has made me a bit snooty about my bourbons now (not unlike my issues with crab outside of Maryland) but this was a very pleasing blend of flavors with a wonderfully lush roll over the tongue. Would have actually bought a bottle, but the $55 price tag felt a bit indulgent for an impulse buy. Regretting that now though.

The Aquavit was also a nice, different offering - dry and not too viscous, without the cloying anise you can sometimes get. It's taken me a long time to embrace some of the heritage tastes of my Scandinavian family like caraway, rye, and licorice, but I'm getting there. Really appreciated their efforts to curate a product line that is unique but also approachable.

Looking at their merch wall, a random memory occurred to me; this is, in fact, the company whose coaster I have accidentally cemented to my window sill. It happened so early on at this apartment that at one point I assumed someone else left it there (not actually reading the name in the logo). Now, of course, I realize the odds are no other Atlantan would have done that. #yepIdidthat Sigh. Oops. Any tips on how to remove the damn thing without damaging the paint job would be much appreciated...

Anywho, I was highly impressed by the knowledgeable, amiable staff, and wanted to bring home all the food products they had (rotating local bourbon hot sauces, ginger syrups for Moscow mules, whiskey caramels - all available in store only) but budget restraints won out. Bought a bottle of their American Whiskey, a 100% malted barley mash, with a 20% discount for having done the tasting. Pretty smooth for the price point, with a pleasant vanilla finish. Also, you get to keep the 4oz. tasting glass! Bonus. Great impromptu find in the city, and a tasty start to my visit home.

Pancakes and Prego-tinis

Out of all the friends I have who have had children (at least 21 kids? holy crap I never counted before), I have never been asked to host a baby shower, and when I've offered, others beat me to the punch. Last weekend I was super excited and honored to host a "pancakes and pajamas" brunch for a tiny crew of 6 lovely guests, almost all of which would not be drinking alcohol. YAY! Something fun to fuss about!

In preparation, I researched brunch mocktails and was frankly disappointed. They all seemed overly complicated with 8 ingredients and stupid names like Pregnant Punch. Apparently "prego-tinis/preggatinis" are a thing now. What happened to "mocktails?" Why must we always infantilize pregnant women? Ugh. Anyway. I needed something to pair with pancakes - which the guest of honor specifically requested - and yet it seemed insufficient to just do juice and coffee. Life got in the way as it is wont to do and planning time was drastically cut back. I had to improvise with orange-mango juice (Tropicana, available most supermarkets) and mango LaCroix sparkling water. Turns out, it was a passable virgin mimosa, and the crowd was pleased. Didn't even bother measuring anything in haste, just dumped a 1.5 L juice bottle and 4 (12oz.) cans of sparkling water in a pitcher and called it good. Three cheers for winging it!

The Red and Black

I totally have a foodie crush on Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman. She has single-handedly gotten me to experiment more in the kitchen with her approachable style and easy to follow instructions for all of her recipes - more than any other blog I follow. Imagine my delight when I caught one of her rare cocktail posts!!! Called The Red and Black, it's a seasonal wonder as a muddled strawberry, white tequila fizzy drink. Basically a craft margarita sans triple sec. Of course, I had everything on hand and pretty much went straight from blog to kitchen to grab a glass and test it out.

Tasting notes:

- Definitely measure out the lime juice and don't just wing it with 1 whole lime. A bit too much.
- Superfine sugar is easiest to muddle with and dissolves faster, but you can substitute regular sugar.
- If you prefer sweet drinks and are expecting this to be one, possibly add another .5 - 1 tsp of sugar just to be safe.
- Pepper is not overpowering at all, I was skeptical at first but put a healthy 6 fresh grinds in and it was a nice accent.
- Big azz strawberries like I used are fine to cut up and/or use less of - it all gets muddled into a rough puree anyway.
- I didn't have club soda on hand, just lime flavor La Croix, and it worked fine.
- Eliminating the pepper and adding mint to the muddle might be a nice variation.
- Eliminating the tequila would change the flavor a bit but would be an ok non-proof drink for the DD, pregos or kids.

She's right - it's a lovely blend, albeit quite tangy. Tastes like June, and is a decent start to any patio dining the summer brings. Her recipes haven't failed me yet!

It's been a minute...

Sorry about that. In May of 2013, I didn't know I would not be posting on my blog for a while. I traveled overseas for work for a couple months and came home to a deteriorating health situation for my father. He passed in October 2013 and things weren't the same afterward. In the 4 years since then, I moved to Atlanta, GA from 10 years in the DC/Baltimore area, and quit my job of 13 years to try out academia. I've tried to pick up the pen again (so to speak) but with all these life changes, I forgot what account hosted my blog! AND THE PASSWORD. How does one just start again!??? At times it seemed overwhelmingly burdensome and trivial to talk about drinks again. Several times it seemed like a good project to dust off, but was overcome by something else all consuming, like a dream 3-week vacation to Norway, Germany, and Holland, adopting 3 fur kids, a random fitness kick, or sewing an oxford shirt (life goals: check, check, check, and check). Anyway, I'm back. Hope my prolonged absence didn't just nuke the possibility of starting over. Thanks to those who may want to pick up with me where I left off.