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[kphoger]

Forgot to add...  I also keep pineapple juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, and maraschino cherries on hand too.

(Can you tell I like citrus fruits?)

Do you use amarone cherries like Toschi or Luxardo? Or just the generic neon-red Shirley Temple types?  If the latter, I highly recommend purchasing some of the former for things like Manhattans, Aviations, etc.

Store brand, fluorescent red cherries in toxic slime.  I really only keep them around for the syrup, which I occasionally add to an amaretto sour.  (and to put on ice cream, of course)

[JayhawkCO]

Forgot to add...  I also keep pineapple juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, and maraschino cherries on hand too.

(Can you tell I like citrus fruits?)

Do you use amarone cherries like Toschi or Luxardo? Or just the generic neon-red Shirley Temple types?  If the latter, I highly recommend purchasing some of the former for things like Manhattans, Aviations, etc.

Store brand, fluorescent red cherries in toxic slime.  I really only keep them around for the syrup, which I occasionally add to an amaretto sour.  (and to put on ice cream, of course)

Probably get a better bang for your buck with Rose's Grenadine, but to each their own.

Chris

[Daniel Fiddler]

Forgot to add...  I also keep pineapple juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, and maraschino cherries on hand too.

(Can you tell I like citrus fruits?)

Do you use amarone cherries like Toschi or Luxardo? Or just the generic neon-red Shirley Temple types?  If the latter, I highly recommend purchasing some of the former for things like Manhattans, Aviations, etc.

Store brand, fluorescent red cherries in toxic slime.  I really only keep them around for the syrup, which I occasionally add to an amaretto sour.  (and to put on ice cream, of course)

I remember a party where a Star Wars group encouraged me to out-do my younger brother when he got so drunk he passed out in the floor and they put pepperoni slices over his eyes and took a picture.

They opened a quart jar of maraschino cherries and vodka and told me to help myself, I think I ate / drank most of the entire jar.

[kphoger]

Such behavior holds zero appeal for me.  I do not desire to do any of the following:

- make an utter fool of myself
- fall over
- throw up
- pass out
- have a hangover the next day

[Daniel Fiddler]

Such behavior holds zero appeal for me.  I do not desire to do any of the following:

- make an utter fool of myself
- fall over
- throw up
- pass out
- have a hangover the next day

Same here now.  Although then I didn’t care, I was in my early or mid 20’s.

[kkt]

What I buy for myself:

Scotch, Lagavulin 16yo
Cognac, Paulet VSOP
Kahlua
Cointreau
Grand Marnier
Ficklin (California) Port

And I have a lot of liqueurs, mostly fruit brandies, inheritited from my mom.  She drank, and I drink, hardly at all - a tiny glass every couple of months, if that.  It's nice enjoyed at that amount, for the flavor.  I am not a happy drunk so I never go beyond a small glass.

[hbelkins]

I have never been a fan of the taste of alcoholic beverages. I know there are a number of roadgeeks who enjoy the taste of beer and ale and will sample different kinds of brews, but I'm not one of them.

Ditto for bourbon. Since I live in bourbon distilling country, I know lots of people who enjoy it. I'm definitely not one of them. After one unfortunate episode involving Makers Mark when I was in my 20s, I cannot even stomach the smell of whiskey anymore.

If I never have another drink again in my life, it will be no great loss.

[interstatefan990]

I enjoy liquor best when it’s added to another drink or a cocktail mixer. Spiked lemonade made with tequila is one of my favorites, as is a strawberry mojito. I generally avoid whiskey or bourbon for the most part.

[kphoger]

I have never been a fan of the taste of alcoholic beverages. I know there are a number of roadgeeks who enjoy the taste of beer and ale and will sample different kinds of brews, but I'm not one of them.

Ditto for bourbon. Since I live in bourbon distilling country, I know lots of people who enjoy it. I'm definitely not one of them. After one unfortunate episode involving Makers Mark when I was in my 20s, I cannot even stomach the smell of whiskey anymore.

If I never have another drink again in my life, it will be no great loss.

I suspect you simply don't like bitter flavors, considering you also don't like coffee.

In that case, you might actually like frou-frou drinks such as a Cosmopolitan.

[triplemultiplex]

I have never been a fan of the taste of alcoholic beverages. I know there are a number of roadgeeks who enjoy the taste of beer and ale and will sample different kinds of brews, but I'm not one of them.

Ditto for bourbon. Since I live in bourbon distilling country, I know lots of people who enjoy it. I'm definitely not one of them. After one unfortunate episode involving Makers Mark when I was in my 20s, I cannot even stomach the smell of whiskey anymore.

If I never have another drink again in my life, it will be no great loss.

I tell you what, I love how hard it is to pin you down, HB. You don't like booze, you don't like tobacco, you don't like weed, you're fairly conservative (compared to me ), but you have great taste in what "the kids" would consider "old school" hard rock.   It pains me to see a Kentuckian who doesn't like bourbon (one of our American originals!) but when I read you talk about ACDC and Metallica and Ozzy and so on in other threads, I'm like, "This guy gets it."

You're Punk Rock but only where you want to be and I respect that.

[Throckmorton]

   
I'm thinking of cutting down on my drinking. I'm going to start using four ice cubes in my highball instead of three.   
   
   

[SP Cook]

Ditto for bourbon. Since I live in bourbon distilling country, I know lots of people who enjoy it.

Iron is the enemy of proper distillation.  Central Kentucky, and a smaller patch in Tennessee, is blessed with deep limestone caves with water that has been down there for centuries, 100% iron free.  This is why all good bourbon, IMHO, all bourbon, is made there. 

Whether one drinks or not, the tours of the distilleries, especially Buffalo Trace, and especially if you can get Freddie Johnson as the tour guide, are great day trips.  Pretty much you can do a triangle of I-64, I-65 and the BGP and get most of them. 

Rant:  Drink what you like, but avoid anything from the “Potemkin” distillery, of Midwestern Grain Products, or MGP, in Lawrenceburg, IN.  The place was, for over a century, a plant that produced “filler” (grain alcohol added to rot gut whiskeys) for Seagram’s.  When they shut it, this crew bought it and if you want to trick people into thinking you are a “distiller” they will sell you some barrels and you can take it home, generally making up some fake country-western story about your family, and bottle it. 

Any whiskey claimed to be made outside the bourbon producing region is probably MGP.  They have made over 150 brands.  Its all the same, and its all rot gut.

[JayhawkCO]

Rant:  Drink what you like, but avoid anything from the “Potemkin” distillery, of Midwestern Grain Products, or MGP, in Lawrenceburg, IN.  The place was, for over a century, a plant that produced “filler” (grain alcohol added to rot gut whiskeys) for Seagram’s.  When they shut it, this crew bought it and if you want to trick people into thinking you are a “distiller” they will sell you some barrels and you can take it home, generally making up some fake country-western story about your family, and bottle it. 

Any whiskey claimed to be made outside the bourbon producing region is probably MGP.  They have made over 150 brands.  Its all the same, and its all rot gut.

That's a touch misleading, as there are plenty of grain to glass distillers out there that aren't in Kentucky.  But, I do agree that just getting MGP juice, aging it yourself and calling it "your whiskey" is a little bit underhanded.

Some good grain to glass whiskies out here: A.D. Law's, 10th Mountain, Wyoming Whiskey, Woody Creek, and Deviation Distilling (only his Barista series whiskeys are out, the other are all still in barrel, but I've gotten to barrel sample and they're delicious)

Chris

[kkt]

   
I'm thinking of cutting down on my drinking. I'm going to start using four ice cubes in my highball instead of three.   

 

[kkt]

Any whiskey claimed to be made outside the bourbon producing region is probably MGP.  They have made over 150 brands.  Its all the same, and its all rot gut.

Thanks for the warning, but isn't it a little too general?  Any whiskey outside the Bourbon region??  I guess that about wraps it up for Scotland.

[1995hoo]

Any whiskey claimed to be made outside the bourbon producing region is probably MGP.  They have made over 150 brands.  Its all the same, and its all rot gut.

Thanks for the warning, but isn't it a little too general?  Any whiskey outside the Bourbon region??  I guess that about wraps it up for Scotland.

Scotland doesn’t make "whiskey," only "whisky."

[hbelkins]

I have never been a fan of the taste of alcoholic beverages. I know there are a number of roadgeeks who enjoy the taste of beer and ale and will sample different kinds of brews, but I'm not one of them.

Ditto for bourbon. Since I live in bourbon distilling country, I know lots of people who enjoy it. I'm definitely not one of them. After one unfortunate episode involving Makers Mark when I was in my 20s, I cannot even stomach the smell of whiskey anymore.

If I never have another drink again in my life, it will be no great loss.

I tell you what, I love how hard it is to pin you down, HB. You don't like booze, you don't like tobacco, you don't like weed, you're fairly conservative (compared to me ), but you have great taste in what "the kids" would consider "old school" hard rock.   It pains me to see a Kentuckian who doesn't like bourbon (one of our American originals!) but when I read you talk about ACDC and Metallica and Ozzy and so on in other threads, I'm like, "This guy gets it."

You're Punk Rock but only where you want to be and I respect that.

In my youth (late 20s to very early 30s) I consumed a decent amount of alcohol, but finally figured out that there was really nothing in it for me. I never had any desire to be a tobacco user, as I saw smoking kill too many people I loved. And being intoxicated in general never really appealed to me; certainly not intoxicants that were illegal, were consumed via the ingestion of hot smoke into the lungs, or could lead to addiction. I just figured out that it was a lifestyle that wasn't for me.

[SP Cook]

Thanks for the warning, but isn't it a little too general?  Any whiskey outside the Bourbon region??  I guess that about wraps it up for Scotland.

I plead 100% guilty to posting an America/Kentucky-centric post.  Scotch, and other Whiskey/whisky forms, such as “American whiskey” not labeled as “bourbon”, Irish, Japanese, Canadian, etc. are all enjoyable forms of the craft.  I was speaking of things called “bourbon” not made in bourbon country.

[JayhawkCO]

Thanks for the warning, but isn't it a little too general?  Any whiskey outside the Bourbon region??  I guess that about wraps it up for Scotland.

I plead 100% guilty to posting an America/Kentucky-centric post.  Scotch, and other Whiskey/whisky forms, such as “American whiskey” not labeled as “bourbon”, Irish, Japanese, Canadian, etc. are all enjoyable forms of the craft.  I was speaking of things called “bourbon” not made in bourbon country.

Again, I'll be contrarian (maybe not kphoger levels of contrarianism, but contrarian nonetheless).  This isn't the same things as crappy California wineries calling wine they made in the 70's "Chablis".  Bourbon is surely named after Bourbon County, Kentucky, but it's never needed to have come from there.  The only requirements to be called bourbon are a) made in the U.S., b) made from 51% corn minimum, c) aged in charred, new, white American oak barrels, d) distilled to no more than 160 proof, e) aged at no more than 125 proof, and f) bottled at no less than 80 proof.

So, again, not using the crappy juice from Indiana (which, I agree, is largely terrible), anywhere in the U.S. can make great Bourbon.  There are some darn good ones from Kentucky, yes, but it's not a requirement nor is it actually representative of the high level whiskeys in the marketplace.  I know I'd much rather drink a couple fingers of A.D. Law's Four Grain Bourbon made here in Denver than I would a couple fingers of Jim Beam or Old Granddad.

Chris

[SP Cook]

We will just have to agree to disagree.  You correctly quote the federal regulations.  Which Freddie also quotes on his tour.  To which he adds, and I agree, “so you can make ‘bourbon’ anywhere, but if it isn’t made here, you don’t want it.”

[JayhawkCO]

We will just have to agree to disagree.  You correctly quote the federal regulations.  Which Freddie also quotes on his tour.  To which he adds, and I agree, “so you can make ‘bourbon’ anywhere, but if it isn’t made here, you don’t want it.”

Hey, it's good to have pride in where you're from.  Not disagreeing with that at all.  If you ever make it out to Denver, I'll buy a pour of some of our good stuff so you can compare.

Chris

[english si]

anywhere in the U.S. can make great Bourbon.

They might make great whiskey that can legally be called Bourbon, but is it actually Bourbon without the sense of place? It's like if a Kentucky distiller called their product 'Scotch'. It might be great, but its got a different quality to how its advertised.

The water used, the air around the barrels as it ages, etc - they aren't the same elsewhere as in Bourbon County. Nearby they are similar enough that it doesn't matter, but elsewhere you are going to have to deal with the differences - either by artificially making things more similar, or by not caring about the differences.

A lot of breweries in the UK 'Burtonise' the water to give it a similar mineral content to the water in Burton-upon-Trent. Because this stuff does matter.

[kphoger]

Vodka is meant to be an odorless, flavorless spirit.  So yes, they should all be basically the same.  The only differences in vodka are the water source (which obviously could have other dissolved solids giving different flavors) and the heads/hearts/tails ratio.

My sister says she can tell the difference between different vodkas.  But she is also very sensitive to mineral content in water as well, and can only tolerate certain brands of mineral water.  So, in her case at least, it's believable.

The water used ...

A lot of breweries in the UK 'Burtonise' the water to give it a similar mineral content to the water in Burton-upon-Trent. Because this stuff does matter.

Yep.  The water matters.

[JayhawkCO]

anywhere in the U.S. can make great Bourbon.

They might make great whiskey that can legally be called Bourbon, but is it actually Bourbon without the sense of place? It's like if a Kentucky distiller called their product 'Scotch'. It might be great, but its got a different quality to how its advertised.

The water used, the air around the barrels as it ages, etc - they aren't the same elsewhere as in Bourbon County. Nearby they are similar enough that it doesn't matter, but elsewhere you are going to have to deal with the differences - either by artificially making things more similar, or by not caring about the differences.

A lot of breweries in the UK 'Burtonise' the water to give it a similar mineral content to the water in Burton-upon-Trent. Because this stuff does matter.

Understood, but just as a lot of breweries Burtonize their water, some others also add and remove things to make it more like the water of Plzen (home of Pilsner).  Both are great styles of beer. Bourbon County has water sources that are unique as does Colorado.  Both can make great Bourbons. 

The Scotch whisky example is a little bit different.  If they make "Scotch" in Kentucky, in reality the only way to do it would be to import peated malt from Scotland, as those nice chunks of dried up bog aren't readily available in Louisville.  So they're making it in a different place with most of the same ingredients exactly. It would be fairly easy to create a decent Scotch if you're basically moving Iverness to Lexington.  It's not possible to get those same funky iodiny flavors without a lot of imports, whereas that's not the case with Bourbon.

Chris

[english si]

Understood, but just as a lot of breweries Burtonize their water, some others also add and remove things to make it more like the water of Plzen (home of Pilsner).  Both are great styles of beer. Bourbon County has water sources that are unique as does Colorado.  Both can make great Bourbons.

Yes, and just as Burton and Plzen water both make great beer, they don't make the same beer. Likewise Bourbon County and Colorado water both make great whiskey, they don't make the same whiskey without a lot of effort to turn Colorado into artificial-Kentucky (the kind of stuff you talk about to make Scotch in Kentucky).

I'm not saying anything bad at all about Colorado Whiskey. I'm just saying it's a misbranding to call it Bourbon unless they muck about with the water and all that.

The Scotch whisky example is a little bit different.  If they make "Scotch" in Kentucky, in reality the only way to do it would be to import peated malt from Scotland, as those nice chunks of dried up bog aren't readily available in Louisville.  So they're making it in a different place with most of the same ingredients exactly. It would be fairly easy to create a decent Scotch if you're basically moving Iverness to Lexington.  It's not possible to get those same funky iodiny flavors without a lot of imports, whereas that's not the case with Bourbon.

Scotch (like Burton beer) isn't a specific style, but covers a wider range. A lot of Scotch isn't peated, though some styles are.

Ireland has similar geology, water, peat, etc as parts of Scotland. It can't make Scotch, despite doing a similar recipe, but makes fine whiskeys that are it's own. All the more so for Kentucky and Colorado, which don't have anywhere near the same similarities in locally-available flavourings.