Drunken Botanist Recipes

Fortune shined on me this holiday season as I received a copy of the Drunken Botanist. I'm learning all about the plants that contribute to so much joy and happiness. It has re-kindled the cocktail drinker in me...at least to a small degree.

I'm going to keep track of the recipes that I try here - maybe I won't forget them.  First up...

The Blood Orange Sidecar.

• 1.5 oz cognac or brandy
• 0.75 oz blood orange juice
• 0.5 oz Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur (or another citrus liqueur like triple sec)
• Dash of Angostura bitters
• Thin slice of blood orange for garnish

1. Shake the first three ingredients over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
2. Add a dash of bitters, garnish with orange

This was really tasty.  I used Triple Sec and Cognac and the proportions were great.  It was a melody in my mouth.  I did try a variation and used whisky (Jim Beam) in place of the cognac and it was not quite as good, though still tasty.

 

Seattle International Beerfest 2013 Day 1

Day 1 proved to be an excellent kickoff to the beerfest.  Our professional beer drinker status was secured when we were able to  taste beers for 5 1/2 hours and still left the festival on our feet and relatively sober.

List of beers from day 1:
Bainbridge Hoptopus - ok
Pike Space Needle anniversary IPa - excellent hop flavor and aroma
Chickanut Rauch Bier - subtle smokiness
Pike XXXXX Stout
De Garre Tripel - strong.
Sound brewery Monk's Indiscretion - a little fruit and a bit of hops,  this is best so far
Rueben's Brew Imperial Rye IPA
Silver City Whoop Pass - alright,  lots of hop aroma but missing in malts
Uinta brewery Hop Notch IPA - alright
Green Flash Le Freak
Boneyard Hop Venom - refreshingly good
Big Al Brewery Big Bertha
Old Lompoc Old Tavern Rat - meh

SF Beerweek 2013

Evidently stobbrau.com has been suspended. That stinks.

I'll need to look into that.

Meanwhile, I've got one night out for beer week.  I went to City Beer for Alpine Brewing night.  Ended up hanging out with owner/brewers which was enlightening. I didn't het to try any of their beer , but I heard it was good.  I did try various Speakeasy beera, a "wrryessa beer and some Green Death.  I'lll skip the Green Death of I ever run into it again.

To round out the evening I made a quick stop at Social, and tried a few beers.

All was good ans that concludes the evening.

Berkman is dead to me

No beer or travel updates, just a little baseball...

Berkman signed with the Cardinals, so he might as well not exist anymore. I was hoping he would sign with the A's to give me an excuse to go watch a game across the bay, but now I just have one more player to boo.

Beers in print

The 'Monty' comic strip (once called 'Robotman', then 'Robotman and Monty') has always been a favorite, but the stupid SF Chronicle has a horrible selection of comics, so I don't get to read it often. A while back I found it online, and occasionally I read it. Fate was calling today when I decided to check it out.



It's good to see a wide range of beer styles mentioned. Hooray for beer!

Lively Establishment in Outer Sunset

If you ever take the N-Judah out the the beach in San Francisco, then you should know that there is an excellent dive bar at 47th Ave and Judah. The place is called Pittsburgh's Pub and I've seen it for years, but just recently decided to check it out.

From outside, it looks a little dull and drab, but inside it's warm and inviting. Brick walls surround a long bar, two pool tables, an old school jukebox, and lots of Pittsburgh Steelers' paraphernalia. Behind the bar, the bartender was friendly enough, and he was serving 10 beers on tap that included range of local and microbrew choices. As an added bonus, the clientele made me feel young, though it was early afternoon and I imagine that the demographic changes throughout the day and night. Or maybe it doesn't and the same ten people are always there, which really wouldn't surprise me.

I'll make a return visit or two if I can, but I don't think that soon-to-be Baby Stobbster would be allowed in the place, so it may be a few years until I make it back.

Calgary baseball

The past ten days or so have been extraordinarily busy, and it was all kicked off with a short trip up to Calgary for a few days of work, or I should say, business meetings. I sure don't want any Canadian immigration/customs officials coming after me for erroneously stating the purpose of my visit up north.

While in Calgary, I didn't have much free time, but a few key facts meant that I was able to make the time for a quick minor league baseball excursion. Most importantly the weather was absolutely awesome - blue skies, scattered clouds, and mildly warm temperatures. Plus, I happened to be staying within walking distance of the baseball park. Then the most important part, there actually was a game scheduled for one of the nights that I was there.

So on Tuesday evening, I took a walk over to the stadium to see the Calgary Vipers take on the Edmonton Capitals in an independent Golden League game. It was not a pitching or defensive showcase. Lots of hits and runs plus quite a few fielding mistakes let the game drag on for quite a while. I didn't stick around for the whole game, but it was refreshing to relax outside on a nice evening and watch some baseball.

The only disappointing part of the evening was that the selection of beer consisted of cans of Budweiser, Bud Light, and Kokanee. I chose Kokanee, but it's a pale yellow, mild tasting, fizzy beer that's a little more unique that a can of Bud. It was better than nothing.