"I'll have what I'm having!" The adult beverages thread!

[Armetus]

Let’s chat wines, ports, beers, whiskeys and the like!

[Dr_Phantom]

Who’s buying?

[CLANG_Potroast]

Or we could just post my blood-sugar readings and my doctors giving me the stink-eye.

Okay, I do allow myself a finger’s-worth of wine or beer plus maybe 1-2 cocktails a month. But that’s the maximum and it’s never all at the same time.

Last night, I had a fizzy drink called “Garden Party” which included cucumber, lime, mint, and Midori. I loved it. There’s not much summery weather here yet, so I assume that the bar is trying to will that into existence. The Midori didn’t dominate. The drink was just faintly sweet, so I bet it would be easy to turn this into a mocktail. Maybe just add a real melon garnish on a toothpick in place of the Midori.

[Garth_Vader]

Sounds like a nice fresh Summery mixture.

[Dr_Phantom]

I’d try one.

[Garth_Vader]

I’m watching the Rugby (Leeds vs Warrington) with the help of a South African Shiraz/Mourvèdre blended red wine that’s light and dry due to the latter grape variety dominating, with the Shiraz just adding a bit of depth.

[JakeGittes]

A much better title than I proposed.

I think the last drink I drank was a Mikes Hard Lemonade or a Seagram’s Ice, or something that had a bee or hornet on the label.

I’ve had this in my refrigerator for the last, oh, 15 years?

I don’t drink, not for moral, health or other reasons, just never liked the taste (hence the sweet stuff listed above, give him something that tastes like spiked pop), but my sis-in-law did and gifted me this, even though I always refuse the stuff when offered, so it was an odd present to receive.

I don’t know what d’ Latah is, but I took a look and found a helpful video.

Huckleberry d'Latah Video Tasting Notes

Edit: Wait a second, I played there, back when I did the music thing, I’d play at coffee houses, bars and wineries, and farmers markets around the State, and make a few bucks. I remember, I got $80 for the gig. Oh that’s funny, that jostled a memory.

Edit, Edit: Starbucks would pay you $60, a bar named Grants would give a cut of the door, one night we packed the place and came home with $120! (we never actually ‘made’ money, it would always go into paying off the guitars or amps or sound board)

[Armetus]

@CLANG_Potroast

Or we could just post my blood-sugar readings and my doctors giving me the stink-eye

As a fellow diabetic…I stick to the hard stuff (mostly) or red wine. Lower glycemic index.

Low blood sugar? Beer and cider! Yay!

[Armetus]

@JakeGittes

or something that had a bee or hornet on the label.

That’s Mickey’s beer!!

[CLANG_Potroast]

Last Saturday, I really did find a shot glass so small that it holds about a 1/4 teaspoon of booze. I paid 25 cents at an estate sale. Now I just need a vintage eyedropper to go with it and I’m all set. One of those little airplane-sized bottles of whisky or rye could last me a whole year!!

[Aquarius]

“B - double - O - Z - E, boooooooze!”

[LadyShelley]

The nice thing about living in Colorado is I can be a craft beer snob. There is a lot of good craft beer around here. My current faves are from a little woman-owned pizza joint a few blocks from my house. Great stuff.

[Tebbs]

Earlier I had a negroni with my steak n fries, then a rather nice golden ale, but I’ve just finished a gin and ginger because I’m a friggin’ old man and that’s what I wanted to settle my stomach.

[Tebbs]

I just made my third batch of coffee wine and last night I tried it mixed with cream. It was not the Caucasian starter mix I had hoped. It is quite good straight, with lemonade, or as a coffee fortifier though.

[CLANG_Potroast]

…And, lest we forget…

Worst Idea Ever: MST3K Inspired Dishes.

For some reason, this version (which might be the same original source) is not showing the pictures. You’ll just have to post your own. Waiter! Get my new friend here set up! And please bring me a seltzer with lime! (My doctor glowered at me again yesterday.)

[ETA tumblr emergency replacement as google killed the old one, those fiends!]

MST3K Cocktails on Tumblr

[Garth_Vader]

Thanks to a tax change from the last Labour Prime Minister to date, it has been much easier in the last ten years for brewers and distillers to set up commercial businesses.

The gin and vodka makers have now been around for long enough that any stock that some makers have chosen to put in barrels to age are now qualifying as sellable whiskies.

On the other hand, 99% of the hipster brewers chose to make just two kinds of beer; IPAs and gimmicky IPAs. My God, it’s tedious.

[wyswysia]

Here’s my port wine wisdom compiled in one handy post.

@wyswysia

Port is like champagne. Only the stuff bottled in the Duoro Valley can be called “port.” There’s a fancy stamp and everything. Do not buy port if it doesn’t have a cork (or comes from Costco). Also, tawny port is “fancier” port because it’s been aged differently and blended with other aged batches. I don’t drink port if it’s less than a 10-year tawny.

@wyswysia

Tawnies are also sweet but as they have had more surface area contact with wood than rubies, they tend to be more raisin-flavored than a red wine. For the record, they do not add brandy to wine to make port (which was also my misconception). They use “wine spirits”.

Also, you won’t find a year unless that harvest (across all vineyards) is determined to be an exceptional year, and those become Vintage ports and $$$. Another fun fact: a 10-year port indicates the average age of the ports used in the blend. So ##-year ports can have big differences between brands.

@wyswysia

I have a bottle of white port that I brought back. We were told that it’s pretty much only good for mixing with tonic to make a “Porto tonico”.

Zinfandel ports are from California and therefore “port-styled” wine. It says so on the internets.

(Salut, Your Resident Uncertified Port Snob )

[JohnnyRocket69]

@CLANG_Potroast

Now I just need a vintage eyedropper to go with it…

I can’t help with vintage, but I can point you to an official Glencairn Pipette

https://www.amazon.com/THE-GLENCAIRN-PIPETTE-WATER-DROPPER/dp/B0BR64KGBH

[LadyShelley]

@Garth_Vader

On the other hand, 99% of the hipster brewers chose to make just two kinds of beer; IPAs and gimmicky IPAs. My God, it’s tedious.

I hate IPAs. They smell like cat pee and taste about the same.

Give me a good malt brew. Belgians are some of the best. The brewer I mentioned above also does a really good Scottish ale.

[Garth_Vader]

@wyswysia

Port is like champagne. Only the stuff bottled in the Douro Valley can be called “port.”

There are parts of France and Southern England that share climate and geology with the Champagne region, and produce sparkling wine by the Champagne method that they are not permitted to call Champagne on the label. The upside is that they can often be found at lower prices, because their labels don’t have the cachet of the “C” word.
Instead, look for names like Crémant or Blanquette for “champagne” at a bargain price.

See also the Dalmatian coast of Croatia’s similarity to Tuscany for mega-reds without the commensurate price tag of the Italian wine.