Lunacy Wine and Spirits

[Marlon Rando]

forgot the lime, lemon was on hand eh..
breaking into the new digs. cheers Lunatics!

 

[ataxian]

forgot the lime, lemon was on hand eh..
breaking into the new digs. cheers Lunatics!
View attachment 28852

Low laying fruit: The $3.00 low brow red wine taste like RUTHERFORD?
It’s not the $ it’s the quality?
With COLAS of CANNABIS this wine pair’s well?
Across the pond your bottle of liquor was best stored in the freezer!
Served cold is CIVILIZED N my view?
@Helios U R residing in MANHATTAN?

Had fun there during STUDIO 54DAZE'S (80’s of the 1900’s)

 

[Marlon Rando]

@ataxian Espolon is 'Campari' owned since 09.
decent and always as you say in da freezer. Rutherford? prefer Frontera Malbec for EDW (everyday Wine)
taquila and Cola taste divine!
I bet you had all the ladies giving you the wandering eye back then lol. player.

R residing in MANHATTAN?

nah, my City dwelling days are long gone, bitter sweet like my drink A...enjoying it up for now in the 845!
Rowing on the River is where its at this summer.

 

[ataxian]

@ataxian Espolon is 'Campari' owned since 09.
decent and always as you say in da freezer. Rutherford? prefer Frontera Malebec for EDW (everyday Wine)
taquila and Cola taste divine!
I bet you had all the ladies giving you the wandering eye back then lol. player.



nah, my City dwelling days are long gone, bitter sweet like my drink A...enjoying it up for now in the 845!
Rowing on the River is where its at this summer.

My friend’s from Queen’s thought my beach house was too big?
The wave’s were not bad really?
They said I was considered weird because I spent 2much time in da sea?
Please notes skiing & surfing was just away to be CIVILIZED!
MARIJUANA (CANNABIS) is how to do sport?
Other item’s 4 when da sun would fall down like a egg!

Relates from FRANCE love 2-ride mountain bikes along the border western Andes where my factory was (Santiago)
Malbec after a ride through the forest after drinking water from the BIO BIO river! (ARGENTINA has decent food FYI )
Travel is not bad really?

 

[Squiby]

@Helios Awesome!!. I love your plants. Great view. Enjoy the river!!

 

[Marlon Rando]

I love your plants

TY, (see the air plants on the second deck?) Dragon Palm needs repotting or learning to adjust? idk. yes! on the river 5 am tomorrow.

 

[momofthegoons]

My daughter turned me on to a site called 'Last Bottle' where you can get discounted wine.... so I've been ordering every now and then when the selection looks interesting. Last night we opened a sparkling Brut Rose that I wish I had gotten more of....

 

[ataxian]

My daughter turned me on to a site called 'Last Bottle' where you can get discounted wine.... so I've been ordering every now and then when the selection looks interesting. Last night we opened a sparkling Brut Rose that I wish I had gotten more of....

View attachment 28873

Cool daughter!
N Southern France near Barcelona, SPAIN da wine is pink or rose in the fluxes of glass.
CIVILIZED BEHAVIOR!
Time 2 rip a small waterpiece avec a vaporizer & CANNABIS COLAS (monkey tail) N-order 2-b CIVILIZED like it’s 1999!

 

[Marlon Rando]

Anejo is the way to go, I'm utterly convinced particularly today!

 

[ataxian]

Anejo is the way to go, I'm utterly convinced particularly today!
View attachment 29057

I spent many year’s in Mexico
Don Julio made into a BANDANNA ( 3 shot’s each glass was colored like a flag color) after dinner of course.
Max Flight 4-sure!
My collection of TEQUILA bottle’s R empty?
Only WINE & WEED R healthy 4 longevity!
CIVILIZED consumption include’s CANNABIS COLAS 4 a CIVILIZATION 2-B epic.
Off topic: TOM PETTY 1977 AMERICAN GIRL is on Turn Player making a sound of blissful joy!

 

[bulllee]

COCKTAILS

The Delightful Complexity of Soda and Bitters​

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021​

story: JORDAN MICHELMAN​

photo: NICK HENSLEY​

The seemingly spartan two-ingredient recipe offers as much depth and infinite variation as the Old-Fashioned.​

The city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a strange place to have an epiphany, but that’s where this story begins. The year was 2018, and the moment felt infinite. It was stop 20 of a 30-stop book tour (for The New Rules Of Coffee), and my co-author and I were feeling both thirsty and social, in need of blowing off a little steam. This was far from a novel impulse; as co-founders of the coffee and wine publication Sprudge, we had spent the better part of the last decade walking the earth for coffee stories, staying in far-flung hotels, traveling from Auckland to Oakland, Rwanda to Roppongi, working long days and enjoying rambunctious evenings in one bar or another. The night out was every bit as important as the next day’s beat. We were authors, journalists and drinkers, in that order.
And then something changed.
“Let me get a soda bitters,” I heard my buddy tell the bartender, after I’d ordered a whiskey highball. We sat down with our drinks in the back corner of the bar—Gooski’s in Polish Hill, I think it was, or maybe the bar at the Ace Hotel in East Liberty—and he proceeded to tell me about his intention to never drink booze again. It was an honest, vulnerable conversation, the kind that comes from having known someone for more than half your life. “You can still drink as much as you want,” I remember him telling me, my highball nearly finished. “I’m just going to stick to ordering these,” he said, gesturing to the pink-hued pint glass stacked high with ice, Angostura and citrus.

I went back up to the bar to get us another round. “Two soda bitters, please. Extra limes.”
Sobriety has long been an ongoing discourse in the bar world, a topic on which I’m no expert. Those who are have declared this moment “The Golden Age of Alcohol-Free,” and thought leaders in the movement (including Punch contributor and award-winning author Julia Bainbridge) are helping move sober bar culture beyond the trappings of Dry January and toward something more resonant, universal and meaningful. In my own selfish, flawed way, the meaning of staying sober while still enjoying a drink at the bar didn’t hit home until someone I truly cared about made it part of my life.
Along the way, I’ve reappraised the power and utility of the soda bitters. Forever committed to a personal interest in water, I’ve learned over the last few years that certain mineral waters can be used in the construction of a fine soda bitters, to marvelous effect; conversely, there are other mineral waters that taste positively disgusting in this format, such as Essentuki or Vichy Catalan, and should be avoided judiciously.
A growing interest in soda bitters has also led me to think more about the bitters I keep in my home, allowing me to appreciate them on their own terms. Maybe it’s the bass player in me, but I love it when an ingredient that’s traditionally kept in the background is allowed to shine and given pride of place, like a Tina Weymouth groove or a Phil Lesh jam in drink form. For me, this looks like as simple and direct as pairing fruit and citrus bitters with Topo Chico, or as complex as melding the soft, sweet baking flavors of vanilla and walnut bitters with a silky mineral-laden water from the Alps. By shrinking the equation—bitters and soda, dead simple—each ingredient can be subjected to a precise level of consideration and tweaking, something bartenders love to do with minimalist cocktails, like the Martini. And that’s what bitters and soda is: a minimalist cocktail, worthy of serious consideration. Let’s own it.
After several years of pleasurable R&D, I’ve committed the below soda bitters combinations, built on equal parts craft bitters and site-specific mineral water, to heavy rotation. Make them at home, order them at the bar, be kind to each other. Delicious drinks are for everyone, no matter what you’re drinking.

Radenska With Cry Baby Bitters Fruit Punch​

Radenska is a wonderfully versatile and clean mineral water from Slovenia, one that emerges from the earth with natural bubbles thanks to deep underground mineral traps. It has long been prized as a health and wellness drink, thanks to its high mineral content—in particular calcium, magnesium and potassium—and humans have been bottling it commercially since at least the 1860s. This mineral complexity belies a surprisingly refreshing, light taste, which makes it a wonderful choice for a fruit-forward bitters profile.
I keep reaching for the Fruit Punch flavor by Cry Baby Bitters, a tiny indie bittersmaker located in Salt Lake City, alongside a wedge of blood orange. With dominant notes of hibiscus and sweet pineapple, it’s intended as a plaything for tiki drinks, but really shines on its own, and gives the glass a pleasing pink hue. (I also love Cry Baby’s Bay Leaf bitters, which I’ll splash into nearly anything savory I’m cooking, like pumpkin soup or braised pork.)

Antipodes With Bob’s Bitters Vanilla + Bitter Queens Black Walnut​

Antipodes is one of the most gorgeous mineral waters in the world, sourced from a spring near the Bay of Plenty on the North Island of New Zealand, and packaged with award-winning minimalist design in a glass flagon. There’s something reminiscent of cream soda or root beer to this water, and I like mixing it with bitters that play this up. Bob’s Bitters, of Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England, offer one a compellingly culinary range of bitters, drawing on founder Bob Petrie’s experience as a pastry chef. Bob’s Vanilla Bitters are a surprisingly complex combination of sweetness and smoke. When I want to double down on the nutty-creamy notes of this water, I add a few dashes of Bitter Queens’ Joker Judy chocolate walnut bitters, which ups the roasty notes and lands somewhere in the ballpark of a soda fountain Coke float. Garnish with a lemon and you’ve got something special.

Topo Chico With Miracle Mile Ume Plum Bitters​

Topo Chico’s broad place in North American drinking culture is perhaps unrivaled by any other mineral water on the market, from cocktail traditions to espresso pairings and beyond. It also makes a delightful canvas for a bitters soda, which can be enjoyed in your choice of glassware, but is perhaps best enjoyed drunk straight from the iconic Topo longneck bottle.
There is a small cult around the Ume Plum bitters made by Miracle Mile Bitters Co. of Los Angeles. Ume, the small Japanese plum, shows up in myriad health and wellness traditions in Japan and is used to flavor sakes, wines and candies. In bitters form you get this lovely pucker sensation that fuses well with Topo Chico’s legendarily robust carbonation. No garnish necessary. The combination has worked its way into my bitters soda arsenal as an all-season drink that’s surprisingly complementary to a range of foods, most especially with a good takeout curry or bento.

Lurisia With Workhorse Rye Pumpkin Bitters​

Sourced from the Fonte Santa Barbara di Lurisia in Italy’s Piedmont region, Lurisia is a food-friendly mineral water long prized for its ability to complement a range of wines and cuisines. (It’s also very good alongside coffee.) I pair it with a couple of dashes of Workhorse Rye’s Pumpkin Bitters, which is made using a variety of heirloom pumpkins, alongside beer, artichoke leaf, roasted cocoa beans and spices. One gathers Workhorse made this stuff with the Old-Fashioned in mind, but it sits beautifully within the midrange creaminess of Lurisia, and makes for the perfect autumnal bitters soda. Serve in a lowball over rocks, garnish with a bay leaf.

 

[bulllee]

White Christmas Margaritas​

by LENA ABRAHAM
NOV 30, 2020


White Christmas Margaritas Have Us SO Excited For The Holidays
by Delish US

Play Video

Want to switch up your usual holiday cocktail this year? Try this coconut and lime flavored margarita on for size!
Have you made one yet? Let us know how it went in the comments below!
Editor's note: The recipe was updated on November 30, 2020.
YIELDS:6 SERVINGS
PREP TIME:0 HOURS 15 MINS
TOTAL TIME:0 HOURS 15 MINS

INGREDIENTS

1
(14-oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk
12 oz.
silver tequila
8 oz.
triple sec
1/4 c.
lime juice
4 c.
ice
Lime wedge, for rimming glass
Sanding sugar, for rimming glass
Lime slices, for garnish
Cranberries, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine coconut milk, tequila, triple sec, lime juice and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth.
2. Rim glasses with lime wedge and dip in sanding sugar. Pour into glass and garnish with lime and cranberries.

EMILY HLAVAC GREEN

 

[bulllee]

Jingle Juice​

by LENA ABRAHAM
NOV 27, 2017


Jingle Juice Is Here To Get You Through The Holidays
by Delish US

You'll be hearing jingle bells in no time.
YIELDS:15 SERVINGS
PREP TIME:0 HOURS 5 MINS
TOTAL TIME:0 HOURS 10 MINS

INGREDIENTS

4 c. Cran-Apple Juice
2 (750-ml.) bottles red Moscato
1 (750-ml.) bottle Prosecco
1/2 c. vodka
2 c. frozen cranberries
1/3 c. mint leaves
1/2 c. granulated sugar, for rimming glasses
2 limes, sliced into rounds

DIRECTIONS

1. Using a wedge of lime, wet rim of glasses. Dip in sugar until coated.
2. Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl, stir together and serve.

EMILY HLAVAC GREEN

 

[bulllee]

​

​ ​ Photo: Aaron Joel Santos for Gastro Obscura​ ​ December 18th 3 non-boring eggnog recipes

​ By Sam O'Brien Senior Editor, Gastro Obscura​ ​ Every December, I half-heartedly try eggnog. It’s never planned. I’m usually at a holiday party and see the creamy mixture sloshing in a punch bowl and think, “What the hell. ’Tis the season.” It’s always a disappointment. Like me, many people dismiss ’nog as an afterthought, either sampling it from bland, premixed cartons or trotting out the same blasé recipe every year. This holiday season, I’ve decided to give ’nog another chance. I scoured mixology tomes across history and consulted the rest of the Gastro Obscura staff to find the most interesting eggnog recipes out there. If you think eggnog is tame, consider this: In 1826, cadets at West Point—including Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee—erupted into a riot after downing too much contraband ’nog. In the melee, cadets destroyed furniture, smashed windows, took up arms, and even shot at a commanding officer (they missed, possibly due to their level of inebriation). In the end, 19 students were expelled. As I learned, history is full of accounts of eggnog shenanigans, often with riotous recipes to match. So this week, we’re looking at some of the world’s most interesting eggnogs and how to make them at home. ​ 1) Prison ’Nog With Mezcal​ ​ This is incredibly good for a prison 'nog. Photo: Sam O'Brien for Gastro Obscura​ ​ In April 1843, members of the Army of the Texas Republic found themselves facing two problems. The first: They were imprisoned by Mexican General Santa Anna, who’d captured them during a border raid. The second? The anniversary of their victory at the Battle of San Jacinto was coming up, and the prison atmosphere wasn’t exactly set for any kind of celebration. To pep things up, the men bribed their guards to smuggle in mezcal, sugar, eggs, and donkey’s milk. After stealing some kitchen tools, the soldiers mixed up their creamy, potent concoction. Their leader, General Thomas Green, declared the concoction a success. He later described it as “such egg-nog as never was seen or drank under the nineteenth degree of northern latitude.” You can find the story and recipe—given a little extra flavor with some grated Mexican chocolate—in David Wondrich’s excellent book on cocktail history, Imbibe. ​ 2) The Egg-Less Ancestor to Eggnog​ ​ Posset was so posh that drinkers consumed it from designated pots, like this one from 1661. Photo: Science Museum, London (CC BY 4.0)​ ​ Before there was eggnog, there was posset, a British cocktail consisting of curdled milk, alcohol, and sugar. Consumed for both pleasure and health, posset was even prescribed to King Charles I for a cold in 1620. British literature and domestic texts are filled with references to the many varieties of posset. Shakespeare gave nods to the drink in both Hamlet and The Merry Wives of Windsor. And yet, while food historians consider posset the precursor to the eggnog we now know and love-hate, many varieties didn’t even contain eggs. Royalty thickened their posset with cream or curds, and it was commoners who were forced to turn to cheaper options such as eggs. If you don’t like eggnog, this egg-less alternative might be for you. The excellent blog “British Food: A History” covers the fascinating story of posset and includes a recipe from 1596’s The Good Housewife’s Jewel. The domestic text advises combining and gently heating thick cream, sugar, ginger, and rose water, then serving in a “silver piece or bowl." To make your own, heat about one cup of cream or whole milk along with 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, a teaspoon of grated ginger (or more if you’re a ginger fan), and a splash of rose water. If you don’t have a silver piece, that’s okay. Just grab your fanciest glass and feel free to add the booze of your choice. ​ 3) Canadian Military ’Nog With Kahlua and Ice Cream​ ​ Foamy, creamy Moose Mlik. Photo: Aaron Joel Santos for Gastro Obscura​ ​ Another ’nog born of military ingenuity, Moose Milk was created by Canadian soldiers during World War II. Styles vary by military branch—the navy, army, and air force all have different, competing recipes—but the basic recipe is liquor (usually whiskey, rum, and/or vodka), cream, egg yolks, and sugar. When on the battle lines, soldiers used whatever basic ingredients were on hand. At home, though, recipes get a bit more decadent (and, often, less alcoholic), incorporating Kahlua, ice cream, and coffee. The result is a rich, flavorful eggnog that has many fans across the Great White North. If you’d like to “set loose the Moose,” as they say in Canada, find the recipe on Gastro Obscura. Or explore recipes from each military branch. ​ Tom & Jerry​ Another ’nog from the past, this 19th-century winter warmer is still popular in the American Midwest.Get the recipe → ​ More of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things​ Cocktail Club Atlas Obscura now runs a book club on Literati. Our January selection is Imbibe, the smashing cocktail history book I mentioned earlier. Sign up here. Holiday Horror I enjoy baking holiday treats while watching the darkest takes on the cheery season. Try gems like Rare Exports, Christmas Evil, and the so-bad-it’s-good Santa Jaws. Presidential Recipes I omitted William Henry Harrison’s eggnog from this list, but it comes from Poppy Cannon’s The President’s Cookbook, an amazing book filled with everything from Abraham Lincoln's truffle ragout to Calvin Coolidge's custard pie.

 

[bulllee]

How to Turn Your Christmas Tree Into Cocktails​

Cooking with evergreens has a long history.​

BY JULIA GEORGALLISDECEMBER 14, 2021
How to Turn Your Christmas Tree Into Cocktails

Have your Christmas tree and drink it too! AARON JOEL SANTOS FOR GASTRO OBSCURA


This month, Gastro Obscura is looking at wondrous wintertime cocktails. Yesterday’s recipe was for Germany’s favorite flaming punch: feuerzangenbowle.
AFTER THE WARM GLOW OF the festive season has left us, after we have overeaten, overspent, and overdone it, a mass culling of trees begins: 40 million of them across the U.S. and UK alone. For those of us who celebrate the Christmas holiday, we enjoy them for only a month or two before dragging them to the curb.
Should we keep these trees hostage in our living rooms? Most Christmas trees are grown for seven to 10 years before they become festive adornments, and the average lifespan of a conifer is 400 years. But we have turned these trees into a single-use product.

In the winter of 2015, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to extend the short shelf life of a Christmas tree. I drove around London’s leafy periphery, pilfering Christmas tree branches. It was odd behavior on my part, but this foraging exercise was rooted in a deep hatred of waste: My goal was to figure out how to eat and drink them.
Soon enough, I was serving dishes such as zesty Christmas tree-cured fish, spruce and ginger ice cream, tart Christmas tree pickles, and sweet apple and fir membrillo. I experimented with cocktails, too: spruce-infused gin, herby pine vodka, and fir cordial. Last year, I published a cookbook, How to Eat Your Christmas Tree, to encourage home cooks to have a good think about wastefulness and sustainability over Christmas time.
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I am not the first to try ingesting a Christmas tree—I based my dishes and drinks on recipes from across the globe. For eating, they have been used in pickles and cures and to flavor meats, fish, and cheese through hot and cold smoking methods. When it comes to drinking, pine, fir, and spruce flavors have become a popular bar staple for adding woody flavors to cocktails. Further back, we see them used by Alpine communities in digestifs and liquors such as genepi, zirbenz, and schnapps. Head further north and you will find spruce and pine in Scottish highland ales. A key component of the Greek white wine retsina is the sap of the Aleppo pine. For indigenous people in North America, evergreens have long flavored tea, braises, and stews.
Not all types of Christmas tree taste the same. Pine is warming and subtle, fir can be grassy, and spruce is floral, sharing flavor profiles with vanilla. (In fact, coniferin, which is found in Christmas tree needles, is a key component in artificial vanilla flavoring.) In short, they are delicious.
Most parts of the Christmas tree can be cooked with, from bark to bud, needle to nut. But it’s important to know which trees you can safely incorporate into drinks and dishes. Here are some pointers:

1. Spruce, fir, and pine, which are by far the most common types of Christmas tree on sale, are edible. Yews and cedars, which look like Christmas trees but are seldom used, are extremely poisonous. To spot these, note that yews have bright red needles, which edible Christmas trees do not, and that cedar “needles” are much softer than those of a spruce, fir or pine—they almost look like samphire. As always: If in doubt, don’t eat it.
2. Although Christmas trees are a crop, they are not necessarily grown for consumption. I have come across trees that have been sprayed with chemicals, or even painted green. Don’t eat these! Instead, find a responsibly, and, ideally, locally grown tree that’s been treated with as few chemicals as possible.
3. Christmas tree needles are a bit like fish bones—they’re often sharp. So avoid eating any uncooked, unchopped needles.

If you are going to buy a tree this year, I recommend buying a live one and either keeping it in a pot as a houseplant or, if you have outdoor space, replanting it once Christmas is over. That’s because if we let just one year’s crop of Christmas trees live out their full life-span, they could absorb slightly more carbon dioxide than the global air traffic industry expels in a year. As a bonus, using a potted plant for a Christmas tree, or replanting yours, means it will become a permanent extension of your drinks cabinet, adding festive flavor to future tipples for years to come.

The cordial makes for a fragrant base for cocktails and more. AARON JOEL SANTOS FOR GASTRO OBSCURA

Christmas Tree Cordial​

Recipes excerpted with permission from How to Eat Your Christmas Tree by Julia Georgallis (Hardie Grant Books)​

Christmas tree cordial, especially if you are using spruce, tastes a bit like grapefruit juice. Rather than turning green, as you might expect, it will turn a color ranging from bright orange to pastel pink. You can use either fir or spruce, or a mixture of both. I don’t recommend making it with pine as the flavor is a bit too weak and gets overpowered by the sugar and lemons. The flavor of this cordial is quite expansive and zingy.
Makes: 2 liters (70 fluid ounces/8 cups) of cordial
Prep Time: 2 hours
Equipment: a 2-liter (70-fluid ounce/8-cup) glass bottle with a lid
Ingredients
juice of 10 lemons and zest of 4
2 liters (70 fluid ounces/8 cups) water
700 grams (1 pound 9 ounces/ 3 cups) caster (superfine) sugar
400 grams (14 ounces) spruce and/or fir needles (you can also use some of the branches to add flavor)
Instructions

1. Sterilize the glass bottle.
2. Bring the lemon juice and zest, water, sugar and needles to the boil over a medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 2 hours.
3. Take the pan off the heat and strain through a fine sieve (fine mesh strainer) to remove the needles. Do this a few times to ensure that there are no needles left in the mixture.
4. Pour the mixture, using a funnel, into the sterilized bottle.
5. Leave to cool and refrigerate. This keeps for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

This sour can also be made as an equally attractive non-alcoholic beverage. AARON JOEL SANTOS FOR GASTRO OBSCURA

Christmas Tree Sour​

Makes: Enough for 2 cocktails
Prep time: 15 minutes each
Ingredients
50 milliliter (1 ¾ ounces/3 tablespoons)
Christmas Tree Cordial (see above)
100 ml (3 ½ fluid ounces/scant 1/3 cup) sparkling water
100 ml (3 ½ fluid ounces/scant 1/3 cup) bourbon or a non-alcoholic spirit like Seedlip or Smreka
3 drops of Angostura bitters
a large ice cube
juice of 2 limes
To make the cocktail, combine all the ingredients, including the ice, preferably in a cocktail shaker, and shake rapidly for a minute. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, use a jar with a lid instead. Pour into a cold glass and serve.

Christmas Tree Mimosa​

Ingredients
70 ml (2 1⁄2 fluid ounces/5 tablespoons) Christmas Tree Cordial (see above)
140 ml (5 fluid ounces/scant 2⁄3 cup) prosecco
a large ice cube
a slice of lemon
To make the cocktail, combine all the ingredients, including the ice, preferably in a cocktail shaker, and shake rapidly for a minute. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, use a jar with a lid instead. Pour into a cold glass and serve.

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

So my lady and her friends have decimated my liquor cabinet. And I told her they're all going to have to chip in to replace it.

I had slowly built up quite a collection. I'd say there was $900 to $1,000 dollars worth of sippers and mixers.

I even had a bottle of Johnny Blue. Overrated and overpriced, sure. But when someone special comes by and you have some Johnny Blue, then you become a badass.

What am I, just made of money?! FFS Sierra has more money than I do.

To be fair, I did a similar action when I was younger. My parents had bought a bottle of Crown Royal a day before their wedding and were saving it for the they feared it might be one of their last days on Earth. And me and my friend chugged it like root beer.

And she will only drink the expensive stuff. So by the time the final tally popped up ... fucking hell. The guy working said, "I want to be at whatever party you two are throwing."

But tonight we're keeping it simple. Just vodka with blood orange juice. So fucking good.

 

[momofthegoons]

On Christmas eve, we make a traditional Scandinavian warm wine drink.. Now.... there's mulled wine and then there's Glogg.... and hand's down Glogg wins. If this stuff doesn't warm you to your toes and get you in the holiday spirit... nothing will. While this recipe uses Linie aquavit, my family uses the Aalborg brand (from Denmark).

GLOGG RECIPE - A TRADITIONAL SCANDINAVIAN HOLIDAY DRINK​

GLOGG RECIPE SUMMARY​

Warm spiced, and sometimes fortified, wine. That really is the sum of it.

Throughout Scandinavian countries, you might find this referred to as Glogg, Glögg, or Gløgg. They are all pretty close to the same thing. I am using Glogg, as it is easier for my American keyboard to accommodate. No matter how it is spelled, this Glogg recipe is delicious and is a Scandinavian offshoot of mulled wine. You may find several other recipes or your family may have slightly different Glogg recipe traditions, but they are all somewhat close. We take some wine, add sweetener, add spices, warm it up and you have a beautiful Wintertime and Holiday drink.

WHAT IS GLOGG?​

We have already eluded to it as a variation of a mulled wine, but what separates Glogg from your average mulled wine? You could make the case that it is just a different name that is used for Mulled Wine for Scandinavian countries, but I like to think it is a bit more.

The two differences that make Glogg different than a traditional Mulled Wine are Aquavit and cardamom. Cardamom is a spice that comes from the pods of various plants in the ginger family. While likely originating in the southern hemisphere, it has become a spice that has become common in traditional Scandinavian dishes. It is a distant cousin of ginger and has some great flavor that works wonderfully with mulled wine and really has become a defining aspect of Glogg.

The second differentiating ingredient is aquavit. Aquavit is potato-based alcohol that is common in Scandinavian countries and also in Germany. You might be thinking this sounds like vodka, but it is much different than vodka. Aquavit also tends to contain spices and is often barrelled. Whereas vodka mostly tries to have a neutral flavor, aquavit is full of flavor.

FORTIFY WITH AQUAVIT​

If you don’t use aquavit, you could use a port, brandy, Sherry, or nothing at all to fortify your glogg recipe. We, however, want to keep this recipe traditional with a bit of Aquavit. We are specifically using the Linie brand, which has a really interesting story.

This brand has been around since 1805 and the recipe has been the same since very early on. Linie indicates that they ship every barrel of aquavit from Norway (where it is produced) to Australia and back. Apparently, both the humidity changes and the rocking back and forth adds to the flavor of the drink. They did this in the early 1800s and have continued this on through today.

There are other brands of Aquavit that you may find. Linie is a Norwegian brand and tends to be a bit more of a robust drink than aquavits from some of the other Scandinavian countries. At my local liquor store, I also noticed there are several distillers in my region that make it. I do, however, live in the upper midwest… where many Norwegians immigrated. I recommend Line Aquavit, but use the brand you have or can find.

WHAT KIND OF WINE TO USE FOR GLOGG RECIPE?​

Much like Mulled Wine and even Sangria, the kind of red wine you use is not very important. In fact, some say that Glogg came about as a way to use up marginal wine, as we add a whole bunch of spices and sugar. We used a cheap Woodridge Pinot Noir that was found on sale. Use your own discretion, but don’t spend a ton of money on your red wine. The wine will add flavor to the mix, but remember that we are adding sweetener, spices, and Aquavit to the mix.

WHAT KIND OF SPICES TO USE​

Well, look at the recipe. That is what I recommend, but it doesn’t mean you can’t add your own flair to the Glogg recipe. Another option, which I leave out, would be star anise. If you use something in your Mulled Wine recipe that you think this is missing, add it in!

STRAINING THE HERBS AND OPTIONS FOR GLOGG RECIPE​

In my recipe, I do not strain anything, but I did want to mention that you can. Both cloves and cardamom are not the best to bite down on. There are a few other spices that might not be everybody’s cup of tea, such as orange peel, cinnamon, and ginger. There are two possibilities that would help you reduce the possibility of getting these flavors.

First, you could strain the glogg before serving. Mind you, you want to keep the almonds and raisins in the drink, so you will want to make sure to get those good little bits back into the drink.

Second, you could add all of the spices you want to keep out of a glass into some cheesecloth. You will cook this in the crockpot and all of the flavors will still seep into the drink, but save you the trouble of worrying about biting into the things.
Personally, I like having that rustic feel of having all of the ingredients in my glass.

BLANCHING ALMONDS​

The almonds you use in this recipe need to be blanched. The skin can add a bitter flavor to the drinks, so you need to remove them. Of course, you can buy your almonds already blanched, but if you buy them in bulk, like us, it is pretty easy to remove the skins.

Add the almonds to boiling water for 60 seconds. Strain them immediately and run them under cold water to stop cooking. Once the almonds are cool, you should be able to pop the almonds right out of their skins. Yes, you have to do them individually, but if you get the hang of it, it is a really quick process. Set them aside until you are ready to use them.

SUGAR VS HONEY​

I keep bees, so it feels right for me to use honey. Additionally, we are dealing with a drink that goes back hundreds of years. Way back in the day, refined sugar was rarely available and meant for the rich. It was a luxury, if available at all. Honey was a more common sweetener until relatively recently (after the 1600s to 1700s), so it feels right to me to use my honey in a drink that is using such a traditional spirit as aquavit. If you are going to substitute in white sugar in this recipe, I would substitute about 1 ⅓ cups sugar for one cup of honey

SERVE WITH A SPOON​

Because of the raisins and almonds in this drink, serving this with a spoon is a good way to help your guests get the little bits out. Eat up the raisins and almonds while setting the cloves, ginger, and cardamom pods to the side. A spoon certainly is not needed, but a fun and practical addition to this traditional drink.

I USED A CROCKPOT​

Yes, you can make this in a big pot or pan instead of a crockpot. I like the idea of being able to dump a bunch of ingredients and it being ready a few hours later without having to do much. One thing to be aware of is that you never want to bring this mixture to a boil. Alcohol evaporates at 172 degrees Fahrenheit. Water boils at 212 degrees. You don't want the alcohol to evaporate out and if you ever bring it to a boil, you run that risk. We want to heat the temp up, but ideally, keep it under that 172-degree mark.

HOW LONG IN THE CROCKPOT?​

I would say a minimum of 2.5 hours and a maximum of about 6 hours. In this recipe, we are calling for a total of three hours. The longer you allow the spices to marinate in the wine, the more flavors you are going to have.

DO YOU NEED AQUAVIT IN YOUR GLOGG?​

No. Make this your own and make your own traditions. Drink what tastes good to you! While many glogg recipes call for it or another harder spirit to fortify the mulled wine, you do not need to add it to make it a legit Glogg.

HISTORY OF GLOGG​

Glogg is a neat drink and touches on some of the history we have already explored with our History of Sangria article. It really is kind of neat that Mulled Wine, Glogg, Sangria, and many of these other versions of wine drinks all share a history. Glogg definitely is a direct descendant of mulled wine and following the various historical elements of glogg will give a great picture of the history of the traditional drink

RELATION TO MULLED WINE AND HIPPOCRAS​

Much like Mulled Wine, glogg has a history with Hippocras. It seems that humans did what humans do and just started adding stuff to wine. Hippocras was born. Hippocras was a spiced and sweetened wine that could have been served warm or cold. Any sort of spice or flavorful stuff could have been added. It was filtered through a filter named “the sleeve of Hippocrates”, hence the name. The name of this drink comes from the bag that the drink was filtered through. Hippocras appears to be the grandfather of both Sangria and Mulled wine

HISTORY OF AQUAVIT​

Another aspect of Glogg that we already touched on was Aquavit. I had previously mentioned that I use the Linie brand, but Aquavit is much older than the 1805 Linie creation date. The first known mention of Aquavit was in 1531 in a letter to a Catholic Archbishop of Norway.

While I am tying this drink to Norwegian heritage, it is a spirit that is also popular and has roots in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. It is tied to holiday celebrations, such as Christmas

CARDAMOM SEEDS​

Cardamom seeds are an important part of this drink and have become an important part of Scandinavian cooking. According to this Ozy article, Norwegians consume 30 times the amount of cardamom than what the average person does. What is really interesting about this distant cousin of Ginger is that it is far from being native to the northern regions, but has origins in India.

While there are a few specific theories on how the spice found its way from India to its northern regions, they tend to revolve around trading routes (or conquering routes I suppose) that brought the spice from either southern or south-eastern European routes, which makes sense. You get the likes of Spain that are just a short jump to Africa and then countries like Turkey, which is right up against that Middle Eastern area. Either way, it would seem to show a natural spacial progression from India to the rest of Europe.

One of the earliest known recipe books, the Libellus De Arte Coquinaria, has recipes from Scandinavian and German regions. In this very old Scandinavian recipe book that dates back to the early 13th century, cardamom is used.

GLOGG TRAVELS TO NORWAY​

To follow the evolution of Glogg is to follow the trail of Mulled Wine and the unique ingredients we have already mentioned. If you take Mulled wine and then locationally follow the timeline of both Aquavit and Cardamom’s popularity in Scandinavia, it really starts to make sense of how the distinct regional tradition of Glogg came to be.

We know that Cardamom was being used in Scandinavia as far back as the 13th century and that Aquavit was being drunk in the 1500s.

Mulled wine has a history that goes back to the second century when apparently created in Rome. It spread throughout Europe and was mentioned in one of England’s oldest cookbooks in the 14th century. The act of heating wine was likely a way to warm one’s self on cool days, but also a way to make use of less than ideal wines. Adding spices and sweeteners to wine is not a new practice.

In Germany, they have something very similar to Glogg (arguably the same) called Gluwhein, which means glowing wine. Not surprisingly, Aquavit also has a fan base in Germany, so it would seem like a natural progression into Norway and Sweden.

It is said that Gluwhein (glowing wine) became Glogg in name as it traveled north. Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives the etymology as:

Swedish glögg, from glödga to burn, mull, from glöd glowing coal, from Old Norse glōth; akin to Old English glēd glowing coal

No matter where it comes from, it is good. The three elements of cardamom, aquavit, and mulled wine met together in Scandinavia to become the holiday classic, Glogg.

1. This really is such a simple recipe and you can make it your own. Here is a picture of most of the ingredients I used.
2. One important element of this recipe is to take your cardamom pods and crack them open. If you have a mortar and pestle, use that. I just used a roller to crack those seeds.
3. Get all the ingredients (minus the Aquavit) and put them in the crockpot.
4. Add the wine. Either 2 750ml or a 1.5 l to that crockpot and allow to steep for at least 2 hours before adding the Aquafit.

GLOGG RECIPE TIPS SUMMARY​

• Use cheap red wine. Pinot Noir is what we used, but a Merlot or Shiraz would work wonderfully, as well. Use your taste buds to make the flavor you want. If you like Merlot... USE IT.
• Buy Cardomom pods, but you can use just the seeds in a pinch. If using the pods, make sure to crack them open to help release the flavors.
• Any flavors that are appropriate for a Mulled Wine would also work well here.
• I use honey, but if you want to use white sugar, just use a bit more than the recipe calls for honey. 1 cup of honey would be 1 ⅓ cups of white sugar.

INGREDIENTS​

• 10 cloves
• 20 green cardamom pods… cracked
• 2 bottles Pinot noir (2x750 ml)
• 4 inches ginger
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup blanched almonds
• 1 orange peel
• 1 cup honey
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• ½ cup Aquavit

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INSTRUCTIONS​

1. Add all ingredients minus the aquavit to a crockpot and heat on low for at least 2.5 hours and up to 6. Make sure this never reaches a boil, but is warm enough to heat the mixture.
2. Add ½ cup of Aquavit 30 minutes prior to serving.
3. Serve in coffee mug with spoon so your guest can eat the almonds, raisins

NOTES​

• OPTIONALLY, put all non-edible spices (cloves, cinnamon, ginger, orange, cardamom) in a cheesecloth container before adding to crockpot.
• Optionally, strain out cloves, cinnamon, ginger, orange, and cardamom before serving.
• If you are not going to drink all of it, I would recommend straining out the bits before putting in refridgerator.

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NUTRITION​

• Serving Size: 1 mug
• Calories: 416
• Sugar: 42 g
• Sodium: 18 mg
• Fat: 5 g
• Saturated Fat: 0 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
• Carbohydrates: 51 g
• Fiber: 2 g
• Protein: 3 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg

 

[Marlon Rando]

Mango Blini's makes the day so much better

 

[ataxian]

@Helios 2021 has been a year of evaluation of bipedal existence on this pale in the far corner of the universe somewhere in universe.?attract
Drinking moderate amount’s of alcohol I get the feeling arrived at however CANNABIS seem’s healthier?
CHAMPAGNE from the region where the grape’s are grown make’s the drink CIVILIZED if CANNABIS is consumed by vaping!

 

[momofthegoons]

With the 'supply chain' issues, it's been harder to find my favorite Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand. So I've been trying some from other areas... one being California. This was today's try... My opinion? Meh. Not a whole lot going on. Okay. Better than some.