Wild Turkey Rare Breed - Bourbon for life.

I finally got around to taking some pictures of the Wild Turkey Rare Breed.  Indeed, many pictures.  While many of them didn't make the cut, many did, and so they will be interspersed with my musings.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed.  A more refined version of an American Classic.

Pirate's Lagoon Black Pearl - Don't buy it - Bad Wine.

Greetings readers.

DO NOT BUY THIS WINE.  Read on to find out what happened.

This is what a faulty bottle of wine looks like.

Crooked Lake Winery - Proprietor's Red. Delicious!

Somehow we haven't managed to tell you yet about one of our absolute favorite wineries - Crooked Lake Winery!  Located on Keuka Lake (also known as Crooked Lake) in the finger lakes, these guys make incredible table wines and sell them at a very fair price.  They make a Chancellor varietal wine that is just out of this world, which I really have to tell you about soon.. but for today, I wanted to talk about something that everyone can enjoy - the Proprietor's Red.

Crooked Lake Winery's Proprietor's Red is sure to please everyone!

Anthony Road Wine Company Devonian Red

On our trip up to Oswego Harborfest this year, a number of our favorite wineries were not present, much to our mutual chagrin.  Of course, there's always a silver lining to these things, and in this case, that lining was found in the numerous other delicious wineries whose wares we were able to sample - and many of which, we were able to take home.

The label of Anthony Road's Devonian Red.  If you see this - BUY IT :)

Eagle Crest Vineyards Niagara - Native New York State Wine Review!

We've written before about Eagle Crest Vineyards, and there's a reason we keep coming back to them. They offer quality wines with something to suit a variety of tastes, and all at a great value.  We haven't had a chance to purchase any Eagle Crest wines this year, as they weren't at Oswego Harborfest and our trip to wine country was limited to Cayuga Lake - they're located on Keuka lake.  Luckily, after buying more than a couple cases last year, we still have plenty to write about :)

Eagle Crest Vineyards makes this delicious Niagara wine.  If you like grapes and grape juice, this is for you!

Inspire Moore Winery's Framboise - Delicious Raspberry wine!

Greetings foodies!

This weekend was a very nice one. I had a chance to go to a Yankees game, and more importantly for your interests, I finally got around to having my inspire Moore's raspberry Framboise.  This little gem is pure raspberry wine with residual sugars around 25% if I remember correctly.

Inspire Moore's Raspberry Framboise!  This bottle is older,
so the label has their old name, Imagine Moore.  Different name, same great wine!

Glenora Wine Cellar Peach Spumante

If you're a frequent reader of my blog you know that as wine goes, I tend to prefer to the dryer reds. In the past I was fond of whites and Rieslings, but as these things go - it's simply where my tastes have taken me lately :). Today I want to talk about a sparkling wine i.e. a Spumante that the bunch of us had over the weekend. While I prefer a certain type of wine I can usually find something to appreciate in any competantly made beverage, and this Peach Spumante from Glenora Wine Cellars is no exception! :)

This picture was taken on the metro north train, with me balancing the bottle on my knee!

Thirsty Owl Wine Company Lot 99. Pinot Noir and Chancellor make magic!

Alright, it's been a busy couple of weeks!  I spent some time on vacation, went to Oswego Harborfest and wine country, saw some good old friends, and had a balmy old time.  Unfortunately for my valued readers, this means I haven't been able to write too many posts as of late.

Thirsty Owl Wine Company's Lot 99.
A fantastic blend of Chancellor and Pinot Noir grapes!

As I described in the previous post, we purchased many delicious wines while up by Cayuga Lake.  Today I'd like to tell you a little bit about Lot 99 from Thirsty Owl Wine Company.

Delirium Tremens Beer Review

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing an amazing piece of brewing achievement - Delirium Tremens Beer by Huyghe brewery of Belgium.  I'd heard amazing things about this beer but had always been put off in the past by the price, not to mention the sheer selection of other excellent craft beers that cost a fraction of what a bottle of Delirium Tremens cost.  Well a week or two ago, we were up at Half Time in Poughkeepsie, NY (an incredible beer distributor - they claim to the biggest one in the world!) and I saw old Delirium Tremens sitting on the shelf.  And you know what?  I took the plunge.

Pouring the 2011 Delirium Tremens.  I didn't have a suitable glass, so we used a wine glass.

Delirium Tremens is named after that lovely affliction that befalls alcoholics when they stop drinking.  An

uncontrolled arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, the brain of an alcoholic starts to hallucinate and provoke a very unpleasant affect to the organism once a steady stream of alcohol has been withdrawn from the diet.  These "Delirium Tremens" as they are called are a potentially deadly affliction.  And so of course, that's what they name the beer after.  Cute right?  Those guys clearly have a sense of humor.

A Great Cointreau Substitute - Mathilde Liqueur

Mathilde Liqueur - Orange XO Liqueur

Ahh, orange liqueur, you are a wonderful thing.  We could not make our Cosmopolitans and Margaritas without you.  And yet, your quintessential iteration - Cointreau orange liqueur - is so very, very expensive.  What to do ?  We all wish to drink tasty cocktails and when they call for a top-shelf orange liqueur, you can't just use any cheap triple sec - to do so ruins the drink.  Good spirits need to be kept in the company of other good spirits and quality ingredients.

Enter Mathilde XO Orange Liqueur.

Me and the lady found this delicious spirit while searching for a Cointreau substitute.  Basically, as you know if you've been reading the blog, we enjoy margaritas among many mixed drinks.  But goodness, Cointreau is so very expensive!  Around here it costs around $21 for the small 375ml product and bit under $40 for the full 750ml size.  Now, Cointreau is a delicious, premium liqueur to be sure, probably the best one of its' type.  But if you're making margaritas for a party, or even just for yourself, you'll find that you go through the stuff like water!

Another consideration was that Cointreau was costing us more than the main spirit (Tequila) that we were mixing it with, and that didn't seem quite fair.  We set out on a quest to find a good, reasonable tasting Cointreau substitute.  

Now, there's many brands of cheap triple sec - you see them over by the schnapps.  These are all well in good I suppose for college students or kids or people trying to make cheap drinks, but really, what are you paying for?  Corn syrup and chunk of D-limonene flavoring?  The price of these things is cheap, but the level of value you get is low.  

Cointreau - The Classic Orange Liqueur

I've been writing many posts lately about various Tequilas - Espolon Blanco, Espolon Reposado, and Sauza Silver.  All of these are delicious 100% agave Tequilas and are suitable for drinking straight.  Many people however, are not the type to drink straight liquor, and I can't blame them - at 40% alcohol by volume, these spirits hit rather hard, have something of a bite to them despite their smoothness - and are what people think of as "straight alcohol" :)  Few people want to be viewed as an alcoholic by drinking straight liquor, even if they enjoy the spirit based purely on it's own merits.

Enter the Margarita.  This classic cocktail is the most popular drink to use Tequila - and why not?  It's delicious.  There are a few different variations on the drink, but the one that I like to use involves the following ratio:

2 parts good Tequila, often a Reposado Tequila.
1.5 parts Orange Liqueur or Triple Sec - in this case, the one and only Cointreau
1 part fresh squeezed lime juice.
(Optional) 1 part of less simple syrup, or to taste.

Ice cold Cointreau is just begging to be
added to a top-shelf margarita!

Some recipes call for equal parts Tequila, Triple Sec, and Lime - others call for 2 parts Tequila, 1 part lime juice, and just a splash of Cointreau.  Still others call for a 3:2:1 ratio of Tequila, lime, and orange liqueur.  You should experiment to find that ratio that you find most suitable - for me, the recipe that I listed above seems to serve us well.  Key elements are that the Tequila is front and center - it is the main spirit of the cocktail.  Tequila works wonderfully with citrus flavors, and the lime compliments it well, with the orange liqueur "rounding" out the cocktail and adding depth and occasional sweetness.

Sauza Blue Tequila Silver - Tequila Review

Time to write about yet another delicious Tequila - Sauza Blue Tequila Silver 100% Agave.  Now back in the day, Sauza made a number of Tequilas but they were mixto Tequilas - meaning that they were only 51% actual agave.  The rest of the product could be made up of any number of ingredients, but probably the cheapest thing they could find that would ferment.  The result was a beverage that had  some agave flavor to it - but mostly was just a cheap, hard-hitting alcohol that left you with a nasty hangover in the morning, while bringing down the reputation of Tequila for everyone involved.  A lot of people have "Tequila stories" and the poor quality of Tequila that used to be available is probably a major contributing factor.

Sauza Blue is made from 100% Blue Agave - there is nothing but
the essence of fermented cactus contained in this bottle :)

Espolon Tequila Reposado - Tequila Review

Espolon Tequila Reposado keeps with the skeleton
Theme of the Blanco bottle.  Really nice artwork!

A few posts ago I was writing about a tasty liquor that I had re-discovered - Espolon Tequila Blanco.  Espolon is a brand I used to enjoy many years ago, but it is now back with a new label, new packaging, and for some reason a much lower price.  Back in the day, Espolon used to cost around $30-40$ a bottle; these days, you can get a bottle of it for around $23 and change.  I'm not sure why anything would ever go down in price, but it just goes to show that price does not always correlate with quality - one can still find amazing deals if one looks hard enough.

Cold and refreshing
Espolon Reposado Tequila

Old Grand Dad Whiskey - Bottled in Bond

Old Grand-dad Whiskey -
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Greetings my fellow Gourmands!  Today I wish to share with you a delicious whiskey that I have found which is also and incredible value.  This whiskey is Old Grand Dad whiskey, Bottled in bond.  There are a few iterations of Old Grand-Dad Whiskey - a regular 86 proof one (whiskey is usually bottled at 80 proof, which also means 40% alcohol by volume - this one is 43% alcohol), the "Bonded" version you see on this page which is 100 proof (50% alcohol by volume), and a 114 "Barrel Proof" one that you see every so often, containing 57% alcohol.

Newcastle Brown Ale Mini Keg

The Newcastle Brown Ale Mini Keg.  Draught beer at home!

As you must have already figured out, I am a beer drinker.  While I generally enjoy craft beers am not really a fan of mass-market products, I do enjoy a Newcastle Brown Ale when out at the bar on occasion.  I would purchase it for easy drinking at home, except there is one critical issue with the packaging - Newcastle Brown Ale comes in clear bottles.  

Now, you may ask yourself, what is the problem with this?  The clear glass bottle showcases the beautiful color of the brown ale!  The issue is one of "skunking", which is a potential problem with any beer, but really rears it's ugly head when it comes to Newcastle.

Without getting into the chemistry of skunking (although it IS interesting), I will merely explain the phenomenon.  A key part of beer is the hops.  Hops adds both aroma and a bitter taste to the beer, which counteracts and balances the sweet malt.  Without hops, a beer is sweet and lacks depth.  The downside to hops is that they are very sensitive to ultraviolet light (aren't most of us?) and when exposed to UV, they form compounds that have a "skunky" smell and taste.

Espolon Tequila Blanco - Tequila Review

Espolon Tequila Blanco, we meet again! I used to drink you many years ago when you were $35 to $40 a bottle - now you're $22. What has happened? What has changed? Apparently, very little!

It's been years since we've met Espolon - Welcome back home :)

Good day everyone. Today I am writing about a very tasty tequila that I enjoy - Espolon. Specifically, this is Espolon Blanco, which means white and unaged tequila.

Eagle Crest Vineyards Concord

Today we're going to talk about an interesting wine from one of my favorite wineries - Eagle Crest Vineyards in Conesus, NY.  Many of you know the name "Concord" - the standard purple grape juice that we see in America is that of the concord grape, one of the native grape varieties that we have in America.

Eagle Crest Vineyards' Concord.

Eagle Crest Vineyards Dry Riesling - Tasty New York State Wine!

Eagle Crest Vineyards
Semi Dry Riesling 2010

Eagle Crest Vineyards Semi-Dry Riesling - Delicious!

Semi-Dry Riesling.  Yum!

As I've said in the previous posts, me and my lady never leave a wine show without picking up at least a case of wine from Eagle Crest Vineyards of Conesus, NY.  We love their wines and are thrilled any time we can pick some of it up.  There are many great Wineries in the great state of New York, but this morning I'm going to be talking about one of Eagle Crest Vineyard's products - their 2010 Semi-dry Riesling.

Now, I'm not sure how recently Eagle Crest has been producing "Vintage wines" - This as you may or may not know means that the wine comes from a particular year / growing season; it's vintage.  The reason for putting the year on the bottle is that wine is an all natural product.  Depending on many factors, such as the land, the amount of rain the grapes get, and countless other factors, the grapes will taste slightly different year to year and this is borne out in the ultimate flavor of the wine.

A discussion of the myriad of factors that are responsible for wine tasting different year to year is beyond the scope of this page, and perhaps beyond the scope of this blog. For the inquiring reader, there is a wealth of information out there with respect to these various factors.

Solar Flare by Eagle Crest Vineyards - Delicious Late Harvest Wine :)

This is the label on the side of the Solar Flare bottle

There is a New York State Winery / Vineyard that me and my lady just love - Eagle Crest Vinyards in Conesus, NY.  We've encountered the lovely people of Eagle Crest at a number of wine shows and festivals, and they have always taken very, very good care of us.  Indeed, I basically 'cut my teeth' as far as tasting wine is concerned on their offerings.

Eagle Crest Vineyards offers many different red and white wines, with enough variation to provide something for everyone :)  In today's post, I wanted to talk about their "liquid sunshine in a bottle" - The Solar Flare late-harvest wine.

Solar Flare is delicious late harvest wine