I think the "tea" approach is almost necessary when dealing with dried hibiscus...but I agree that you shouldn't heat the sugar at all if possible. What I've done for hibiscus syrup is make a tea from flowers/water, let it cool and then shake with sugar to combine. The only hibiscus infusions I've seen that give any kind of similar flavor involve high proof booze.

smallish party tonight....
5L of Oberon

Heading to Half Acre tonight for the closing party for the Craft Brewers Week. I'll be drinking a lot of great beer. Tomorrow may be less than productive.

Working through some Burger Brau from Czech Republic and Paulaner from Munich with some German friends.

Yesterday we went to Anderson Family, Patricia Green Cellars, Shea and Soter.

The 2007 vintage in the Willamette valley was troublesome, with heat and cold, but good wine makers still make good wine even in harder vintages. The 2008 vintage was apparently a perfect textbook growing season. I loved the 2008 wines I tasted, and many of the 2007 wines - the ones we usually like did good jobs. Both will find places in our cellar! It will be fun to compare the same wines from the two years.

Interestingly, I always thought I liked Wadensville clone more than others, but I guess what I like most is what Shea does with their Wadensville Or maybe it's just their specific vinyard.

Patricia Green is making Sauvignon Blanc and saying that it is what they all should have been growing instead of Pinot Gris. I definitely liked it better than most of the Pinot Gris wines (but I almost never like Pinot Gris/Grigio/etc from anywhere) but I'm not sure I like it better than Marlborough or Russian River Sauvignon Blanc.

I'm not a scotch drinker, but I found myself hanging out with some friends over the weekend and in a moment of male bonding I was swept into a round of scotches at the bar. We had Lagavulin Single Malt. Without a doubt, this is the first scotch I've ever actually enjoyed drinking. Smokey, nutty, and not as peat-y as most of the other scotches that I've tried. Really good stuff.

Thanks to those of you who gave me advice on my hibiscus old fashioned experiment. I hope to get better results next time using some of your suggestions.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Khaopaat wrote:

MBK wrote:where can i purchase this TEMPLETON RYE everyone speaks so highly of? i checked Binny's site and it appears they are out of stock??

I've found Binny's website to be pretty hit or miss (mostly miss). I hoped they'd make more use of Sam's Wine's much more extensive & useful site after the buyout, but alas, no dice. Anyway, they usually have plenty at the River North Binny's, and I even saw it on sale at the Clark & Division Jewel on Saturday.

It's good stuff, and very reasonably priced...definitely worth trying.

Templeton has had some supply issues lately. They release monthly allotments and had run out of their April allotment before the month had ended (according to Killmer @ Templeton, whom I ran into at WhiskeyFest on 4/23). My guess is that supply will be tight for a while but May was supposedly bringing new bottles to the supply line. Maybe the shortage in April has reverberated into this month. My guess is that there are plenty of bottles on the shelves at certain retail outlets, where it isn't quite as popular an item as it is in other areas.

=R=

Templeton Rye has gone Wally Pipp for me. Can't get it at either of my two Binny's so I picked up a bottle of “Ri” on the advice of a friend and now I don't know if I'll switch back when TR resurfaces.

yes, i got lucky with my bottle of TR. picked up one at the Binny's in Niles (one of two remaining). verdict: very good, very smoothe. i could sip this rye all night, and this is coming from a cocktail (jack and coke) type person. thanks for the tips everyone!

DMChicago wrote:Templeton Rye has gone Wally Pipp for me. Can't get it at either of my two Binny's so I picked up a bottle of “Ri” on the advice of a friend and now I don't know if I'll switch back when TR resurfaces.

Wow, interesting. I think we've all been in spots like this one and sometimes it leads to nice discoveries.

=R=

Large Lemon Lime Mr. Misty from Dairy Queen:)

...yeah, I said Mr Misty, no Arctic rush for me thankyouverymuch!

DMChicago wrote:Templeton Rye has gone Wally Pipp for me. Can't get it at either of my two Binny's so I picked up a bottle of “Ri” on the advice of a friend and now I don't know if I'll switch back when TR resurfaces.

So you like the Ri? I have only had it once, Repeal Day '08, but I don't remember being impressed by it.

SSDD

headcase wrote:

DMChicago wrote:Templeton Rye has gone Wally Pipp for me. Can't get it at either of my two Binny's so I picked up a bottle of “Ri” on the advice of a friend and now I don't know if I'll switch back when TR resurfaces.

So you like the Ri? I have only had it once, Repeal Day '08, but I don't remember being impressed by it.

SSDD

It has a little more "spice". I like that about it.

mhill95149 wrote:smallish party tonight....
5L of Oberon

i picked up a case of bell's oberon for this weekend's bbq comp.
should be great tasting stuff

DMChicago wrote:

headcase wrote:

DMChicago wrote:Templeton Rye has gone Wally Pipp for me. Can't get it at either of my two Binny's so I picked up a bottle of “Ri” on the advice of a friend and now I don't know if I'll switch back when TR resurfaces.

So you like the Ri? I have only had it once, Repeal Day '08, but I don't remember being impressed by it.

SSDD

It has a little more "spice". I like that about it.

I guess I'll have to give it another try, though saying it has more spice then Templeton is damning it with faint praise since Templeton has next to no spice at all.

SSDD

leek wrote:Patricia Green is making Sauvignon Blanc and saying that it is what they all should have been growing instead of Pinot Gris. I definitely liked it better than most of the Pinot Gris wines (but I almost never like Pinot Gris/Grigio/etc from anywhere) but I'm not sure I like it better than Marlborough or Russian River Sauvignon Blanc.

I've had Patricia Green's SB and I like it quite a bit. It's a good alternative to a Cloudy Bay, I think.

aschie30 wrote:I've had Patricia Green's SB and I like it quite a bit. It's a good alternative to a Cloudy Bay, I think.

I've really been enjoying Kim Crawford SB. It's a scootch less than the Patty Green, but much easier to find

Templeton Rye has gone Wally Pipp for me.

You learn something new every day - I'd never heard of Wally Pipp but I love the phrase. Thanks for that.

Tonight, Leinie's Summer Shandy in cans.

JT Cellars (by Starry Night) Lodi Syrah 2007 - a wonderfully structured fruit bomb at $9.99 per bottle at WTSO.com, and free shipping!

Cheers,
Davooda

i'm going to wally pip (probably using this entirely wrong ) the rest of the Templeton tonight or tomorrow. i'm interested in RI now as i thought the Templeton would be spicier... still very good though. i'm going to give another rye, probably RI, a shot (literally) sometime.

MBK wrote:i'm going to wally pip (probably using this entirely wrong ) the rest of the Templeton tonight or tomorrow. i'm interested in RI now as i thought the Templeton would be spicier... still very good though. i'm going to give another rye, probably RI, a shot (literally) sometime.

If you can find the Van Winkle Family Reserve 13-year Rye, I highly recommend it. Several friends pointed me to it, including a few who post on this thread. I think it runs about $35/bottle.

=R=

Just polished off a bottle of J.K.'s Scrumpy cider, and thought it was perfect for a sunny afternoon. My wife & I both commented on the fresh, apple-y taste, and found it smooth and refreshing. I grew up 5 miles from Almar Orchards where it's made, and really wish I'd been hip to this stuff back then (not that I would've appreciated it enough in high school, but it would've made for much tastier chugging than Boone's Farm).

Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA - while I'm enjoying it fine, it has cemented the notion that I'm a bit tired of intense, punch-in-the-face hops...I think English IPAs are more up my alley. I'm glad I finally tried it after hearing so much about it, but I think I might take the remaining three bottles over to a BBQ at a friend's place on Sunday and see if someone else there might appreciate it more than me.

2007 Deidesheimer Riesling

Lost Abbey Isabelle Proximus, one of the rarest beers out there and it certainly lives up to the hype. Sour and funky, but not so much that you can't easily drink it.

Does red wine protect against heart disease? Maybe. Many studies investigated the benefits of red wine suggested that moderate amount of red wine (one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men) lowers the risk of heart attack for people in middle age by ~ 30 to 50 percent. It is also suggested that alcohol such as red wine may prevent additional heart attacks if you have already suffered from one. Other studies also indicated that red wine can raise HDL cholesterol (the Good cholesterol) and prevent LDL cholesterol (the Bad cholesterol) from forming. Red wine may help prevent blood clots and reduce the blood vessel damage caused by fat deposits. Indeed, studies showed that people from the Mediterranean region who regularly drank red wine have lower risks of heart disease

Carlsberg (Elephant) beer, green bottle. First time having it as far as I know. It's quite good.

North Shore Distillery's 2010 Limited Release CR2: a "spirit distilled with herbs, spices and citrus, and blended with wine," inspired by the Corpse Reviver #2. All I did was shake a few ounces with ice and drop in a cherry. For the amount of effort required, the result was quite impressive. There's a nice absinthe aroma and the orange and lemon notes are significantly brighter than I would have expected. North Shore's gin and absinthe are quality products, so the Corpse Reviver #2 should be in their wheelhouse. Is it the equal of a CR #2 prepared à la minute by a highly skilled bartender with premium ingredients? No, probably not...but it is unbelievably better than any bottled cocktail I've ever had.

I have no idea what the price point is on the product (I won the bottle), and the bottle will disappear more quickly than any individual bottle of spirit would, but I can see ready-to-drink cocktails such as this appealing to those who don't want to spend hundreds of dollars to acquire the various (often obscure) ingredients or measure precise quantities, hoping that what they end up with tastes somewhat similar to what they really liked at the bar. If one person who would have mixed up a vodka/soda pulls this off the shelf instead, Derek and Sonja will have done some good.

tonight, enjoyed 4 shots of patron and a few High Lifes @ Boondock's in Senneca on the Illinois river. Back home more High Life, and cracked a fresh bottle of Cazadores... life is damn good, especially since I am off tomorrow.

jimswside wrote:tonight, enjoyed 4 shots of patron and a few High Lifes @ Boondock's in Senneca on the Illinois river. Back home more High Life, and cracked a fresh bottle of Cazadores... life is damn good, especially since I am off tomorrow.

I think we need to change the name of this thread to "What are you pounding?"

4 shots and some beers? drive home and then more? really? Wow!!