Food and Drink

Right, so for years now I've noticed that my listening experience is better when I'm not sober. Generally I go with spirits, either brandy or whisky, I'm not a fan of vodka and I haven't tried rum yet. Beer makes me a bit too sleepy and makes me wanna go pee, which messes up the flow of my listening. So what do you drink to make your listening sessions better?

I'll start. For an everyday bourbon this is one of my favorites. Good flavor and a very reasonable price.

Apparently, I'm the only one of us going...but, rather than subject y'all to a bunch of random comments in the drinking thread, I figured I'd go ahead & start my own... Here are some of the known details courtesy of http://hoosierbeergeek.blogspot.com/:

My son and I are doing a Goruck Light (https://www.goruck.com/en/light). The company was started by a retired Army Special Forces soldier. The company sells backpacks amount other things and puts on events like the one we are doing. Some of the money from the events goes to the Green Beret Foundation (http://www.greenberetfoundation.org). Rather than ask for donations, I thought I would raffle off some Scotch and Beer. With the going rate for the Yamazaki 18, I figure the value of the bottles is at least $400. Thefollowing bottles go to the winner: Yamizaki 18 Highland Park 18 Bourbon Big Sound Baller Stout Abyss 20012 Surprise Bottle $25 per ticket. The raffle will …

Our faithful espresso machine has stopped working about two months ago and I've been rolling on French press coffee since then, but I miss the habit of waking up with a good espresso. The cost of repair (replacing the boiler) would be 100$+ for a machine that's worth at most 300$ new (it's 10-15 years old), I don't think it's worth it. So I was wondering, is there such a thing as a good modern espresso machine (manual of course) that can be had for 300$ or less?

I figured I would start a thread on the subject since it comes up from time to time. As at least some of you know, I like to cook, mostly involving bbq and smoking. I have been thinking about getting some higher quality knives then the ones from Sharper Image I have been using that were a gift from a couple of years ago. I started to do some research but have a lot more to do. I have a big birthday coming up and my wife tells me that some others (in laws) want to buy something nice for me (first time for that but that's another story). I suggested knives for the kitchen. I have been considering some Shun Classic, starting with a chef, paring and slicing knives. A…

Here in Colorado, we are somewhat spoilt for festivals. Between RMAF and GABF, most of the esoteric items in the world I would truly want access to are annually dropped on my doorstep for my consumption. So I'm going to attempt to give back, in an ever-so-slight kind of way. Take a look at this list here and tell me if there's anything you've always wanted to try, or wanted someone else to try and confirm your feelings, and I'll find it and drink it for you, with notes. My tastes are broad, and I've picked up a respectable amount of knowledge in a few years of attendance, so hopefully I can shed some light on something for you. Of course, if you simply have…

Have you ever put butter on a pop tart? It's just like the family guy song says... It's so freaking good! I just tried it.

drove by in-n-out and from nearly 100 yards i get this big whiff, i wanted a double-double, but resisted the urge.

Spoiler alert: I can't. Compared some $5 and $10 bottles of vodka that have been in my liquor cabinet for at least 10 years to Grey Goose, and I'll be damned if I can tell the difference. I had heard years ago that most people can't differentiate premium vodkas from something like Smirnoff, so I just Googled it. All kinds of funny articles about it where vodka snobs got shut down consistently, when drinking it naked/nude (whatever the hell they call it when you drink it straight). I especially liked the article where the tester poured the same vodka in 6 different glasses in the 3rd round of testing, and all of the participants were busy making inane comments about the …

And Tokyo* are available again in limited quantities from Brewdog. (Tokyo* was forced out of shop sale by the portman group so what is available is the remaining returned stock). Penguin is whatever bottles are left from the second batch of 100 or so bottles. I would be happy to buy some for people and pass it on (that is to say, you send me the money). But You can't post booze to the states so It'd have to be brought over at Canjam. Which is a long wait. If you're in Canada I don't know what the rules are. If you're in Europe it should be a piece of piss. If anyone is interested let me know. http://www.brewdog.com/product.php?id=46

The Burger Lab: The Ins-n-Outs of an In-N-Out Double-Double, Animal-Style | A Hamburger Today

Budget flexible, the more idiot-proof the better -- for obvious reasons. Pellet seems like the lazy fucker's way to go and MAK and Cookshack get good reps online. Opinions?

I’m going to abuse my powers as admin and sell some coffee: I have 40 lbs of coffee available to purchase. It’s a medium roast rwandan coffee that I taste blueberries in. It’s the first coffee I thought was worth selling under my brand. From the bean wholesaler: Rwanda Natural - Huye Mountain Sweet, black grape, blueberry, boysenberry, chocolate Huye Mountain Coffee is a private washing station established in 2011 to provide farmers in the region with access to international markets and buyers of specialty coffees. Around 1,330 producers deliver their freshly picked coffee cherries to 26 collecting stations around the Huyecommunity,…

Sure, I'd love to be both, but given a choice, I'd rather eat good food and drink good beer in moderation than add even 20 years to the end of my life. The trick is finding the right level of gluttony...

Which is your preference? I noticed most people fall one way or the other. I personally HATE beer. It's disgusting and flavorless IMO. I can tolerate DARK DARK beer, like Mackeson XXX and Gulden Draak, mainly because they're so damn dark...but otherwise, I pass on Bud, Miller and Heiny..blah. I personally prefer liqour... 4 Horsemen, Svedka on the rocks and mixed girly drinks hit the spot...

Hey guys! Can I come in? I brought beer!

Man, I am a roasting FOOL right now! I can't stop! Today I got my new roaster: It's a Behmor 1600. This thing rocks! It'll do up to a full #, and so far I have yet to see a single wisp of smoke! Of course I've only done 1/4 # batches so far, but still... It has 5 roast profiles built-in. So far I've only tried 2. It'll take me a while to try all five. I can't wait until tomorrow morning to get my first taste!

A friend of mine in denver was telling me about his neighborhood tradition, and I thought it was a good one. Candy for the kids, shots for the parents. Just have a few shot glasses and a bottle of your favorite libation available for the parents who are walking around in the cold. It'll make their night!

I am looking for reasonable priced tequila. Nothing over around $60 for 750ml. I usually drink Jose Cuervo Especial because it is cheap. My dad got me a bottle of Patron Silver and I really enjoy it. What would be your recommendations for tequila in my price range.?

Since Karen will be running The Chicago Marthon on Sunday, I will be chilling HERE on Saturday evening. I invite anyone who has the evening free to join me.

Did my first, hopefully annual, crawfish boil yesterday. It was a busy day of cooking, 140lbs of the little buggers, but tons of tasty fun. Good call on the limes Dan! Cleaning them up Ready to cook Cooking Time to start eating Don't bother me when I'm stuffing my face Our sole survivor. Found him crawling toward the liquor cabinet.

I know that spirits with over 40% alcohol should last indefinitely even if opened (as long as they have a cap on them). What about lower proof liqueurs? I have about 20 bottles of opened liqueurs in my liquor cabinet that I haven't used in a couple of years. They range from 18% (pear liqueur) alcohol to 30% (Ramazzoti) alcohol. They have all been opened for at least 3 years. I am going to throw away everything under 20%. I am thinking of also getting rid of every under 30%. The question is what to do with stuff around 30%. Given that I don't really drink they very much and I have a limited amount of space in my liquor cabinet, this seems like a rational decision. …

So, I have an idea for a new thread. Basically, I'm going to be playing bartender for an upcoming bachelor party. What I want to do is to make up a small drink menu, where the names of the drinks are somehow related to my buddy. He's a English PhD with research on Lovecraft, who is converting to Catholicism and enjoys fencing and Japanese culture. So, we'd either throw out drinks that would fit the genre (i.e. Lucien Gaudin Cocktail) or a name of a cocktail that doesn't exist, and people would work up a recipe that matched the name, which is either an original cocktail or somehow modified. Okay! So, the first name would be 'French Letter' and then someone would post…

Question for the coffee experts: I want to buy my husband a new coffee grinder for Valentine's Day. Right now we have a Cuisinart Burr grinder but it is having some problems. We drink drip coffee (pour almost boiling water from a tea kettle into a porcelain cone filter with a paper filter). We don't need it for espresso. Any suggestions of good grinder than don't cost a million dollars. I would prefer to have a quiet grinder if possible.