Food and Drink

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. …

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

Glenfiddich, the Speyside distillery, has announced plans to market the most expensive whisky ever produced at its Dufftown base

Reporting for duty. Picking up on milkpowder's recent thread (http://www.head-case.org/drink/got_wasted-t2796.0.html). Saw a bunch of good friends last night. A great time. Went out to dinner, then on to a nice bar for a nightcap(s). There was wine, champagne. The martini to start the night was probably a bad idea. I'm a lightweight these days, so there is much pain this morning. And my 19 month old--while precious--does not understand "daddy has a headache." Let the rehydration begin...

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…

mostly for my own usage/amusement, I'm posting this a) on the off chance that any of you are near enough to The Fickle Peach in N.E. Indiana to attend any of these five days... because i'm going to be there the evening of the 8th reporting my findings w/a friend or two & a drinking group...taking cruddy, lowlight pics etc.... c) just to get the word out about these two bars (see below for The Heorot) in case you ever find yourself passing through... some details of note: the Bell's Jazz Series has never been poured outside of the brewery & select festivals... this is happening the weekend of homecoming & there's also some football goin…

I've been doing a lot of reading today, so figured I'd start a thread to discuss homebrew

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...

Sadly, not served in the taxidermied corpses of small animals..... http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/10/24/scottish-brewer-unveils-brewmeister-armageddon-world-strongest-proof-beer/ I really have to wonder how GOOD this actually would taste.....

I know that this is not a cooking based forum, but because its delicious I couldnt resist to share with all of you guys. I know, I know, you may think, what an asshole, all that and only for you! Well, not for me only, we expecting some more assholes today, so the party can continue...

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 hope it's a long meeting at work, or some other such reason for his absence. We all remember the last time he wasn't heard from.

So, I was reading the Chopt dressing menu (pdf), and in the description of one of the salad dressings, it says:

This is my personal apocalypse. I don't drink booze, I don't smoke or vape. Weed makes me paranoid and miserable (edibles make me trip balls in addition to being paranoid and miserable.) I sure as fuck don't mess with any powder or pill drugs. While I am a believer and advocate of the use of natural psychedelics for purposes of therapy and personal growth, I'd never do them recreationally. Tapatio is my one drug. Long term listeners may recall when I told the tale of driving to a Walmart Black Citadel Super Center in W.Mass to buy them out of Tapatio. I've done that two other time, but not photographed it. I did the math once and I went through ten…

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 …

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 …

I don't have any access to local liquor stores that sell the kind of scotch that are often recommended here. So what are some reputable places online to get them?

We have every other form of cooking thread, so why not baking? I'll start with today's lunch, leftover from last night's dinner ... Clearly nobody is going to hire me for my crimping (or photography) skills. But they were delicious nevertheless. The crust is a rough puff pastry made with 1/2 whole rye flour. The filling is yellow potatoes, peas, green onions, and chevre.

Yes. Yes it is. Anvil # 97 Whiskey Skin The Anvil list calls for Scotch but I used Irish Whiskey to compare to the Toddy since the only difference is the lemon rind aka skin. (Use small bar-glass.) Take 1 lump of white sugar. 1 small wine-glass of Irish whiskey. 1 small piece of lemon-peel. First rinse the glass with hot water, put in the sugar, fill the glass half-full of boiling water, add the whiskey and stir. Serve with a spoon. No you are not having Deja-vu. It is pretty much the same drink as the toddy with the addition of the lemon rind. There is no spoon.

Snack Pack, I'm the coolest!

Since I blame Head-Case for getting me started on the BBQ Path, I thought I'd start a thread for Grillin and Chillin folks. I've mastered steaks, so I've ventured into pork. (other than bacon) Just finished a nice low and slow set of Baby Back Ribs. Apple wood chunks for smoke, indirect on my Big Steel Keg. Cooked them at 225 F for 8 hours, with 300 F for 1 hour at the end for the final sauce glaze for that nice candy coating. Fall of the bone, indeed. The third rack is missing from the photo because it's been eaten. I use an Auber Instruments temperature controller so I can be extremely lazy about "setting and forgetting". And with a nine hour cook,…

Dinny's daily Smoothie pics to which I have subscribed has gotten me interested in putting the Vitamix back to use. I know there are many Smoothie people here so I thought a thread to share interesting recipes might be nice. I have done most of the basic things but I am looking for ways to incorporate more healthy things into my smoothies. I will start with one that I think is a bit of a failure, mostly because I do not like the flavor of chocolate Muscle Milk. 2 small containers of Muscle Milk Light Chocolate 8 Peach Slices 12 Strawberries 2 Tablespoons of Peter Pan Peanut Butter Ice While far better than straight Muscle Milk, it was still not a grea…

Continued as a new thread which started in the f*cking snow thread ...

Don't see a huge selection at the local liquor store, what is good? http://www.bcliquorstores.com/product-catalogue?search=Bourbon

Figured I would kick this one off, unless I'm the only cheese-head here. Solid largish American cheese company. Love their Merlot Bellavitano.