With the holidays coming, we've been looking for interesting ways to spruce up our menus. We don't have to look any longer, because we found what looks to be the ultimate cookbook that's right up our alley - and it's called Cooking With Booze. We've had a copy of the out-of-print Cooking and Eating With Beer for a decade now, and we love how cooking with beer can add such subtle flavors to our meals. We can only imagine the new vistas we'll reach once we can fire up the grill or oven with hard liquor too.
Yes, we realize it's Monday. We know the last thing you want to think about this morning is a chilly shot of Jagermeister sliding down, especially after all the evil stuff you did to your body over the weekend. But think about it for a minute...if you buy it today, there's a fair to middling chance you'll have it by Friday, when it will be EXACTLY the thing you want to think about.
Hey, wait a minute...we enjoy drinking - more than we enjoy a lot of things. So why haven't we read this book yet? Because we just found out about it today. It looks interesting, gets great reviews, and is on one of our favorite topics in the universe. Consider it bought.
While disclosing facts about the drinking habits--and abuses--of characters like Mark Anthony, Samuel Pepys and Pope Leo XIII, Holland includes summaries of how various kinds of fermentations and distillates were developed, often accidentally, in cultures from ancient Arabia to present-day America, and in times from Ptolemy's to Prohibition. She includes several recipes for home-style "remedies" like elderberry wine and applejack, as well as diagrams and instructions for the construction of your own backyard still.
It's here! It's here! We've gotten so used to getting awesome new entries in the Drunk History series we know we'd be seriously disappointed if they stopped coming. Check out the video below (and get caught up on Drunk History Volumes 1, 2, 2.5, and 3 as well).
It's about 68-year-old William Henry Harrison and the very brief president the old boy enjoyed. Hmm...that reminds us of something...something current and topical. Bah, must be nothing - no one would seriously consider electing someone that old again, would they? Especially not if their running mate was some Mad Lib-spouting GILF from Alaska, right? Right?
OK, so we're a little behind the eight ball on this, but we have to post it because it's great. As you probably know, we're huge fans of the Drunk History series, and we recommend you watch Volumes 1, 2, 2.5, and 3 if you haven't. We've uncovered a little gem of an interview with the creator and director of these videos, and they do a little drunken reenactment of their own, featuring none other than the legendary Otis Redding, who inspired the series. If you like the Drunk History videos, you'll like this.
We were big fans of the first 2 (and a half) installments of Drunk History (check out volumes one, two, and two point five), and we think the series is only getting stronger. This one features Danny McBride, our favorite feature of movies like Hot Rod, Drillbit Taylor (which we will see only because of McBride), and the upcoming Pineapple Express. Let's just say he does a bang up job of portraying George Washington, the father of our country, hiccups and all.
We thought there would never be a Washington video to rival this one, but we were so wrong.
It's fun to watch people constantly try to push the envelope of mixology, if only because it's starting to look more and more like mad science. If one bar is using syringes, the next one is using magnets, and the first has to one up them by listening for the molecular reaction with a stethoscope. Pretty soon we'll be getting drinks mixed with the aid of a centrifuge and a speculum.
One interesting foray into the molecular field, however, is Cointreau Caviar. These small beads of the orange-y liqueuer are designed to be mixed into cocktails, or perhaps added to a glass of champagne. Hell, we say eat them like M&Ms.
Although the feat had already been performed with other liquids such as fruit juices, never before had a spirit such as Cointreau been turned into perfect spheres by such a simple process. It took a fair dose of cheek, the right ingredients used in the right proportions, and above all, the top professionals in the field, who were absolutely delighted to be trumping the world of bartending.
If you're looking for a way to mix drinks without actually having to touch a bottle, we've finally found your solution. In the past, you had to rely on hired bartenders, drink-serving robots, or trained chimps (we call 'em Interns) to pour your drinks while you lie on your ass eating pre-peeled grapes. Now, with the Super Side Bar, you can get all that same convenience, without the overhead. Now that's the kind of push-button convenience we're looking for!
The Super Side Bar ($500-$580) lets you dispense five of your favorite drinks without picking up a single bottle. And, like your own personal bartender, the Side Bar is fully programmable for automatic measuring of mixed drinks.
Remember those essays you used to have to write as a kid? Your teacher would ask you to do a composition on "What I Did Last Summer" or "What I Want to Do When I Grow Up." Our Editor in Chief recently wrote an entry for Bombay Sapphire's Spirit of Exploration blog, trying to define what the spirit of exploration means to him.
It's a contest, though we're not quite sure what he can win other than the opportunity to offer some free link love to their blog. Go on over and check it out, see what you think...hell, even rate it if you feel the urge. If nothing else, you'll get the chance to see how he writes when he has to behave himself on someone else's site and is writing half-sober.
We've spent a lot of time in the Liquor Snob offices lately, discussing the spirit of exploration and what it means. We started simple, thinking about famous boundary breakers we'd read about in school. Marco Polo. Ponce de Leon. Meriwether Lewis. Ford Prefect. Arguably great explorers all, even if the people of their times might have thought they'd gone a bit nutty. But does exploration mean solely the act of taking a physical trip? We thought not.
Just in time for you to drive the liquor store and scrounge for change in your seats for a 30 pack of Genesee Cream Ale, we've found this great roundup of the most expensive booze in the world. From 2 million dollar cognac to 1.5 million dollar tequila, this might be great stuff to own, but we'd be a bit concerned we'd crack into it at 2 AM after all the other booze at the party had run out.
Since the beginning of history, man has sought to concoct a spirit that makes him seem like the ultimate pimp. But which are the spirits that exemplify the pinnacle of decadence? In case you still have money left over from encrusting your toilet seat with diamonds and gold plating your pets, Divine Caroline has put together a list of the most expensive spirits in the world. And you thought you were a player.
Cooking With Booze
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