Cocktail Confessions

Making Jeff Foxworthy proud.

Okay,  that title isn’t really fair, but it’s not that far off either.

Jeremiah Weed currently makes a small selection of spirits and malt berverages.  Here, I am refering only to the malt beverage, Roadhouse Tea.

My wife bought me a six pack of this stuff after I expressed some interest in it after Adam Corolla has been pimping it on his podcast for the last few months ad-nauseum.  I originally tried the vodka laced Sweet Tea of theirs thinking it may be a nice substitute for the Seagram’s brand of Sweet Tea Vodka.  Well, I’ll tell you right now, I think the Seagrams version is a bit better.  I found the Jeremiah Weed a bit too sweet for my liking.  I mean, I wouldn’t pour it out, but given the choice of Sweet Tea vodka’s in the future, it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Anyway, back to the canned malt beverage variety (pictured, can on far right).  It is 5.8% and comes in these 1 pint, 7.5 oz cans they label “premium”.  I think the only thing “premium’ about this is the artwork that goes into the cans…you have to admit, they are a bit interesting looking and I’d wager standout a bit more while staring back at you from their refrigerated cases at Wal-Mart.

Now I personally think it’s a gimmick, and I’ll admit they got me to try it based on some marketing level, but it’s not what I was expectinga nd am really surprised (or am I?) how popular these are becoming in certain markets.  Maybe the Spiked Cola or Lightning Lemonade does in fact taste better, but knowing it’s based on a ‘malt beverage’ , don’t expect it. 

Actually I found this to taste: 1) Thicker (if that’s even a taste) than I expected, 2) “syrup-ey”, 3) and has a tin can after-taste.  No joke on that last one.  I had a few of them, and with each swig, I thought I could taste metal in the end.  The first thing I’d like to suggest to them is to line the can, ala Keystone beer did as a gimmick in the early 90′s and maybe that would help eliminate that metallic bite.

Cokctail in a Can. 80's hoopla for piss.

Overall it really reminded me of those God awful Club Mixers in a can that used to be the rage in the 80′s.  We all watched too much Miami Vice and wanted to pretend we were all as swanky as Crocket. 

As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine (whose ironically in law enforcement these days) used to buy these for me occassionally when we were under age and in High School (sorry mom).  There was a small liquor store in the area, and I have no idea what those guys behind the counter were thinking (they probably didn”t or could care less), but they’d sell my friend wine collers, beer, and booze with his shitty fake I.D. when we were all but 17 and 18 years of age.  Back then I tried the Club “Long Island Ice Tea”….and it tasted like crap out of a can…but hell, we were 18 years old and I wasn’t about to toss that down the drain no matter how disgusting they were.

So when I drink the Jeremiah Weed canned Sweet Tea, it reminds me of sneaking crap back in 1988.  Those tasted like tin as well.

I live this drink to the lower demographics….yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

Got a neighborhood party you need to entertain for?  Tired of the regular old ‘jungle juice’ punch?  Full already of all the pumpkin beers?  Too early in the season still yet to be hittin’ the ‘ole egg nog?  Then how about trying out some of these ghoulish delights to warm void within on all Hallows Eve?

The Pumpkin Buttered Rum – A twist on the classic Hot Buttered Rum with it’s rich, aromatic spices is warm and soothing. The addition of pumpkin makes it more scrumptious than a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte could ever dream of being.

2 T pumpkin butter *(see recipe below)
3 oz. dark rum (an aged rum like Pyrat is a great fit, with a rich molasses flavor to it)
Boiling water

Spoon the pumpkin butter into a mug and top with the rum. Top off the mixture with boiling water and stir. Take a big whiff before gulping it down and make sure to let it cool down a bit lest you enjoy blistered tongues.

*To make the pumpkin butter, combine:

1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
2 cups light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 T ginger
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch salt

Cream the ingredients together and refrigerate to harden it up.

The Corpse Reviver – Tailor-made for a night out on the town the Corpse Reviver is a classic made for “…whenever steam and energy are needed,” or so says “The Savoy Cocktail Book”. And what night could possibly require more steam and energy than the one night of the year adults are allowed, and even expected, to take on other personas? The warmth of the brandy intermingling with the herbal bite of Fernet Branca and the icy crème de menthe combine for a surprisingly enervating pour. Just what a masked man or woman needs to carry them through the night.

1 1/2 oz. Brandy
1/2 oz. Fernet Branca
1 oz. White Creme de Menthe

In a mixing glass filled with ice, combine brandy, fernet branca and the creme de menthe and stir until completely mixed. Strain into a cocktail glass and enjoy the looks your cat costume is scoring you. Or look up one of the countless variations of the Corpse Reviver to try with your next drink.

Haunting Punch – If you’ve got a crowd at your house for Halloween, it’s hard to beat a bowl full of punch. Especially if its punch that has plenty of booze, but still manages to be more than the sugary mess that most people associate with drinks served with a ladle. The Haunting combines tea, rye, ginger, honey and citrus for a light and refreshing punch that isn’t cloying, but still packs all the flavor your guests could ask for. Event better, it tastes delicious paired with the massive bowl of M&Ms everyone always puts out for Halloween.

10 oz. Rye (Hudson brand has great spice to it, but if you don’t want to go so high-end, Jim Beam rye works well in a pinch)
4 oz. Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
4 oz. Barenjager honey liqueur
14 oz. lemon jasmine tea (or any other citrus tea if you can’t find it)
3 oz. sugar
4 oz. orange juice
4 oz. red grapefruit juice
2 oz. lemon or lime juice
4 dashes orange bitters

Add the sugar and hot tea to a punch bowl and stir until dissolved. Once cool, add the other ingredients and stir. Add ice cubes to keep it chilled at the last minute and keep a close eye on your guests. That’s a whole lot of liquor in that bowl.

The Blood & Sand – While this cocktail gets its name from a novel by Vincente Blasco Ibanez about a bullfighter, it’s uniquely suited for an evening in watching classic, or not so classic, horror flicks. The drink has a unique red and tan glow that evokes its namesake, looking almost morbid, albeit oddly appealing, in the glass. With equal parts scotch, vermouth, cherry brandy and orange juice in the mix it’s not a cocktail for the faint of heart. But the complex cherry and almond notes of the brandy, the oak of the scotch and the sweet tang of the orange juice combine to create a flavor far better than any fun size Snickers or peanut butter pumpkin could ever be. Plus, it pairs rather nicely with an Evil Dead marathon.

3/4 oz. scotch
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
3/4 oz. cherry brandy (Cherry Herring, a Danish liqueur, is by far the best and most traditional choice – it’s not too sweet, with a solid lug of cherry and almond and some nice herbal kick)
3/4 oz. fresh orange juice

Shake all ingredients in a shaker full of ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Then kick back, turn up the movie and tune out the trick-or-treaters.

Hey folks, it’s been a few weeks since an update and what better way than to introduce some new cocktail recipes for the holiday season.  I am listing two versions for a Gingerbread martini, an easy version and a slightly more involved version, depending on how fast you want to pour this down your gullet and how fickle you are with taste quality.  I guess you can classify them as the college dorm recipe and the impressive high-fallutin’ party.  Of course, I recommened having either one of these under the mistletoe…you can’t go wrong.

Ginger Bread Martini (easy version)

• 1 – 1.5 oz Monin Gingerbread syrup (preferred brand)
• 3+ oz of quality Spiced Rum or Crown Royal.
• Sugar rimmed martini glass.
• Place both components in shaker with ice and shake well.  Syrup is a bit sweet, so experiment ratios to your preferred taste.  Pour in glass and garnish with a gingersnap cookie.

Gingerbread Cocktail (quality version)

• 1 oz vanilla vodka
• 1 oz hazelnut flavored liqueur
• 1/2 oz butterscotch schnapps
• ice cubes
• 4 oz ginger beer (such as Reed’s Ginger Brew)
• Dark rum
• Gingerbread cookie for garnish.
• Pour the vanilla vodka, hazlenut liquer, and schnapps in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well.  Strain into a highball glass (8 oz) with ice.  Top with ginger beer.  Pour a little dark rum over the back of a spoon and float on top of the ginger beer.  Garnish with a gingerbread cookie.

In about 24 hours from now I will find myself standing out in the middle of the Anza-Borrego desert playing ‘desert’ golf with my father-in-law, brother-in-law and a few other ‘men’ among ‘men’, and I have no idea how I’m going to fare.

My guess: Not well.

See, I got invited on an overnight ‘guys’ camping trip by some former marines (my father-in-law and his buddy) and their sons. This is an annual thing they conjured up a few years back where it’s an excuse to supposedly get back to nature. This really translates into getting away from the womenfolk for at least 24 hours sucking down as many libations as possible.

Initially I found myself a little pressured into this field trip. Before I even knew what was happening, my wife more or less signed me up for this as a ‘bonding’ experience with the ‘guys’. Before I could even register my own thoughts on the matter, my father-in-law was already telling me what time to be at his house. “But I have no sleeping bag…” I said. “No problem, I got you covered.” Damn… “But I have no clubs.” I then said. “Got that covered too.” Double damn…. Then my brother-in-law chimed in, “Come on, you’ll have fun.” Er……”What about my dog Frankie?” where my wife then replied, “Oh, I’m not going out of town with the girls afterall, so I can stay home and feed him.” Ughh…

It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with my father-in-law. I like him. I like him a lot. But these days with my step-daughter gone for the weekend, and the thought that my my wife was also going to be gone with her girlfriends, I was really looking forward to a nice, quiet weekend by myself at home…..to do chores, maybe do some Christmas shopping, catch up on some DVR recordings, and looking forward to working on some model train structures I am building.

But more to the point, at 39 years of age, I recognize that at times I am a pussy when it comes to the outdoors. You see, at the end of the night I like a hot shower, a comfortable bed, and the ability to use a clean bathroom in the morning when I have to make a dookie. None of these are present in the desert. No, the only thought process going through my head is that I will smell like smoke from the campfire, I won’t be able to fall asleep on uneven ground, I won’t be able to wash my hands or face, it’ll be 30 degrees overnight, and finally I’ll have to hold my crap as I cannot dig a hole out in the desert and squat above it. Now that I think about, I would never make a good contestant on Survivor, so Jeff, tear up my application.

The activities planned? Well, that another thing. There will be desert golf in which the loser lugs around the cooler of beer for everyone else…..Guess who will be getting his exercise that day? There will also be horse-shoes….a game I have never played. There will be rock-climbing….great, Why? There will be football tossing, in which I throw like a girl. And finally a campfire dinner with what my father-in-law says will require the “green bottle”….(i.e. Tanqueray gin martinis). Okay, that last part actually sounds fun and I may get on board with that, but I need a plan to participate yet not stay overnight in conditions that are less than optimal to me.

So am I a puss? Maybe I am these days, but I’ll have you know at one point I was indeed a Boy Scout. I actually made it up to being a ‘Life’ scout and spent plenty of nights in tents and sleeping bags and campfires and self-made latrines. I’ve dug plenty of holes in the ground and have gone without taking a shower or washing my hands a few days at a time. But that was then, and now I feel I’m a bit over that. No, I don’t see myself squatting in the early morning hours looking out for scorpions as I drop a duece while watching my breath at the same time…not when I know there is a clean toilet if I really want to.

So my solution? Invite my own father to go with us. That way I can tell my father-in-law it’s logistically inefficient for me to drive to his house (45 miles north) just to turn around and drive an additional 2 hours southeast. That would also mean I’m stuck and can only leave when he leaves which may prolong my perceived agony. No, by taking my own father I shave off at least 45 minutes each way of drive time, I can leave when we want to leave, and most importantly, I will have to take him home at the end of the evening thus sparing myself from having to sleep overnight. Yes, at the end of a long day of what I am sure will be plenty of embarassing laughs at my expense when it comes to the ‘guy’ things, I know I will have my hot shower, my clean bed, and my toilet the next morning where they will have none of these.

So my duty for tomorrow? I pick up my dad and his golf clubs, we go to the store and fill a cooler with ice and beer and snacks, I take my new camera and make the best out of the situation. Will it be horrible? No, I don’t think it will be. I’m sure I may even have some fun, and I know my father-in-law has been looking to do something with me for a long time (I kept making excuses for years why I can’t partcipate in his reindeer games). Plus my own father gets to go which will be good for our relationship as well and make my drive much more palatable.

It’s been a long time coming, but I spent a lot of the day yesterday editing this podcast episode into something I really wanted it to be.  It took a bit longer than expected to put this together as I was looking for the perfect music (thanks Limewire) for the introduction to set the mood and a great tie in to an overall theme. 

I also kind pushed myself here at a technical level in editing.  First, I used my portable Zoom H2 in the field for the first time.  It worked pretty well, although I did misplace the manual, so I had a few hiccups at first.  I have to work on the microphone gain.  For my initial recording I had set it to medium, and although we were sitting only a few feet from it with no other background noise, the recording seemed somewhat fainter than I expected, so I boosted it in Audacity.  It also took longer than I expected to transfer the raw MP3 from the Zoom to my PC.  This Podcast has a total of 3 mono tracks and 2 stereo tracks that I spliced together, remixed into a single track (to help save on bandwidth and space), faded out some entrance music and for the first time added an end trailer, and I’m pretty happy with the result seeing this is the most complex editing I’ve done thus far.

I also used Limewire for the first time, trying to find the perfect lead in bumper.  I had a specific song in mind, and I actually own a clean copy of the song somewhere but couldn’t find the CD, so I opted to download from the wild-wild-web.  The thing is, you never know exactly what you are going to get in quality or length, and sometime the descriptions don’t always match what you’re looking for so there is a few trial by fire attempts to get the right track.  Anyway, in this case, I chose “Grim Grinning Ghosts“, better known as the overall soundtrack for Disney’s Haunted Mansion.  It appears in a few various incarnations and pressed a few times in some rare LP’s and CD’s many of which are now out of print.  To me it was worth it.  For those that really like the Haunted Mansion, here’s an interesting and detailed site about the ride, it’s history, the story behind it, and its look throughout the various theme parks: DoomBuggies.com.

Also appearing in this episode is yet another libation.  The website is called ‘Cocktail Confessions’ for a reason, and so it keeping that dream alive I bring you Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale from Michelob.  It’s a seasonal beer (fall) that clocks in at 5.5% alcohol with hints of cloves, nutmeg and allspice.  As I explain in the podcast, this years batch didn’t taste all that ‘pumpkiny’ to me, and I might suggest you try Buffalo Bills Pumpkin Ale or even Blue Moon’s, Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale.  Both of these have a richer pumpkin and spice taste, and there are plenty of others.  If you know of any good ones you’d like to suggest, please drop me a line.

The meat and potatoes of this podcast however is the interview I recorded with my grandfather Harold.  He recently just turned 91 years old, and I kinda wanted to get some time with him before it was too late.  We’re all lucky he is still around after surviving being a tail gunner in a B-17 during WWII, having had open heart surgery, a pacemaker installed and a few other medical issues.  He’s still going strong…at least mentally.  He’s 100% Italian, being born here but his parents were immigrants.  I initially wanted the recording to be about his days being a master carpenter and working on the early builds of the Tiki Room, some of the facades on Main Street, and other contributions he made at the park, but after 40 minutes of great stories, I realized I wasn’t recording properly.  So instead of having him rehash everything all over, we just segued into his early days growing up in Wakefield, Michigan then eventually moving out to Anaheim, CA.  The actual recording was almost an hour long, and for this podcast I decided to break it up into a smaller segment I’m calling part 1, which is approx. 20 minutes long.

Finally my garage door died a loud and expensive death last week.  We had to buy a new one, and thus opted for the Heritage 3000, triple layer door: steel + insulation + steel.  It looks very nice, much quieter than the old one, and will hopefully help in reducing both our cooling and heating costs in the long run.  The really funny thing to me is how my neighbors have reacted.  To me, it’s just a garage door.  It’s white, it opens, it closes and does what any other garage door was designed for.  However, many of the men on my street have taken a very keen interest in its look, its operation, and overall functionality.  A real ‘Tim the Tool Guy Taylor’ moment where they all had to check it out and kick the tires per-se.  I personally found it very amusing that the men were all into it as much as they were.  In the end, it’s still a garage door.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (29.5MB)

After some self-induced procrastination as of late, I finally sat down earlier this week to record this ‘filler’ episode for you all.  I’ve been kind of disappointed with myself as of late allowing my recordings to fall slightly by the wayside and it’s actually surprising how much I kinda forgot in producing an episode.  That includes the formatting, the folders, the uploading, fiddling aith Audacity, etc.  I made a few mistakes along the way, but it all came back pretty quickly and I hope to get back on track soon enough.

Episode 11 is completely unscripted, meaning, I had no idea what I wanted to talk about or where I was going with my blathering.  I just sat down, turned on the mic, and went at it hot.  Before I knew it, I was at the 30 minute mark or raw recording and didn’t feel as if I stumbled too much. 

In this episode I speak briefly about a new hobby of mine I stumbled into not too long ago and really found myself enjoying it: Model railroading, and my foray into n-scale structure modeling.  I then talk a bit about my experiences in multi-level marketing and how my wife has recently jumped on the pyramid band wagon and my chagrin about it.  But maybe she’ll prove me wrong (I hope she does actually) and make some money at it.  Finally, I attended the inaugural Long Beach Comic Con this past weekend, took some pictures, bought some artwork and action figures, and my overall critique of it….hopefully it is better next year.

Show Notes:

Intro – “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down as a tie-in to the comic con.

 1:00 – Powerade cocktails: Grape Powerade and Rangpur gin – good.  Grape and Jack Daniels – bad.

 1:52 – My mid life crisis in defining yet another new hobby for myself and my foray into the world of N-scale train modeling.

 7:50 – Multi-level marketing scheme’s and the wife’s recent plunge into it.

15:48 – Long Beach Comic Con – My critique and observations of has-been stars, artist alley, the worthless DC Nation panel, and organized chaos. (See pics in gallery).

34:10 – Wrap up.

Long Beach Comic Con Gallery

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Map

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A load of crap

Yeah, I know I’ve been a bad blogger as of late.  When i initially started this blog a few months ago, I really did have all of the best intentions to bring new content (in the form of podcasts or text entries) on a pretty consistent schedule.  However, as things happen, (namely me being lazy and suffering from writers block), I haven’t posted much as of late.

I can tell you I haven’t abandoned this project at all….I’m in it for the long haul…but all things being the same I really have been at a loss for words lately and other things have cropped up to keep me very busy.

I did however record a new 30 minute podcast last night, totally unscripted and on the fly.  I just sat down and turned on teh mic and talked about whatever came to my mind.  So you can tune in the next few days or so to listen to a little ranting on my thoughts on Xowii multi-level marketing pyramid that seems to be taking the Valley of the Dirt People (the often mocked Inland Empire) by storm, the questionable first annual Long Beach Comic Con (in which I actually attended), why grape Powerade and Jack Daniels are not friends, but Rangpur gin is, and finally my recent fascination with N-scale trains as a new hobby.

Lastly, there have been a few upgrades here behind the scenes.  A few plugins have been upgraded, although you probably won’t notice anything yet, but perhaps some new thinsg will debut soon.

I’ve kinda been having a time crisis or ‘crisis of time’ depending on how you want to look at it in adding fresh content to this site as of late.  Some of my recent Podcast appointments have fallen through due to unforeseen circumstances, but I hope to get some new episodes up soon enough.

So what better way to put a little break in this apparent lull by introducing a new drink I discovered a few months ago and a few recipes I found.  To be honest, as of this writing I haven’t actually tried the included recipes, but more or less have just drank this yummy libation on ice all by it’s southern inspired self.

First of all, I love ice tea.  That is natural ice tea, fresh brewed tea leaves and cold filtered water over a tall glass of ice.  Add a sprig of mint, maybe a slice of lime, orange, or traditional lemon.  I like black Ceylon tea, lemon grass tea, green tea, and a few other distinct concoctions like an Arnold Palmer (1/2 tea, 1/2 lemonade), or Arabic tea (very, very sweet tea with bulk Turkish tea leaves and diced mint).

When I was in high school and even college, I went through a Long Island Ice Tea phase as well (1p gin, 1p tequila, 1p rum, 1p whisky, splash of coke and a bit of sweet & sour liqueur).  I used to drink the pre-mixed Club mixes (not the best), but mostly make my own and loved them.

Anyway, not to long ago at my local BevMo I found this Seagram’s flavored Sweet Tea Vodka drink.  It looked interesting, and it was cheap, so I figured “Why not?”  Needless to say I was hooked my very first sip.  It tastes exactly how you would think a pitcher of down south sweet tea should taste, with of course a little kick.  Not the kinda vodka kick that burns your pipes, but on the contrary it is very smooth and mellow and can sneak up on you quick.  Not to brag or boast, but I’ve been known to polish off a 750ml bottle in a night or over two, and I’ve failed to get a hangover on it so far….I’m sure that’s just luck, and now that I say it, the next time I probably will hurt.

I’ve been a one man Seagram’s spokesperson for this drink and I found that you eaiterh really like it, or it isn’t your cup of tea.  Fortunately, most people like it (especially the gals) and the ones who don’t tend to have an aversion to really sweet things anyway.

Seagram’s brand is actually made by White Rock Distillery based in South Carolina.  I think it pairs really well with southern food, including of course BBQ, and is a very refreshing drink on ice.  But as promised here are a few Sweet Tea recipe’s:

Sweet Tea Lemonade

- 1.5 part Seagram’s Sweet Tea Vodka in high ball glass.

- Fill remainder with Crystal Lite lemonade mix (or for variety, instead of lemonade mix, try cherry limeade or peach mix)

Sweet Tea and Mint

1.5 part Seagram Sweet Tea Vodka in high ball glass

.5 part Peppermint Schnapps

1 part sour mix

- Fill remainder of glass with Sprite

Long Island Sweet Tea

- 1 part Seagram’s Sweet Tea in high ball glass.

- .5 parts: light rum, silver tequila, gin, and Triple Sec

- Splash of ‘Rose of lime’

I’m proud to announce that purely on a self indulgent whim, I believe I have created a new libation in which I hope you’ll find just as tasty and satisfying as I did.  Anyway, I’d like to think I created it, but I suppose somewhere else on this big blue marble some other prat may have come up with the same concoction to help sway his lady friends into thinking he’s got it going on like Donkey Kong.

The ingrediants are two-fold and simple: pomegranate soda and rangpur gin. 

Rangpur gin is a sweeter gin with the flavoring of lemons and mandarin oranges and is often confused with limes.   Actually, the word Rangpur originated from the Bengali language which is a common name for this hybrid fruit and shares the namesake with the city Rangpur in Bangladesh, India.  Rangpur fruit is highly acidic and can be substituted for commercial limes.

I haven’t decided on a name yet, but I like the kit-bashing name of ‘Pom-Pur’.  A hybrid of the words ’pom’egranate and rang’pur’.  Its fun and easy to say, and rolls of the tongue nicely with a hint of exotic origins.

Pomegranate soda is already bottled by the Safeway/Vons/Pavillons ‘Organic’ line of foods, and is basically pomegranate juice, simple syrup (read: cane sugar) and soda water for fizz.  I suppose if you cannot find this already bottled, then simple ‘POM’ juice and regular soda water will do just fine.  There are also plenty of other pomegranate soda’s on the market, but make sure you look for the ones with only the basic ingredients: soda water, syrup (most likely high fructose), and pom juice.  Anything else gets a bit scary.  Now on to the recipe:

Pom-Pur

• Ice filled tumbler cocktail glass
• 1.5 to 2 oz of Rangpur gin.
• Add remaining pomegranate soda.
• Garnish with (your choice): mint sprig, orange slice or orange rind twist, cherry.

I’ve made quite a few of these treats and passed them around the neighborhood and they seem to be getting a pretty darn good reception if I may say so myself.  Be careful though….the sugar content is deceptively high and masked by the mellow and fruity taste.  A few of these may contribute to that hangover feeling because of the hidden sugar.

What can I say?  For the better part of a few years, I’ve been on a self-imposed last ‘hold-out’ in gaining the courage to take my first trepidated steps into a BevMo store.  With absolutely no substantive experience to back up any of my outrageous thoughts, I have more or less had devised my own conclusions when it came to this so-called beverage mecha: 1) It’s chick territory — a pretentious haven where snobby, over-augmented, trophy wives that occasionally play Bunco and compare botox injections sip trendy wine spritzers all the while secretly craving the teenage pool boy bought their swill, or 2) A re-imagining of the old late 70′s-esque ‘Liquor Barn’ in which couch spelunkers counted out their laundry coins one by one for a cheap thrill in a paper bag came to shop.

What a surprise it was when I walked in this past Saturday and discovered a plethora of blended libations, unique hand crafted beers, sodas, and other goodies amongst various aisles.

The store’s asthectics are nothing to write home about, perhaps just a tad fancier than a big budget warehouse chain, but if it’s sole purpose is to provide alcoholic drinks in bulk, then I seriously doubt your average customer needs to be impressed by neon signs, chic decor and what not.  If you’re like me, you want in and want back out to the party as soon as possible.

There is an aisle of just standard mixers, and many of them were pretty standard fare, and even boring.  Take Bloody Mary mix for example….they only had about 3 or 4 different brands and nothing was too exciting.  I’ve personally had better luck at Home Goods, CostPlus and Mervyns with stranger and tempting labels.  The wall of soda was pretty much standard as well, but the Root Beer and Cream Soda section was really surprising.  Who knew there were so many varietals of root beer of all things, and is there really a need for 30+ brands of root beer?

I was pleasantly surprised with the micro and hand crafted beer section.  While not the largest I’ve ever seen before, there was quite an eclectic mix of regional brews to choose from, and of course I couldn’t pass up some of the stouts (podcasts on these will be forthcoming).  I also noticed there were many familiar labels from my college days: Lost Coast Brewery, Humboldt Brewery, Mad River, etc.  Pricing was pretty good as well.  BevMo certainly beat out my regular grocery chain when it came to certain brands by upwards of a few bucks a six pack.  But you won’t find everything here.  I didn’t see any Cheleda, certain standard imports, and many other common place beers were strangely absent from the scene.

There was a cooler of deli cheeses and racks containg dice and card games, and many kiosks with printed pint glasses if anyone was interested.

I more or less stayed away from the wines, as I’m not a big grape fiend, but then I came to the grail of the spirits I generally enjoy: whisky and gin.  I was overwhelmed by many of the varieties of whisky I’ve never seen or heard of before and prior to this outing I thought I was pretty well versed.  I was a kid in a candy store and just had to leave with some new bottles of stuff I can’t wait to enjoy.  We purchased an actual mason jar of corn whisky, and pre-mixed mint julep courtesy of Maker’s Mark.  I saw new bottles of Jim Beam and Crown I’d never laid eyes on before.  The same can be said for the gin and vodka selections as well.

The one thing that blew me away was the inconsistent pricing, generally to the customers favor if you just looked at the labels long enough.  For example, there was a standard 750ml of Tanguery gin for $36.99, and then right next to it was a 1.75L, also for $36.99!!  Guess which one I picked up?  I saw this time and time again on certain brands.  The same went for a few of the whisky’s as well…for $1 more, I could get a whole extra liter!!  What gives?  Why would anyone buy the smaller bottle when you could get more than twice as much for the same price or perhaps a single dollar more?  Hey, if these were pricing mistakes from the part time clerks, I sure am not going to point it out.  Their loss….my gain.

Not that I’m bragging, but we spent roughly $150 that day and I feel as if we walked out of that BevMo with closer to $250 in spirits, soda, and beer that should last us a bit longer than usual.

I’m really looking forward now to getting the podcast portion of this site up and running so I can try some of these with my friends for you all, describe them, and have a good time overall.