Have you seen this site? Drinkify.org allows you to enter the name of a band, and with one click, you'll get a drink suggestion to pair with your favorite music. Try it now!
Also, Lucy says you should visit BooksAndVinyl.com . . . .
I recently discovered Fris, a Danish vodka that is allegedly "freeze distilled," whatever that means. Either way, 750 ml for $13 and change (after tax) isn't a bad deal.
While my beloved Ketel One has a bit more of a mineral touch and a hint of marshmellow -- and while my equally beloved Firefly has that mellow muscadine touch -- Fris has a lighter body and more delicate flavors with a refreshing finish. I might add Fris to my favorites list.
Have you tried Fris? What do you think? Click the comment link and let us know.
I guess the colder air makes the richness of a White Russian more appealing.
Here's the recipe I've been using:
10-ounce glass filled about two-thirds with ice
1 ounce of Kahlua
2 ounces of Ketel One
Top off with half-and-half
However, you can go for more punch (and less fat) if you increase the liquors and decrease the half-and-half.
In other words, you can give those White Russians a tan.
Or a deep tan.
This Christmas, I think we can all agree: Russians are far too pasty-white.
But I'm thinking we'll want to skip the outright Black Russians -- we really want a little of that comfort-food factor, courtesy the half-and-half.
Let's go for the Deeply Tanned Russian.
The Deeply Tanned Russian offers the potency we need with a touch of comfort.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Season's Greetings.
A cold and rainy Saturday afternoon does not tend to inspire the drinking of summery wheat beers, but after a morning's work I went to Buffalo Wild Wings in Carolina Forest (between Myrtle Beach and Conway, S.C.) and realized that the only thing on tap that I hadn't tried, or at least wasn't sure I had tried, was Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., based in Wisconsin, has made some small distribution forays into the Grand Strand.
I have this problem lately - I'll think about ordering a regular pint and then hear words like "the 23-ounce, please" coming out of my mouth. The barkeep brought an extra tall glass of glowing gold.
The weird thing about Leinie's Sunset Wheat - or, more likely, the weird thing about me - was the undeniable taste of blueberries that continued through the last ounce. Can taste buds hallucinate? Later, I read through the Leinekugel Web site's description of the beer a few times, and never saw the word "blueberry" in it.
So I'm crazy. But by the time I got to the bottom of the glass, I had associated the taste in my mouth with the blue tap handle and made the assumption that blueberry juice was added to the outstanding wheat beer.
The bill was $4.34. I can deal with that price for 23 ounces of a Leinie.
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Later today (Friday, Oct. 3), Atlantic Discount Spirits will have a tasting with Crown Royal, Cask 16, Zwack, and Kettle One Citroen. The tasting runs 3:30-6:30 p.m.
And on Saturday (Oct. 4), also 3:30-6:30 p.m., the store will have a tasting with Forty Creek Barrel Select Whiskey and Charter 101.
Atlantic Discount Spirits is located at 2901-A U.S. 17 South in Garden City Beach.
I'm continuing to reevaluate my beer-snobbery.
I had basically written off the big domestics in favor of microbrews and imports, until twice recently I dined at Chuck's Steakhouse, 9695 Kings Highway on Restaurant Row in Myrtle Beach.
My wife and I always love the food at Chuck's, but the steakhouse has only one beer on tap, Michelob Lager, plus a tap for the beer substitute Michelob Ultra. (They also have a selection of bottled beers.)
But Chuck's knows how to make the most of that Michelob, offering a big, frosty, 28-ounce goblet for $5.50.
On both of my recent visits, the goblet was perfectly frosted.
I thought the Michelob had interesting hop characteristics, followed by a pleasant dryness.
It was not the blandness I had come to expect from big domestics. Michelob had something going on. It paired well with steak. I finished the goblet smiling.
Later, I went to the Michelob Web site, which claimed that their lager is made with European hops and "a 100-percent-malt blend." Meaning: no rice, no corn, just barley malt. What a difference.
New South Brewing Co.'s new summer seasonal for TBonz Gill & Grill restaurants is...
AMBER WAVES SUMMER ALE.
This brew will be amber colored and slightly malty with a mild hop character, according to the TBonz Mug Club Newsletter.
Look for it on-tap Friday, May 9.
cheers,
Colin
Liquor Quik is a line of 20-milliliter bottles with concentrated flavors. Pour a bottle of Liquor Quik into a 750-milliliter bottle of grain alcohol or vodka, and you have amaretto, or hazelnut liqueur, or maybe Irish cream, or several others. Who thinks up this stuff?
I found Liquor Quik for $4.39 per bottle at Beach HomeBrew in The Galleria at 9612 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach.
"I made the Grand Marnier and I couldn't tell the difference," said Ed Waldorf, owner of Beach HomeBrew, referring to the orange-brandy flavored Liquor Quik flavor. Waldorf said he buys a mid-priced vodka from Sam's Club for his mixes, making the concoction less expensive ounce-for-ounce than buying the real Grand Marnier.
This is a great story that I was lucky enough to report for my column in this week's Weekly Surge.
IMPORTING A TASTE OF DEUTSCHLAND
By Colin Burch
For Weekly Surge
When Werner Hoppe helped build the Georgetown Steel Mill in 1969, the crates of equipment from Germany often held a special reminder of home. The good-hearted workers in Germany stashed German wine or beer into the shipment, he said.
But then, one day, the United States government did what it does best. It stole the joy of Hoppe and other Germans working on the mill. Customs agents discovered that alcohol was arriving in the equipment crates, and said, in so many words, "You can't do that."
So Werner Hoppe went down to the customs office and found out about the procedures for importing alcohol into the U.S. Soon, the native of Cologne, Germany, decided to set up his own import business in Georgetown.
W.H. Company started with German wine, and eventually added beers including Bitburger Pils, Maisel's Weisse, and more, even some English brews. He continued working with the Georgetown steel mill until 1975, when he went into the import business full-time.
His son, Andy Hoppe, a tennis coach at Carolina Forest High School and Georgetown native, said it took some effort on his father's part to get the company off the ground. "It was a lot of hard work at first, trying to learn how alcohol is bought and sold in this country," he said.
But Werner Hoppe figured it out. He got his own warehouse in Georgetown and trucks for distribution. He had distributors up and down the East coast, Andy Hoppe said. When the orders for German imports became big enough, the exporters were able to deliver directly to the distributors, so the warehouse and the trucks were no longer necessary. Werner Hoppe was able to run the import business from his home.
Werner Hoppe has scaled back his operations in recent years. He stopped carrying wine 15 years ago. More recently, he returned the rights to sell Bitburger to the brewery back in Germany. In a technical sense, he still oversees Bitburger's import into North Carolina, but he is no longer involved with the marketing.
Today, W.H. Company imports only Maisel's Weisse in two varieties, the original which includes yeast, and the filtered version called Kristallklar, which was hailed by the late beer expert Michael Jackson as one of the best beers in the world. And W.H. Company only brings Maisel's Weisse into two states, working with Southern Wine and Spirits in South Carolina, and two distributors in North Carolina: Highland Distribution Co. and Mutual Distribution Co., said Andy Hoppe.
So if you drink Maisel's Weisse in the Carolinas, thank Werner Hoppe.
Still speaking with a strong German accent, he scaled back his import operation because he wanted to do other things at this stage in his life. He recently wrote a book, "Justice Comes After Death," which is available at Horst Gasthaus in North Myrtle Beach and River Room in Georgetown, where the purchase of the book comes with a free Maisel's Weisse glass. The book is also available at My Sister's Books in Pawleys Island, at which a book-signing is tentatively scheduled for January 15.
Despite his new endeavors, Werner Hoppe didn't sound like he wants to stop with the two Maisel's Weisse brews. He said a Maisel's Weisse sister brewery has a lager that he'll probably add to his imports.
Andy Hoppe said he'll eventually take over the business.
I asked him what he and his father think about the big American domestic beers. "We tend to avoid those whenever possible," he said with a laugh.
HAPPY NEW BEER
I'm taking a couple of weeks off. Let's keep all the Surge readers out of the slammer - don't drive after you've been drinking, and have a Happy New Year.
- Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com.
This is a great story that I was lucky enough to report for my column in this week's Weekly Surge.
IMPORTING A TASTE OF DEUTSCHLAND
By Colin Burch
For Weekly Surge
When Werner Hoppe helped build the Georgetown Steel Mill in 1969, the crates of equipment from Germany often held a special reminder of home. The good-hearted workers in Germany stashed German wine or beer into the shipment, he said.
But then, one day, the United States government did what it does best. It stole the joy of Hoppe and other Germans working on the mill. Customs agents discovered that alcohol was arriving in the equipment crates, and said, in so many words, "You can't do that."
So Werner Hoppe went down to the customs office and found out about the procedures for importing alcohol into the U.S. Soon, the native of Cologne, Germany, decided to set up his own import business in Georgetown.
W.H. Company started with German wine, and eventually added beers including Bitburger Pils, Maisel's Weisse, and more, even some English brews. He continued working with the Georgetown steel mill until 1975, when he went into the import business full-time.
His son, Andy Hoppe, a tennis coach at Carolina Forest High School and Georgetown native, said it took some effort on his father's part to get the company off the ground. "It was a lot of hard work at first, trying to learn how alcohol is bought and sold in this country," he said.
But Werner Hoppe figured it out. He got his own warehouse in Georgetown and trucks for distribution. He had distributors up and down the East coast, Andy Hoppe said. When the orders for German imports became big enough, the exporters were able to deliver directly to the distributors, so the warehouse and the trucks were no longer necessary. Werner Hoppe was able to run the import business from his home.
Werner Hoppe has scaled back his operations in recent years. He stopped carrying wine 15 years ago. More recently, he returned the rights to sell Bitburger to the brewery back in Germany. In a technical sense, he still oversees Bitburger's import into North Carolina, but he is no longer involved with the marketing.
Today, W.H. Company imports only Maisel's Weisse in two varieties, the original which includes yeast, and the filtered version called Kristallklar, which was hailed by the late beer expert Michael Jackson as one of the best beers in the world. And W.H. Company only brings Maisel's Weisse into two states, working with Southern Wine and Spirits in South Carolina, and two distributors in North Carolina: Highland Distribution Co. and Mutual Distribution Co., said Andy Hoppe.
So if you drink Maisel's Weisse in the Carolinas, thank Werner Hoppe.
Still speaking with a strong German accent, he scaled back his import operation because he wanted to do other things at this stage in his life. He recently wrote a book, "Justice Comes After Death," which is available at Horst Gasthaus in North Myrtle Beach and River Room in Georgetown, where the purchase of the book comes with a free Maisel's Weisse glass. The book is also available at My Sister's Books in Pawleys Island, at which a book-signing is tentatively scheduled for January 15.
Despite his new endeavors, Werner Hoppe didn't sound like he wants to stop with the two Maisel's Weisse brews. He said a Maisel's Weisse sister brewery has a lager that he'll probably add to his imports.
Andy Hoppe said he'll eventually take over the business.
I asked him what he and his father think about the big American domestic beers. "We tend to avoid those whenever possible," he said with a laugh.
HAPPY NEW BEER
I'm taking a couple of weeks off. Let's keep all the Surge readers out of the slammer - don't drive after you've been drinking, and have a Happy New Year.
- Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com.
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