Drink Your Way To Freedom

Posted by Keith Wallace on May 27, 2012 in News | 0 comments

As a rule of thumb, it’s not a good idea to transport liquor without a license. It’s even a worse idea to attempt crossing a national border with nearly 700 gallons of black market booze. One Swedish gentleman tried to do just that. Not surprisingly, he  got busted. Border guards noted he was hauling 600 gallons of beer, 42 gallons of cocktails, 3 gallons of  wine, and 4 gallons of spirits. Needless to say, he was immediately arrested for smuggling.

This is where it gets interesting. Instead of sending him to the pokey, a Swedish court just sent him home with his freedom, and all his booze. His winning defense? He claimed he was an epic drunkard, and that the booze — the equivalent of 22 barrels — was for his personal consumption.  The court ruled that it was plausible that the booze was intended for him and his family, and therefore not illegal. That’s about 12 pints a day –every day– for a year.

We wish the unnamed gentleman the best of luck to him, his family, and their  livers.

A still from Family Guy.

 Via TheLocal

Will Booze Save the Postman?

Posted by M.L. Wolfsohn on May 22, 2012 in News | 0 comments

It’s possible that your friendly neighborhood  postal carrier will soon be dropping off bottles of booze on your doorstep.   A bill has been introduced into the US Senate that would allow the Postal Service to ship alcohol, something which it has been banned from doing since 1909.

In the last ten years, online wine sales has turned into a billion dollar industry, annually. Online retails such as Bacchus Selections are redefining how people purchase wine. All those bottle have to be shipped, and that has turned into a very lucrative business for both FedEx and UPS. Now, this is a market the USPS also wants to get into, according to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. Not surprising, since it offers a way for the near-bankrupt Postal Service to once again become profitable.

The Post Office used to ship alcohol, and many mail-order liquor companies existed in the 19th Century. However, as the temperence movement started to grow, so did it’s ability to influence politicians. One if the movement’s first national successes was banning the shipment of booze. The law in question, Section 217 of 18 U.S.C. 1716(f) of the Act of March 4, 1909, ch. 321, 35 Stat. 1131, was  indented to prevent poisons, explosives,  and  other harmful items from being mailed. However, language was inserted into the bill that also banned “spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented or other intoxicating liquors” from being shipped by the USPS.

From 1880, when shipping booze via the Post Office was legal.

In the end, let’s hope this bill passes. It will likely drop the price of shipping wine, beer, and spirits. And fund Mr. Postman’s retirement package, too.

Buzz Kill

Posted by Keith Wallace on Mar 12, 2012 in News | 2 comments

A drug aimed at alcoholism is one step closer to hitting your corner pharmacy. Nalmefene apparently obliterates the pleasure of drinking booze by targeting -and blocking- specific receptors in the brain .  In a six-month study that included  604 patients in multiple European countries,  the drug cut down alcohol consumption by half. Clinical trials are underway in Europe.

It could be a boon for anyone who likes the sauce a bit too much.   However, you won’t see a big marketing push by any of the big Pharmaceutical companies, since it’s considered a generic drug in the US. Plus, it has some uncomfortable side effects, including drowsiness, hypertension, tachycardia, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.

Eric Arnold’s First Big Crush

Posted by Alana Zerbe on Jan 7, 2011 in Beer Reviews, Book & Magazine Reviews, News | 0 comments

Eric Arnold is in love.

 Not simply with wine, or New Zealand wines, or the people who grow and create those wines.  No, Eric is in love with the whole damn mess of it all.

 First Big Crush is a book about a man with a lot of passion, not necessarily a lot of sense, and a whole year to give in to his obsession in hot pursuit of experience and a love affair that he will certainly never forget.   (more…)

Hendrick’s – The Lovely Anodyne

Posted by Keith Wallace on Jan 3, 2011 in Beer Reviews, News | 0 comments

Alchemists were the original apothecary. And what wonders they concocted. Dame Edith Sitwell’s English Eccentrics cites a long list of restoratives that were doled out in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries to invalids suffering an array of ills. Along with sundry plants and herbs, ingredients included live hog lice, black tips of crab’s claws, the inward skin of a capon’s gizzard, goose dung, human skulls.

Remedies became more refined over the years, with a plethora of paregorics and soporifics coming to the fore in order to soothe what ailed ye, and yes, to help ye sleep.

Gin has a long history as a medicinal. It was first produced in Holland in the 17th century and sold in chemist shops to treat, namely, stomach complaints, gout, and gallstones. To make it more palatable, the Dutch added juniper (From jenever. Hence, gin).

Now there is gin. And there is Hendrick’s Gin. Hendrick’s is a wondrous elixir that comes packaged in a quaint apothecary’s bottle reminiscent of the Victorian era. The apothecary bottle was originally intended to protect the healing powers possessed by the liquid within. It only makes sense that a gin as intricately flavored as Hendrick’s, as expressively powerful, as infused as it is with “delightfully odd” aromatics, would be bottled in such a vessel.

Counting among the 11 botanicals used in Hendrick’s (with a notable exclusion of hog lice, goose dung) are angelica, chamomile, caraway, coriander, meadowsweet, lemon and orange peels, orris root, and, of course, juniper.  Its final triumph is the addition of Dutch cucumber and Bulgarian rose petal. This gin is an aromatic wonderland.

The distilling process plays a great role in imparting these gorgeous aromas. Using Carter-Head and Bennett Stills (both built in the 1860s, the Carter-Head being only one of four operating in the world today), the botanicals are steeped in neutral grain alcohol in the Bennett Still while a much more “luxurious distillation” takes place in the Carter-Head. It is there that baskets of botanicals experience a steady vapor passing over them before returning to liquid form. A leisurely bath, indeed! The two spirits are then combined with the rose petal and cucumber.

It is difficult to convey the delight one experiences once Hendrick’s is in the mouth, on the palate. It forces one’s eyes closed. It positively dares one to swallow. Offer Hendrick’s to one who professes an aversion to gin, and you will most likely witness a most zealous conversion. Hendrick’s is divine on its own or with a splash of soda or tonic. And with its rich infusion of spices and herbs, it makes a great cocktail.

I had the pleasure of meeting one of Philadelphia’s finer mixologists – Katie Loeb – at Chick’s Wine Bar. This goddess of varietals is a connoisseur of wine and spirits who revels in creating her own cordials and grenadines for mixing in the classics, as well as in cocktails of her own design. And, like me, she has a fondness for Hendrick’s.

I decided to stick to the classics and Katie made me the finest gimlet I’ve ever experienced. Van, another customer, had his mixed with Tanqueray; and the difference, in a side by side tasting, was significant. My drink was much more delicate, his not so refined.

Then it was to the Gibson, the classic martini garnished with pickled onions. I was eager to see whether the spices, herbs, and floral aromatics in the Hendrick’s could hold up to an onion or two. My companion Paul wasn’t as delighted as me – he likes his Gibsons a bit coarser – but I was thrilled at the subtlety that Hendrick’s imparted to this drink.

Of course I had to try some of Katie’s other creations (not all gin based). And after a few, I can highly recommend a trip down to Chick’s Wine Bar and, if Katie is in, ask her for the Aviatrix (her twist on the Aviation), or her amazing Mumbai Mule (alas, no recipes were doled out, but all drinks were full of surprises and Katie’s perfect, loving touch! She’s genius, she is).

So whatever ails ye, be it dropsie, chilblains, good old-fashioned religious or love melancholia, or perhaps nothing at all, Hendrick’s Gin (straight up or concocted in a fashion) is sure to be the cure you are seeking. I leave you with the classic Hendrick’s Gimlet. Simply shake, strain, raise to lips, smell, sip, and sigh.

Hendrick’s Gimlet

2 oz Hendrick’s Gin

½ oz Rose Lime Juice

1 lime wedge

Pour the gin and lime juice into a mixing glass ½-filled with ice cubes. Shake then strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with lime wedge.

Special thanks to Dame Edith Sitwell, Katie Loeb at Chick’s Wine Bar, Cocktailer Extraordinaire Paul Aliferis, SG, and www.hendricksgin.com, one and all, for providing content, insight, great reading, company, and, ultimately, a lovely experience. It was a pleasure.