Drink Matron

Author: jessdani333

  • Artistic License vs. Profit Margin

    I started thinking about this when I noticed that bars started installing auto tap systems.  These systems are designed to pour an exact amount of liquor into a drink and bar owners install them to minimize profit loss.  The problem I have with this is that I always envisioned the classic bartender as being a master of mixing drinks.  Each bartender has their own way of mixing drinks and in different quantities, giving each drink a “signature”.

    I used to go to a bar when I was in college specifically for the Old Fashioneds that one of the bartenders made.  They were to die for and because they were so memorable, that bar got more of my business than any other bar in the area.  There are memorable signature drinks like that spotted throughout my adult life and, without hesitation, I will go back to these bars if I’m ever in the area whether I have that drink I remember or not.

    If most bars implement this system of hamstringing the bartenders to make a buck, most people will still go to the bars and they will still pay out the nose for these drinks.  Just look at the fast food market!  Fast food restaurants make their burgers and sauces in a facility far away from the counter you pick it up from.  They get sent to the store where the employees make it (ideally) using very constrained instructions and portions.  By all rights, that burger in front of you is a hamburger, but it isn’t a good hamburger.  If you wanted a good hamburger, you’d go to a pub, or a restaurant you know makes good burgers.

    The same thing applies for bars.  Most people will still go and drink, but the drinks won’t be memorable.  Bar owners will have to rely even more on the ambience of their bar.  If you know anything about the bar industry you know that this can already make or break a bar, and what works today may not work tomorrow.

    If you’re going to cut off the bartenders ability to add a little flair and tweak each drink specifically for the imbiber, you might as well just started making premixed drinks.  Just start a bottling company that premixes the rum with the coke or the gin with the vermouth and send those bottles of perfectly mixed, perfectly portioned beverages to each bar in the country and take the art completely out of it.  Heck, let’s just bring back the automat craze from the fifties, fire all the bartenders and just put bottled drinks behind a glass door and let the customer just drop money into a machine to get it!  Then we can just sit around in a sterile building getting ourselves drinks that were made in a facility in China… or we could all go home sit comfortably with our friends and a couple bottles of booze, mixing our own drinks.

    I really don’t think it will ever get that extreme.  Thankfully, there are still some people out there that have some sense and understand what a bartender is actually supposed to be doing.  I, for one, will continue to frequent establishments that make me drinks that have a little panache.

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  • Liquor Review: Raspberry Di Amore & Licor 43

    Raspberry Di Amore

    On the nose: Sweet and subtle.  Want to say that I smell a hint of mint.  Cool, fresh.

    Taste: Raspberry flavor is prevalent, but not heavy and overbearing.  After taste is sweet and solid.

    How to drink: It would be good in a flavored martini or as an added touch to a screwdriver, mimosa, or with champagne.

    Overall: Good flavoring as an ingredient in a shot or cocktail.  A little thick to drink on it’s own unless slowly sipped.

    Licor 43

    On the nose: Sweet, smells like cocao beans.

    Taste: Silky, subtly sweet, with a vanilla and white cake aftertaste.  Taste is creamy but the texture is not.  Very nice and smooth.

    How to drink: Nice in a shot on its own or mixed with a creamy liqueur.  Anything normally mixed with rum would be improved by this Spanish liqueur.

    Overall: Very nice. I highly recommend substituting this in your favorite rum cocktail, and adding it to your liquor collection for experimentation.  If your local bar doesn’t have this yet, request that they order it.  If no one else will, call me, and I’ll come down and drink it.

    After Thought

    A combination of Raspberry Di Amore and Licor 43 may produce a rather nice shot.

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  • Introduction to Home Brewing

    One of our goals here at DrinkMatron.com is to start home brewing and bring you the results.  So the first step in this is to buy the equipment needed.

    Whether you’re making wine, beer, or mead, they all require the same basic set up and equipment.  This is because you are essentially doing the same thing for all of them: using yeast to incite the conversion of a carbohydrate into ethyl alcohol (fermentation). The only difference is in what you’re using for a base carbohydrate: in wine you’re using grapes, in mead – honey, in beer- grain.

    The following is the basic equipment needed to produce them.

    Carboys

    This is the storage container used to store fermenting liquid until it turns into a tasty adult beverage.  You can typically get these ranging in size from 5 to 15 gallons. Most beer recipes/kits are geared around a 5 gallon batch, but wine recipes/kits are geared toward 6 gallons.  So if you plan on making both wine and beer (like I do), I recommend 6 gallons.  Five gallon buckets are also an option, but while they are cheaper and easier to store, they’re also harder to clean and keep sanitized.  I personally prefer carboys over buckets.

    You can use one carboy for the entire fermentation process, but there is a process known as the two-stage process (for obvious reasons) in which you do your fermentation in 2 vessels.  There are four benefits to doing this:

    1. Moving the partially fermented liquid separates it from the waste by products of the yeast.
    2. The yeast will be exposed to oxygen, reinvigorating the fermentation process, and allowing for a more complete fermentation.
    3. Moving the liquid will cause any suspended solids to flocculate, or drop out, much quicker, leaving you with a cleaner product with significantly less sediment at the bottom of each bottle.
    4. You just freed up your primary fermentation receptacle.  Start a new batch!

    I, for one, like the two-stage fermentation process, so the Official Drink Matron Homebrew Laboratory will have two 6 gallon carboys.

    Bung

    The bung is the stopper placed in the end of the carboy to stop impurities from getting into the pre-fermented liquid and wreaking havoc on your tasty beverages.  You need to make sure to get the one with the hole in it so you have a place to put your airlock. Because one of the byproducts of fermentation is carbon dioxide, using a full bung (yes it’s as funny to write as it is to read) will cause your carboy to quickly fill with carbon dioxide and, with enough pressure, literally blow its top.

    Airlock

    The airlock is an ingenious device that allows air through in one direction, but not the other.  A three piece airlock is filled with water and as air comes in from the bottom spout into the chamber it passes through the water barrier and out the top.  This gets placed in the hole in the center of the bung (not to be confused with a Bunghole – the hole in a cask, keg, or barrel through which liquid is poured in or drained) and allows for release of carbon dioxide from the fermentation process.

    Tubing

    You need tubing for transferring your liquid (racking) from one recepticle to another.  When purchasing this tubing, you need to be sure that the diameter is the same as the diameter of the nozzles/connectors it will be attached to.  You can buy connectors that will convert between diameters, but you should only do this if you have to.  Otherwise, you are just wasting money on more things to wash and sanitize.

    Stirring Paddle

    There are a number of times throughout the fermentation process that you need to stir your concoction.  Whatever you buy to do this, make sure it fits through the bunghole into the carboy.  It’s best if you can get one that attaches to a drill for more thorough stirring.

    Bottling Wand

    This isn’t really a necessity, but bottling is a whole lot easier if you have one of these.

    It works like this:  During bottling, you will attach it to the end of the hose.  The bottom is a plunger that stops the flow of the liquid inside.  When depressed (when pushed against the bottom of the bottle) it allows the liquid to flow out and fill your bottle.  Once you lift it up again, the liquid will stop flowing.

    The bottling wand allows you to bottle your tasty creations without making a huge mess or having to create a siphon for every bottle.

    Racking Cane

    The racking cane is attached to the end of the hose and placed in the receptacle you are taking the liquid from.  Again, this isn’t necessary, but very useful.  It is capped on one end to prevent you siphoning off the yeast cake at the bottom of your carboy.

    Stainless Steel Pot

    A stainless steel pot is really only needed if you’re making beer. You’ll use it to boil all your ingredients together before starting fermentation.

    The key to the perfect steel pot is to make sure that it’s big enough to hold all the liquid you need for your wort.

    Wort Chiller

    After boiling your wort, the key to successful beer is adding your yeast after the temperature has fallen to an appropriate level.  If you wait too long, its possible that your wort can become contaminated, which may alter the taste or aroma.  So the faster you cool it off, the less chance there is for fluctuation in the recipe.  A wort chiller solves this very elegantly.  Place the copper tubing in the pot you boiled the wort in, attach one end to the kitchen faucet and place the other end in the sink.  Run cold water at the faucet until the drain water is approximately room temperature.  This will take a few minutes (no more than five).

    Mesh Hops Bag

    For most beers, you will remove the hops from the wort before leaving it to ferment.  The easiest way to do this is with a mesh bag. Most kits will come with one, but I don’t really like the bags they provide, since they’re cheap and the holes are too big. Muslin bags work much better and are only slightly more expensive.

    Bottles

    When your stuff is done, you have to put it in something.  Beer bottles, wine bottles, kegs, mason jars, etc.  Pick something, buy enough to put all your booze in, and fill ’em up!

    Things to Stop Spillage

    Once you put your booze in bottle, you need to stop it from spilling everywhere: cap it or cork it!  Also, when you bottle your beer, the carbonation process mostly occurs after you cap the bottles.

    Bottle Capper

    This aptly named device is used to cap your bottles of beer.  To use this you place the cap on top of the bottle, place this on top and push down the handles.

    Bottle Corker

    There are many types of corkers you can buy.  I prefer the floor corker because I don’t like to work up a sweat and be sore after bottling all my booze.

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  • Andi’s Challenge

    Warning: DO NOT try this at home.  It is never smart to binge drink, no matter who you are or why you’re doing it.  Always drink responsibly, know your limit, and don’t drink and drive.
     

    Andi.  What a lady.  She is a dear friend and a fellow lover of the drink.  She’s also an instigator, and often of things that I somehow already want to do.  Things such as drinking a shot of all the liquor she and Matt have in their house, and reviewing them for the website (in one sitting).  Oh yes. I’m not kidding.  She’s an evil one.  But, I am also not one to turn down a challenge when it involves drinking on a Sunday, or my website.

    So I accepted.

    As it turns out, they had ten bottles of booze of which Andi deemed fit to feed me a shot, so she made up a chart of each kind, filled up the shot glasses, and sat a tray of booze in front of me.

    Yeah, it didn’t sound or look (or smell) good to me either.

    I was to take notes for each shot, and not only review them, but try to record and see how the drinking affected my reaction to each liquor.  Here are my notes – pregame.

    “I am about to embark on a challenge like never I’ve done before.  I’m frightened and a little hesitant, but it’s Sunday, and Andi’s making me.  The challenge is to drink a shot from each bottle in the Ponkey’s liquor collection, and record my thoughts on each.  I will not be telling this story.”

    Clearly I’ve changed my mind.

    I prepared myself for the worst, since this was not going to end well no matter what.  I had tons of water and plenty of chasers to sooth me after the rough shots, and three people watching me in case it got to be more than I could handle.  I was also in walking distance of my home, and was allowed to stop whenever I wanted to.

    My shot list (in order of how I drank them)

    • Raspberry Di Amore
    • 101 Proof Peppermint Schnapps
    • Kahlua
    • Jagermeister
    • Smirnoff Vodka
    • Don Julio Tequila
    • Jim Beam Bourban
    • Blanton’s Kentucky Whiskey
    • Jack Daniels Special
    • Licor 43

    Each shot was in a 1.5 oz shot glass and ran the gamet from a low 40 to 101 proof.  Thankfully, gin was not included in this experiment, and honestly, I wouldn’t have touched it anyway.

    It took just under two hours to complete the challenge, which stopped being truly scary after the first shot and only got easier after that.  After the first two shots, I requested that everyone else have a beer or cocktail so I wouldn’t be the only person drinking, and they all agreed, thank goodness.

    After four shots, I spilled my orange juice everywhere.

    After five shots, I’d started to question why we were doing it, and apparently this was the reaction:

    “Andi assures me that she only poured the shots.”

    Liar.

    And then, one shot later, I was all right with all of it, and gung ho to keep going.

    “I’m beginning to get so drunk that I’m thinking I should take both whiskey shots back to back.”

    By this I meant to drink one immediately after the other.  I didn’t.

    I think it’s important to note here that for the whiskey shots, my “reviews” are unreliable.  “Horrible” and “It’s Jack” are not viable or helpful to anyone.

    After eight, I stopped being able to count. I had also become completely irresponsible (as if this whole challenge was an act of good choices).

    “I am pretty drunk now.  Six shots in, and I’m actually disappointed that I only have 2 shots left.  I will probably ask to go to the liquor store later.”

    Wow.  So proud of myself.  (Not)

    However, after 10 shots, drunk me was very proud.

    “I just did 10 shots in two hours.  I did it and I am happy.  I am very proud of being able to last for 10 shots.”

    And so, that was the experiment.  After ten shots, I ended up with eight real reviews that I am not going to publish today.  However, over the next week or so I will periodically release them to keep you entertained.

    For now, I’d like to take some time and forget the rest of that night, which as you can imagine, was hilarious beyond measure. But that’s another story.

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  • Introducing Whipped Lightning!

    Just when you were sure they couldn’t get any more creative with our alcohol choices, a revolutionary idea like this lands on our doorstep.

    Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce to you, Whipped Lightning!

    What, you ask, is this whipped lightning?

    Well kids, it’s alcoholic whipped cream.  They’ve even given it a name – Whipahol.  And with flavors like strawberry colada, amaretto, white chocolate raspberry, spiced vanilla, tropical passion, and coconut, it’s bound to be the “next big thing” in alcohol consumption.

    Imagine what your life would be like if you could add alcohol to anything that you can put whipped cream on!  Ice cream, pie, and hot chocolate would all become even more interesting.  There’s bound to be a bevy of new recipes that will include the new creation, teaching the world just how much we Americans like our fast, easy, and undetectable booze.  And we’ll drunkenly laugh while the world shakes its shameful head at us.

    Unfortunately this fantastic creation is not available in all 50 states yet (like Indiana), but if you’re lucky enough to live in a place where you are able to buy it, go out and pick up a can and start creating!

    For more information on Whipped Lightning Whipahol, check out their website.

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  • Brewing Mead Part #3: Fermentation

    Mead Series by Mead Extraordinaire, Matt Ponkey

    Once you’ve prepared your must, you should start seeing fermentation with 24-48 hours.

    Fermentation

    Fermentation is the basic process of yeast turning sugar into ethanol & carbon dioxide.

    The basic reaction for fermentation is:
    C6H12O6 → 2C2H5OH + 2CO2

    Glucose (sugar) is represented by C6H12O6, Ethanol (booze) is represented by C2H5OH, & Carbon dioxide is represented by CO2

    What this basically means is for every 1 part of sugar, the yeast churns out 2 parts ethanol and 2 parts carbon dioxide gas.

    Yeast

    Yeast comes in two forms.  Naturally occurring yeast, like the kind found in most fruit juices, and synthetic yeast.  The best example of natural yeast is the kind that forms from leaving a gallon of apple cider in the fridge for a month or two.  Synthetic yeast is used to make wine, mead, or beer, and is much more stable than natural yeast.  Alcohol can still be produced from natural yeast, but it is more susceptible to bacterial contamination.

    Sugar

    Glucose, or sugar, is the main ingredient for fermentation. In traditional wine making, grapes are used as the primary source of sugar. The grapes are crushed to release the juices stored inside them, which are rich in natural sugars. Different grapes produce different flavors and variations within the resulting wine. Riesling grapes produce a sweet, white wine, because they are a sweet white grape. Syrah or Shiraz grapes produce a dark, dry red wine due to their coloring & sugar content.

    In mead, the process is almost identical. Honey is used as the primary source of sugar, so the type of honey you choose will have a major effect on how your mead tastes in the end. For example, I am using an Orange Blossom Honey, which is harvested from bees that primarily pollinate around Orange Groves in Florida. This honey should produce a mild orange flavor in the resulting mead.

    Temperature

    In reaction chemistry, the hotter the environment, the faster the rate of reaction. The best and easiest example I’ve found is dissolving sugar in water. What dissolves the sugar quicker, hot or cold water?  For anyone who drinks coffee or tea, the obvious answer is the hot water. The heat of the water increases the rate at which the sugar dissolves into it. The same principal stands for chemical reactions.

    This raises some important points. Previously I had mentioned that you should keep your mead in an area between 70°F-75°F. This was the proper temperature for the yeast strains I was using, however just like people, different yeasts prefer different temperatures. For example, some yeasts prefer a temperature range of 64°F – 68°F, which is too low for the strain of yeast I used. The important thing to remember is that the higher the temperature of your mead, the quicker the fermentation reaction occurs. Although this can increase rate of fermentation, potentially speeding up the overall process, try not to raise the temperature on your mead is too high. This can work the yeast so hard that it will die prematurely, cause such rapid fermentation that will break your airlock, or worse yet, foster bacterial growth within your mead.

    Bacteria

    Bacterial contamination is one of the greatest threats to your mead. Bacterial growth, at any stage, can easily ruin a batch, however if it occurs during fermentation, failure is almost guaranteed. The best way to prevent bacterial contamination is proper sterilization of equipment and working areas during all stages of brewing.

    In the end, keep a close eye on your mead throughout the fermentation step, as it is probably the most critical to the success of your mead. The best way to tell if fermentation is complete is to look at your airlock. When it’s complete, no more carbon dioxide will be produced, so you won’t see anymore bubbles coming through your airlock. If you have a glass fermentor, it’s very easy to tell if your fermentation is complete simply by looking at your mead. During fermentation, you should see very small bubbles rising to the surface, and the surface of the mead should be a frothy mess of bubbles. After fermentation is complete, the bubbles will no longer rise to the surface, and the surface will be completely still. If you bump your fermentor and see any activity or bubbles, this does not mean you restarted fermentation, it only means that you released some trapped carbon dioxide.

    As always, if you have any questions, feel free to email me.

    Best of luck!

    Used with permission from Matt Ponkey.  You can find the original post at http://www.mwponkey.com/2010/10/brewing-mead-part-3-fermentation.html. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.

  • Drink Matron Birthday Beer Review

    Good Tuesday All!

    This weekend was quite an interesting one.  I had been feeling pretty bummed out about turning 30, and had done a sort of campaign to get people to come down to Indiana and celebrate with me.  While I didn’t succeed in getting all the people that I’d hoped, I convinced enough to celebrate with me that we had a nice little group consisting of Adrian (of course), the Ponkeys, our friend James, and his lady friend Erica.

    From left to right: Andi, Erica, James, Matt, Adrian

    What this weekend was not – a pity party for the good old Matron.  By the end of it, I forgot it even was my birthday, let alone what number it was.

    What this weekend was – a celebration of good friends and a reminder that I am still quite young for my age – especially when it comes to drinking – but adult enough to handle myself with dignity, even when I’ve had more than my fair share to drink.

    Along the way, I discovered a few interesting beers that I didn’t know existed, my favorite being Monty Python Holy Grail Ale by Black Sheep Brewery.  It’s just a standard ale, but COME ON!  Anything with Monty Python on it is worth keeping a case of.

    Yes, that's right. Monty Python Holy Grail Ale. It's real.

    I asked everyone to give me a short review of some of the beers they were drinking and this is what they came up with.

    Pyramid Breweries Apricot Ale

    Andi says: I didn’t expected it to be such a girly beer, but it’s very nice.  Subtle.

    New Holland Dragon’s Milk

    We all tried this beer, but Adrian slowly sipped this 10% abv Scotch Ale for about an hour, longer than I’ve ever seen him take to drink anything…ever.

    He says: Very heavy. It’s extremely thick and potent. Terrible to drink with a meal (which he did).

    Thicker than Guinness, Dragon's Milk tastes like creamy caramel

    Guinness

    Matt says: Best winter beer ever.  It’s like slamming milk.

    Sam Adams Cherry Wheat

    Andi says: It actually has a real cherry flavor that takes the beer taste away.  I would most definitely recommend it to someone who doesn’t like beer.

    Other beers that we tried that night (but had gotten too, um, unreliable to review) were:

    Abita Brewing Co. Turbodog

    Three Floyds Robert the Bruce Scottish Ale

    And New Holland’s Mad Hatter IPA

    Overall, we had an amazing time, and added quite a few new beers to our repertoire.

    If you think we’d really enjoy a specific beer, or you’ve found something that you’d like to see on Drink Matron, please contact us at beer@drinkmatron.prjct.info.

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  • Who’s this Drink Publican?

    In case any of you were wondering who it is, Adrian has changed his name on the website to Drink Publican.  No, this is not a political statement. It is a term most commonly used in Great Britain and Ireland, referring to the owner or manager of a tavern or public house (pub).

    The job of the publican is to make sure that the overall tavern experience is an enjoyable one, providing a happy and comfortable atmosphere. As our website administrator and designer, the term fits Adrian’s role pretty splendidly.  If it weren’t for him, well, let’s just say the site would not be pretty.  He’s also the most lighthearted person at DM, and he certainly makes life in general a lot more fun.

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