Booze

Rolling out with a ‘Rol & Rye.

2016 is finally winding down and frankly, it can’t end soon enough. This has been a pretty crappy year on a number of levels, and the icing on the cake for me was getting a 16 penny nail through the sidewall of the driver’s side tire on my car today. Can’t be fixed, so that means I’m buying a new tire. I’m sending 2016 out with a bang this year and starting January 1, 2017, I’m giving up the booze. Yes you read that right, I’m quitting drinking. (this is where all my friends and relatives roll their eyes and say “I’ll believe it when I see it.) The goal is to make it June 1 and just like when I quit smoking cold turkey January 1, 1992 it’s a goal I intend to keep.

One of the things I intend to do between January 1, and the first day of summer is document the physical changes the lack of alcohol will have on my body. I intend to take a photo a day of myself, weigh myself, and take note of any positive and or negative effects it has on me. Hopefully, come June 21, 2017 I’ll have something interesting to report. Maybe not, but the challenge is on in a little less than 48 hours.

Since I’m choosing to “Lose the Booze” in 2017, I thought it would be fitting to post a nice New Years Eve cocktail recipe that everyone can make and share. Behold the ‘Rol and Rye. It’s easy to make, easy to drink, and easy to share. Enjoy.

rolandrye

Out of the Jar.

Out of the Jar by Gestalten is a new book about the best, and some of the most unusual spirits from small distillers around the world. These are spirits made by a new generation of distillers who are using combinations of rare fruits, herbs, grains and spices to reinvent and reinterpret high octane recipes for alcoholic drinks. The book features distillers that are crafting these by hand from the distllery to to bottling the final product. The video above introduces a hands-on whiskey maker from a prohibition-era distillery in Brooklyn, a passionate mezcalero who doesn’t chicken out from an unusual recipe, and a Berlin-based artisan whose rum is taking the world’s best cocktail bars by storm. It’s a nice little video short with quality production value, and it makes me want to go find some of the booze featured here.

The Twelve Cocktails of Christmas.

It’s Friday the thirteenth, and twelve days until Christmas. What better way to tell your superstitious fears to take a hike, than by having a cocktail! There are twelve cocktail recipes on the image below. Some are easy, some are a bit more involved. All of them are doable. All of them are tasty. So, Mix them up, drink them down, and have some holiday cheer.

Sorry about the image size. It’s fairly large so you can actually read the tiny type on it.

How About Bourbon Cherry Seltzer’s for the 4th?

Nothing says patriotism like blowing things up while you consume alcoholic beverages. While beer is probably the number one choice of booze to drink on the Fourth of July, some of us might prefer something a bit different. Perhaps a Bourbon Cherry Seltzer. The recipe sounds more difficult than it is, and the results are definitely worth your time to make it.