This Metal Century: 2001

Ross in 2001

2001 was an important year for me.  It was the year I first got a driver’s license, it was the year I broke my arm within a month of getting my driver’s license (while playing paintball, which is probably a story in itself), and it was probably the year I really  began to come out of my shell and transform into the social butterfly I am today.

The driving part, though, that really influence how I listen to music.  My first truck (’95 F-150 single cab longbed) had a great soundsystem in it.  Amp powered Clarion door speakers and 2 12” JL Audio subs behind the seat.  That thing was loud.  And naturally, I liked when it was playing loud music.  It saw a lot of nu-metalish  playlists, as was the style of the day.  Do the heavy rotations of Powerman 5000 and Godsmack?  Nah, that shit will be funny forever. I still feel like I owe that system an apology for skimping out on rap music as a whole, though.

Metal in 2001

Album                                                                   2001 Exposue

Chimaira – Pass out of Existence                        Listened, but I didn’t love it
Converge – Jane Doe                                          Did not listen
Opeth – Blackwater Park                                     Listened, but pretty much stuck with “Bleak”
Pig Destroyer – Prowler in the Yard                     Had no idea what a pig destroyer was
Slayer – God Hates Us All                                    Scrupulously avoided due to anti-god-sounding title
Slipknot – Iowa                                                     Listened, but never really got into it like their first album
Static X – Machine                                               Probably listened to this more than any of the others
Tool – Lateralus                                                   Listened, but mainly stuck with “Schism” and “Parabola” (I could play them on guitar it was sweet)

Pass out of Existence – Nu Metal Index: 2

I’ve listened to a fair amount of Chimaira in the years between 2001 and now, but the thing that stuck out to me about this album in retrospect is how unapologetically aggressive the music is.  2001 was nu-metal’s heyday and the New Wave of American Heavy Metal was still a few years out.  There weren’t many great riffs, there were too many “melodic” choruses, and no one even knew what a double-bass pedal was.  Chimaira fixed ALL that.  This album was a breath of fresh air released in the middle of a somewhat subdued metal scene.  Though it doesn’t much new ground, this is a very solid album which influenced lots of people to listen to and play metal.

Favorite tracks: Dead Inside, Severed, Lumps

Jane Doe

If “Pass out of Existence” ran against music trends of 2001, Converge shattered them.  “Jane Doe” is a very harsh listen.  The vocals are incomprehensible, the guitars are grating, and the drums are spastic.  But in the midst of the chaos there is sort of a central theme of the mourning of a relationship gone wrong.  The tone of the music in a way reflects the emotions of the central character: humiliation, anger, regret, and eventually reflection.  At times it can be brooding, but mostly “Jane Doe” functions as an eruption of anger for half an hour followed by the towering, excellent title track, which clocks in at 11:30, roughly a quarter of the entire album’s runtime.  “Jane Doe” helped establish that noisy music can in fact have merit beyond its noise, which I think really influenced a lot of great mid 2000s bands.  Having already more or less created the metalcore genre a few years prior with “Petitioning the Empty Sky”, Converge cemented themselves as the best, and most unique, band the genre has produced with “Jane Doe”.

Favorite tracks: Concubine, Fault and Fracture, Jane Doe

Blackwater Park

At the time they released “Blackwater Park”, Opeth had been a band for about a decade and had already released four albums.  Admittedly, I’m not exactly a scholar of their early work, but based on what I’ve heard it’s very good progressive Swedish death metal.  The musicianship is great, the songs are super long, and they stick with pretty standard “dark” themes, for instance their album “My Arms, Your Hearse” is a concept album about the central character becoming a ghost and following the love of his previous life around.  Turns out, being a ghost makes him feel sad.  So, on to “Blackwater Park”, I can’t get over the epic scale of the songs.  It feels like a classic rock album in the vein of Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd.  There is a symphonic quality to the album.  Opeth effortlessly shifts from death metal growls, double bass, and crushing riffs to acoustic interludes coupled with gentle singing.  This great album is stands the 15 year test of time very well and almost certainly is going to go down as a cornerstone of the genre.

Favorite tracks:  Bleak, The Drapery Falls, Blackwater Park

Prowler in the Yard

This album is a fucking trainwreck.  It’s brutal just for the sake of being brutal, grotesque and horrific.  It’s so over the top that it’s borderline cartoonish.  Some of the tracks aren’t even leveled correctly from one to the next, so you have to adjust the volume constantly.  This is made worse because the average track length is something like 47 seconds.  They do not have a bassist.  In terms of tone, I’d almost describe it as a horrorcore album, kind of the same way you’d describe the Insane Clown Posse as horrorcore, though their musical styles couldn’t be more different.  Pig Destroyer is what I would expect to have happened if, say, Eminem had decided to play guitar instead of learning to rap.  The main goal of everyone in the associated acts of Pig Destroyer seems to be to offend; senses and sensibilities.

All that being said, there is some really good stuff to be found here, culminating in the final track, “Piss Angel”.  It shows signs of real songwriting and musical potential, and sounds GREAT turned way up.  Be warned though, the computer voice usually attached to the end of the track is terrifying.  Probably be sure to edit that out if you plan on adding it to a playlist.

Favorite tracks: Piss Angel

Note: Nu Metal Index is defined as follows

(Number of days between album release date and Flaw’s “Through the Eyes” – Number of days between album release date and Linkin Park’s “Meteora”) / number of days between “Through the Eyes” and “Meteora”

This Metal Century

This post will not be about basketball.

This post is about other stuff.  Heavy stuff.  It’s about the best metal albums of this century.  And no, I’m not going to make a huge list of THE BEST METAL ALBUMS: FINALLY RANKED.  I’m going to choose some albums I think are the best and I’m going to write a lot of words about what I think makes them good.  I’m also going to choose some albums I feel like I should have paid more attention to and write about why I think they worked.

Starting with the list of albums from 2001-2005.  Articles about the albums to follow.

2001

Aerosmith – Just Push Play

Chimaira – Pass  Out of Existence

Converge – Jane Doe

Opeth – Blackwater Park

Pig Destroyer – Prowler in the Yard

Slayer – God Hates Us All

Slipknot – Iowa

Static X – Machine

Tool – Lateralus

2002

The Dillinger Escape Plan – Irony is a Dead Scene

Down –  Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow

Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

In Flames – Reroute to Remain

ISIS – Oceanic

Killswitch Engage – Alive or Just Breathing

Mastodon – Remission

Norma Jean – Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child

Opeth – Deliverance

Shadows Fall – The Art of Balance

2003

As I Lay Dying – Frail Words Collapse

Between the Buried and Me – Silent Circus

Chimaira – The Impossibility of Reason

Deftones – Deftones

Dimmu Borgir – Death Cult Armageddon

Every Time I Die – Hot Damn!

Lamb of God – As the Palaces Burn

Metallica – St. Anger (has to be discussed)

Opeth – Damnation

Throwdown – Haymaker

2004

The Chariot – Everything Is Alive, Everything Is Breathing

Damageplan – New Found Power

The Dillinger Escape Plan – Miss Machine

Fear Factory – Archetype

In Flames – Soundtrack to Your Escape

ISIS – Panopticon

Killswitch Engage – The End of Heartache

Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake

Mastodon – Leviathan

Slipknot – Vol. 3

Unearth – The Oncoming Storm

2005

Black Dahlia Murder – Miasma

Chimaira – Chimaira

Clutch – Robot Hive/Exodus

Every Time I Die – Gutter Phenomenon

Fear Factory – Transgression

Gojira – From Mars to Sirius

Job for a Cowboy – Doom

Limp Bizkit – The Unquestionable Truth (part 1)

Norma Jean – O God the Aftermath

Opeth – Ghost Reveries

Roadrunner United – The All Star Sessions

System of a Down – Hypnotize & Mezmerize

Through the Eyes of the Dead – Bloodlust

Trivium – Ascendancy

More to come!

P.s. – goddaaaaaaaamn 2004 was a good year

Wrapping up 2015: College Basketball Edition

It was a down year in college basketball for me. It speaks to the direction of the game that I have to force myself to watch college ball over the NBA. Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems like the basketball crowd is swinging towards the NBA more each year. I’m hearing fewer and fewer people throw out the blanket statement, “The NBA sucks. I like college.” Regardless, NCAA hoops will always have one of the 4 greatest sporting events, and it has the benefit of occurring annually. (My other 3: Super Bowl, Ryder Cup and World Cup.) 2015 was no exception to the rule, so let’s wrap up the NCAA tourney and peer into our glass ball for the future of college basketball.

The Final

Duke deserved the title. Their game plan was solid, subtle adjustments worked for them, and the players executed down the stretch. With Tyus Jones’ huge shots, their defense might get lost in the mix. But defense won the game for the Dukies. The Blue Devils knew what Wisconsin wanted to do and tailored their defensive game plan accordingly. Wisconsin needed more Kaminsky, but Duke made that extremely difficult, if not impossible. The number of times Tank had to start moves with a dribble drive had to be at least double the average. Frank can do it, but he IS still a slow footed 7 footer. Enough hands and bodies forced him to give it up more times than not. Combine that with the guard pressure challenging all passes, and getting Frank Kaminsky the ball on the block was quite the task.

Wisconsin did not deserve the title. The best players were outperformed down the stretch. Dekker’s shot looked tired. The pressure bothered the guards, and Bo Ryan played the same way he had all year, which means high screens absolutely killed them. Coach K knew he could get Tyus Jones a shot at any time because there was not going to be a show from the big. The offense looked pathetic against the zone Duke employed, negating any foul trouble advantages. Wisconsin would never change their offensive game plan, but the Badger’s offense would have benefitted from a few set plays in the vein of an NBA offense. Spread shooters out and set some high pick and rolls. Koenig could beat his man, but there was too much trash at the top of the key and lane any time he did. Spreading Duke out and working a two man game would have produced some better looks, especially in crunch time.

The refs need to be relegated. Can we do that? Those three should be officiating junior high girls next year. In the NBA, rarely are refs labeled this dependably bad. Consistency was the issue. Consistency from the first half to the second half, consistency from outside the lane to at the basket. Duke’s guards were handsy and bodying Wisconsin guards up and down the court. That was fine in the first half, as I felt that was happening on both sides, all over the court. The refs must have looked at the foul total, or heard Coach K talk at halftime. Duke was given the benefit of the doubt with every collision at the rim. There were 4 calls that were just not fouls and if anything, should have been praised as good defense. Duke’s guards have a bad (is it bad if it works?) habit of using their off arm to clear out space. When the defender tries to recover, the offensive player throws his body forward to create contact. What are NBA refs taught that college refs aren’t? Why are NBA refs so much better at simply not blowing their whistle?

And why the hell do we even have reviews? 5 minutes were wasted to get it wrong. From this tournament, college basketball has to revamp the review system, or just scratch it, because the NCAA is obviously clueless. The MLB and NFL have implemented some sort of off the field crew. Why could this not be done for the Final Four??? The ball was clearly off Winslow, from every angle.  I understand how the ball was rewarded to Duke initially, but every replay angle indicated otherwise. I do not enjoy watching three grown men make fools of themselves.

NBA Potential

Frank Kaminsky: Best Case – Poor man’s Gasol, Worst Case – Chris Kaman

Frank is soft on defense. I’m not sure if he was trying to avoid foul trouble, or if he just is that movable on the block. He will have to be able to stand his ground in the NBA. He uses his body very intelligently, and I think he will be able to rebound at the NBA level. His offense is more than NBA ready, so teams will have to judge where he fits into their defensive schemes. Barring injury, he’ll make money playing basketball for a while.

Sam Dekker: Best Case – Matt Barnes, Worst Case – Chase Budinger

Dekker has to work on his outside shooting and defense. I see him as a slasher that can hold his own on defense. He’ll never be a stopper but should defend well in a scheme. The jumper will be the key. If he develops a midrange that is at least a threat and can shoot 40% from three, then that will help set up the strengths we all saw in the Final Four.

Jahlil Okafor: Best Case – DeMarcus Cousins, Worst Case – Brook Lopez

Freshmen are always difficult to project, which is why the range is wider. At worst case, Jahlil will be a force to be reckoned with on the offensive end, as he already possesses a solid offensive infrastructure for a big. If he stays in shape, works on 16’ jumpers and is ready to work on defense at least 75% of the time, then he’s a slightly less athletic Boogie without the baggage. If he doesn’t, he’ll be getting 30 touches a night for a 30 win team as opposing bigs make him their son. No offense Brook.

Justise Winslow: Best Case – James Harden, Worse Case – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Athleticism is not difficult to project. Winslow could never improve his jumper, forget how to get to the basket, insult Dorothy Mantooth and still be a force in the NBA with his athleticism. USA today  compared him to Jimmy Butler or Kawhi. Those two did not have the aggression or ball handling that Justise has coming out of college. Now, Winslow is still raw. He has moments where he predetermines he’s going to the basket, which will not work at the next level. However, he’s got the Eurostep and left handedness going for him already…

Going forward

It was a fairly typical regular season. The Big Ten beat each other up. The ACC was strong and showed it in the tourney. The Big 12 was strong and took a crap at center court because some things never change. Whatever the Big East is now had a couple good teams, then failed to meet expectations. West coast basketball, as we used to know it, doesn’t exist anymore.

I want to look at the bigger picture moving forward in college basketball. The toothpaste, as the saying goes, is out of the tube. Coach K is now recruiting freshmen that will, in all likelihood, leave after a year. This year you saw what a good coach can do with a couple of those players. Duke was up and down all season, but that’s because Krzyzewski had to speed his process up. He had one season to fit pieces together instead of 2 or 3. While this resulted in some bad losses early, the skipper found out what he needed to know about his 18 and 19 year old kids. We saw how that came together in the tournament.

This is not saying Calipari is a bad coach; he just isn’t a great one. He’s an amazing recruiter and a solid coach. He’s just not transcendent, for whatever reason, with the X’s and O’s,and it cost them against Wisconsin. You can bet Coach K will always put his kids in a position to win, which is scary for all the rest.

So who is the next one to give in to the reality of college basketball? Bo Ryan will be the last. Tom Crean probably doesn’t know who won the national championship. Does Izzo jump next? Look out for Shaka down in Texas. Within 2 years that program will be formidable. Eventually, UCLA will hit on a prospect and jumpstart their program. Arizona has already started down that road.

Other programs will start selling out for these guys yearly. Previously, I think programs wanted the Kentucky players, but coaches were afraid they were just wasting time, and wondered if they could even win that way. Duke just proved you can, even without an Anthony Davis type superstar. If the rules regarding NBA eligibility don’t change, college basketball is drifting towards 6 or so elite teams that get the majority of these recruits and duel it out at the end of the year. There will be a few programs here and there that compete with a traditional approach, but even those team require running into NBA talent (see Wisconsin). Do we really want to see Kentucky, Texas and Duke battle it out each year? It’s good for the programs, but how good is it for the sport? How good is it for the players?

Thoughts on the 2015 Tournament

2015’s tournament ended up being the most entertaining one I’ve seen in nine or ten years.  Unfortunately, the brackets broke down in a way that forced me to confront a lot of my subsurface, unsorted views on the college basketball system as a whole.  My favorite part of the tournament was the entire second weekend: great games and personalities all around (Stainbrook 4 lyfe).

My biggest disappointment from the tournament ended up being the country-wide disdain for Kentucky’s players.  I watched just about all their tourney games (I think I missed their first and maybe second rounders) and several during the season.  Yeah, they were disproportionately good and yeah, I understand it gets old watching the same team be good year after year.  I know Calipari comes off slimy and tends to give (at best) semi-pompous interviews, but, I definitely was a convert.  That team was really fun.  I don’t mean that in the sense that they won, but it was how they won.  They flew around the court with three or four players playing above the rim against teams who were lucky if they had two guys who could even dunk.  Their starting five were usually faster, taller, and much more talented than anyone on the other team: there were players on Kentucky’s bench who likely would have started for every team they played this season.  I don’t ever remember seeing a team (granted, I didn’t watch 2012 Kentucky nearly as much as 2015 Kentucky) dominate the way this group did.

After looking back on their incredible run: I really don’t think those kids ever came off as jerks (I’m not counting the Aaron Harrison press conference because he’d just finished what was probably the hardest game of his life).  They played hard and they weren’t afraid to embarrass teams on the court, but for the most part they expressed themselves through their play.  Love or hate the Fab Five, this Kentucky team was not them (though the results were similar).

Following Kentucky’s loss to Wisconsin over the weekend, I sensed a Notre Dame over Miami-ish level of excitement from the sports narrative nebula.  I understand the thrill of seeing an underdog win, but the fervor that accompanied this particular upset made me uncomfortable.  So, why the hate?  Was it because every one of their players may leave UK to take their talents to the NBA?  Was it because no one likes Coach Calipari?  Bringing this back to Coach K doing things the Right Way: this morning the front page of ESPN ran an article with the lede, “Maybe it wasn’t the easiest adjustment, but Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski adjusted to a one-and-done era.  And this young team won it all in this new world.”

I’m never excited when Duke wins anything because I get so sick of the persisting “Coach K does it the right way” narrative.  But, last night was particularly confounding because it’s become clear the “right way” has become “the Coach K Way” rather than being based on an idyllic set of rules that govern how college basketball should be.  It shuns the idea of self above the program, as long as convenient while maintaining elite level talent.  Coach K has spent the last six years aligning himself with the NBA’s megastars, thereby setting himself up to be a desirable destination for college players of any type: one-and-dones and 4 year starters alike.  Given how much time and resources Duke and Coach K have put into obtaining the highest level recruits, why is Duke given a pass for the one-and-done while Kentucky is the villain?

Salted Rims and Frosted Mugs: The Dramatic Conclusion to Martini Madness

The Madness took place this past weekend in the country of Texas, and it was glorious. Every cocktail was mixed, there was a diverse enough group for educated opinions, and everyone was open minded about trying fancy, old fashioned cocktails that they had previously never had the privilege of sampling. Did it get a little sloppy? Yes. Did I take notes? Absolutely not. We did adjust recipes on the fly (mostly for the better), which I noted. Before I recap, a few notes:

1. I liked every cocktail. This was not surprising, as I had a say in all 8 drinks chosen and created one of them. Drinkability was the goal, so the adjustments were not necessarily what I would have done if making a drink for myself.
2. Nobody remembers The Casino.
3. Two Royal Rumbles were streamed in what I assume was their entirety during the drinking.
4. At some point, one of my best friends and I decided we wanted to listen to the entire Sunburn Album by Fuel.
5. We ended up watching very little basketball this time around, though it WAS on a TV.
6. Not one glass was broken, and there were only minor spills.
7. The order was fairly arbitrary, as I decided where to start then we just tried to mix up the type of drinks to get some good palate contrast.
8. Every drink was served up.
9. Drinks were graded on a scale of 1 – 10, then averaged to complete the bracket. The final was poll style.
10. I estimate that the drinks average out to 7 drinks per recipe. 12 different drinkers sampled at least one. 5 people had at least one of every cocktail. Taking this into consideration, we started with 5 bottles of booze and only 2 half bottles were remaining.

The gins were Tanqueray 10, Hayman’s Old Tom and Waterloo Texas style, because GUNS. Whiskeys were Rittenhouse high rye bourbon and Slow & Low straight rye whiskey.

Mix-up #1 – (4)Lucien Gaudin vs (5)Pegu Club

Pegu Club recipe – 1.75 oz Tanqueray 10, 0.5 oz Cointreau, 0.5 oz fresh lime juice, 3-4 dashes Angostura, 1-2 dashes orange bitters, shaken vigorously, lime slice garnish

This was the point where the newcomers realized how bad this could get. To their credit, I sampled one of the first mixtures, and the gin was strong. The Tanqueray 10 was throwing down. I added another 0.25 oz Cointreau for the second mix, and we were all in agreement that it was better and indeed a fine cocktail. Knocking back the lime juice off the initial recipe was a good thing as the citrus notes were about perfect. However, it increased the gin enough to make it too boozy. Change the Cointreau to 0.75 oz for individual cocktails, and you will be just fine.

Lucien Gaudin – 1.5 oz Tanqueray 10, 0.75 oz Campari, 0.75 oz Cointreau, 0.75 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth, stirred, orange zest garnish

This was the point when I realized the Campari was not going to be received as well as I hoped. It was an excellent drink, but the participants had a hard time getting over the bitter. It did grow on a few though as it rallied the last half of the drink to at least make us do the math.

Pegu advances.

Mix-up #2 – (3)Brooklyn vs (6)The Human Blender

Brooklyn – 2 Rittenhouse high rye bourbon, 1 Dolin Dry Vermouth, 0.25 oz Maraschino Liqueur, 1-2 dashes orange bitters, stirred, no garnish

It was time for whiskey to make its premiere, while all were still fairly lucid. This was a gorgeous drink, with the hues from the bitters and whiskey levitating delicately in the cocktail. And that was before we tried it. It was easily the best received cocktail of the night, though partially to the order in which the drinks were made. The Rittenhouse was fabulous in this mixture, and the drink warmed very, very nicely. No modifications necessary here.

The Human Blender (previously The Jugle) – 2 oz Old Tom gin, 1 oz sweet vermouth, ½ oz Campari, 4-6 dashes orange bitters

I’ve experimented with this drink quite a bit, and I think I perfected it. However, I like Campari, and I was using St. George’s Dry Rye gin.  These were two factors I did not consider when adding it to the competition. It did miss the absinthe rinse, but I don’t think that would have pushed it past The Brooklyn.

Brooklyn moves on easily.

Mix-up #3 – (1) Martinez vs (8) Casino

This was where the contest went south, and intellectual discussions about the cocktails came to a halt (at least for me). A better way to explain it? 2 bottles of liquor were drained this round: the Hayman’s and Tanqueray 10.

Martinez – 1.5 oz Old Tom gin, 1 oz sweet vermouth, 1 tsp Maraschino, 1-2 dashes orange bitters, stirred.

Casino – 2 oz gin, tsp fresh lemon juice, tsp Maraschino, 2 dashes orange bitters, cherry garnish

Nobody could tell me anything about the Casino, but I do remember The Martinez went over quite well and is a proven champion. Good enough for me.

Martinez advances.

Mix-up #4 – (2) Gibson vs (7) Al Capone

Gibson – 3 oz Waterloo gin, 1.5 oz Noilly Prat Original dry, tsp onion brine, stirred, cocktail onion

The Gibson is both my favorite martini and savory cocktail overall. However, we hadn’t really had anything savory up to this point, and the Gibson was cocktail #8 on the day. Another factor was the strength of the onion brine. I have been making my own for a while now, but this was store bought and had a lot more kick than anything I make.  I thought the drink was delicious, but several found the onion taste entirely too strong. We cut it for a second mix, and everyone found it nice. The Waterloo had a ton going on though, so it probably was not the best gin to use for a solid Gibson.

Al Capone – 2 oz rye whiskey, 1 oz sweet vermouth, 0.25 oz Campari, shaken, orange zest garnish

I was so pumped up for the Al Capone I didn’t let myself experiment with the recipe in the weeks before the dance. The thought of a Negroni with rye was enticing enough that I wanted the virgin experience. I’m not sure what whiskey was used (The bottle of Redemption was housed for this one), but I loved the drink. It ran into the same Campari issue, which thinking about now I probably should have adjusted. If the Campari is halved and replaced with a 3-4 dashes of orange bitters, the drink has the same effect without the Campari’s personality sticking out too much. Too late at this point, but luckily for Al, the Gibson shot 23% from the field on this particular day.

Al Capone moves on.

Based on scores, Brooklyn and Martinez moved to the final. This was it, Gonzaga vs Kentucky, perennial underdog against the all but crowned champ…

Based on 9 votes, the underdog Brooklyn took it, 6-3.

All things considered, it was the best Martini Madness to date. Respond in the comments with your favorites or any suggestions for 2016.

Cheers.

Salted Rims and Frosted Mugs: Martini Madness 2015

In 2013, a friend and I discovered Slate’s Martini Madness. The first year we had no idea what we were doing and had few of the ingredients actually needed. So we just bought a couple bottles of gin and did our best. We sampled about 8 cocktails, and I can’t even remember which ones they were at this point. Unbeknownst to us, we were starting a new tradition. Over the last two years, it has evolved into 8 cocktails that participants sample, then grade and discuss to determine a winner. We narrow down the field based on ingredients, so you do not have to have a full bar to make all the drinks. This year’s spirits are Gin and Rye Whiskey, and the liqueurs are Maraschino and Cointreau.

Match ups and seeds:

(1) The Martinez vs (8) Casino Cocktail – Last year’s champ takes on a boozy gin based drink.

Comparable first round match-up: Louisville vs UC Irvine

(4) Lucien Gaudin vs (5) Pegu Club – Two classic (but not well known) cocktails making their first appearances. LG is Negroni based while Pegu Club is a twist on the Margarita.

UNI vs Wyoming

(2) The Gibson vs (7) Al Capone – Last year’s runner up takes on the gangster’s twist on the Boulevardier.

Butler vs Texas

(3) Brooklyn vs (6) The Jugle – Probably the most well known drink in the 2015 draw runs into the only original cocktail in the mix.

UNC vs Harvard

The Jugle

2 oz rye based gin (I prefer St. George’s Dry Rye Gin)

1 oz sweet vermouth

1/2 oz Campari

4-6 dashes orange bitters

Stir in an iced shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze a lemon peel over the drink and run it over the rim of the glass. I like an absinthe rinse with this one as well, but I don’t find it necessary.

 

There they are. I’ll have a full write-up of everything I can remember next week. In the meantime, please try some of these out on your own as they are all excellent libations.

Salted Rims and Frosted Mugs: Marie Brizard Apry

I have spent countless hours examining cocktail recipes. I relish Sunday mornings where I can look through recipes and experiment with new ingredients and spirits. However, there’s one that I could not find anywhere locally but is called for specifically in multiple recipes: Apricot Brandy. And not just any apricot brandy, but the French-made Marie Brizard Apry. I experimented with cheaper versions of the liqueur, but the stuff I bought always turned my cocktails way too sweet, sometimes undrinkable. I moved onto other recipes, thinking I would run into the true apricot brandy eventually.

It never happened, so a week ago I did something I previously had never done. I purchased alcohol online. It was one of the greatest days of my life. I have managed to not spend my life savings thus far, but there are no guarantees.

I am going to make 4 cocktails that call for Apry. The Slope, Barnum (was right), Golden Dawn, and the Pendennis.

First up, Barnum. The recipe: 2 oz gin, 1 oz Apry, 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice, and 2 dashes angostura bitters. Shake and strain. The type of gin wasn’t specified, and I chose Plymouth.

The drink is still sweet, but in the best possible way. Sweetness comes first, but the gin is still there and the taste is sharp, not muddled in the least. For some reason I typically find drinks with lime or lemon juice too tart. I can only attribute it to my Midwestern palate. However, I used the prescribed amount of fresh juice in this one, and it works beautifully. I do not prefer sweet cocktails, but I would definitely make this one again. It is most definitely an LPD, as it could quickly sneak up on you. Good thing college kids can’t afford to buy alcohol online. 8/10

Time for the Golden Dawn. Recipe calls for 0.75 oz Calvados, 0.75 oz dry gin, 0.75 oz Apry and 0.75 oz orange juice. I will be substituting Laird’s straight apple brandy because, America. Also, I’ll be using up the last of my Bulldog London Dry. Floating a miniscule amount of pomegranate grenadine makes the drink beautiful, but is not necessary.

After the first couple sips, I thought this drink tasted like a slightly worse version of the first one. However, as I got a little deeper into it I began to enjoy it more. The Laird’s balances out the sweet, but it does a better job than the lemon juice in the first drink. It also has a nice award at the bottom, much like an old fashioned where not all of the sugar was dissolved initially. 8.5/10

Batting in the 3 spot in this lineup is the Pendennis Cocktail. It is similar to the first, but substitutes Peychaud’s and lime juice. 2 oz gin, 1 oz Apry, 3 dashes Peychaud’s and 3/4 oz lime juice. Shake and strain. Once again, I will be using Plymouth as my gin.

Tart tart tart. Definitely too much lime juice for me. The drink did mellow as I got into it, but the lime juice still dominated the drink. I would not go any more than 1/2 oz lime juice if I were to make it again. Still, with all this being said, it was a good sipper, just not nearly as drinkable as the first two. Combine this with the possibility of playing with the lime juice, and I think this drink has potential. 7/10

Running anchor in this competition is The Slope. This is the only drink with rye, and it uses the Apry sparingly, so I am more than a little excited to sample this concoction. 0.25 oz Apry, 1 oz sweet vermouth, 2 oz rye whiskey, 2 dashes Angostura. Stir this one, then strain. I’m using Martini & Rossi Torino and Jim Beam Rye.

Sweet Jesus, this is a drink. Wow. I would describe it as a Manhattan on the Mark McGuire regimen of vitamins. It’s as if they’ve taken a Manhattan and added 5 layers of complexity to it. It really is amazing how the flavors come through like an assembly line. It almost gives a nutty aftertaste, which is something I would have never suspected from a drink with these ingredients. Amazing drink, and I do believe I’ll be adding a splash of Marie Brizard Apry to my Manhattans whenever I can from now on. Two issues with the drink though… the first is my own doing, as I used Jim Beam Rye. I do believe this drink would greatly benefit from a more mellow rye (Rittenhouse was suggested). I would also prefer this drink with a couple large ice cubes, to keep it nice and cold without watering it down too fast. 9.5/10

The drink with the rye was my favorite, but the first two were also delicious. They would come in especially handy if you have a friend that claims to not enjoy gin. Make him or her one of these, and I do believe you will change some minds. Marie Brizard is a liqueur with a permanent place in my bar, right alongside Campari.

Craft Cocktails by Brian Van Flandern was used for “The Slope”.

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haleigh were used for the other three cocktails.

Please note your favorite uses of Marie Brizard Apry or discuss the ones I listed above.

Salted Rims and Frosted Mugs: Best Gin for a Gibson?

I discovered the Gibson last year during an annual tradition called Martini Madness. It amazed me. I do not like dirty martinis or olives in my martinis, so I didn’t expect to enjoy the Gibson, but the onion brine was much friendlier to my palate those first two libations. Since then, I have pickled my own onions, experimented with gins and vermouths and toyed with proportions. I never documented any of it, but today I am sharing a Gibson experiment with my dedicated readers.

The experiment is simple. 3 different types of gin, one recipe, myself and a blind taster.

First, the gins: Plymouth, Hendrick’s and Bulldog London dry.

Next, the recipe. 2 to 1 Gin to Noilly Prat Original French Dry, 2 teaspoons brine, shaken gently with ice and garnished with a cocktail onion.

First up was the Hendrick’s. The Scottish gin is my favorite gin in a Negroni (though I reduce the Campari), so I had fairly high hopes. First impression is a good warm alcohol burn. It’s a crisp drink, with some cucumber notes coming through. The finish is slightly muddled, but still smooth. It did not warm up well, so I would advise one drink this one quickly. (It wasn’t a problem for these professional drinkers.)

I decided to go with the Bulldog next. First thoughts after a sip: much less burn, and not in a good way. This drink is much more floral than the first. It also seemed to taste worse more quickly… about halfway through the drink. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad drink, and I wouldn’t be upset if I received it at a nice cocktail bar, but it lacked personality. If I made it again I would go 3-1 on the gin, but as constructed it simply wasn’t memorable.

Last up was the Plymouth. This is a gin I have never tried in a Gibson, so I was quite excited to mix this one up. The drink was not nearly as floral as the London Dry. A very savory taste, but not too salty. It had the same warm burn as the Hendrick’s though the finish was much more precise. Of the three, this was the one that we could really taste the personality of the gin coming through. It also warmed up the best, though it was my third martini in about an hour… Our testing was done, and it was time to compare notes.

A quick background on the blind taster. She is not a lover of martinis and typically prefers sweeter cocktails. She would probably choose vodka for a martini if asked her preference. That’s a choice she was not given for this trial.

Her ratings matched up with mine as far as the preferred order. Plymouth, Hendrick’s then the Bulldog, though she thought the Hendrick’s and Plymouth were closer in taste than I did. She would not ask for the Bulldog one again, but had no problems with the other two and was fairly surprised she enjoyed them as much as she did. The bottom line: if at a bar that makes a killer Gibson, do not be afraid to try a gin outside of the traditional London Dry. However, if you spot Plymouth hiding behind the bar, these amateur mixologists recommend starting with that one.

Let me know how you like your Gibson in the comments!

A haters take on balls not inflated to regulation

The readers of this blog (and pretty much the entire sports world) have been begging me to post my opinions on DEFLATEGATE. Because of my extreme dislike of all things Belichickian and Bradian, I have refrained. Trust me, it has nothing to do with the fact I haven’t posted in several months. Regardless, sometimes you have to give the masses what they desire.

They did it. There, I said it. End post. The Patriots cut corners constantly, and Bill Belichick is a very smart man (with a surprisingly hard to spell last name now that I am actually having to write it). Tom Brady is an excellent QB, but one who has struggled throwing the football the past few years. The forecast was calling for rain/wind all week. Is it really that absurd that to think the Patriots may conspire to gain a slight advantage with the balls? The people that are shocked or surprised are just not intelligent or Boston fans. That said, everyone (even Patriots) are innocent until proven guilty.

Wait… no they aren’t! This isn’t a court of law. It’s a professional sports organization with a commissioner (I almost said with a governing body, but then I caught myself and started cackling manically). They have a track record. 11 of 12 balls were underinflated. If I were the NFL, I would simply state this fact and say that the Patriots are guilty, putting the onus on the organization to come up with a story. Of course, I would secretly still be doing my own research. Then, when the Patriots produce their explanation, the NFL will have their own information.

Which leads me into what is probably the most ridiculous part of the story… the gray area that is the footballs, prepping and inflating the footballs, etc. Why is this not defined clearly? I have no problem with allowing the teams to rub them up, inflate them to their liking and pass them over to the officials for inspection. I don’t even have a problem with turning them back over to the team, though it’s not how I would do it if I were writing the rules for a multi-billion dollar league. But, if that is the protocol, how can it not be the Patriots fault? The balls were in spec, returned back to the Patriots, then found to be out of spec. Common sense tells you that something happened, and that the Patriots were to blame.

If you are a manager at a manufacturing plant, and bad product is produced for a shift, do the customers or purchasers really care about the specifics? They are not concerned that a second shift operator was on her period, fought with her boyfriend and just didn’t give a shit that day. So why should it matter what happened to the balls? Do we really think that somebody sabotaged the footballs? Was it a Colts’ spy? Oh, and why we are operating under the theory that a Colts’ spy somehow got into the Pats organization, I’ll also add that it managed to happen to the most paranoid organization in American professional sports. Yes, that is definitely what took place.

Finally, the debate about temperature change accounting for the difference needs to stop. Based on weather conditions that day, temp change would have been around 20 degrees, which is not enough to cause a significant change, unless somehow 90 degree air was put in the balls or they were stored in a very cold place. If the air inside the balls or storage temperature was manipulated, it is the same as deflating them. “Ha, I got you NFL! We didn’t deflate them, we just put 120 degree air in them. Can’t blame us! We’re smart and edgy.” My apologies, that last one was a little over the top.

The Patriots should be held accountable unless the organization can prove without a doubt that they had no involvement at all. This, of course, will not happen. There will be a fall guy, a fine and lost draft picks, then business will resume as usual. The legacy questions will gain even more traction, and the NFL will have something to discuss until the draft. The NFL world turns on, per usual. At the very least, maybe the Shield can find a way to protect their balls going forward.

Salted Rims and Frosted Mugs: The Manhattan, Rye vs. Bourbon

It’s a question that’s been asked many times [at least in my head]. Bourbon or rye in a Manhattan? I have always preferred rye in any cocktail that doesn’t specifically call for bourbon, so it’s a no brainer for me. However, one night while travelling for work I got terrifically wasted on delicious bourbon manhattans. My brother swears by knob creek bourbon in most of his cocktails, so I decided it at least required a side by side taste test for my favorite winter drink.

The Ingredients

Jefferson’s straight rye whiskey, Four Roses small batch bourbon, Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth (fresh of course), Angostura bitters

The Recipe 

2 parts whiskey, 1 part vermouth, 3 dashes bitters

It’s important for a Manhattan to not be shaken vigorously, so I like to stir or “swirl” in the shaker so I’m not forcing the whiskey and vermouth into an awkward sexual encounter that neither of them wants. They will be served up for easier comparison, even though I prefer my Manhattans on the rocks.

The rye version: it’s fairly perfect sooooo, end of taste test. Kidding, kidding. The rye allows the vermouth to come through nicely upfront with a delightful, spicy whiskey finish. It’s smooth enough to drink fast and complex enough to sip and savor. It’s not a drink that behaves the same as it warms, however, with the whiskey forcing itself to the front and making the cocktail a little rougher to drink.

The bourbon version: much sweeter at first taste, but not necessarily in a bad way. However, the drink suffers at the finish. It’s a muddled sweet taste with very little of the complexity and none of the spiciness. I do like the bourbon taste more as it warms though, most likely due to the sweetness.

However, there is hope here. Less vermouth, or maybe even combine it with some dry to negate some of the sweetness? I think the one that snuck up on me was made with homemade bitters, so some experimenting there might help as well.

However, for now I will stick with the rye.

Winner: Rye Manhattan. Give me your preferences for this classic in the comments.