Days That End in Y

I was recently browsing Amazon deciding how best to waste my $40 gift certificate and came across this posted to the Amazon Daily Blog

Basil Vodka Gimlets

Ingredients:
4 cups packed fresh basil sprigs (top 4 inches; from a 1/2-pound bunch)
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
9 (4- by 1-inch) strips lemon zest
3/4 cup vodka
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup ice cubes

For garnish: Fresh basil sprigs; lemon zest strips

Directions:
1. Make the basil-lemon simple syrup: Bring basil, water, sugar, and lemon zest to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Let stand at room temperature, covered, 1 hour, then transfer to an airtight container and chill until cold, about 1 hour. Strain syrup through a sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on it and then discarding solids.
2. In a pitcher, stir together 1 cup of cold basil-lemon simple syrup, the vodka, the lemon juice, and the ice cubes. Strain into 8- to 10-ounce glasses half filled with ice. Garnish with fresh basil sprigs and strips of lemon zest.

Makes 6 drinks.

Via Al Dente

What the hell is a basil vodka gimlet? The name makes me cringe, as it simply tells me absolutely nothing informative about this drink except that it was concocted by someone linguistically challenged.

Generally, a gimlet is defined as gin and lime juice. Many recipes call specifically for Rose’s lime juice. In fact, a handy mnemonic for remembering the recipe is calling it a “gin-let”, silently to yourself of course. This recipe calls for neither gin nor lime juice! Instead, it calls for vodka and lemon juice. As a handy reference for future bartenders: vodka ≠ gin and lemon ≠ lime. For the love of tiki, don’t call it a gimlet! It’s not a gimlet! It’s something else! It’s so far from being a gimlet that I wouldn’t even call it a variation. Yeah, limes and lemons are pretty closely related and vodka is replacing gin in just about everything now, but come on! This is getting out of hand!

This phenomenon is of course not limited to presumably overpaid Amazon blog writers. There’s the ubiquitous martini, for example, that we cocktail lovers harp on about constantly. To beat a dead horse, let’s be clear: a martini is a drink made of gin and dry vermouth. It even says so in the dictionary. I may even forgive you for referring to a martini made of vodka and dry vermouth as simply a “martini” rather than a “vodka martini”, as this transgression has become so common and Bond is still a badass. However, a martini is absolutely not made with chocolate syrup, apple juice, or espresso beans. That’s why traditional variations have their own names, e.g., the Gibson, or specify that they’re not true martinis via the use of modifiers, e.g., the vodka martini or (blech) the tequila martini.

These misnomers aren’t even limited to the cocktail crowd. Take the word “imperial” for example. What does it mean? I’m not sure anyone really knows anymore. “Imperial” used to refer only to the Imperial Russian Stout, which was beer brewed specifically for the Tsar of Russia. Imperial stouts have high alcohol contents, which were originally used to preserve the beer on long trips to places like Russia. These days, “imperial” can refer to pretty much any beer style and has lost some meaning by gaining all sorts of other meanings. In fact, the BJCP’s style guidelines for the Imperial IPA actually state, “The adjective ‘Imperial’ is arbitrary and simply implies a stronger version of an IPA; “double,” “extra,” “extreme,” or any other variety of adjectives would be equally valid.” These days, you can even buy an Imperial Pilsner (that doesn’t even list an ABV) or an Imperial Saison.

While I’m no conservative when it comes to language and realize that language is alive and constantly evolving, I do appreciate it when words remain clear and meaningful. After all, what’s the point of describing something as a “gimlet”, as a “martini”, or as “imperial” if these words don’t actually mean anything? These misnomers simply serve to confuse and detract rather than to clarify and enhance. Just think of all those people who might never discover the wonders of a real martini just because they had some crappy pomegranate martini before. Besides, what were the creators of these concoctions thinking when they created these names? It seems like they were merely trying to siphon some success from already successful drinks rather than attempting to name the newborns properly.

Unfortunately, the future seems dismal for us uptight enunciators, but while we’re sober, we ought to at least try to to delay the inevitable corruption of drinking culture via careful diction. I for one would be ordering a basil vodka cocktail, chocolate fake martini, or double IPA. Well, maybe I wouldn’t order the first two anyway.

You may have noticed a paucity of posts here at Days That End in Y. Don’t worry. That trend isn’t continuing. However, one that’s definitely ending is the frequency of posts. Instead of returning to the days of half a dozen or more posts per day, I’ll be writing less frequent but longer and more thoughtful posts. While I don’t think I risk death by blogging, this seems like the best direction to keep this site alive. I do enjoy writing, I do enjoy drinking, and I do enjoy operating this website, but I do also need to focus more energy elsewhere.

If all goes as planned, you should find me blogging from various parts of Europe over the next month and from various locations on the eastern seaboard shortly thereafter. Later in the year, there may even be a cross-country trip, provided the cost of gas doesn’t kill the idea! If you have any suggestions for must-see sites like wineries, breweries, and bars for absolutely anywhere in the country, then let me know! I’m always excited to diversify the experience here outside of Boston. I know I oftentimes focus on local events a bit too much.

That said, I have a couple great posts that I hope you’ll enjoy coming up over the next week!

And speaking of Boston, I might as well mention a few upcoming local events that I think are worthwhile to attend, even if you’re not from the area. Unfortunately, I have to miss a number of them!

• Beer Summit: The Beer Summit is back April 18-19. There are sixty-six confirmed brewers in attendance who will be dishing out unlimited samples at three sessions!
• NERAX: NERAX (New England Real Ale Exhibition) throws its twelfth annual shindig this April 30-May 3 in Davis Square. I think of this as the American counterpart to CAMRA. Indeed, from what I understand, casks are filled up all across Europe and then flown to the USA by CAMRA for this event. Then, those same casks are filled up all across the USA and flown to the UK for their events. I’ve seriously never seen more casks in one room before. They also need volunteers, which was definitely a blast for me last year working security and clean-up.
• Harpoon 5-Miler: You can either run or volunteer at this charity event benefiting The Angel Fund on June 7. Scarily, dehydrated runners get two free beers immediately after running five miles, but it’s all in the name of fun and helping others. I volunteered a couple years ago and highly enjoyed it. I’ll be back again this year.
• American Craft Beer Fest: Beer Advocate returns with its usual awesome festival June 20-21, except this one will be ten times as large! I can’t wait, and I plan on volunteering yet again! I do know that they will need many more volunteers than usual, so if you’re able, help them out!
• The Return of the Belgian Beer Fest: It’s never too early to plan for a beer fest September 26-27! I think this one’s supposed to be smaller than the June fest, so it just might sell out that much faster than usual.

I’d also like to give you a sneak preview at something I’ve been working on: the Boston Beer Trail. A full guide is coming shortly.

I’m dealing with a quintuple whammy of the Extreme Beer Fest, Beija event, Valentine’s Day, anniversary, and girlfriend’s friend visiting this and next week, so the blogging has been sparse. Factor in all the eBay sales (I’ve been trying to clear my apartment of crap in exchange for needed cash), the purchase of a Wii (that’s why I need cash), and miscellaneous stuff, and I simply have no time. Hopefully, this will all change on Tuesday.

Anyway, if you’re in Boston, then you should be attending the Extreme Beer Fest today and tomorrow! The Alström Brothers of Beer Advocate fame put together incredible events. Unfortunately, this one has been sold out for weeks, but you may be able to find tickets on Craigslist. In the meantime, you should plan for the monstrous American Craft Beer Fest, which will be at the World Trade Center June 20-21 (happily coinciding with my birthday).

There’s also an event at Alibi at the Liberty Hotel on Sunday night 10 PM - 1 AM with Beija. You’ll have to RSVP at info@Beija.net.

In the meantime, I don’t want to leave you completely high and dry with absolutely no booze news. Here’s a couple beer-themed tidbits that I found interesting. The video demonstrates how to melt a beer bottle in a microwave. Is it safe? I dunno. Don’t try it at home? As for the picture, it’s pretty self-explanatory, but it’s a diagram for how to cook beer chicken! Mmm…chicken…I haven’t had lunch yet.

The Fading Ad Blog has some pictures of the exteriors of old breweries. I’d love to see pictures of the insides, too. They must be hauntingly depressing. Then again, I’m not certain if these have been repurposed.

• Interboro Brewing Company
• Old Dutch Brewers, Inc.

Via Curbed

Thanks, Brian!

Ah, 6th Annual Winter Jubilee, I already miss you. As last time, the event was somewhat badly coordinated with no floor map available or list of beers, a line that went in front of the food (I made sure to eat beforehand), and lights that very annoyingly kept on flickering the whole time. It was also a bit too crowded, though the crowd thinned out a bit after a couple hours. Plus, most breweries brought a very limited selection of beers. Dogfish Head didn’t bring Randall like usual, Clipper City only had two despite having their whole Heavy Seas banner, and there were only two casks in the entire area.

However, I’m willing to discount most of these problems in exchange for fifty-five breweries all in one place pouring unlimited quantities of beer. I was also surprised at the speed at which I was able to get beer despite the large crowds. There were a number of great beers available, and most were good. There were a few really nasty ones that I ended up pouring out, though, in particular those from a small brewery on the North Shore. Here’s a tip for quickly assessing which beer to try: the hotter the chick pouring for you, the worse the beer. Ideally, you should be drinking beer poured by a fat old guy. I, of course, made the mistake of going to the two hottest women in the place and trying their beers. Not a good idea.

There were actually a few new beers that I hadn’t seen before, too, all of them imports. Unfortunately, I’m having trouble remembering what the heck they were because there was no beer list!!!

This time, we went to the second session, and I’m a bit torn as to whether going to the first or second is better. When in doubt, the answer is, of course, to go to both, but there are time, liver, and financial constraints. Anyway, I think the event was much improved from last year: they got rid of tickets and there’s now a cool mini mug. However, there’s still room for improvement. We’ll see how it goes next year.

In the meantime, the next two major events are the Wine Expo on Feb. 8-10 and the Extreme Beer Fest on Feb. 15-16. Unfortunately, the former is ridiculously expensive, and the latter is sold out. I will be at both.

Photo Credit: Michael Guo

What do you do with the carton after drinking 30 cans of crappy beer? Well…

moar funny pictures

I fell for yet another lolcat, though to be clear, I do realize this is not a cat! I’m not that drunk.

moar funny pictures

I just saw this very interesting post at DIY Maven about alternatives for beer, particularly flat beer, because you probably don’t want to waste fresh beer that could still be drunk. Here’s the list. Make sure you click through to get explanations:

1. Plant food
2. Bee killer
3. Slug and earwig killer
4. Pest distraction
5. Meat tenderizer
6. Gold polish
7. Hair therapy
8. Wood furniture cleaner
9. Coffee and tea stain remover

Via DIY Maven’s Blog

The Boston Wine Expo is coming soon on February 8-10. Are you going? I sure plan on it, though $75 is really pushing it for the cost of entry. Maybe they should cut down on the amount of television advertising and lower the ticket cost. Sheesh! However, I just found a discount code!!!

Use the code “GLOBE” and get $15 off the price of a Sunday or two-day ticket!

Bostonist also recently published some great tips about attending:

• Learn to spit.
• Go on Sunday.
• Go with a plan.
• Go if you’re single.

I also noticed that they’re adding a weekly drinks column, which should be interesting.

There are a couple other major drinking events in Boston that are coming up, too:

• Winter Jubilee: Tickets for Session 2 are already sold out! Session 1, however, is still available.
• Extreme Beer Fest: Beer Advocate always has some great events. If possible, I’ll be volunteering as usual.

If you want a chance to win Super Bowl tickets, then you can go submit a video at the Coors Light Super Bowl XLII Who Wants It More 2008 contest. However, just check out paragraph three of the official rules:

3. CONDITIONS OF ENTRY. Submitted video(s) must be the original creation(s) of the entrant and must mention Coors Light or Coors The Banquet beer. Obscene, offensive, disparaging, dangerous, defamatory, libelous, graphic, inapplicable, or sexually inappropriate videos, including, without limitation, those depicting violence, nudity, profanity, or illegal or sexually explicit activity or consumption of alcohol beverages, as determined at the sole and absolute discretion of the judges and Sponsor Entities, will not be considered. Videos may not use or reference NFL coaches, owners, players, past or current teams, famous people, or celebrities. Submitted video must be no shorter than 15 seconds and no longer than 120 seconds (two minutes) in length. Submitted video must be in .mov, .avi, or mpeg format; may not exceed a file size of 100 MB; and may not include any music. Any entry containing music will be disqualified. All persons appearing in submitted video must be at least 21 years of age at the time that video was filmed. The submitted video may not employ politics or political themes or consumption of alcohol beverages while driving; should not depict situations where beer is being consumed rapidly, excessively, involuntarily, as part of a drinking game, or as a result of dare; should not portray persons lacking control over their behavior, movement, or speech as a result of consuming beer; should not depict Santa Claus; should not employ religious themes; should not disparage competing beers; and should not depict gambling or betting on NFL games. By submitting an entry or accepting any prize, each entrant understands and agrees that his/her entry, including, without limitation, the video, may be posted online and further represents and warrants that his/her entry, in whole and in part: (i) is his/her original creation and has not been copied from any other work; (ii) does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary right of any person or entity; and (iii) is his/her sole and exclusive property. Each entrant further represents and warrants that he/she has obtained any third-party licenses, releases or other permissions that may be necessary with respect to any people or third-party property of any kind that are depicted in the entry. Sponsor reserves the right, in their sole and unfettered discretion, to disqualify at any time during the contest any video based on the belief that such film contains any materials that may infringe on the rights of any third parties. All entries submitted and all rights, titles, and interest thereto, including copyrights and derivative works and concepts or ideas depicted therein, become the sole property of Sponsor, may be used by Sponsor for any purpose and in any media whatsoever (without further compensation or review), and will not be returned. Sponsor reserves the right to crop, alter, modify, or distort any entry in whole or in part. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry that does not meet the requirements herein outlined at any time.

In case your eyes glazed over while reading that, here are some highlights:

1. You may not depict Santa Claus.
2. You may not employ politics or political themes or consumption of alcohol beverages while driving
3. You may not depict the consumption of alcohol beverages, particularly you should not depict situations where beer is being consumed rapidly, excessively, involuntarily, as part of a drinking game, or as a result of dare.
4. You may not use or reference NFL coaches, owners, players, past or current teams, famous people, or celebrities.

Seriously, what the fuck is left? You can attribute this one to the seriously convoluted American legal system and our own twisted mores. I never would’ve noticed this without this Times article.