Thursday, December 29, 2011
A Head in
Labels:
Executioners,
Existential Crisis,
Headless,
Life,
PAtrick
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Transparent John
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Onions Don't Cry
Labels:
Alliinases,
Friends,
Onions,
PAtrick,
Self-Loathing,
Support Networks
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Spirit Sunday - This Week Schwarzer Kater
This
week – Schwarzer Kater ($29 500mL)
Let's
get straight to the heart of this: it tastes like medicine. Please
read on, though. It tastes like medicine, yes, but like the medicine
you used to love as a child, that stange combination of fruit
flavours, bitterness, sweetness and tang that you, as a child, could
only find in certain brands of cough syrup. Before we were old enough
to have 'grown-up' drinks, we could only explore theese sorts of
tastes by hacking up a lung and being medicated. Schwarzer Kater, a
black current liquer, lets you revisit all these memories and tastes,
but with far greater legitimacy.
Given
that the entire bottle is written is German I admit to a fair degree
of fumbling before I found the intended combination of spirit/mixer.
The taste is strong enough that to mix it with a fruit juice or soft
drink just leads to conflict (flavourly speaking, of course), so a
good splash in a small glass of cold water brings it to a more
drinkable place. For those who don't mind to sip stronger stuff it
still tastes great over ice and even at room tempurature.
It's
is a little more syrupy than a heavy port, and at %22 makes a hearty
go of its half-spirit status without any real taste of alcohol. In my
research I found that black current liquers of this variety were once
used by monks in Europe as a 'cure for everything', prompting me to
make the connection above.
It
would make a great addition to any cocktail cabinet, especially as an
alcoholic alternative to grenadine, just to add a punch while keeping
the sweetness.
Schwarzer
Kater rates 3.25 stars.
The Exotic Beer Weekly (EBW) - This Week Murphy's Stout
This Week - Murphy’s Law ($16 per 4-pack o' cans)
Drinking beer
out o’ a can has bothered me ever since I was a wee lad. Something
about it just feels a wee bit off. I've never liked it. I can always
taste an almost metallic flavour. But hey, that’s just me. I’ll
never be able to reconcile my differences with those who enjoy
drinking out o’ a can, just like Northern Ireland and the Republic
o’ Ireland will never be able to reconcile their differences.
Speaking of
Ireland, This week’s EBW (Exotic Beer of the Week) marks my first
visit to the United Kingdom, taking me to the land o’ the
potato-eating, river-dancing, Guinness-skulling Irish. It’s also my
first stout: Murphy’s Irish Stout.
Murphy’s
seems like a pretty standard stout. Black as coffee, with a creamy
head about an inch thick when I poured it into a cup. When I first
drank it out o’ the can, I was prepared to give Murphy’s an
extremely low rating. I wasn’t sure if I didn’t like stout, or if
Murphy’s was just a bad example of a stout. However, as you, my
dearest and fondest reading few, well know, I have an extreme
prejudice against drinking from cans.
When I
eventually found a clean cup into which I could pour, and
subsequently drink it from, everything changed. What I thought was
bitter and foul as an Irish winter, was actually sweet and
flavourful, perhaps due to the use of chocolate malt. It’s actually
very easy to drink, quite dry, with almost no carbonation, and much
less bitter than Guinness. Like a leprechaun guards his pot o’
gold, I found myself coveting the last wee drops o’ the final can,
to savour what I had come to enjoy for just a bit longer. Oh yeah,
and it comes in 500ml cans. What is this, you may ask? This, my
friend, is a pint. [Almost, a pint is 568mL, but I see what he was
trying to do - Ed]
I award
Murphy’s Irish Stout 3.5 potatoes out of 5.
A Beautiful and Unique Snowflake
Labels:
Beautiful,
Brad Pitt,
Edward Norton,
Loneliness,
PAtrick,
Snowflake,
Unique
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Pug Dog Origins
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Four Left Feet
Labels:
Anger,
Boots,
Dancing,
Failure,
Feet,
Four Left Feet,
Heel-Toe Polka,
PAtrick,
Spiders
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The Exotic Beer Mega-Review #1
And now for
something completely different…
This week,
with your permission, dearest reading several, I’d like to try
something a little different. Rather than reviewing one beer, I’m
going to review four at the same time. Yes, you heard me right (or
rather, read). Every so often I’m going to pick four beers, linked
by some common theme, and rank them in order of drinkability.
Mega-Review #1
- Beez Neez, Fat Yak, Big Helga’s, and Redback.
These four
beers are conveniently avaliable packaged together in Matilda Bay’s
The Big 8 Pack (Available Dan Murphys, $22.99). Matilda Bay is a
small brewing company in WA, which produces mainly craft beers from
lagers and ales, to ciders and even a raspberry beer.
The theme
connecting the beers in this Mega-Review is not tangible; it’s got
nothing to do with the beers themselves. Rather, it alludes to a dark
time in my past that those who know me well know about, and laugh,
about. I won’t say exactly what it is, but suffice it to say that
she enjoyed the month far more than I did. So on to the beers.
1. Redback.
The Wheat beer.
A flavour I
can’t quite place takes over my palate, aggravating me to no end,
forcing me to take another sip quickly to try and recapture, and
savour the flavour, if you’ll pardon the pun. Is it wheat or oats,
or honey, or fruit? The back of the label says citrus, but I don’t
know. A very pleasant and sweet beer that definitely requires further
investigation and enjoyment.
2. Beez Neez.
The Honey Wheat Beer.
Perhaps peanut
butter on toast was not the best accompaniment to this beer. All I
could taste was peanut butter. Nevertheless I kept drinking, and by
the second bottle I was really enjoying the unique sensation. Just a
hint of honey works wonders, very crisp and smooth. I enjoyed it so
much I might get it tattooed on my knees. That’s cool, right?
3. Fat Yak.
The Pale Ale.
After drinking
the second beer, I stood around for a while waiting for inspiration
to strike. I realised I had just drank two entire beers without
tasting so much as a drop. This ['review', I think he means -Ed]
needs to be done in private seclusion, not in a party setting. What I
remember is a heavier taste, normal for ale. But like a bad
relationship, there seemed to be no fun or spontaneity. I’m sure
it’s very good, I just can’t say.
4. Big Helga.
The Dry Munich Style Lager.
As they say in
Germany, this beer is Wunderbar! It seems to be typical of what I
suppose is “The Munich Style”. Dry, bitter and heavy, its
full-bodied nature means it doesn’t have to rely on subtle fruity
after-tastes. Having said that, it goes down as smooth as any other
beer. I guess that means appearances can be deceiving. Like when you
think a tattoo is cool and ironic, when really it’s frivolous and
moronic. Big Helga is quite good, but nothing ground-breaking.
The results:
This has been the hardest decision since I had to choose which
starter Pok'e'mon to pick. This was a very stiff competition, they
were all so good. Still, a winner must be declared, so after much
careful deliberation, here are the standings:
Participation
Award: Fat Yak. I just don’t remember enjoying it. Shame.
Bronze Medal:
Big Helga. Absolutely nothing wrong with this one. It’s just not as
good as the rest.
Silver Medal:
Redback. Still trying to pick that flavour. Whatever it is, I love
it.
Gold Medal:
Beez Neez. Despite the silly name, a worthy beer. The honey is a
sweet touch (see what I did there?) Very clean and crisp, a beer
worth paying a little extra for.
Labels:
Beez Neez,
Big Helga,
Exotic Beer,
Fat Yak,
Matilda Bay,
Michael,
PAtrick,
Red Back
Spirit Sunday - This week Irish Mist Whiskey
This
Week – Irish Mist ($55)
I
know it's not good form for a reviewer to swoon, but I love Irish
Mist Whiskey. I have been apprehensive about reviewing a whiskey
because of its purity as a spirit as it's pretty similar to scotch or
bourbon. The 'burn' of full spirit, and the fact that far more people
drink whiskey meant I was anxious that I wouldn't find enough 'taste'
to fill a review, and look like a ignoramus in the process.
Thankfully, I couldn't have been more wrong.
Although
Irish Mist is almost full proof (35% alcohol) the burn is beautifully
mellow. On the nose are fruits, sweet honey and any number of unknown
little spices and flavours. It sipped perfectly on ice, and almost as
good at room temperature, where it smells the best too.
The
trade off between that addition 5% of alcohol required to take it to
full-proof and the incredible flavour make it the perfect example of
a spiced or flavoured spirit. They haven't just poured a bottle of
peach essence into the vat, like the flavoured varieties of Absolut
Vodka. The tastes in Irish Mist were formed at the very start of the
process, especially the honey.
The
only sad bit is the price. It is worth the $50+ you'll spend on it,
but that’s not an amount you can generally spend on spirits without
an occasion. If your Dad has been exceptionally good this year, he'll
love it and you after the first sip.
Irish
Mist rates 4.75 stars.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Refraction Dissatisfaction
Labels:
Disagreement,
Gold,
PAtrick,
Rainbows,
Refraction,
Sunlight
Hot Dog
Labels:
Breadroll,
Capture and Release,
Disagreement,
Hot Dogs,
PAtrick,
Sausage Dogs,
Tomato Sauce
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Express Rudeness
The Exotic Beer Weekly - This week Bintang
This
week: Bintang Belly
There’s an
image I just can’t get out of my head as I choose my beer this
week. Whenever I go to the gym, or the beach, or out in town
(basically wherever youth congregate), I see this. Rat-tailed,
singlet-wearing young hooligans masquerading as men.
You know the
type. They have bulging biceps from countless hours ‘pumping iron’.
Driving around in their ’87 VN Commodore with a 6-speed, 4.8L V8
turbo diesel engine, complete with beer in hand. I cringe every time
I hear them screech “oi mate” in that peculiar idiosyncratic
accent unique to Aussies.
But what does
this have to do with Exotic Beer of the Week? I hear you ask. Well,
it’s an all too common sight for the singlet I made mention of to
be sporting a large, bright, Bintang logo. At the risk of alienating
some of you, my dear reading several, I have come to associate
Bintang with Bogan culture. So I have to drop my prejudices, widen my
view of the world, and review this week’s beer as objectively as I
can.
Bintang, an
Indonesian pilsner, is actually produced by a subsidiary of Heiniken,
which explains the similarity, in bottle and in taste. The thing that
strikes me about Bintang, is that it’s just like every other beer.
If I didn’t have the bottle, I don’t think I could readily
differentiate it from say, Toohey's New.
Not that
there’s anything bad about it, it still has that light, deliciously
bitter flavour, with no bad after taste, but there’s just nothing
special or unique about it. Like a trip to Bali, it begins with all
the promise of good times, but you leave feeling slightly
disappointed because you got Bali Belly from drinking the water [and
only half your pirate DVDs work – Ed.]. It’s a shame, what
should have been a good beer, really was bland and boring. Maybe
that’s what the kind of people who wear Bintang singlets want, but
not this reviewer.
I award
Bintang Pilsner 2 singlets out of 5
Spirit Sunday - This week Pisa Liqueur
This
week – Pisa Liqueur ($32)
Recently
I've been on a personal mission to try more of the various
manifestations of almond based products, and it was with this in mind
I reached out and picked up Pisa Liqueur. But before I launch into
the smells/tastes and so forth, I must spend a moment admiring the
bottle.
Like
the famous landmark of Pisa Liqueur's home city, the bottle is on a,
well, lean. It slants about 5 degrees off the vertical in a way that
makes you think perhaps you've drunk more than you though you had.
Honestly, get yourself to a bottle shop just for a look at the
bottle.
Admittedly
the smell isn't great. I've found a real dislocation between what I
understand the flavour of almonds to be and what almond-flavoured
things actually are. The drink's website suggest it be drunk over ice
or slightly warmed; I recommend over ice.
Thankfully
it drinks a lot smoother than you would think it might, and I could
enjoy two small glasses before I got that 'full-of-sweet-things'
feeling that I get with most dessert/sweet drinks. At 24% it is a
little heavier than a conventional liqueur, but it's also a little
syrupy, so you don't really notice.
The
artificial almond seems to dominate the three flavours the drink is
supposed to have. The bottle claims Pisa's distilled with hazelnut
and pistachio flavours as well, but I found them both drowned out by
the almost liquorice strength of the almond. The bottle (genius) and
the colour (beautiful) of the spirit rate 3.5 stars, but...
Pisa
Liqueur rates 2.25 stars.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Quick Escalation
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Grape Vines Think Alike
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Urban Tall
Labels:
Buildings,
City,
Development,
PAtrick,
Skyscrapers
The Cat and the Bag
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The Exotic Beer Weekly - This week Mythos
This Week: The Legend
of Mythos.
You'd be excused for mistaking Mythos for an
obscure 4th generation pokemon, but in actuality it’s a Greek beer.
Supposedly brewed by the Gods on Mount Olympus in the days when the
gods walked the earth (or at least walked Olympus), Heroes fought for
love and honour, and critters like Cyclops, Minotaurs and gorgons
skulked about looking for evil deeds to do (I jest of course, its
only been around since 1997).
The lid popped off with a satisfying thwop,
releasing an almost sweet smell. I took my first cautious sip,
hopeful that the gods would favour me on my endeavour, however I was
dismayed when the froth overfloweth like a tidal wave from Poseidon.
I expected it to have a mind-shattering,
world-view-altering effect; the ground would open, the seas would
roar, the mountains would crumble into dust and rain down on the
world like so much manna from heaven in just a perfect affirmation of
life and everything in it. What I got was a surprisingly smooth,
mellow taste with almost no bitterness, and just enough carbonation
to remind me I was drinking lager. This is an incredibly tasty lager,
kind of sweet, very smooth and very easy to drink. I enjoyed it so
much I'd even consider buying it again. And at only $13 a 6-pack, why
in Hades not?
I award Mythos Hellenic Lager 4.5 Pegasus out of
5.
[editor's notes; "Mythos" means “Myth” in Greek. Go figure.
And please
excuse Michael's use of olde English “overfloweth” in a piece discussing ancient Greek.]
Spirit Sunday - This Week Krupnikas Honey Liqueur
This
week: Krupnikas Honey Liqueur ($34 (500mL))
Take
a moment now to remember the last time you had honey. Was it on
toast? A scone, maybe? A few drops in tea? What aspect of the honey
drew you use it on this occasion? Its sweet taste or sticky texture?
I bet you're smiling right now as you think about honey.
Krupnikas
is none of the things you were just thinking about. It's thinner than
you'd think but thicker than you'd want, far more sour than sweet,
and just generally not very much like its alleged source.
Interestingly,
none of these things are good enough reasons to stop me from
recommending it. Indeed the way that it shrugs off so many aspects of
its origin make it all the more exciting. At a hearty %40 alcohol by
volume, its a strong liqueur, and has enough body to not burn like
poison all the way down.
Like
any over-proof liqueur its can be difficult to smell without
cringing, however I implore you to persevere; its bark (smell) is
worse than its bite (taste). For any spirit buffs out there it resembles a slightly sweeter, less sustained form of Metaxa, and for any Metaxa drinkers out there I ask only this question; why?
It
mixes better with hot drinks over cold, perhaps in a hangover of its
honey upbringing. This probably puts it firmly in the 'Winter drinks'
category, but that's ok.
Krupnikas
Honey Liqueur rates 3.5 stars.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Hold Your Drink
Sunday, November 20, 2011
It's on the tip of my tongue...
Pretty Straightforward
Labels:
Elevator Conductor,
PAtrick,
Straighforward,
Trainee,
Up and Down
The Exotic Beer Weekly - This Week Kingfishers
This week: Slumdog Kingfisher
With a population of over a billion people I'd be
slightly worried if India couldn’t produce at least one person who
knew the ancient secrets of brewing a half decent beer. Luckily it
seems somebody did know how, and they called it Kingfisher Premium
Lager (although it took them til 1978 to do it).
The best selling beer in India, and winner of
several distinguished beer awards, it's apparently the ‘King of
Good Times’, though this is as hard to swallow as water from the
Ganges. As a light, full-bodied beer that has an almost fruity
aftertaste it certainly goes down smooth, with almost no head at all.
It definitely is a good flavour, and I did enjoy it whilst I was
drinking it, as long as I ignored the bitter, almost metallic smell.
However, the claim that it is the King of Good
Times is perhaps a little exaggerated. I think of it in the same way
I think of Bollywood films; sure they’re fun, whimsical and
delightful, but I forget them as soon as the movie’s over. It’s
just an average, run-of-the-mill lager, everything a beer should be,
and nothing more.
This isn’t a bad thing; in fact its light
refreshing flavour is the perfect accessory to a good curry, or a hot
summer afternoon in Delhi. And at $17 per 6-pack, and 5% alcohol,
it’s certainly good value and this bumps it up half a star. If
Ghandi drank beer, I’d wager he’d drink Kingfisher.
I award Kingfisher 3.5 Taj Mahals out of 5.
Labels:
Beer,
Exotic Beer,
India,
Kingfisher,
Michael,
PAtrick,
Taj Mahal
Spirit Sunday - This week Hamada Syuzou (Japanese Sweet Potato Shochu)
This week: Hamada
Syuzou (Japanese Sweet Potato Shochu)($39)
This week's selection
of Schochu has been largely influenced by my girlfriend, who once
called me her "sweet pat-ta-to". Sickly sweet, I know, but
we all have pet-names, don't deny it.
Schochu baffled me at
first. The bottle is frosted with a reddy-orangy colour, while the
spirit itself is clear and a little syrupy. This disappointed me as I
had hoped it would be the other way round. Immediately the novelty of
the sweet potato origin seemed diminished; I wanted more mystery and
excitement.
I had three glasses of
the stuff and found each one decidedly different. The first was like
a combination of cheap tequila and Bacardi, which wasn't very good.
There was no magic sweet potato moment where I tasted mashed tubers
or even smelled my favourite vegetable. Something happened, however,
with glass number two. After my second sip I tasted something
tremendous; just after the spirit left my mouth and before it fell
all the way to my boiling belly I found it. Sweet potato, clear as
day for about 1.25 seconds. My mind raced back to the grilled sweet
potato I'd eaten a few weeks ago in a salad. I even had a flash of
some sweet potato mash I'd done while entertaining several months
earlier. It was incredible.
But it was quick, and
try as I might I couldn't find it again. It was as if the spirit had
chosen one, and only one, moment in which it would reveal its true
form, and at all other times choose to taste like a sour white rum. I
never found the taste again, and by my third glass chasing the dream
I began to feel a bit silly and called it a day. Strangely the
experience was almost spiritual. The unique use of an unexpected
source left me a little bit rattled. I still have some left in the
bottom of my freezer and will leave it there for a while I think.
Maybe one day I'll try and find that taste again, but for now all I
can do is remember it fondly.
And so I split this
weeks rating into three parts. Glass one rated 1.75 stars. Glass two
rated 4.125 stars. Glass three rated 2.875 stars.
Hamada Syuzou Shochu
averages 2.3106 stars (approx.)
Friday, November 18, 2011
No Added Salt
Labels:
Corn Chips,
Identity,
No Added Salt,
Orders,
PAtrick,
Salt
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Prescription Glasses
Labels:
Anger,
Breakages,
Glasses,
PAtrick,
Prescription Glasses,
Wine Glasses
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sorry, no cigars.
Apples and Oranges
Labels:
Apples,
Disagreement,
Negotiations,
Oranges,
PAtrick,
Relationships
The Exotic Beer Weekly - This week Radelbergers
This Week: The Radelberger Manifesto
I must say I expected
better from Germany. From the country that gave us Marxism,
liederhosen and Oktoberfest, I'm certainly dissapointed. I've heard
German beer is well respected by scholars, and Becks is highly
esteemed in this reviewer's own humble opinion.
The same can't be said
for Radelbergers. As my first foray into the pilsner territory, I
must admit I had very little idea what to expect. It had a dark
earthy flavour that was not in and of itself entirely unpleasant,
however it was not pleasant either. It was simply adequate. Even
thought the bottle was only 330mL (and a respectable 4.8%) I found
myself wishing by halfway through that it was over. Much like
bratwurst, its like a full meal in itself when all you wanted was a
sausage. I found this beer much too heavy to enjoy.
At $18 by the 6-pack I'm certainly not
saying Radelbergers was bad, just that it could have been so much
better.
I award Radelbergers
2.5 Germans of 5.
Spirit Sunday - This week Lemon Z!
This week: Lemon Z
(500mL) ($34)
I admit to a serious
tactical error in choosing Lemon Z for this week's spirit. It wasn't
until I opened the stylish frosted bottle I realised the mistake I
made. As a teenager I remember a party where, instead of grown-up
drink, we had several bottle of lemon essence, a synthetic baking
product that's 85% alcohol and 15% burning pain. I had a bottle of it
to myself, drinking it 50/50 with coke if I remember correctly.
That night my vomit was
so acidic it burnt a yellow hole in the carpet near the table I
blacked out under. The incident, and the day that followed, have been
singed into my memory as one of supreme discomfit. Herein lies the
difficulty with this particular review.
Lemon Z might be very
nice. In fact it might be the nicest lemon liqueur of its kind in the
world; I just couldn't tell you. Every sip gives me the kind of
shudder one only gets when reliving a very painful, alcohol-related
memory. I tried it on ice, as the bottle suggests. I tried with an
assortment of fruit juices. I almost tried it with coke but got a
particularly bad series of shivers, given the combination of smells.
Unfortunately this
means I have to split this review into the practical and the
theoretical. Practically I can't give Lemon Z any more than 1 star. I
realise however that this is entirely due to my on prejudices, and so
I'll give it a theoretical rating based on what I think I might think
about it had I never spent an evening in my youth swigging poison.
Theoretically Lemon Z
rates 3.5 stars.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Limeicks #6 and #7
Of all the chefs the most normal,
Was Dave, the incessantly formal.
Though he had good range,
His dishes were strange,
With most punters thinking them awful.
After ingesting 4 dozen oysters,
Simon's stomach began to feel boisterous.
He spewed up his bile,
With tremendous guile,
Into his pocket, avoiding a roister.
The Long Legs of the Law
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Michael's Moustache
Labels:
Great Minds,
Michael,
Moustache,
nonjoke,
PAtrick,
Public Opinion
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
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