Archive for May, 2009
Irish stout beer is the most well known of the stouts, with Guinness being its primary manufacturer. This type of stout beer is also called a dry stout. Though Guinness is very popular worldwide, many prefer Murphy’s, particularly in Ireland, because Catholics initially ran the company. Guinness was thought of as a Protestant beer.
Imperial stout beer was first made for Catherine the Great, who had a tremendous liking for stouts. Importation to Russia, however, often ruined the beer. As such, the Imperial stout beer was given a much higher alcohol content to make shipping the product simpler. Storm King’s Imperial Stout is one of the more well known of this type.
Sweet Cream, sweet, or milk stout beer has an addition of lactose during the brewing process. The result is a much sweeter beer than its more bitter companions. Those who don’t care for dry stouts may prefer Mother’s Milk brewed in New York, or Snowplow from two breweries in Oregon.
Oatmeal stout beer is usually the sweetest of the stouts. It is far sweeter than the milk stout because the addition of oatmeal tends to mellow the final results. A couple of popular oatmeal stouts are Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout and St. Ambroise Oatmeal stout, made in England and Canada, respectively.
Coffee stout beer is tends to be darker and more bitter than dry stout beer. Some brands actually add coffee, but this is considered a non-traditional ingredient. Washington’s Pike Brewery produces one of the more traditional coffee stouts. The coffee stout is related as well to the chocolate stout, which actually uses a chocolate malt. The result is sweet and dark, and may be the perfect combination of rich flavors.
It could be considered the most well known drink in the world. James Bond strides to the bar and asks for a vodka martini, “shaken, not stirred.” However, according to barmen the world over, this famous drink would not be a genuine martini. First, a martini is never shaken, and second, it is a gin-based cocktail; mix it with vodka and it is simply not a martini.
The drink that is consumed in huge quantities by James Bond is known in the bar trade as a Vesper. The reason he asked for it shaken is because shaking the drink dilutes it and enabled Bond to keep a clear head. Making a classic martini is very simple. Take a good gin and a splash of vermouth; the ratio should be about 15 to one, although for a stronger drink the ratio could be upped to 20 to one.
Once you have stirred the spirits together in a glass pitcher, the mixture should be strained into a glass and an olive should be be added. Another rule is that there should never be an onion placed in a martini. If there is an onion in it, then it is called a Gibson.
The martini is meant to be a cold cocktail, but as the glass should not contain ice, the glass should be cold beforehand. This can be achieved by placing the drink in a freezer or by placing the glass half full of water in a fridge. Alternatively, you can mix the martini with ice before straining it into a glass. You should also hold the glass by the stem, so the heat from your hand does not warm up the drink.
The classic martini is a strong drink, and because of this, cocktail makers can deliver a variety of martini based drinks. The Gimlet cocktail is a basic martini with lime juice added. It is more sour than the classic drink, but nowhere near as dry. At once cloudy and luminous, it looks like a glass of bitter lemon but tastes much nicer.
Gimlets were supposedly invented at sea to stave off scurvy. The sailors always had plenty of limes, but didn’t want to drink lime juice non-stop. If lime juice is a little too bitter, how about a martini with a shot of black coffee and a little Kahlua liqueur? It’s guaranteed to keep you awake, yet still feeling pleasantly mellow. Sounds just like the sort of thing James Bond would order first thing in the morning.
Many people who add a bar in the home choose to decorate that area with elaborate furnishings and specialty barware. If you’re able to build the bar from the ground up yourself or with a contractor, this is the best situation possible. If that’s the case, you can choose every detail that you want to implement from the onset. For the most classic bar look, make sure to choose a dark wood that is installed with a polished sheen or is capable of being polished to a high gloss.
But if your bar was already installed when you got to the house, that doesn’t mean you can’t implement your own touches. For example, you can add the bar stools that work best for you. For some, that means swivel chairs with a high back. For others, that means stationary wooden stools. Whatever your preference, you can also choose the barware that best suits the look and décor of your bar. And again, this just depends on the look that you’re going for. Some people want the elegance offered by crystal tumblers and wine glasses. Others want the stout and solid look of pewter barware. Whatever you decide, make sure that all the décor works together for a cohesive look. And if you’re ever sick of the look, simply switch out the bar accessories.
Blown glass has been around for a few thousand years, however, its popularity resurfaced in the 1960s. It has since become a fast-growing hobby. Over the years the results of making blown glass have generally been the same, however, the various methods that have been used have changed. Many types of glass barware are blown.
The most recent methods used in making blown glass were developed in the 1960s by Dominick Labino, an engineer and chemist, and Harvey Littleton, a ceramics professor. The two men began workshops at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio. Known for the “studio glass movement” in the 1960s, Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino made molten glass and glassblowing available in private studios for artists.
This experience sparked an incredible interest worldwide and blown glass quickly became widely known across the globe. Artists are famous now all over the world for their exquisite and unique creations. The process of preparing the glass for blowing is very tedious and requires a lot of delicate detail. Raw materials such as limestone, sand, and other compounds are gathered and placed in a furnace. A furnace must be burning hotter than 2000 degrees Fahrenheit (1093 degrees Celsius) to transform the raw materials inside to molten glass.
A blowpipe is then used to shape the glass once it’s melted. Blowpipes are hollow tubes about five feet (1.524 meters) long. The molten glass is placed on one end of the blowpipe, and the air is then blown into the glass to mold and shape it to the artist’s desire. Molds may also be used to make patterns in the glass.
There are two specific methods of glassblowing. One method of glassblowing is called offhand. In using the offhand method, an artist places a blob of fused glass on the end of the blowpipe. Blown glass is then formed by using different techniques of blowing and shaping the glass with the artist’s hands, tools and molds.
Lamp working is the second method used in glassblowing. When using the lamp working method, the artist uses a flame from a torch to soften the glass. After the glass has been softened, the glass is then molded and shaped with the artist’s hands, tools and molds. The method used in blowing glass is based on the artist’s personal preference.
Defining the difference between crystal and glass barware is not an exact process. While is it true that all crystal is also glass, only certain types of glass can be properly identified as crystal. However, outside this rather broad statement, there are not any ironclad rules that are universally invoked as part of the process of defining what constitutes crystal. Across the globe, there are different standards that are employed in various countries around the world that determine if the quality and lead content of a particular substance can be properly classified as crystal or if the item should be identified as glass. Even within some countries, the qualities that must be present in order for glass to earn the title of crystal may vary.
The lead content of glass is usually a determinant in the classification of finished goods as either crystal or glass. In the European community, glass items that have more than four percent but less than ten percent of lead monoxide usually earn the designation of glass. While this is not always the case, glass that is found to have a lead content of eight to ten percent is granted the status of lead glass. Glass goods with a lead monoxide content of between ten percent and thirty percent earn the designation of crystal. In the event that the lead monoxide content exceeds thirty percent, the item is often identified as lead crystal.
In the United States, a lead monoxide content of one percent is sufficient for glass to be classified as crystal. In other countries around the world that do not adhere strictly to the standards used by the European community, the range of lead content required before glass can be identified as crystal may range from anywhere between three percent to fifteen percent. Glass with a higher lead monoxide content would be classified as lead crystal.
Pulling off a successful wedding often requires months of planning. After all, there are so many small details that need to be accounted for, and you need to have all the supplies purchased and planning done well before the big day. As a general rule, the quicker you can get the small tasks out of the way, the better, because you want the least amount of stress imaginable on the actual day of the wedding. To that end, one of these small details that is often pushed to the wayside and forgotten is the wedding toast.
After the marriage itself and sometime before the first dance, it’s customary to have a toast to the couple. Whether speeches are made or not, everyone will have to be outfitted with a champagne glass, and these champagne glasses will have to be filled. In addition to purchasing this large lot of glasses, also make sure you purchase champagne and sparkling cider, so kids can partake in the toast as well. Also, consider ordering special glasses, so that everyone can take their glasses home as a wedding favor.
The Toast
You’ve parlayed with the bartender, the guests have their shot glass filled, and you’re ready to down it, right? Not so fast. As shot master, you must rouse the troops with a little speech, in the form of a toast. Do not let yourself be usurped. Whoever pays for the shot makes the toast. This is a rock-solid rule, there can be no debate.
The toast gives meaning to the act. It can be used to put a red circle around a particular moment, or set the mood for the rest of the evening.
Hopefully you didn’t wait until now to think one up. There’s nothing like a gang of thirsty drunks staring at you to cloud your memory. If you can’t think of anything more clever than “Cheers!” fall back on the tried in true, “Here’s to the next one.” This also serves to remind the troops that there should be a next one, at their expense this time.
Post Toast Rituals:
The Clink -
Always touch glasses. It makes a nice sound and serves as an exclamation point for the toast. In the old days the clink was used to trade a slosh of each other’s drinks, so as to discourage poisoning. If you’re doing a One on One, be sure to make eye contact when you knock them together.
The Hoist -
After clinking, the shooters raise their glasses high and give a whoop.
The Knock -
Some drinkers employ a post-clink, pre-drink “knock wood” maneuver. This consists of rapping the bottom of their glass on a bar top or table. Some do it for good luck, some do it to salute their dead buddies, some don’t know why the hell they do it.