.... Alright, I'm a jerk.
I asked you to go on this super awesome adventure on me with this blog, and then I left you hanging for six days!
That was rude of me, so I apologize for that.
In good news, this is the second time I've updated this blog in more than a week, so BOOYAH. I'm improving!
I wanted to talk to you all about two awesome things I've had and talked about so far in the last week. (With more to come tomorrow!)
I have two things on the menu for you:
1. Redemption Brew Works Ginger Beer - from Charlotte, NC!
2. My idea of the perfect bawdy drinking night - Irish and Scottish men, whiskey, and drinking songs!
Let's do it!
Firstly, I've had a pretty damned stellar New Year so far. I spent New Years Day at Courtyard Hooligans watching soccer (EPL), ate lunch at Dish in Plaza Midwood, brought Buzz City's Finest (the most amazing Australian Shepherd ever) to Franklin Park off W 4th St EXT to play at the dog park, bathed his muddy bum, and then Uber'd it Uptown to hang at Connolly's off 5th. I finished it off writing that last post in a rocking chair at Tilt, smoking a cigar and sipping on Lagavulin 16.
Not a bad way to start the year, eh?!
Well, nor was being given a 4-pack of ginger beer from the new, and awesomely local
Redemption Brew Works. Female-owned, naturally fermented, bottle conditioned ginger beer made from a recipe passed down through generations.
Before I get into how I felt about this ginger beer, I'll let you know my other favorite ginger beers. I love Fever Tree's (spicy, dry, not very sweet at all), Heist's (can't beat getting a growler of local ginger beer), and Blenheim's Hot (aggressive, spicy, and sweet).
That being said, I was very pleasantly surprised by Redemption's offering. I'm always nervous about new fermented products, mostly because it's similar to new breweries... it takes time to get dialed in. It takes a few batches to balance everything out, and ultimately tasting right.
My first swig was full of bright sugar, fresh ginger that lingered, and well balanced carbonation. Not overly done. I, at first, thought it was too sweet, but then I remembered that I usually drink my ginger beer in Mules... so I needed to remember that ginger beer normally is a little sweet. What I really like about Redemption's ginger beer is how fresh and spicy the ginger is. It builds. The way hot pepper builds on your tongue. If you drink it fast enough, you have a delicious throat burn. It balances very well against that original sweetness you encounter. The ginger cuts the sugar on your tongue and in your throat.
It's absolutely lovely.
It also makes a banging Mule.
That being said, I highly suggest (if you like ginger beer and Mules) to pick up a 4-pack at Common Market, Rhino Market, or Queen City Pantry (with more locations coming soon).
Now for something less serious!
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about New Years Eve debauchery and why so many of us dread drinking out and about that night, when I was asked a very silly, yet fun question: "What is your idea of the perfect drinking night out?"
...Huh.
I haven't really thought about that before.
What
would I want to do if my only goal were to go out that night, get drunk, and then let the night take me down its path of adventure?
After a pause, I looked at him and said, well... "I'd like to go drink with a bunch of hairy and bearded Irish and Scottish men, drink whiskey, and ultimately end up singing bawdy drinking songs."
Needless to say, that got a hell of a laugh. He then followed with, "Alright, explain."
Here's my theory, then; I think we, as Americans, drink too much alone. I think too many of us go out drinking with the intention to get remarkably, and splendidly trashed. To sit on our phones at the bar, hoping that the person next to us will break the ice and begin conversation, or by the end of the night the boy or girl we have made eyes at all night will give us that delicious eye waggle that cues us in, "SHE/HE WANTS MY HOT BODY!"
....Or we sit at home on our couches, eating leftover Chinese food from our previous hangovers, and drinking while watching Netflix and tweeting about how we can't believe character X left character Y, and OMG Jason Statham makes me so hot on the inside.
Unfortunately, I disagree with that kind of drinking.
Don't get me wrong, I think we should all get to have fun (and fantasize about Jason Statham), but I think we isolate ourselves in public (and private) far too much.
Other cultures don't see drinking as something so bloody lonely and boring. Quite a few don't even drink at home and only see it as a social thing.
My perfect drinking night would go like this:
-Get off work.
-Get to bar.
-Drink a pint, perhaps a few, and some whiskey.
-Throughout this process, make friends with all my neighbors, who are preferably people who know drinking songs, or quick to pick them up.
-Chat and chat until someone gets drunk enough to kick off the first line of a drinking song... to which we would all begin to join in. (I have done this with Disney songs, but I'm hoping we can do something more inappropriate here.)
-Awesomeness ensues.
-Buy a round for the bar.
-Round 2 singing begins.
-Rinse and repeat.
-By the end of the night, have arms slung over neighbors, and them over their neighbors, and we're bellowing amazing drinking songs into the night, laughing our asses off.
That's my kind of proper drinking night.
A good whisky (Scots, English spell it this way), or whiskey (Irish, American) buzz, music in our ears, and friends for life thanks to simple fun. That's how it should be.
Now, unfortunately, it's time I head to bed. Tomorrow I have a few more items to chat and catch up about, considering I'm a little behind already this year:
1. Breakbot's album, "By Your Side," which I can't get out of my head - circa 2012
2. My recent obsession to get back into baking and cooking - this girl needs distractions
3. The drink that makes me happy inside, and the variations of "The Moscow Mule."
See you tomorrow, and much love,
Lindsay
