68/100) Petrus Pack 2

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Dubbel Bruin, Oud Bruin, Aged Red

Here's the latter half of the beer and key-toting St. Peter, Petrus beer six-pack. These are the darker and even barrel-aged bottles. I really like the Aged Red's bottle art. The barrel and flowers look lovely against that deep red backdrop.

Dubbel Bruin) had the aroma of brown sugar candy. The amount of bubbles was just right, not enough to create a massive head, but the kind that can form a nice foam head when you swirl it. The flavors were rather direct, but they resulted in a subdued yet inviting dark ale's flavor profile complete with light caramels and dark fruits. ☆☆☆☆

Oud Bruin) was lightly tart and moderately enjoyable. Since it was not the most robust Oud Bruin I've had, the flavors came across as weak to me. Still, I suppose it could serve as a sour gateway for my uninitiated friends. ☆☆☆

Aged Red) smelled of bing cherries, and the flavors profile flaunted an elixir of cherries and tartness. The sour on the finish compounded as I had more. Initially, I really liked it, but towards the end, I grew weary of that bite. The aroma was just lovely though. I could have sniffed at it all night, and had been content just sipping it slowly.  ☆☆☆☆

Special) Concoctions Round 2 Checkpoint

We're only about two months into my concoctions resting process. After doing some research, I learned that I should probably be opening the softer fruit-based concoctions within three months instead of waiting my usual six-months. So, I went ahead and opened these two:

10) Cactus paddles and Suzume Shochu

As you can tell, the cactus paddle pieces changed in color. What was once green is now a very non-life-like beige. Upon opening the jar, the aroma assaulted me. My immediate reaction was that I either waited too long or this one was just not meant to be. Have you ever been in a forest in summer right after it rained for days? This smelled just like what I imagine that much decaying green matter would.

Faced with a liqueur that breathes out a plant graveyard, I'm the guy who will try it. That first sip was really hard to take. It continued to smell atrocious, and as I had predicted, the viscosity of the drink had been enhanced by the cactus ooze. I say "enhanced" to euphemize the reality. It had the consistency of spit. Flavor-wise the initial and middle carried touches of the fresh cactus paddles, but the linger tasted somewhat like the aroma.

After convincing a friend to try it, he proceeded to reach into his cabinet. After my not so rave-review, I will not tell you which liquor it is, but there is a liquor out there with the exact aroma as my cactus paddle concoction. The liquor tastes a lot better than it smells though. ☆☆

 

5) Longan berries and Cut Spike Vodka

After that terrible experience, I had to open one more. So, I chose the half batch of longan berries and Cut Spike Vodka. The longan fruits are pretty soft so age might not have treated them well either. That and I just needed to get the other taste out of my mouth.

The aroma was a bit like musty butterscotch. I know that is hard to imagine, but think of an evening on a humid summer day. The muggy heat off the asphalt oppresses you and you seek alleviation by sucking on a caramel candy. The smell was pretty close to that. Not exactly the most inviting aroma, but I kinda liked it.

The taste was unusual. A little of the mustiness remained on the finish, but the middle had a pleasant almost hazelnut nuttiness. I shouldn't have added sugar though, because the sweetness from the liqueur pretty much dominated the initial rendering it little more than sugary. ☆☆☆

In summary:
I am keeping around the cactus paddle one for pranks. I'm not sure how exactly I am going to be using it, but I will not be drinking it. Beware. The other I will experiment a little more with, but mostly it will be shelved for a long time as well. I would not consider these two a success but learning experiences.

67/100) Petrus Pack 1

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Blond, Gouden Tripel, Speciale

These beers came in a six pack. I will review three this week, and three next week. This grouping was the lighter side of the set, but I haven't tried too many Petrus yet, so I though it'd be a good way for me to break into the brand. Judging by the picture, the name (Petrus) and the slogan (The Key to Heaven), this company's beers make reference to St. Peter and the keys to the kingdom.

Blond) Blondes have more fun. I'm not so sure about blond beers yet though. The mouth feel was great, but the flavors are basically a Grain Belt with a bit more oomph. Yes, oomph is a technical term meaning "more robust." Please don't overthink it, like this beer. ☆☆☆

Gouden Tripel) A tripel is usually significantly stronger than a blond. However, this one was a 7.5% and the blond was a 6.6%. That's not a huge difference. That established, I could barely get at the flavors because of how strong the effervescence was. I let it warm up though, and it redeemed itself. Fitting, since the bottle says "serve between 8 to 12 degrees C," or in other words, serve at about room temperature. The more wine-like qualities came through as it warmed up. ☆☆☆

Speciale) also claimed it needed to be served warmer. Still, even with the right temperature, I found this one fairly bland. I think the Blond actually had more flavor than this one, even with the difference in flavor profiles. At most, this one had more of that hollow old-style ale touch in the background. ☆☆☆

My solution to these okay beers? Mix them all together! I expected the result to be terrible, but it was actually good. The result was smooth, and somehow contained the best attributes of all three. The Blond's grainy middle, the Tripel's winy finish, and the Speciale's background hollowness. I am not sure if I recommend the construction of intentional beer suicides though...

Special) Concoctions Round 2 Start

Here we go again. After my last fairly successful attempt at making liqueurs, I've made some more umeshu-inspired concoctions, and I'll admit I got a little crazy with it this time.

I amassed these ingredients and a list of the planned concoctions. As you can tell by the two lines that are struck out, I abandoned two of them. I will get to the reasons shortly.

1) Coconut (light) and Cut Spike Rum

2) Coconut (heavy) and Cut Spike Rum

3) Coconut and Blackheart Rum

4) Bing cherries and Christian Brother's Brandy

5) Longan berries and Cut Spike Vodka

6) Dragonfruit and Cut Spike Vodka

7) Dragonfruit and Suzume Shochu

8) Soursop and Cut Spike Vodka

9) Soursop and Suzume Shochu

10) Cactus paddles and Suzume Shochu

After my last experience, I learned a couple things. The first is that I don't really want to use sugar cubes again. I didn't want to use them in the first place, but I couldn't find any Rock Sugar (or 氷砂糖). I've had six months to look and found some.

Why exactly the sugar has a yellow-brown color to it, is something I don't understand. Also, there's a bit of a sharp smell coming from them. It reminds me of ginseng. I can't taste it in the sugar so I don't think it will affect the concoctions. And not that it matters that much, I could only find rock sugar that was made in China.

1) Coconut (light) and Cut Spike Rum
2) Coconut (heavy) and Cut Spike Rum
3) Coconut and Blackheart Rum

The first three are just upgraded versions of the coconut and Cut Spike Rum concoction I made last time. This time though, I am adding an excessive amount of coconut to one and adding a light amount to another. Thirdly, I wanted to see what would happen to already spiced rum if coconut were added, so I pulled out my bottle of Blackheart Rum.

The process began with the usual coconut prep. I drained the coconut and cracked it open using my bag and smash technique. And just like last time, I found out that the first coconut I opened had already gone bad. I've decided to leave the pictures out because not only was the coconut water yellowish, the inside was full of a greenish mold. Ick.

After that, I went out and got two more coconuts because I didn't want to keep making trips to the grocery store. I was immediately glad for that foresight because the first one I opened had something wrong with it. The coconut meat had a weird fermented smell was soft and squishy instead of fresh and firm. I have spared you the pictures on this one mostly because visually nothing looks amiss.

The third coconut which is the one you see in the pictures, however did something I had never seen before. It popped out just as you see in the above shot. The coconut meat was firm and came out as one beautiful egg-shaped piece. This made my life a whole lot easier.

I cut it into slices and added varying amounts to each jar. For the light one, I only added four pieces. For the heavy one, I lost count at ten pieces, but I think they're might be twelve pieces in it. Going moderate, the Blackheart Rum got only seven pieces.

Then I added a chunk of rock sugar, poured in the alcohol, and sealed them up. The first two, as aforementioned, had Cut Spike Rum added to them. I rather like the mouth feel and the whiskey-like touches that their rum has so this should make for a robust coconut rum just like last time. Blackheart Rum, on the other hand, is a spiced rum that somehow ends up tasting like cherries which may or may not be a good fit for the coconut. We'll see.

4) Bing cherries and Christian Brother's Brandy

Revisiting berries and brandy, I chose bing cherries for the mixture this time around.

Cherries thankfully, aren't complicated. Using a knife, I sliced around them and popped out their seeds. I thought of throwing the whole fruit into the brandy, but I decided there was always the possibility that the cherry pit could contribute some bad flavors. The cutting process amused me because the cherries gave the paper towel the appearance of scattered lipstick kisses. I'll have to remember that for some sort of future prank.

I tossed in about half as much cherries as brandy and added only a small piece of sugar. Brandy's pretty sweet already, so I think it won't need the help. I sealed it up, and Voila! #4 was complete.

5) Longan berries and Cut Spike Vodka

Longan berries. Do you even know what Longan berries are? I really didn't until this project. I was trying to get lychee, a red on the outside but white on the inside fruit, but I couldn't find any. I did find these though, and since they are a relative of the lychees I thought it would work.

First of all, they do not taste the same, but they are just as hard to peel. The outer shell is just that, a shell. It cracks and sheds only with a pretty hefty amount of effort. I'd place the opening difficulty of a longan berry right in between a walnut and a kiwi. One requires a special tool, the other doesn't, but this one sorta just takes elbow grease.

The most important thing to remember though with this family of fruits (Lychee, Longan berry, etc) is that the seed pits taste horrible. In fact, it's one of those things people like me just have to actually try. Bad idea. If you're like me, you'll stick one in your mouth and bite it anyway. You'll regret it. The black pit casts an entrapment spell of bitterness on your tongue and just won't go away. Water doesn't save you. Sweet fruits don't chase it away - they just taste nasty because of the effect. I resorted to beer and that sort of worked, but the effect of the bitter ick made the beer nearly un-enjoyable until the end of the bottle.

That said, it is too bad the seeds aren't palatable because they are a pain to extract. Initially, I used the knife to try and get the squishy fruit off the seed. Then I got frustrated with that and feared that I would slice myself if I slipped. Surprisingly, the seeds come out easier if you don't use a knife. You ended up losing a bit of the fruit on each one, but the pit peels out nicely with just your fingers.

In a twist of fate, I didn't actually like the taste of Longan berries, so instead of making a whole batch, I only made a half batch. They just don't have the same sweetness of a lychee. I'm hoping that the Cut Spike Vodka has the sense to only extract flavors that I like.

6) Dragonfruit and Cut Spike Vodka
7) Dragonfruit and Suzume Shochu

Dragonfruit is a fruit that is more impressive in name and externally than in taste or internally. The outside is bright and vivid, but the inside is gray scale. The fruit itself has a texture not unlike kiwi, but the taste is much milder and even leaves you questioning whether it is a tropical fruit at all. However, I rather like it precisely because of its mild sweetness.

Getting into one is easy. If it is ripe, the skin peels off a bit like a banana peel. I like to start it by cutting off the end and then pulling on the edges. You end up with a nice large fruit with barely a mess at all. Now if mangoes could take a lesson from this fruit, I'd probably eat more of them.

I cubed the fruit, added a couple chunks of sugar and added the alcohols. I decided to go with both Cut Spike Vodka and Suzume Shochu so that I could compare later.

8) Soursop and Cut Spike Vodka
9) Soursop and Suzume Shochu

In short, after cutting the soursop open, I hesitated. Then I tried it. It was really fleshy and sour with a distinct taste that reminded me of a lemon left on the sidewalk too long. Somehow, even though I was still a touch curious what kind of liqueur it would make, I couldn't convince myself to waste the alcohol. Too bad too. Soursops are expensive at about eight dollars a pound.

10) Cactus paddles and Suzume Shochu

This one just seemed like a bad idea, but then again, nothing ventured nothing gained. After removing about a half a dozen little cactus spikes from my hands, I kinda wished I hadn't ventured. The process for cleaning a cactus paddle is something I haven't perfected yet. Using a long knife and a glove, I somehow got ones tines all removed.

This is when something hit me or rather stuck to my hand. The paddles had a clear ooze coming from the points where I'd cut it. I suspect that will increase the viscosity of the mixture, but that didn't concern me near as much as the taste and smell. All I can describe it as is "green plant matter." Whatever the result is, my guess is that it is going to be like drinking a fresh mowed yard.

Again, because I'm leery of the end results, I only made a half batch of this one. I thought of going with Vodka on this one, but I then I decided the lightness of the Suzume shochu would make for a more interesting combination. Its breathy grain-born smoothness should offset the strange viscous goo from the paddles.

Here are some pictures of the end results.

Left to right, top to bottom, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,and 10

1) Coconut (light) and Cut Spike Rum

2) Coconut (heavy) and Cut Spike Rum

3) Coconut and Blackheart Rum

4) Bing cherries and Christian Brother's Brandy

5) Longan berries and Cut Spike Vodka

6) Dragonfruit and Cut Spike Vodka

7) Dragonfruit and Suzume Shochu

10) Cactus paddles and Suzume Shochu

See you in 2-3 months for some of these, and not until December for the others!

66/100) More Woodchucks

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Summer Time, Cheeky Cherry, Gumption

I've noticed recently that I've tried a lot of Woodchucks. I haven't settled on an exact reason for this, but the most eccentric reason comes from my love of furry critters. Woodchuck's fall into that category of small, furry mammals. However, I'm not sure how that logically translates into me trying so many ciders. Should I blame Johnny Appleseed?

Summer) so light, the cider was nearly clear. The flavors were a touch of sweetness, and a soft linger with a breath of blueberry. I found this one to be pleasant even though I wasn't sold on it's near lack of flavor. Perhaps it'd be a nice substitute for a lemonade on a hot summer day? It's not nearly tart enough to be a perfect replacement, but it may suffice. ☆☆☆

Cheeky Cherry) It delivers exactly what it says: Sour + Cherry. Or as my sister put it, cherry cough syrup met up with sour patch kids and got thrown into a cider. Someone must like this kind of tartness. I do sometimes, but not with that much cherry flavor. It all just grew and grew into a crescendo that left my taste buds embalmed in cherry. ☆☆☆☆

Gumption) It's rather light for a woodchuck, and tartness replaced the usual sweetness. I'd swear it has cinnamon in it, but I can't tell if I am just imagining things. It reminds of what I imagine would happen if you made an apple pie with granny smith apples. A mixture that I would enjoy probably as much as this cider. Yum! ☆☆☆☆

Special) Umeshu Inspired Concoctions (Part 2)

I really had looked forward to getting this post up earlier, but life happened and other projects took the forefront. Also, in the mean time, I learned that, technically, because I had added sugar to all of these, the most accurate term is liqueurs. I may still call them concoctions for now because a liqueur is a type of concoction.

Back on June 21st, Father's day, I reopened my concoctions that I had made and closed in December last year. Of course, with proper regard to the holiday, I shared samples of them with my dad. 

1-5 in order left to right

1) Coconut and Cut Spike Rum

2) Lemon, Ginger and Cut Spike Vodka

3) Cranberries and Cut Spike Vodka

4) ) Kiwis and Cut Spike Vodka

5) Cranberries and Christian Brother's Brandy

Coconut and Cut Spike Rum

1) Cut Spike Rum and Coconut pieces went into this mix. The level to which the coconut became part of the rum caught me off guard. I could smell it before I'd even gotten it into my shot glass. The flavors of the rum are mostly coconut, but the finish has become a bit harsh. Also, the sweetness of the rum and the added sugar cubes merged rather well. 

I am rather satisfied with this one. It really tastes like fresh coconut meat. 

Fresh lemon, ginger, and Cut Spike Vodka

2) Cut Spike Vodka, fresh lemon slices, and fresh ground ginger made up this concoction. This one did not turn out as I had expected. The initial was not the fresh lemonade like lemon I had intended. The initial became mildly reminiscent of the artificial acridness of lemon scented dusting spray. The mid picked up with something really close to tasting like lemon but was a bit on the zesty side of the lemon peel. I couldn't detect the ginger in the flavors at all, but the finish and linger clearly had a burn caused by something other than the alcohol.

I'm not entirely happy with this one. I had wanted a mixture that I could substitute for lemon juice and ginger in the way of a traditional Japanese cold remedy. Who doesn't love a spiked cold remedy after all? In order to achieve that goal, I'm going to have to tweak the lemon to ginger ratio. Perhaps even, I should try and use only the lemon fruit or lemon peel. It just had too much lemon and not enough ginger for what I wanted. Alternatively though, I could add far more lemon and shoot for something limonchello-esque because I already nearly ended up with something pretty close. I really can't complain about mild limonchello as a result though.

Cranberries and Cut Spike Vodka

3) Cut Spike Vodka and hard cranberries mixed into this one. The cranberries hide in this one. I couldn't smell them at all. The initial weaved the sugar and the vodka together nicely. Then the taste of cranberries sneaked up on me. The cranberry flavors floated as smoke over sugary fire water, and it was delightful. Instead of bringing forward memories of fresh bog-picked cranberries, the flavors are more like the aftertaste you get from cranberry sauce. 

The result was unexpected on this one. I'm not sure how to use it, whether I want to drink it, or if I'm satisfied with it as a sipping drink. I essentially have "cranberry sauce vodka" now. Win? Maybe.

Kiwis and Cut Spike Vodka

4) Cut Spike Vodka and under-ripe kiwis were put into this one. I debated and debated opening this one after three months because of the use of soft fruits, but I held off and maintained my six-month plan. I'm rather regret not checking on it. This one did not turn out well. I can't smell kiwi or taste it. Instead there's an odd flavor on the finish that I've never encountered before. It's not unpleasant, sour, or funky, but it is not friendly.  

Next time, I will open up a kiwi-based mix earlier. I need to know if it would have benefited from less time. However, I do think it just plain needed more kiwi. The impact was too subtle.

Cranberries and Christian Brother's Brandy

5) Christian Brother's Brandy and cranberries were put in this one. Time smoothed out the brandy's already subdued bite. The sweetness masked the cranberries, but they added a nice touch of flair into the backdrop leaving you with just their memory on the linger. 

I'm rather satisfied with this one. Like some of the others, I'm not sure of its exact application, but the results are good. 

In conclusion, I think that the order I would place them is this:

☆☆☆☆☆) Rum and coconut - Way better than expected. 

☆☆☆☆) Brandy and cranberries - Smoothed out the brandy and added cranberry touches.

☆☆☆☆) Vodka, lemon, and ginger - Near limonchello with an extra burn.

☆☆☆) Vodka and cranberries - The cranberries are a bit too light.

☆☆) Vodka and kiwi - Just so odd, perhaps even rancid.

In another observation, I have found a place here that sells 氷砂糖 or literally "ice" sugar. Imagine something like large chunks of rock candy. I have this hunch that using sugar cubes is not as good for the mouth feel so I want to return to what is used in Umeshu, and ice sugar is just that. Although, I did have a discussion with an old lady in Japan that said you could add the sugar whenever, even post-infusion. I'm still not so sure about that. Our discussions focused on sugar as a sweetener and not necessarily as a way to alter the mouth feel, which I think it does.

A few weeks after cracking open this batch, I whipped up some more concoctions. I grabbed some really bizarre fruits this time, and I mixed a couple batches with varying degrees of coconut so I can find the right balance. Look forward to that post soon!

65/100) Crabbies

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Ginger Beer, Spiced Orange, Fruits

Crabbies. I don't know much about it other than that it originates in the UK. Yet, while it is from the UK, unless it actually says "imported" on the label, it was likely made using a slightly different recipe somewhere in the country you found it in. The UK versions lack grains, and therefore, they are safe for your gluten-avoiding friends, the USA version? Not so much so, apparently.

Note: All three of mine claim to be imports.

Ginger Beer) The smell is pretty similar to fresh ginger root. Tastes sweet on the initial and middle. The finish is where the burn settles but lightly. If was worried that the ginger bite wasn't strong enough, but it built with each sip. The linger matches the aroma with that earthy, root-like flavor sticking out until the burn gets the chance to overwhelm it. Crabbies is probably not my favorite ginger beer, but it definitely ranks pretty high on the list. ☆☆☆☆

Spiced Orange) Oh. My. This one was lovely. The orange takes the place of the burn in the ginger beer above. The orange brings about a subdued burst of orange with the finish and then vaporizes on the linger. Only until you have had most of the bottle does the orange start to linger. I prefer this to the ginger beer. ☆☆☆☆☆

Fruits) Cloudy alcoholic lemonade is the perfect description for it. The lemon was light but fresh. The finish dominated with a sugar-born sweetness that turned into a light zest on the linger. On a hot day, this would be really refreshing for some. For me, I like a bit more of a lemony punch. ☆☆☆

Halfway through the Fruits, I added a dash of Old Weller Antique (Original 107 Brand). It made for an interesting caramelly tartness combination. I feel as though I may have committed a sacrilege to the whiskey though somehow, but I found that the drink improved significantly with the whiskey's sacrifice.