Will whiskey make you frisky????

Mark Twain: "Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough."

Bourbon is from Kentucky.

And bourbon is a distinctive product of the United States.  But bourbon does not necessarily refer to the modern Bourbon County in Kentucky; it refers to an entire region of that name which now includes 34 Kentucky counties, and probably once included hundreds if not thousands of backyard distilleries.

Starting in the late 18th century, this region was known for several decades as "Old Bourbon." During this period, whiskey became the region's most important export. Because most people living there still called the whole region "Old Bourbon," any whiskey shipped from the area was labeled "Old Bourbon Whiskey."

Though, technically, bourbon can be made anywhere is the U.S., 97% of all bourbon is distilled and aged somewhere near Bardstown, Kentucky. One reason is said to be the iron-free water filtered through the high concentrations of limestone, unique to the area.  But the biggest reason is tradition.  Anything called bourbon that is not from Kentucky (unless it's Jack Daniels, a faithful bourbon style), is suspect.

Bourbon must be at least 51% corn, aged in new charred-oak barrels, distilled to no more than 160 proof (80% alcohol), barreled at no more than 125 proof (62.5%), and bottled at 80 proof (40%) or more.  Most bourbon is 70% corn.

These are my favorites (prices are in USD, of course):


Premium

Woodford Reserve  (??)  90.4  Labriol & Graham  Versailles, KY  37.99

Basil Hayden's (8 yrs)  80  Jim Beam  Clermont, KY  36.99

Maker's 46 (??)  94   Maker's Mark Loretto, KY  34.99

Four Roses Small Batch (??)  90   Four Roses  Lawrenceburg, KY  29.99

Maker's Mark (6 yrs)  90   Maker's Mark Loretto, KY  22.99

Wild Turkey  (8 yrs)  101    Wild Turkey Distillery  Lawrenceburg, KY  21.99

Wild Turkey   (6-7-8 yr blend)  81   Wild Turkey Distillery  Lawrenceburg, Kentucky 19.99



Moderate

Jim Beam Black (8 yrs)  86  Jim Beam Clermont, KY  19.99

Old Forester (6 yrs)  86  Brown Forman  Louisville, KY  18.99


Cheap* 

Jim Beam White (4 yrs)  80  Jim Beam Clermont, KY  14.99


*I include this category because, on a routine basis, I prefer 80 proof.  Also, I drink Manhattans.  In a 2/1 mix with vermouth, subtlety and nuance are lost.  Beam is mediocre but consistent.  (I also own Beam stock, LOL.  And Beam produces something like 112,000 gallons per day, so it's easy to find. :=P)

All of these prices are from Binny's, except for the Forester, which is from Foremost.  In Chicago sales tax is around 9.5%  plus a Cook County liquor tax of $1.03 on a fifth. :-(


Best uses of bourbon:

1- The Manhattan Cocktail

This drink was reputedly invented for or by Jenny Jerome (aka, Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston's mom) in connection with a New York political campaign.  This more or less guarantees that it is a ladylike, though strong, drink.  The story may be apocryphal.  Regardless, I prefer that the drink be made with bourbon, though some Philistines, usually Canadian, insist that it be made with rye.

1 jigger bourbon
1/2 jigger sweet vermouth (M&R or Noilly Prat)
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 Collins maraschino cherry, with perhaps a little juice (Collins maraschinos are bigger and firmer than supermarket brands...  also more expensive.)

Shake the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker (instead of stirring them), creating a froth on the surface of the drink.  (There's no evidence that whiskey bruises, LOL.)  Serve in a stemmed cocktail glass.


2- The Mint Julep

Michele insists the best use of bourbon is the mint julep, regardless of whether or not it's Derby Day.

These are direct quotes:

"I think that the best mint juleps want 100 proof bourbons, because they frost the cup better, and interact with the bruised mint better.

"You should never, never, never use simple syrup.

"A mint julep should be lots of bruised mint, about a teaspoon of spring water, a little bit of bar sugar, 100 proof bourbon, crushed ice, and a mint sprig in a silver or pewter Jefferson cup.  It should never be a sweet drink, but rather a refreshing one.

"BRUISE the mint, do not crush it.  Use the back of a spoon, or a pestle."

(NOTE:  Forester makes an excellent and inexpensive 100 proof.  So does Wild Turkey.  Be careful of the silver when brusing the mint.  Michele, me is hoping for silver Jefferson cups for Valentine's Day...)

Hors d'oeuvres 

To go with your bourbon, you may want some hors d'oeuvres, and then maybe some breakfast the next day...

1 - Poor Man's Pate de Fois Gras

1/2 lb liverwurst
3 oz ceam cheese
4 tbsp mayonnaise
1/3 cup cream
1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire
1 tbsp dry sherry
1/4 tsp each S&P
tiny pinch cayenne
tiny pinch nutmeg

Fork mash and blend the liverwurst, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and cream, then add everything else and thoroughly blend.  As curries differ, you may wish to add yours gradually to ensure that it remains only a subtle undertone.

Place in a buttered pate mold, or in individual pots, and cover with clear plastic wrap

Refrigerate before serving.  It may seem runny, but refrigeration firms it up.


2 - Gudrun's Special Grilled Pate

Use the above recipe, but omit the curry, cayenne, and nutmeg.  Add 2 tbsp finely chopped onion, and  add horeeradish to taste.  Spread on small cocktail rye slices or quartered rye slices.  Place on broiler pan and grill under a broiler flame until they begin to brown.


3 - Onion Canapes

English Muffins
Butter
Lemon Juice
Sharp Cheddar
Sweet Onion (such as Italian Red Torpedo or Vidalia)
Paprika

Get some miniature silver dollar English muffins (available from Wolferman's), or cut them out of full size muffins with a cookie cutter.*  Or just cut up some muffins, lazy.

Cut each circle in half, spread with butter, and sprinkle a little lemon juice.
Add a suitably sized piece of sweet onion, cover with sharp cheddar, sprinkle on a little paprika, and broil until it bubbles.

*Waste not, want not: The crusts from the cutouts can be saved and used for Gudrun's famous "nest eggs."  Put butter in a nonstick pan, add the gutted muffin, and crack an egg into the hole.  Add S&P.  Cook to desired done-ness, turning if you wish.  Add some sauteed Canadian bacon, Hollandaise, and a black olive for a reasonable and not too heavy facsimile of Eggs Benedict.  (I use bottled Hollandaise :=P)

We Don't Need no Steenkin' Rules

...especially when they are fallacious. 

There are plenty of things people do with language that are irksome, actually break language rules, and bring out the vigilante spirit in almost any thinking person:

An actor being interviewed says, "Between he and I."  Give me a break...  It's good that his lines are written for him.  But failure to correctly use the objective is catching on, I guess because it's regarded as cool, or maybe because they heard that idiot. 

"Where are you at?" is ridiculous. But "Where you at?" which might be disparaged by many, sounds fine to me. Call me ghetto bitch. LOL.

Repeated parts of acronyms: example: A(utomatic) T(eller) M(achine) machine, ATM machine :=P.

Less (an amount), when it should be fewer (individuals): example, less people.

"Anyways": horrible sounding, but an actual word.  Once again, I think people just think it sounds cool.  Anyways, I don't know why people can't just say "anyway."

"Irregardless":  also a word.  But, irregardless of the consequences, why not just say "regardless"?

       

"Ax" for "ask" (same as "liberry" for "library"): not even grammar...  enunciation.

BUT (and I am now violating a supposed rule of grammar), there are many "rules" of grammar that are not rules of grammar at all.  They are myths that developed from over simplifications by school teachers, medieval monks struggling to translate Latin to English, or simply people trying to impose their stylistic preferences.  You yourself have doubtless heard these rules and perhaps even ascribe to some.  But, thinking about them, you'll have to agree that all they really do is undermine the confidence of would be writers.  Good writers, on the other hand, generally discard them because the result of applying them would be stilted and unreadable verbiage.

You can't start a sentence with the word “however.” Wrong! It's fine to start a sentence with “however” so long as you use a comma after it when it means "nevertheless."

You can't start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction like "and," "yet,” or "but."  This "rule" has no historical or grammatical basis and, if applied, would inhibit rhetorical effectiveness.

You can't start a sentence with the word "because."  Because you can, LOL.  Stylistically, fragments can be useful.

You can’t end a sentence with a preposition.  “This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I shall not put.”  (Winston Churchill)  Feel free to end your sentences with prepositions.  Break the non-rule.  What are you waiting for?

You can't split an infinitive, and (its corollary) you can't split a verb phrase.  I want to boldly tell you that it's okay to split infinitives.  Splitting an infinitive is often an improvement in terms of elegance.  The rule against splitting may or may not relate back to 19th century concepts of a "prestige" form of English, or to the fact that in Latin (once the scholarly language of the world in which most treatises were written), and also in Greek, the infinitive is one word with no equivalent of the "to" marker.  The rule against splitting a verb phrase is probably an outgrowth of the rule against splitting infinitives.

A run-on sentence is a really long sentence.  Nope.  A run-on sentence can be short.  A run-on sentence simply lacks proper punctuation or conjunction.  This is a run-on sentence: "I am right he is wrong."