Yesterday a few old friends where down in Stockholm for a meetup, dinner and general foolishness. And of course I couldn’t resist having a few drams. So:
And we finished off with the late night dram of all late night drams, the Uigeadahl.
Post Category → Alcohol
Updated whisky library; Dalhwinnie and Mortlach
I took an important decision yesterday: I did not buy another electric bass! Although I really, really wanted to! Instead I bought some wine and whisky! Hurray!Here:
Port Charlotte Goes Phoenix
So, via Whiskyblog I hear that Bruichladdich is planning to rebuild the distillery in Port Charlotte, on the site of the old Lochindaal distillery. Although the entire machinery will come from the defunct Inverleven. In any case, another Islay distillery? Fungrim says hell yes!Hm… Which reminds me, it’s high time I pay my first visit to Islay. Hm…
MLP VII:”The Heap of Posting Uptake”
Word of the Day
I admit to being a little slow today. Mainly on account of ending last night with two Chimay’s and another beer I can’t really remember but that was equally strong. Quite stupid actually.Anyway, here’s the word of the day, by way of Jonathan Stroud: Rubbishness. And a brilliant word it is.
Back in Town and Stinking of Whisky
I spent the Weekend at Torpshammar with St Jacobs Chamber Choir. And would you believe it? The proprietors were all whisky fanatics. Or sort of anyway. And they had this thing for Duncan Taylor & Co Ltd. Which is, of course, completely understandable. So, among other things I tasted:
- Invergordon, 39YO (Grain / Highland / Duncan Taylor)
- Bunnahabhain, 33YO (Malt / Islay / Duncan Taylor)
- Bruichladdich, 37YO (Malt / Islay / Duncan Taylor)
- Johnnie Walker Green Label (Vatted Malt)
- Duncan Taylor Regional Blended; Islay (Vatted Malt / Islay)
- Duncan Taylor “The Big Smoke” (Vatted Malt / Islay)
Whee!
The Club of Mondays – 3rd Anniversary!
And so the ultimate home away from home turns 3 years. Celebration is in order! In attendance, in order of random selection:
- Redeyed Jenna
- Mr Jones – Founding father
- Fungrim – The devil is in
- Drakmiklos
- Karin – The dancer
- The Matts of all Matts
- Anders K.
- The Sollerman
- Ola – The wagnerian
- Åsatro
Also featuring special guests “Matilda” and “Christian”. Please note that these aren’t their real names though.First order of the day, Moet et Chandon! My god, I think I created a monster. The one bottle of champagne was soon followed by 6 bottles of sparkling. Wheee!3 years ago, me and Mr Jones founded this damn thing. And since, The Club of Mondays have only missed one single monday where sickness and job related shore leave left the Stage Door empty. That makes… One hell lot of mondays.And Mr Jones have only missed 3 occasions. Count ‘em: 1-2-3. Good gracious me.It is funny, a lot of people have passed by during the years. At times it would be Mr Jones and me only. And at other time some 15 people. Lovely people. Lonely people. Lovesick people. All kinds of people. Friends and family. Amazing strangers and quiet guests. Loud opera singers and forlorn conductors. And yet, the core remains.Hang on! What fool ordered another bottle of sparkling?!And among the nights attendances where indeed several hard core members: Redeyed Jenna, Mr Jones, yours truly, Drakmiklos and The Matts of all Matts. Amazing stuff. (Can you remember the amounts of laughter we’ve had? The tears? I certainly can.)At this point, our collective thanks to The Stage Door. It wouldn’t be the same anywhere else. (Damn! We forgot to invite Mother and Thomas to the festivities. Well Mama, if you read this, know that we love you).That fish was really good. And, so I heard, was the meat. And as usual: the best hamburger in Gothenurg made it customary appearance on the table. Next anniversary, we’ll buy some flowers for cooks.And there was singing. Although I think it was by mistake and was widely regarded as a bad move from the rest of the table.Yes! We have pictures. Hurray!And so the night went.
Black currant snaps
So, I went to a crayfish party yesterday with St Jacobs Chamber Choir. It was actualy my first kräftskiva in a very long time. Just to be on the safe side I brought along an extra bottle (75 cl) of my own black currant brännvin for the snaps. It disappeared in no time at all, my boy, that is one thirsty choir.So I guess my headache is justified today.Anway, in order for you all to feel like I’m doing today, here’s how to make your own black currant brännvin:
- Find a good brännvin to use as base. Everyone I have ever talked to use swedish Brännvin Special. If you use something else, remember that you want a clear, dry, no extra “taste”, brännvin with something like 30% strength. If it is stronger you can add water to take it down.
- Empty the berries in a closable container. Pour brännvin over them. Just enough to cover the berries. Close the container and put it out of the sun for a week.
- You should now have a very strongly colored liquid. Almost black. Filter away the brännvin from the berries into a bootle. Now the berries are done, my suggestion is to serve them with ice cream to your friends. Just heat them slowly while stirring in some sugar. Serve hot. Bliss!
- Close the bottle and leave it for some 4 months at a calm place. This is for any dust escaping your filter to settle at the bottom of the bottle. When it as setled, gently decanter the brännvin, taking care to exclude the dust.
- Almost there. The result sould be very strongly colored. But it is not the finished product. You need to mix it with more of the brännvin you started with to achieve a good balance between berries and spirit. For black currants you can use about 1 third black current brännvin and 2 thirds new spirit. Altough the bottle I had yesterday was 50/50 which worked nicely as well. It is a mater of taste. You’ll need to try different variants to find the level that suits you.
There you go. Oh, that reminds me: I still have some blue berries, juniper and pors (sorry, I havn’t got my english dictionary at hand) to try out. Excuse me for a moment…