Day and Night Drinking: Vintage Cocktails and Farmhouse Beer

You know how food bloggers tell a random story about their life before segueing into what the post is actually about? Well, I'm one of those food bloggers now, I guess...

When I was in college in Pittsburgh, there was an Italian restaurant where everyone went when they turned 21. Because most of us had only had beers, hard lemonades, and wine coolers up until that point, we all became obsessed with ordering classic cocktails once it was suddenly legal for us to get wasted. Some TV show or movie would mention a cocktail (like when Sex and the City made Cosmos a requirement of a girls' night out) and then one person would order it, bring it back to the table so that 5-10 friends could try it, and then a craze would ensue. One week, we were all ordering grasshoppers. Another week, it would be a round of Manhattans. Then dirty martinis. Then tequila sunrises. And so on as we challenged the limits of the bartender's handbook.

One night, I suddenly decided I wanted to try something new. I had been watching a lot Jeeves and Wooster and there must have been an episode in which Wooster went to America and indulged in some illegal gin cocktails at a party. I can still picture Hugh Laurie doing a frantic Charleston while spilling a drink all over his white gloved fingers. So I took a chance and ordered a lime gimlet, then proudly brought my prize back to the table, where it was passed around and excitedly sipped by a gaggle of theater majors. The gimlet then became the official cocktail of the week.

Wanting to retain my crown as a drink taste maker, I did a little research before my next trip to the local hangout. The following week, I sauntered up to the bar and ordered a Bee's Knees. The bartender sighed at me and shook his head at my pretentiousness, but he mixed up the cocktail all the same. Sadly, this one wasn't as much of a success as my previous choice due to the bartender being out of honey (which is kind of essential to the flavor) and my crown was usurped by a dancer who introduced everyone to Sex on the Beach.

The same thing would happen with beers. Everyone started off ordering whatever the $2 special was, but slowly we began asking about some of the more adventurous brews. This was before the micro-brew explosion happened, so things like seasonal releases from Samuel Adams were usually enough to impress us. Still, this kind of experimenting taught me that beer could actually be flavorful and complex and didn't just mean sipping vaguely bitter carbonated water that gave you gas and heartburn before it ever got your drunk.

These days, I like to honor my beginner drinking days by mixing up classic cocktails at home or trying new beers with friends. Picking up random finds from the grocery store or liquor store has helped me really identify what I like and what I don't. Still, I'm no mixologist, so I tend to stick to the classics. But now when I go out, I'm now a little more informed when browsing a cocktail menu or a beer list then I was back in my college days.

Last weekend, I queued some Jeeves and Wooster and put myself in the mood for some classic gin cocktails. I recently discovered Eau Claire Distillery, a Canadian company that just debuted its craft spirits in Chicago, and I was anxious to test out two of their signature products: Parlour Gin and Prickly Pear EquineOx.

The gin reminded me of more European styles, which tend to have less sweetness and more of an herbal flavor. I made a twist on a Bee Knee's with it, adding some Earl Grey tea along with lemon juice and honey. I really liked how smooth the gin made the cocktail, adding flavor and not just bite. The bergamot in the Earl Grey really complimented the subtle fruit and herb notes in the gin as well. Now with the Prickly Pear EquineOx, I didn't want to go the expected route and make a margarita. Instead, I used it to revamp my favorite classic cocktail; the gimlet. A little lime juice, a little agave syrup, and a splash of tonic water brought out the sweet fruity flavor of this spirit. I kid you not, this tasted pretty much like the most delicious juicy candy and I had to resist the urge to mix up more of these babies.


I also had the chance to sample a new brew from The Bruery out of California. I am already a huge fan of their Girl Grey, an ale brewed with Earl Grey tea (did I mention Earl Grey is my favorite flavor ever?), so I was interested to try their Saison Ardennes. To be honest, I'm not usually partial to blonder beers, but I am a big fan of sour or tart beers. This saison had a wonderful pucker to it, but it stayed firmly on the more savory end of the spectrum without veering too fruity. The floral and malt forward flavor made this ideal for pairing with simple, hearty food. I really enjoyed this alongside a BBQ chicken flatbread with some pepper jack cheese, which matched the beer's tang as well as it's spice.

I do have to say that my drinking options are much more exciting these days then they were back in college. But I'm glad that I took those years to develop a fearlessness about my beverage choices. When you go out to a restaurant and see a cocktail that has one or two things in it you're not sure about, don't be afraid to ask about them. A lot of the time, I order drinks without really knowing what I'm getting myself into. When it's not good, I know for next time. When it is good, I make note of the cocktail ingredients or the brewery that created the beer, and that gives me a new outlet to explore the next time I'm looking for something exciting to add to my home bar.

I was sent products free of charge by the companies mentioned in this post, but all opinions are my own.

From the Kitchens of Bunny and Brandy: Sapporo Beer Cheese

One of the side effects of a good St. Patrick's Day celebration is a left over beer.  "Of course, a spare bit of lager around the house is not really a problem," as Brandy likes to say, "But I do like to encourage slightly more creative ways to consume it."

Brandy's St. Patrick's Day tradition is to have her Irish friends each bring a beer from a country they have visited (so as to avoid being overloaded with Guinness and Harp), so this year she found herself with a few spare bottles of Sapporo, a Japanese lager with a deep golden color and a crisp, hoppy taste.

First testing the Sapporo Light, Brandy discovered it to have a very mild, effervescent flavor which gave her an idea.  She poured the whole bottle into a beer mug and followed it with an equal amount of fresh orange juice, thereby creating the fabled "beer-mosa."  She found that the citrusy notes of the Sapporo Light were an absolutely perfect match for the orange, making for a fun twist on the traditional brunch cocktail.


Using the more full bodied Sapporo Premium, Brandy created a savory beer cheese sauce that she used to dress up a bagel breakfast sandwich.  She found that the cheese sauce was actually quite versatile, being able to double for a fondu, a spread, and even a dip.  The Sapporo's flavor was strong enough to shine through and enhance the cheese, but not obtrusive enough to disguise the smoked flavor, making it the perfect beer for this recipe.





Beer Cheese Sauce

1 cup of whole milk
2 cups of smoked or oven roasted cheddar, shredded
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 brick of cream cheese
1 1/2 cups of Sapporo (or any good pale lager)
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the milk and butter on medium high until butter is melted and milk begins to bubble slightly.  Add in half the cream cheese and the cheddar, stir until all of it is melted and incorporated.  Add salt and pepper.  Take the mixture off the heat and add the beer.  Put back on low heat for five minutes.

With the cornstarch in a small bowl, scoop a few spoonfuls of the hot liquid into it and stir quickly until the cornstarch forms a soft dough.  Add the dough to the main mixture and whisk quickly to combine.  Add in the second half of the cream cheese.  Cook an additional ten minutes over low heat or until the mixture thickens to your liking.  Remove from heat and serve immediately or refrigerate for a thicker, more spreadable texture.

Optional: for a smoother consistency, after taking off the heat, run the sauce through a fine mesh strainer.

The writers of this blog were provided with products to facilitate the writing of this post.

Postcards from Bunny: Cocktails, Wine, and Beer

Brandy has just been so darn busy these last few months that she simply can't seem to keep her schedule straight, which is why she completely forgot that Bunny was due into Chicago for a brief stay in between her husband's archeological digs.  "I just don't know if I'll have the time to do more than have a quick drink," Brandy apologized to her oldest friend over he phone, "I've become very much in demand since you left Chicago, you know."  "Of course you have," Bunny replied, her eyes rolling so hard they were nearly audible, "Well, if time for a drink is all you can spare, I guess I'll have to find a way to entertain myself.  I know!  I'll find us the absolute best places to grab a drink in the meantime!  After all, you're sooooo important, it would be unseemly for you to be seen at just any old pub."  "Brilliant idea!" Brandy gasped, "Give me a choice of where to get the best cocktails, wine, or beer, and then we'll see what kind of a mood I'm in." "Challenge accepted," affirmed Bunny.

Cocktails at The Barrelhouse Flat

Bunny started her quest off at The Barrelhouse Flat, a speakeasy style bar and lounge in Lincoln Park that prides itself on hand crafted cocktails using an incredible array of artisan ingredients, right down to their hand carved ice cubes.  The cocktails there are intricately designed twists on classics, as well as original concoctions, all of which are invented by the team of highly skilled and highly knowledgeable bartenders (they don't like the new-fangled term "mixologists" there).  Bunny loved seeing that the Featured Cocktails section of the menu was an especially exciting playground for the bartenders to invent some seasonal drinks.  First she tasted Mrs. Hudson's Smash, a delightfully bright cocktail, inspired by the Victorian punches of old, and made with gin, strawberry, lemon, allspice dram for a little kick, and a sprig of fragrant mint.  Another favorite was the Apple-Tiki, a tribute to tiki-style drinks from the height of their popularity on the 1930's and 1940's.  This cocktail had apple brandy, lime juice, cinnamon syrup, a few obscure herbal liquors, and some absinthe, which all combined for a surprisingly sophisticated beverage that wasn't too sweet and had just the right amount of fruitiness and spice.  The food at The Barrelhouse Flat wasn't bad either, consisting of smaller bites like sliders, root vegetable chips, and rustic almond macaroons that wouldn't overwhelm or over shadow the artistry of the cocktails.  "I think the thing I love most about this place is that they play period appropriate music," Bunny said, smiling as she closed her eyes and listened to a vintage recording of Louis Armstrong playing softly throughout the bar, "Makes you feel like you've stepped back in time.  I'd take a speakeasy over a night club any day!  Alright, cocktails, check.  On to wine!"

Wine at Max's Wine Dive

Bunny was very impressed by Brandy's description of her visit to Max's Wine Dive a few months ago, but she did have one criticism.  "How did you go to a place labeling itself as a "wine dive" and not drink oodles of wine?!" Bunny had asked her.  Well, now that it was Bunny's turn to visit, she decided to go whole hog, so to speak, and try a bunch of different wines, paired expertly by wine director Kristin Irwin with some of Max's new fall dishes, created by chef Jessica Brumleve.  Among Bunny's favorites of the evening were the Avancia Godello, an oaky white wine with touches of fall fruits that paired extremely well with the rich bone marrow jam on Texas toast, the  Flora Springs Triology, a red blend with bold notes of anise, sandlewood, and red fruits, paired with an apple cider braised pork belly, and the Jorge Ordonez & Co. ‘Victoria No. 2’ Moscatel, an absolutely addictive dessert wine, served with a caramelized apple crisp that came topped with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.  Bunny could have stayed and sipped every single one of the 100+ wines Max's had on offer (indeed, there were quite a few varieties that caught her eye, and luckily, as it turned out, Max's offers a to-go service with any of their drinkables), but she knew she had to keep to her mission.










Beer at SideDoor

Last on Bunny's list was to find a swanky beer bar, which was probably the hardest item to cross off, as so many places in Chicago have such outstanding beer programs.  "I need somewhere with attention to detail, history, and knowledge of product," Bunny mused before finally settling on the relatively new SideDoor, a so called American style gastro-pub with a beer menu so extensive that parts of it are kept secret from the population at large.  Beverage Director Jeff Van Der Tuuk keeps some of his most prized acquisitions off the main menu, hoping to find customers who are looking for more adventurous and exciting beers to enjoy along side Chef Brian Kwak's dishes.  Bunny had the chance to taste some of the rarer prizes from Van Der Tuuk's cellar, including the Rodenbach Caractere Rouge, a red Belgian brew with a little touch of acid from raspberry and cranberry, which went perfectly with Chef Kwak's pear salad with arugula and candied pecans, the Boulevard Saison-Brett, which had a slight lemongrass flavor and a smooth, dry finish, which matched the succulent smoked chicken wings with bleu cheese dressing to a tee, and the Revolution Very Mad Cow Milk Stout, possibly the sweetest beer in the house, paired with a divine sticky toffee pudding.  These perfect pairings were probably due to the tight cooperation between Chef Kwak and Van Der Tuuk, who plan the ever changing menus together, matching the beers in Van Der Tuuk's stash to each new dish.  "I can't imagine a better way to truly enjoy a beer!" Bunny squealed with delight, "I just know Brandy will be pleased.  And if my eyes don't deceive me, it seems they serve brunch here too!  Perhaps I'll have to plan a return trip..."

And so after her extensive research into exactly where she and Brandy should get a drink, Bunny had a contender for every category on her list she felt sure Brandy would approve of.  "You've certainly done your work well!" Brandy said admiringly, "But it's so bloody cold outside...what do you say we sit in by my fireplace and mix a couple of hot toddies?"  "Oh no, you don't!" Bunny exclaimed, "You get your coat on right now!  We're going to all three spots tonight!"

The writers of this blog were invited to attend the events mentioned in this post at no charge in exchange for an honest recap.