So this is what life as a sober person is like. Boring! I was finally able to take down a little caffeine and keep it down so my mood has risen considerably. And I bought a bottle of wine at the Davis co-op even though drinking wine still sounds gnarls to me due to puking so much of it up thursday night. So I'm slowly traveling back to the land of the drunks, my home. Or to make it sound better in case mom is reading, the land of the drinkers. I have shopped at the Davis co-op quite a bit while somehow failing to notice that they have an intriguing wine selection. I re-read that sentence in preparation of posting and cringed inside, but oh well, it IS intriguing, I can't lie. Better than the sac one for sure, which is waayyy too amador county heavy. Speaking of booze, what's the deal with this fernet stuff? A young, in-the-know sac lady told me that it's the big drink in SF and gave me a try (really intense and herb-y tasting and too strong for me, on first taste, anyways) and then Jay Howell posted on the undietacos and said his art show is being sponsored by the stuff. I have been figuring that it's only a matter of time before the young crowd (I won't call them hipsters) gets into like Pernod and Campari and stuff like that. And maybe even absinthe. There was a recent New Yorker article about a guy who is brewing absinthe in France in an ancient factory. He's the only one making the real stuff, but there is also a high-priced market for vintage bottles, some a hundred years old or more! I would link to it but the New Yorker hides their past articles in some secret online cache. I guess calling a cache secret is redundant.
The Four Eyes are on fire, with another show tonight at Junta. With the Megacools and, uh, Jewdriver? Great, a one joke band. I prefer my bands to at least have two jokes.
Fernet Branca Bitters Liqueur
ReplyDelete91 PTS BEVERAGE TESTING INSTITUTE. Dark brown with an orange cast; fresh peppermint aromas are very distinctive; a huge blast of menthol assaults the palate with a drying bitter herb finish.
sounds gross
> I have been figuring that it's only a
ReplyDelete> matter of time before the young crowd
> (I won't call them hipsters) gets into
> like Pernod and Campari and stuff like
> that. And maybe even absinthe.
That whole Absinth resurgence thing already came and went (it's soooo 1999). It was big amongst the goths...
Just say no to Pernod,
--wormwood
yeah, fer sure, absinthe whatever..
ReplyDeleteFernet and Campari however are delicious. Hopefully, if Campari does make a come back I'll be able to find it in bars in Sacramento. I don't think anyone around here carries it. Atleast not that I've seen.
Fernet to me tastes a lot like a distilled cigar box. When I was in the Czech Republic with Der Skipper many of the restaurants we ate in gave you a complimentary shot of it after dinner. yum!
The good news: I think the Monte Carlo has Campari.
ReplyDeleteThe bad news: I think the Monte Carlo has Campari.
miller
I have heard tell that the Monte Carlo sells more Fernet than any other bar in this country.
ReplyDeleteI also learned this weekend that Fernet can really get the ol' bowels moving. I cannot prescribe it for anyone who ate at Nishiki last week.
Oh and it tastes terrible.
Dr. Gbombay
but no one else makes real absinthe in the whole world except this interesting guy making it in this antique factory with cool stuff in it designed by eiffel. if goths were into absinthe, they were into fake absinthe. who cares? perhaps, but absinthe brewing has a long history behind it that has largely been lost so i thought it was interesting. also interesting to find out that most of the insanity claims for it were false or overblown and part of the larger termperance movement (worst movement ever)
ReplyDeletetemperance.
ReplyDelete> but no one else makes real absinthe
ReplyDelete> in the whole world except this
> interesting guy making it in this
> antique factory with cool stuff in
> it designed by eiffel.
In addition to France it's still made in Spain and Portugal. I have a couple bottles of fake stuff from the Czech Republic. It's absinthe without the "e"
> if goths were into absinthe, they
> were into fake absinthe.
That's because they don't even know that Bela Lugosi is dead.
> but absinthe brewing has a long
> history behind it that has largely
> been lost so i thought it was
> interesting.
There were quite a few instances of people getting sick from their DIY absinthe "parties" It's that crazy ol' crazy wormwood. I wonder if there are hospital statistics showing a spike in Goth stomach pumpings during the Y2K era...
--petey murphy
Poor Josh the travelling chef consumed some homemade absinthe the night before he cooked at our house. He was terrifically sick for nearly 24 hours. Most of my friends who've had the homemade stuff have gotten the serious barfs afterward.
ReplyDeleteThe same cannot said of Frenet, which is a fantastic, tough drink. I think Jager is the poor man's Frenet. I've never gotten sick from Frenet. It might not be as tasty as a gin n' tonic, but you feel terrific after you drink it. All of those herbal tonics people have been mentioning were meant for the purpose Liv describes - post meal digestives. Such a great idea! And they all make excellent cough syrups. Uh wait, I guess that's not such a great endorsement.
My favorite is the Hungarian drink Unicum. It was originally developed as a medicinal tonic. They sell it at Corti's, but it's pretty pricey.
I'm sorry, Dani, did you say Unicum???
ReplyDeletelove,
Alan Cumming's Unicorn
There was bar in Barcelona that made it`s own absinthe.If ya go to Barcelona head toward the meditterean sea on the La Rambla which means stream in Arabic.The bar was to the right near all the big ladies of the night.They were guys cause they were huge.So when ya see big guys dressedas ladies turn right.Ya see a dusty window place looking straight outta pirate movie.Absinthe is all they serve and one is fine..Two ya might
ReplyDeleteget ya home with a big guy in a girls dress..Three gets ya to the moon for pretty cheap.Also there is bar in Kumamoto that serves absinthe..Pour water,Put a sugar cube on top then pour the absinthe sit back and sing flaming lips songs all nite long with japanese salary men.Pretty fun when their buying too--in Fact i did that this weekend.Dave Smith and Downey were both at the bar.Downey kept stealing the drinks and passed out in the bar.It`s a punk bar with the kumamoto punk rock mascot..And they have tons of cds that you can annoyed the bar tender to play while getting drinking your absinthe..As for japan--They just found out that you can put wine in a carton too as sake..Put there is
no pulloff bendable straw yet..
add i`m tottally forgettin english--oh my gawd..drunk jay
ReplyDeletei've been to that bar in barcelona. it was really cool inside. also, i have had homemade absinthe that marie made and it was the bomb. it made me feel stoned and the world took on a green tinge.
ReplyDeletefrenet is tastey, herby and a little weird, a little on the jager-vibe, but its really good. i will lay a supreme "watse" with the stuff, if it kills me i'll let you know. sakura made some homemade absinthe when the a-frames dudes were in town, bathtub absinthe though. pretty raunchy, definately something you wouldn't want to overdo it on unless going blind is on your list of things to do. the wormwood had a really unique taste, but not quite the same (or nearly as refined) as the real-fake stuff captain pickle brought home from the czech republic and brought to the fursaxa show. p.s. unicum is fucking disgusting, 2nd only to that fermented-barf dutch gin dani's dad always tries to get me to drink.
ReplyDeleteall of this booze talk is making me want to get wasted.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to agree with Mark about unicorncum. I thought I'd see what kind of alcohol my Hungarian ancestors drank, so I picked up an airplane bottle of the stuff from bevmo, but like Hungarian food, I just couldn't stomach it.
ReplyDeleteI guess heckasac would say that I'm being "self-hating" again.
And speaking of horrible tasting herbal concoctions and elixirs: the next time you're in Chinatown, SF visit the Buddha Bar on Grant (across the street from Li Po bar) and ask for the "Chinese whiskey" that comes in the globe-like clay bottle.
ReplyDeleteThe bartendress will look at you with an are-you-sure look and tell you, "It's good for your bones." You'll need an entire beer to chase it down.
The Chinee whiskey probably tastes as bad as the Vietnamese cobra wine you guys were throwing up in the desert...
President,
Sacramento Appreciation Society of Sacramento
PS - Jay, does your father in law still hate you for walking around the house all naked like?
No he doesn`t get mad anymore.I plowed his potato field and his friend drank most my shoo chu.Plus i ride my bike at least 20 km everyday and have kick ass judo legs.So i will kick his ass if needed but then his yakuza friend might do a"revenge" thing.They pull up every night at around 7 pm picking the moo la winnings from high school baseball games in which more people gamble than pro-ball japan..But Sports suck and Absinthe rules.In japan they have sake with a dead snake in it...I also have ginseng wine that i`m really afraid to open.I tottally reccomend that bar in barcenlona if anyone visits there.Also don`t forget the Gaudi Park and Gothic area which had a cool punk bar..Awesome for the beckler..Japanese has cool gangster bars with sweaty guys in gangster suits.They only serve the hard stuff and there is usually a radio playing old enka.The Gangsters crow along to the songs and with a foreigner there--they might be mean.Or wanna throw in a river..But usually they insult you in japanese slang and buy alot of stiff/hard drinks and buy you japanese pancakes(okinomiyami)..I usually end having a bout of hakimasu...
ReplyDeletedear President Sacramento Appreciation Society of Sacramento,
ReplyDeletei've goyyen the Chinese whiskey before. it's not highly reccomended, but you'll live.
Like you, I've had the Chinese whiskey a couple times and lived. Not recommended but it sure cured the pain in me gulliver and it's good for the Constitution...
ReplyDeletePres,
SASofS