Summer Time Charmers....

I know a good portion of the country out there is experiencing spring in the air. I on the other hand live in California and spring is simply a two week precursor to summer. In addition to being in California I happen to reside in Bakersfield, and at the moment our little chunk of land cannot decide if it should be 90 degrees or raining or both. Regardless of your feelings about hot weather it is, without question for us in Bakersfield, well on its way. With this impending heat, my mind, as it often does, drifts to wine, beer and cocktails.

So what is on the wish-list when the weather warms? Something cool first and foremost, refreshing would be nice, crisp, clean, and highly drinkable.

The world of wine has a lot to offer on those hot days, and while many options will certainly lean to the white side of the category there are a couple of reds that can be appropriate when chilled. We will start on the light side of the house for obvious reasons. There is a wonderful little wine that comes over from Portugal that happens to be at the top of my list for summertime quenching. Though Vinho Verde (Broadbent is a current favorite) translates as “Green Wine” it is not a color description, it is simply that the wine exhibits such youthful freshness. Which is exactly the goal, when this wine is produced it is meant to be consumed within the year. Though the wine does not contain enough carbon dioxide to be considered semi-sparkling these wines are without question slightly pétillant. On the nose they lack real complexity, there is a good whack of lemon-lime zest and a touch of mineral, but it won’t blow your mind. Then you take your first sip; the wine is dry, but citrusy fruity, the bubbles lightly tickle your tongue, but do not sting, the acid sets off your salivary glands and then it finishes clean and dry with just light hints of astringency. An absolutely perfect wine if you are by the pool, gardening and of course for a picnic on a hot summer days. There are several other whites that can fill a good role in the summertime; Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris/Grigio, and of course bubbles are among other favorites of mine.

The reds can be a little more difficult to navigate, while you can certainly put anything in the fridge and drink it cold, some reds can be quite intolerable when cold, but others may surprise you. Once again I do certainly have one that would be a kind of go-to for me, but really two dry reds can play pretty well in the cool to cold zone. My first pick is only my first pick to encourage you to seek it out, but trust me, you won’t regret the adventure. Barbera d’Asti (Michele Chiarlo is a good producer) is a red wine from Northern Italy that is commonly consumed cold by the locals. While some examples can have fullness to them most are medium to light bodied with a good bit of stewy, dried fruits, mineral, solid acid and on the dry side. This is what I want you to try; put your bottle of Barbera d’ Asti in the fridge and get some good cheddar to make a grilled cheese on sourdough. Throw together a nice wild greens salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and pull the cork. You can thank me later. Pinot Noir is the other one that I think plays pretty well with the cold. I am not encouraging you to take your most prized, expensive bottle of Pinot and throw it in the cold-box, don’t take me wrong, drink that one at precisely 60 degrees. What I am saying is that those “everyday drinkers” for $10-$20 of Pinot can do pretty well as a thirst quencher.

A little brew on a summer day can go a long way, whether it is a nice light lager while you are doing some manual labor around the homestead or an American Pale Ale at the BBQ with all of your friends. The lager, first off let me address the 64 calorie thing. I appreciate concerns about weight, and health, and so on….. But seriously, find something other than your alcohol choice to suffer the consequences here. I promise you that nothing that actually tastes good can be put in the bottle with only 64 calories, it just cannot happen. That being said light tasting beers are awesome during the summer (and actually lighter in calories than some of their heartier brethren.) A great lager (Bitburger is a good German example to look for) should be light, crisp, and bubbly. It should achieve these characteristics without a loss of flavor or interest though (this is where some of our famous Macro-breweries go wrong.) With an alcoholic strength of right around 5% these beers are not going to knock you on your butt, but they will quench your thirst and gradually work you towards the goal. I look for the session beer in the summer because, for god’s sake, I’m thirsty and I want to drink more than one, it’s hot out there. I have been stuck on American Pale Ales (Deschutes Mirror Pond is a current addiction, and what I am drinking as I write this) for a good session beer, specifically as it turns warm outdoors. Good pale ale is fuller than the lager, with a more malt driven profile. British styles will even have hints of cookie and biscuit to them. The trick to a solid summer pale are the hops, they must be pronounced enough to, not only balance the malt, but lead the brew into its dry finishing impression, which leaves the palate refreshed. For me summer can be a tough time to get mixed up with darker beers, but a good black lager (Kostrizer Schwarzbier) and some reds or browns out there can work out.

Alright, so we are drinking with at least some intent and want to dig into the home bar…. I have a, Brother-in-law induced, love for a Ketel One, tonic, and lemon. The lemon does make a difference, and yes, it does bug me when I get a lime, and please, feel free to be a little heavy handed with the Ketel. Regardless I think that there are some more crowd-pleasing options out there and my first choice, being born and bread a Cali boy, is the Margarita. I am not necessarily a purest.  I can appreciate some of the variations out there (banana is pretty great!) Who couldn’t? The classic though…. Not blended…. Is a beautiful thing…. The key here is to not use anything in this drink that you cannot drink on its own. If this is a properly made drink you will taste every aspect. Good tequila is obviously the base, but do not underestimate the role of your triple sec (a good friend of mine was just telling me of her passion regarding the quality of the triple sec.) Regardless if you are doing a classic lime or another style of the Rita you must use fresh fruit to achieve your goal, there can be no substitute here. Maybe a touch of Agave Nectar to sweeten things up and from there just decide if you are a “salt” or “no salt” (I’m a “no salt”) and now hopefully you have a good drink in front of you.

As we approach summer I hope we all have opportunity to enjoy the heat while working to counter its assault on our thirst. I have a good idea of what I will be drinking (at least a little water.)

Cheers!

Drinking with Intent

I believe that drinking with intent is absolutely acceptable in the right situation, on the other hand there are situations in which drinking with intent can actually become an issue. Inebriation can be an absolutely beautiful thing. Sometimes it can help with a bad day, week, month, or job you must do. Sometimes it can just help you sleep through frustration. Sometimes it helps you achieve a pure, ethereal emotion while celebrating with friends. Sometimes it can land you in jail at the end of what proves to be an increasingly long night. As a result drinking with intent should be reserved for those that are mature enough understand its application and consequences. As I write this I must admit that little warmth in the belly leads to a free flowing opinion, so to speak.

The bar/party experience: Unknown people are all around you, and you begin ordering drinks with a group of your friends. The night progresses and this is what you see around you. There are a bunch of guys around and they are hardly dressed for a proper event. Baseball caps are on sideways, jersey’s replacing dress shirts and raggedy jeans that don’t fit. You also observe all of the ladies running around with not so perfectly fitted tiny little black dresses and four hundred dollar heels. The parties on at this point and, even though the brothers showed up underdressed, let’s go. The crowd starts drinking with intent and the party builds. About half-way through the party the hardly mature start to drop like flies (age does not matter here, it is a mental maturity.) Some of the ladies are nearly breaking their ankles trying to maintain the heels they are in with a solid buzz, and the guys are starting to get a little too cocky. An hour before the party is over some of those hanger-on hardly matures that were all cocky earlier get in a fight and the other semi-matures are just drunk enough to run out to watch. The fight happening and breaking up is usually sign enough for the semi-mature to run out to their cars and take off to avoid trouble, plus the scene is dying. If at this point you are still around you may work your way back into the room long enough to notice that the girls have entirely forgotten how fitted those skirts weren’t and the remaining guys are desperately pawing away. While some of the true hanger-ons of the hardly matures are barfing in the bathroom or actually falling all over themselves around the room. I mean really, grown-ass men that are not maintaining themselves, really? You are not safe in this situation. If you are observing this while drinking a bit more and just finding the whole scene infuriating and comical at the same time, you may well be the mature. Look out. You prove this when all your friends are ready to go and somehow you find your car, jump behind the wheel, and proceed to explain how you are not that bad of a driver when you have been drinking. I will admit that in this instance I am that moron, and I will admit that I will probably drive away again sometime down the road. I only hope to be strong enough to accept the consequences when they come...... It’s something to think about really.

The home experience: Friends and family sitting around talking while enjoying a few drinks, everybody is under control and enjoying good conversation. Of course, as the glasses fill the conversation grows in volume, the music grows louder in the background, and the smokers break for the outdoors to enjoy what is alcohols best friend. I nice little cigarette break. The smokers will have a tendency to disappear together and for long periods of time, please forgive us, we love you. There may be a bit of gossip forming here and there, but overall the group is in good spirits. This is a situation in which somebody is bound to extend their confidence in their ability to hold their liquor beyond its threshold. At the end of the night, at a private party, if somebody does go beyond their ability it is nearly acceptable. You are amongst those who love you. You will be taken care of, and lovingly left to sleep in the floor. The next day you will have something to help with the headache, lots of water, and allowing that your stomach will accept it, a bit of breakfast and, god-willing a Bloody Mary. All will be well and aside from a little (or a lot) of chiding you will survive.

A joyous occasion, a wedding of course: This one comes quite directly from personal experience and is a very dear one to me so please, bear with me.

The first night that I will recall is that of the night before celebration for the official wedding date of our close friends. Oddly enough they were married shortly before their wedding day for explainable reasons that I shall not go into. None the less we had a bash at our favorite local dive-bar the night before the official day. We were drinking with intent. The prettiest young bridesmaid had a good ole’ time drinking lot’s of juicy drinks along with some sweet shots. At the end of the very enjoyable night we all (this is the maturity part) jump in a cab and head on home. The next morning that beautiful little bridesmaid had a dangerously shitty hangover (this is the consequences part.)

We will now talk of night two, which is my own experience remembered in a teary eyed, fond rendition. Same wedding and I wish to communicate that this couple means the world to me. I am the Best Man, and in my mind that means it is my duty to relieve whatever stress I can throughout the event and give a toast. Of course when things are perfect they go well, and that couple got hitched without incident. Then the corks started coming out of the bubbly for the toast, and this is where we went… I begin pulling corks and pouring glasses getting ready for the big toasts of the evening and in good form I am sampling to ensure things are correct (and calm the nerves.) The Maid of Honor gives her toast efficiently and moves on in good form. I jump up and get all teary-eyed while I give the toast in which I had drawn a complete blank, luckily the love in my heart took over and delivered me a room full of likewise teary-eyed loved ones. After that, I drank with intent. It’s almost embarrassing today to think of myself walking around a formal event drinking out of the bottle, but it remains one of the most memorable experiences in my life! This was one of the ethereal moments….. Congrats Liz and Josh, March 23, 2006.

This leads me to a conclusion, and I will point out that I have certainly performed at various maturity levels throughout my experience with alcohol, and save a few situations may revisit trouble again down the road. I only hope that when I hit that trouble my friends will be there to get my back as I would theirs. At the same time I will use this text as a personal reference to try to ensure that in the future I act more responsibly with alcohol when I am not “safe” and hope that you will do the same. All parties should have a happy ending for all of the guests. When you are going to drink with intent it is okay, but you must surround yourself with those who love you. You must also recognize throughout the night that you may be the one that another will need to depend on.

Cheers