Our life, our way

Okay, so its a bit delayed…well maybe really delayed. But here are pictures from our trip to Seattle to visit Lauren and Mike and also to join them on a cruise to Alaska! They are books. You can click on image and be able to flip the pages.

One of the things I am noted for in the circle of friends is my relative lack of familiarity with mixed drinks, with the only drinks I generally made or drank were: screwdrivers, Margaritas, white Russians, and Jack & Coke.  Now, of course, these are nice because a least there’s some variance in the primary alcohols used (vodka, tequila, and whiskey).  However, I admit my total ignorance of stuff beyond these.

To remedy this, Kim and I challenged ourselves to make a “drink of the week” to broaden our abilities to make drinks as well as appreciate new flavors.  We’re working from a little book written by Salvatore Calabrese called “Complete Home Bartender’s Guide.”

Because this is new stuff for me, I’ve started our first two weeks with relatively simple drinks.  Last week, I made us some Cape Codders to say good by to summer with, and we both were happy with the results, though at the same time, it’s not something we’d make all too often because it didn’t rank above our favorites.  This one is very simple: 1 2/3 oz. of vodka, and 5 oz. of cranberry juice poured into a taller glass filled with ice.  It’s a nice refreshing drink.

This week’s drink did not go over so well for Kimmie, though.  I tried making some Gin Rickeys (1 2/3 oz. gin, 1 oz of fresh squeezed lime juice, and club soda, over ice in tall glass).  She said it tasted bitter to her, which I believe is a function of the club soda.  I didn’t mind it too much, though I think a little something to sweeten it would make it more palatable to me (thinking I might cheat and use a little Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice as an experiment, or maybe try again when I’ve made some sugar syrup for myself).

Ah well, isn’t this the point?  Try new things, find some disgusting combinations and occasionally find ourselves a new favorite, as well as what makes good combinations (sweet, sour, bitter, salty). Not only that, we can also learn each other’s taste preferences and be able to start filtering out drinks.

I won’t be slinging drinks for others for a while yet though…

Today we went to the Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta. Brian and I drive by it everyday to work and say we should go but never actually got there. Since Brian’s brother is a huge “beer” fan, what better destination.  I was a cool experience.  They have designated times that tours start and end on the website. However its really the time the open for drinking and the tours are a side thing.

We arrive and enter the building. There were folks there but not too many and the bar is not serving drinks yet. Shortly after our arrival the place starts to get packed. You can barely walk without having to say excuse me. They have 6 flavors on tap and you can get a little plastic cup or a nice glass to do your “tasting.” Each cup comes with 6 tickets. You bring your cup and ticket to the bar and claim a drink. If you have never had Sweetwater, you will want to try them all.

While all this is going on, they have tours of the brewery going on at random times. Which, of course, we participated in. I think everyone found a favorite. I did not drink. I was DD.