KegWorks Blog

On the popular networking website, Facebook, I recently became a member of a group called “My Friends Are Getting Married. I’m Just Getting Drunk.”

Not even two years out of college and just shy of 24, I have SEVEN weddings to attend between the months of May and October this year. Six of them are for my 23-24 year old friends and one of them is for an older cousin. Judging by what seems to be the new standard, she’s an ancient old maid, pushing 27.

My new favorite Facebook group has 108,685 members who like me, would rather walk to the bar than take a stroll down the aisle. While I’m all about living a long life full of love and marital bliss, I firmly believe that you can never be “old and wise” if you were never “young and stupid.”

Even though I’ll be flat broke, I like to look on the bright side. I’m only in three of them, I’ll have seven nights of open bar and I can give my friends cool gifts from KegWorks. I feel that the fact that most of my soon-to-be-wed pals would prefer the N-Ice Rack Beer Pong Accessory to a really nice blender speaks for itself.

Care to discuss how crazy they are? I’ll be at the bar with the 50¢ drafts. See you there!

TAGS [ WEDDINGS | BEER PONG | BLENDER | FACEBOOK ]

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Dave keeps a running list of interesting bars and restaurants he reads about or sees on television. An establishment can work its way onto Dave’s list for its beer selection, cocktail creations or innovative menu. My wife and I took a small vacation to New York City a few weeks ago and decided to pull a few names off of Dave’s list that were known for their cocktails and make an evening out of it. Here are our Cocktail Chronicles from our visit to Manhattan.

Our first stop was the Bubble Lounge in Tribeca (228 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013). As the name reflects, it had a very large Champagne selection. This was a very hip place. I was a big fan of all the exposed brick inside. However, there was nothing interesting in the champagne choices (we had just as wide a selection at our KegWorks tasting) so we decided to try the cocktail menu. Julie had the Riviera (Clement Shrubb Rum, muddled strawberries, ginger and champagne served in Chardonnay wine glass) and I had the Good Dog (Bulldog Gin, Stolichnaya Vodka, Lynchee Syrup and Orange Peel served in a martini glass). The Lynchee syrup was made from a purée of the Asian Lynchee fruit, which I had never tried before. Neither of us was overly thrilled with the drinks and crappy service so we moved along.

Since it was unusually warm that night, we walked the 12 blocks uptown to the Pegu Club (77 West Houston Street, 2nd Floor. New York, NY 10012). This was well worth the walk and by far the best stop of the night. Be sure to check out the web site and read the back story on what it is named after. It’s an interesting read.

I apologize in advance if my drink ingredients are not exact. My notes are a bit fuzzy. It was quite dark inside Pegu.

I started with the signature drink “the Pegu.” From the menu:

“Crisp, snappy and fairly potent; just the way we like ‘em. London Dry Gin, Angostura bitters Orange Bitters, Orange Curacao and Fresh Lime Juice”…Fantastic!

Julie had the Applejack Cobbler (Fresh Cranberries, Laird’s Applejack, Apple Schnapps, Orange Juice, Pomegranate Syrup and Angostura Bitters served in a martini glass garnished with a pansy)…also given a positive review from the wife.

There were so many things on the drink menu I wanted to try I moved on to my next selection while Julie continued to work on her first. The Earl Grey MarTEAni is now my favorite cocktail, which is an honor I do not bestow lightly. Earl Grey infused Plymouth Gin, Lemon Juice, and Raw Egg White (relax Rocky…the egg white is just to froth the drink, you can’t taste it) garnished with a lemon twist, served in a martini glass rimmed with super fine sugar.

I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed everything about the Pegu Club. Great atmosphere, top notch service and unbelievable drinks with a meticulous attention to detail. I can’t wait to go back to spend an entire evening enjoying the cocktail selection.

Our next stop was Death and Company. (No address or link…screw Death and Company). I obviously was not cool enough to get in. As the pretentious doorman told me, there were a few parties of two ahead of us, but to give him my cell phone number and he would give us a call if something opened up. If we didn’t get a call by 11:30 they would no be able to get us in. Needless to say they didn’t call….shocking. I was very disappointed because it was Saturday night in Soho and I wasn’t sure if we would be able to buy a ridiculously overpriced drink anywhere else.

Continuing our journey, we continued our walk uptown to the Blue Owl. The drink menu was interesting but the place was so packed we really could not enjoy it. Julie had grown tired of the esotaric drinks and settled back into her vodka, soda twist standard. The Bobby Burns did catch my eye. Made with Famous Grouse Scotch, Sweet and Dry Vermouth and Benedictine, I had high hopes for Bobby because of the Famous Grouse Scotch Whiskey (proud sponsor of the Scottish national rugby team), but sadly all you tasted was the vermouth. I’m guessing that Bobby has some potential, but the large crowd caused the resident mixologists to focus more on quantity than quality. With that we bid all the wanna-be hipsters farewell and headed back to midtown for some quality Celtic punk and too much Guinness and Jameson.

Random Thoughts….

• I’m a sucker for Irish pubs, especially between 6th and 7th. Go see Emma, pictured at right, at O’Brien’s on 46th… (It cracks me up when people stick coins into the ice that forms on glycol beer towers.) Don’t miss Black 47 at Connolly’s on 45th on Saturday nights.
• I’m way too old to think I can hang with an FDNY academy graduation party. I know better than this…but add the Pig and Whistle to the Irish pub list above.
• Drinking in Buffalo skews your perception of what things cost. It is inexpensive to drink here (a $3.50 beer is considered expensive). So when a glass of Lagavulin 16 year Old Single Malt costs $18 you chalk it up to drinking in Manhattan. Until you get a pour like this…$18 for this would be a bargain anywhere.

TAGS [ NYC | BUBBLE LOUNGE | PEGU CLUB | DEATH AND COMPANY | BLUE OWL | IRISH PUB ]

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I came across this ad, and thought I would share. Maybe I should return the shiznit I spent three hours buying, under the antagonizing, heat lamps at Sephora this weekend.

I should have just went to the 7-eleven.

TAGS [ BEER | MILLER ]

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At the ripe old age of 23, I was unaware that the Harvey Wallbanger (the featured drink at our last KegWorks Happy Hour) could also be dubbed “That 70’s Drink.” This cocktail was as much a part of the decade as polyester and bell-bottoms. One of the drink’s 3 ingredients, vanilla-scented Galliano (the others being vodka and orange juice) was the top selling imported liqueur during the 1970’s. Harvey Wallbangers were all the rage, in a way that makes the cosmo-craze of the 90’s seem like a minor, short-lived fad.

I did a little bit of research on this classic cocktail (which is also very delicious, by the way). I learned that the drink was actually first concocted in the 1950’s by the renowned two-time world champion mixologist (and Dean of Bartending School of Mixology, Inc.) Donato “Duke” Antone. According to legend, the drink was named after a patron of Duke’s Hollywood Blackwatch bar. Harvey was a California surfer who consoled himself with one of Duke’s “special” screwdrivers (a screwdriver with a dash of Galliano) after losing an important contest. After several of these, Harvey tried to leave the bar but kept bumping into the furniture and walls. Harvey “the Wallbanger” became his nickname and thus, the famous drink was named. The advertising manager of 21 Brands, the importer of Galliano, caught onto the drink’s popularity in California and decided to market the Harvey Wallbanger. They put together some design concepts, threw in the tagline “I am Harvey Wallbanger and I can be made,” and watched the birth of a national cocktail phenomenon.

I can understand why it gained popularity so easily. The drink goes down very smoothly and the Galliano definitely brings a texture to the glass that an ordinary screwdriver just doesn’t have.

Enjoy a blast from the past and bring back this groovy drink at your bar:

The Harvey Wallbanger

2 oz citrus-infused vodka
4 oz freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ oz Galliano
1 orange slice, for garnish

Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in the vodka, orange juice and Galliano. Garnish with the orange slice.

Cheers!

TAGS [ HARVEY WALLBANGER | COCKTAILS | DRINK RECIPES ]

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When I began working at KegWorks 4 years ago, the company almost exclusively ran on Macs. That was my first experience with Apple products of any kind. Now, I am hooked. One of my favorite Apple purchases was the iPhone. On top of its many phenomenal functions, it is host to web apps. These are Internet-based sites that utilize the iPhone’s touch screen capabilities to navigate or play. Here are some of my favorite web apps for wining and dining.

These are great wine-and-dine related apps:

Mobile Wine List is functional and looks great whether you’re at your desktop or on your mobile.

Here is a mobile Drink Recipe App.

Need something to do? Try Earth Comber to find fun things in your area.

What about splitting up the bill on a big dinner? Here’s Tip Calc.

Or, just take your favorite website wherever you go.

For these and many other web applications, check out Apple’s Web App section.

I’m Shane, and I approve this message.
(All images displayed in this post are from www.apple.com)

TAGS [ iPhone | APPLE | WINE | DINING | EARTH COMBER | DRINK RECIPES ]

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In my younger days, I spent more time than I care to admit bellied up to the bar in a few local taverns here in Buffalo. Everyone has their own way to get rid of the hiccups, but Jamie and Flo from the (now defunct for good reasons) Bradford taught me this one. Take a slice of lemon, coat it in Angostura Bitters and then chew the lemon. Now I never said it would taste good, but trust me, it works.

TAGS [ HICCUP REMEDY | ANGOSTURA | BITTERS | HICCUPS ]

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If you’re ever looking for a good conversation topic, try “disastrous dishes prepared by loved ones.” If it ends up anything like the conversation we had at our last KegWorks Happy Hour, you could be in serious laughter-induced stomach pain before it’s all said and done. Perhaps our growlers of beer inclined us to laugh a bit harder… but upon further consideration and total soberness, it has been determined that some of the stories that surfaced are still pretty damn hilarious and very much worth sharing.

KegWorks Blog readers, eat your heart out on these bizarre tales from the kitchens of our nearest and dearest:

My contribution to the conversation was a series of stories including all of the gory details of the awful creations that my grandfather regularly prepared, shortly after my grandma passed away. Grandma had always been a sucker for a sale and she bought in bulk, so Grandpa felt no need to go grocery shopping… for months. When he didn’t have an ingredient that a recipe called for, he’d find the next best thing in Grandma’s stockroom as a substitute.

My favorite dish at the time was lasagna. Being the adoring grandfather that he was, he made his very first lasagna just for me – only he didn’t have any ricotta cheese, so he used the closest thing he could find in the fridge, which happened to be crumbly blue cheese. Hey, cheese is cheese – right? Wrong! He neglected to inform anyone of his “secret ingredient,” so as I tasted my first big forkful of Grandpa’s “special lasagna,” my mouth was overcome with an awful taste that bordered somewhere on stinky feet and rotting tomatoes.

The story that topped all others however, was the tale of a thrifty Grandmother who grew up during the depression and never quite dropped her penny-pinching ways. Late into the 1990’s she would serve the following meal to her extended family: “Goulash” made only with macaroni and ketchup with sides of hand-balled wonder bread. Yum!

It gets better though…after boiling a couple of hotdogs for a meal, that very same Grandma would serve the empty pot’s remains as a tasty batch of “Weiner Water Soup.” Delicious!

The scary part is that Dave found the recipe on cooks.com – then again, we’re pretty sure that he was the one to submit it.

For your budding chefs, check out this kitchen starter kit and whatever you do, keep them away from our grandparents.

TAGS [ FOOD | HAPPY HOUR | COOKWARE ]

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