Good drink is essential with a meal, or afterwards. What do you like

[alfredo]

and what do you recommend.


I am a bourbon drinker, so I have several favorites.

Right now, Eagle Rare, a 10 year old single barrel Bourbon with nice caramel overtones. It is easy going down, it won't set you on fire.

Woodford Reserve is my other favorite, a complex small batch bourbon with a good vanilla tasted, a bit harsher than Eagle Rare, but still very very smooth.

When not drinking booze, I drink tea with my meals. I do like milk with some meals, but the clean taste of tea will not coat the taste buds.

Here's a new bourbon on the market that is getting rave reviews.
It has a long history.
http://www.oldpogue.com/

[Babette]

1. For afterwards....

We recently discovered a terrific cream liquer from South Africa. It's called Amarula. Very good. Creamy, with hints of vanilla and caramel.

[alfredo]

2. Is it national, or regional?

[Babette]

3. Here is the website...

http://www.amarula.com

They don't specify where it is available, but there is an email address for the US distributors. You can ask them where it can be found in your area. We found it in Northern Illinois. The website is really well done and informative. The company uses some of the profits for elephant conservation projects.

[alfredo]

6. I guess it is somewhat like

Bailey's?

[mrbassman03]

4. Can't really compare with Bailey's though...

Sorry, I am a purist... It is good though.

[mrbassman03]

5. Is there anything wrong with Maker's Mark or even Wild Turkey?

I have a hard time finding those smaller brands here in NW Washington... I am a fan of both of the above, usually 101 Proof Wild Turkey because it is cheaper...

Edit: Oh, I forgot to reply to the question... I like a good gin and tonic with pizza and other spicy, generic food. And a good bottle of wine with most others...

[alfredo]

7. Nothing wrong with them, but I like looking around

at different makes. I live in the heart of Bourbon country, so I get to try new products before most of the country. One of my friends is in tight with a distillery brewmaster. I get to sample some good stuff.

Maker's Mark is a good solid drink. Wild Turkey is not shabby either, it's just that my tastes have changed over the years.

[supernova]

8. I like red wine

with celebratory meals most of the time.

If a drink is too elaborate, it clashes with the meal to me.

[alfredo]

10. We were given a bottle of Jacobs Creek Merlot

A nice red wine. I am a Chardonnay drinker, but this is a good drink.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Lemoncello after dinner

Wine and water with meals, espresso afterwards, then lemoncello.

Lemoncello (or limoncello) can be bought (about $30/750 ml) or made at home for far less.

Here's one recipe:

http://www.giglia.org/Recipes/lemoncello2.htm

Here's another:

http://starchefs.com/features/limoncello/html/recipes_01.shtml

Neither recipe specifically says it, but you would do best to use unwaxed lemons. You may also wish to increase the water a bit to make it a little lower proof.

[supernova]

11. Thanks, I might try this

I'll give me something to do during the winter.

[wildeyed]

12. So what do you recommend if you can't have alcohol?

I usually drink water with meals, bubbly water for special occasions. Good tea or coffee after. Any other suggestions?

[NMDemDist2]

14. i don't drink alcohol either and did a nice long post for you

but the puter ate it :(

anyway, try fancy juices (black cherry or white grape) with sparkling water or ginger ale

gourmet teas, two of my faves are Harney & Sons http://www.harney.com/index.html

and Numi http://www.numitea.com/version2/main.html

and since we sell lattes for a living, we have a high end espresso machine at home :D

[wildeyed]

15. I tried pomegranate juice recently.

It was really yummy. I should start doing chai again, that was good, too.

I would love to get an expresso machine. I am the only coffee drinker in the house, so it will be a tough sell. Maybe someday....

[politicat]

16. How about a macchinetta?

They're not expensive, they don't take up a lot of space, and if you have a gas stove, they're not hard to use. They can be a bit touchy on electrics, though they do okay on sealed burner electrics.

They make good espresso as long as you use decent beans. (Duh. Mum tried this with folgers. Needless to say... ) The worst part about them is the time they take to cool so you can clean them up.

This company has several different ones for sale http://fantes.com/espresso_stovetop.htm

We're both coffee drinkers, though I'm the espresso fan. We have a 1 cup, a 3 cup, one for camping (it sputters so it is not to be used in the stove) and the big 6 cupper. I'm angling for this one for my birthday or a happy nothing's day present just because it's pretty. Maybe I can convince Mr. Pcat that Darwin Day is our atheist holiday.... :)

Pcat

[wildeyed]

21. I actually have the little Vev Vigano.

I used to take it camping, 'cause it works great on a camp stove. I should dig it out.

I do french press/french roast on a daily basis. I am not much of a coffee snob, I just like it strong and hot with lots of milk and sugar. There is no place close by where I can buy good beans, so I am stuck with the grocery unless I can make an extensive special trip.

[politicat]

23. The joys of online coffee ordering.

We get ours from 3 different places: Peaberry Coffee (a local roaster who will send you a price list and take your order via email until they get their web presence done) http://www.peaberrycoffee.com/shop.htm. I can recommend the Mocha Java and their organic line. Allegro coffee also has a nice line and will send you beans. http://www.allegrocoffee.com/page.php/id/3

And Peet's fair trade blend is very nice. http://www.peets.com/shop/coffee.asp

Mr. Pcat is both a coffee snob and a coffee gourmand; he'll drink anything, but he prefers it very, very good and not over-roasted (a perennial problem at high altitudes, when the beans can go from under-roasted to black chunks of ash in .00000003 seconds). These three suppliers (which we can get locally in small quantities, but also online) do a good job of not over-roasting.

Pcat

[wildeyed]

24. So is it really bad to like french roast?

I read somewhere that coffee snobs don't like it 'cause you can't really taste the coffee beans or something. But I love it.

Thanks for the coffee links. Maybe I will get a sampler and start leaning about the different roasts. All I need, one more fancy food habit. :9

[NMDemDist2]

25. i drank French Roast from a local roaster here and in Sacramento

until I got my espresso machine

it is very easy to overroast the dark roasts VERY easy, but if done right it is heaven on earth LOL

[politicat]

26. A good french roast is a good coffee... but a bad french roast....

Me? I like the lighter roasts, but it has more to do with the darker roasts bringing out more of the acids that like to rip up my stomach. Mr. Pcat likes a good dark roast that isn't ashy in the French press, but those can be hard to find, and vary from batch to batch.

Since the altitude makes such a difference, we're pretty much french roast avoiders.

Pcat

[alfredo]

28. I use them too. They make a decent cup. I also love Turkish

coffee. I put the Ibrik to work much more than the esspresso machine.

These people do turkish coffee right.
http://natashascafe.com/

Natasha was a school teacher when she lived in the Ukraine. Good gal. So is Gene, her husband.

[politicat]

17. Which shop?

So that next time I'm dragged south, I can come in and get real coffee. (Mom adores Folgers... and this sickly chocolate raisin flavored sludge... As far as she knows, I don't drink coffee, because I only drink tea around her.)

Pcat

[NMDemDist2]

18. i'm not open to the public

my cart is in a corporate building (captive audience LOL)

but I know all the good shops in town, where in Phoenix is your mom?

[politicat]

19. Bloody Mesa.

Glad you have a captive audience, though!

I used Cafe Essenza and Undici Undici when I lived there, but when I was down last year, I was disappointed with Essenza... I grew up, and their clientele didn't.... :cry: I felt a million years old. And Undici wasn't open.

Pcat

[Hans Delbrook]

13. 3 drinks I couldn't live w/o..

Coffee, iced tea and champagne.

Not necessarily in that order but there's no meal on earth that one of those three won't complement. :9

[fortyfeetunder]

20. Chai with soy milk

I have been a fan of spiced tea with a splash of soy milk. I just haven't been in the mood to drink anything alcoholic. I make a pot every night, and splash some Silk vanilla milk in it. I don't like a lot of sugar so the soy milk adds enough sweetness to it.

This month, I took advantage of sales on Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Spice...so I will be slurping that at least through January!

[Baja Margie]

22. You are making me thirsty!

There's a little restaurant down the road that serves an after dinner drink, it is blended Kahlua, Creme and Cream de Cacao with a little cinnamon ontop. Oh, heavenly.

[lakemonster11]

27. I drink either water or iced tea (unsweetened)

and sometimes beer or red wine.

Mac and Jack's African Amber is drop-dead gorgeous with a barbeque sandwich.