Saturday, April 25, 2015

Smoking Barrel and "El Paso"

 The Ballad of an Outlaw Torn 
 The west Texas desert is desolate and dreary. Days out in the sandy winds searching for something to quench your thirst has gotten you weary. As you saddle up for one more ride that might be your last, you think to yourself what the perfect drink might entail. You're so close to Mexico, and being in the vast desert that is the Lone Star State, you think something that embodies the two would be more than fitting for this extensive journey. The tumbleweeds and cacti taunt you as you gallop at a steady pace. "What's a cowboy gotta do to get a drink 'round these parts?" Your legs can feel your horse's every breath as his hooves pound the desert floor. You come over the hill, looking down through the valley and notice a quaint little town with a cantina that grabs your attention as if it had cast a spell.  Your mouth begins to water for the taste of something spicy and smuggled in...
The Smoking Barrel
The hiss of the bottle being opened gets your heart racing. The ice cold liquid comes to life with effervescence and you stir to see the tapper reach for a bottle of something tall and alluring that you've never seen before. Could this be? ...the forbidden Oaxacan fruit you've been craving? Mezcal... the smokey cousin of tequila... like the barrel of a smoking gun it's aroma can not be mistaken. The barkeep splashes some into your footed pilsner before he pours in the golden frothy brew. The two liquids whirl together as a Mexican maiden and outlaw would at the local honky tonk. To complete this Texas Tango and embody the Texas Tragedy playing on the dusty juke box in the corner, the man throws in a few dashes of fiery, blood-red hot sauce. As you bring the potion up to your nose, you notice the glass has so felicitously been rimmed with a gray, smoked salt. The aroma reminds you of the smell permeating your surroundings after you've fired your revolver into the wild young cowboy wooing the maiden you desire as your own.

Ingredientes:
12oz can or bottle of Lone Star beer
1 1/2 oz Ilegal Mezcal Joven
1/2 oz lime juice
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
5 dashes Gringo Bandito


Method:
Rub a sliced lime on the outside rim of a beer glass of your choice. Dip the rim in smoked salt. Put Ilegal Mezcal Joven, lime juice, grapefruit juice, Gringo Bandito and 2 oz of Lone Star beer in the glass. Stir with the barrel of your gun just to incorporate the ingredients. Fill glass with half ice and top off with the rest of the beer.




















"El Paso"
The Spanish guitar plucks optimistically to greet you into this tale of heartache and the love of an outlaw. He falls for a Mexican girl and immediately finds himself frequenting Rosa's Cantina just to see her dance. The same way we fell for this cocktail of Western and south-of-the-border influence, the song has you rooting for the story teller and his love for the girl. Though his heart is soon broken as he sees her sharing a drink with another gun-toting gaucho. Shooting the seducing buckaroo to the ground, the story teller then skips town on horse back bound for New Mexico. Over time, the pain and desire in his heart are too much to bare and he soon finds himself headed back to El Paso. Despite his awareness of the bleak fate that lies ahead, he must see Felina one last time. He charges toward Rosa's Cantina and is soon surrounded by rifle carrying cowboys on horseback, shooting and shouting at him as he races on in hopes of reaching the saloon's back door. He catches a bullet and finds himself on the ground with all hope gone. From out of nowhere, Felina kneels and kisses his cheek and he dies knowing she always loved him so. With a final kiss, she bids him farewell...


Ilegal Mezcal 
For nearly a decade, a small group of artists, musicians, writers and travelers has been drinking Ilegal Mezcal, a handcrafted brand of Mexican artisanal liquor with a notorious history that includes smuggling and weeklong parties in a clandestine bar in Guatemala.

Ilegal was born out of John Rexer's bar, Café No Sé, an eclectic international watering hole in colonial Antigua, Guatemala. "Ilegal has texture and is not diluted and polluted by an industrial process," says Rexer. "It's like old hand-tooled leather versus cheap pleather. It's seductive. People from all walks of life understand the difference. It's a way of thinking and wanting to live as much as it is fine liquor." 
https://www.caskers.com/ilegal-mezcal/

Gringo Bandito

Gringo Bandito was started over ten years ago by Dexter Holland, singer for the multi-platinum punk rock band The Offspring, more as a hobby than a business.

Sales were modest at first, and the hot sauce was distributed only in Holland's native Southern California. "It has always been a DIY operation for sure," Holland says. "It started small but it has just kept on growing."


After several years and almost a million bottles later, Gringo Bandito hot sauce has garnered a worldwide audience and a loyal following. "We're not the most well-known hot sauce out there," says Holland, "but once people try it, they're hooked." Gringo Bandito is now sold in Australia, Japan, Canada, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and coast to coast in the US and can be found in the top 10 on Amazon.com's highest customer rated hot sauces amongst 5000+ other products.

Lone Star Beer
The Lone Star Brewery, built in 1884, was the first large mechanized brewery in Texas. Adolphus Busch, of Anheuser-Busch, founded it along with a group of San Antonio businessmen. The castle-like building now houses the San Antonio Museum of ArtLone Star beer was the company's main brand. It was marketed as "The National Beer of Texas."



Sombrero (Spanish for "Hat") in English refers to a type of wide-brimmed hat in Mexico. It usually has a high pointed crown, an extra-wide brim (broad enough to cast a shadow over the head, neck and shoulders of the wearer, and slightly upturned at the edge), and a chin string to hold it in place.Cowboys generalized the word to mean just about any wide broad-brimmed hat.



Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and racing driver. One of the most popular and successful country and western singers of all time for most of his near four-decade career. Robbins often topped the country music charts, and several of his songs also had crossover success as pop hits. Among his warmer memories of his childhood, Robbins recalled having listened to stories of the American West told by his maternal grandfather, Texas Bob Heckle. The city of El Paso, Texas, later honored Robbins by naming a park and a recreational center after him.Robbins' 1957 recording of "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation"[4] sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record.[8] His musical accomplishments include the Grammy Award for his 1959 hit and signature song "El Paso", taken from his album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. "El Paso" was the first song to hit No. 1 on the pop chart in the 1960s. It was followed up, successfully, by "Don't Worry", which reached No. 3 on the pop chart in 1961, becoming his third, and last, Top 10 pop hit. "El Paso" was followed by one prequel and one sequel: "Feleena" and "El Paso City". Also in 1961, Robbins wrote the words and music and recorded "I Told The Brook," a ballad later recorded by Billy Thorpe.
He won the Grammy Award for the Best Country & Western Recording 1961, for his follow-up album More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, and was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1970, for "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife". Robbins was named Artist of the Decade (1960–1969) by the Academy of Country Music, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, and was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998 for his song "El Paso".
Robbins was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. For his contribution to the recording industry, Robbins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6666 Hollywood Blvd.
Robbins has been honored by many bands, including the Grateful Dead who covered "El Paso". The Who's 2006 album Endless Wire includes the song "God Speaks of Marty Robbins". The song's composer, Pete Townshend, explained that the song is about God deciding to create the universe just so he can hear some music, "and most of all, one of his best creations, Marty Robbins."[9] The Beasts of Bourbon released a song called "The Day Marty Robbins Died" on their 1984 debut album The Axeman's JazzJohnny Cash recorded a version of "Big Iron" as part of his American Recordings series, which is included in the Cash Unearthed box set. Both Frankie Laine and Elvis Presley, among others, recorded versions of Robbins' song "You Gave Me a Mountain", with Laine's recording reaching the pop and adult contemporary charts in 1969.
Smoked salt is an aromatic salt smoked with any number of select bark free woods for up to 14 days. Depending on which kind of wood is used for smoking impacts the flavor, whether it be subtle, bold or even sweet. The most common choices are alder wood, apple wood, hickory, mesquite, and oak. Infused smoked salts like smoked bacon chipotle sea salt are very popular because of the dynamic flavor profiles.
Smoked salt is used to enhance the inherent flavors of a dish while also imparting a smoky taste. It is suitable for vegetarians, often acting as a replacement for bacon crumble. Smoked salt differs from smoke-flavored salt as the latter contains a smoke flavored additive and is not classified as a natural salt product.



All you rootin' tootin' gun shootin' cowboys out there give this little lady a spin!
Salud, ya'll!
Henry & Jehiah


Thank you very much to Elena Aleks for posing as Felina!!





Tuesday, April 7, 2015

White Gold and "Uptown Funk"


Smoother Than A Fresh Jar Of Skippy
You know you love to look your best... try out that new outfit?.. no matter how funky your combo of flavor, when that temperature starts to rise you've got to get out on the scene. Turn your sexy volume to 11. You've been itching to flaunt it all winter. When you're wearing your favorite dress, shirt or jacket, you put out a vibe that tells others, "I feel confident and I'm here to have a good time!" So put some liquor in that cup! Get on that dance floor! Let your worries drift away. The sunshine, brunch patios and rooftops are emerging... even the limousine sunroof is rolling back. We believe you'll feel the funk once you're out on the dance floor and this song comes on. Dragons won't be retiring, but the girls will definitely be saying "wooo!!" Don't believe me? Just watch!









White Gold
Pouring that pale golden frothy liquid into your coupe for your pre-funk in your pad makes your mouth water. The shimmering glossy finish atop the cocktail reminds you of that foam party you found yourself immersed in last summer in Cabo and you're ready for another season filled with fashion, funk and fantastic outings. This week we decided to do a twist on a classic sour. Instead of whiskey, we chose to use the rich warmth of cognac and the botanic nuance of amaro. The bright red contrast and robust aromatics of Creole bitters atop a pale golden pillow drops the bass on this cocktail and sends it home on the 'A' Train all the way up to Harlem. It's like sporting Chucks and Yves Saint Laurent in the same outfit.

 Ingredients:
1 oz Amaro Nonino
3/4 oz cognac
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz honey syrup*
1 egg white
2 dashes Creole bitters

Method:
Place all ingredients except the bitters into a shaker tin. Give it a long vigorous dry shake.** Place ice in the tin. Give it a short vigorous shake. Strain into a coupe or your favorite cup. Swipe two dashes of Creole bitters on top.

*Honey Syrup: equal parts honey and water. Warm water works best to help the honey dissolve.

**Dry Shake: a common term used in the bartending world to describe a brisk iceless shake. This is usually done when egg white is present to bind all ingredients together and to create a billowing foam.


Uptown Funk
Mark Ronson's composition and arrangement coupled with the vocal stylings of Bruno Mars gives this song the perfect mix of funk and R&B to send it to the top of hit music charts around the globe. In the words of Mr. Ronson, this song is a "full-on combustible groove workout with elastic bass and indomitable spirit." The uptown cocktail scene in New York City is a sight to see as well. With cocktail bars popping up left and right, we're seeing more and more refined ingredients such as fresh squeezed juices and amaro. We feel this weeks cocktail, White Gold, pairs indubiously with "Uptown Funk" and coincides with the rich history and diverse culture of the uptown scene.













Amaro is an Italian herbal liqueur that is commonly drunk as an after-dinner digestif. It usually has a bitter-sweet flavor, sometimes syrupy, and has an alcohol content between 16% and 40%.

Similar liqueurs have traditionally been produced throughout Europe. There are local varieties in Germany (where they are called Kräuterlikör) and in Hungary, the Netherlands, and France. But the term amaro is applied only to Italian products of this kind.
Amaro is typically produced by macerating herbs, roots, flowers, bark, and/or citrus peels in alcohol, either neutral spirits or wine, mixing the filtrate with sugar syrup, and allowing the mixture to age in casks or bottles.
Dozens of varieties are commercially produced, the most commonly available of which are Averna,RamazzottiLucano, and Montenegro.
Many commercial bottlers trace their recipe or production to the 19th century. Recipes often originated in monasteries or pharmacies.
Amaro is typically drunk neat, sometimes with a citrus wedge. It may also be drunk on ice or with tonic water.
Amaro should not be confused with amaretto, another Italian liqueur that is sweet and flavored with almonds or with the pits of drupe fruits such as apricots. Nor should it be confused with amarone, a rich Italian dry red wine from Valpolicella.

Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), professionally known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, voice actor, and choreographer. Born and raised in HonoluluHawaii by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age and performed in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood. He graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career. Mars produced songs for other artists, co-founding the production team The Smeezingtons.
Mars is known for his stage performances and retro showmanship. He is accompanied by his band, The Hooligans, which besides playing a variety of instruments such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums and horns, also serves as dancers and background singers. On stage, Mars is able to sing, dance and play a wild range of musical styles, including R&Breggaesoul and funk music.


Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is an English musician, DJ, singer, and record producer.
While his debut album Here Comes the Fuzz failed to make an impact on the charts, his second album, Version, reached number two in the UK Album chart, and included three UK top 10 singles.[2] This success won him a Brit Award for Best British Male Solo Artist in 2008.[3] His third studio album, Record Collection, was released on 27 September 2010, peaking at number two in the UK.
In 2014, Ronson achieved his first UK and US number one single with "Uptown Funk", which featured vocals from Bruno Mars. In 2015 the song won Ronson the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, was released in January 2015, and became his first UK number one album.
Ronson has also produced multi-platform, Grammy-winning albums for artists such as Amy Winehouse and Adele.


Get out, mix it up with your style, places you go, people you see and of course, the liquor in your cup.  
Cheers! 
Henry & Jehiah