ChrisTaylor

I've been putting away Millstone 100-powered Old Fashioneds while watching coverage of the Sydney Mardi Gras.

I seem to recall reading that the 2013 bottling was superior to the 2014 bottling, which is what I have. I don't know if this 'thing I possibly read somewhere once' is worth you trying to seek out a non-current bottling, though.

Had this pressed upon me the other day but didn't take up the offer. Bought other things (see above). Regretted not getting it: it was just too good. Thought about it some more. Caved. On the nose: Booze. Warm spices and brown sugar -- Christmas pudding, butterscotch sauce like you'd serve with a classic sticky date pudding. Freshly sharpened grey lead pencils (I'm a primary school teacher, hence the specificity). Caramelised banana. A hint of peach? Some kind of stone fruit? Maybe. Palate: Entry is a little sweet. Boat load of spice. Brown sugar. Oak. The prickliness, warmth of booze--it's 100 proof, after all. Black pepper. Butterscotch sauce again. A rather grand dram.

No. Altho' it's not like the Maguey range has been available for a particularly long time, either, so I'll keep an eye out for it.

So, one of the local McDonald's stores just installed the 'Create Your Taste' kiosks I posted about a while ago. I decided, seeing as I was driving past, to stop in and check it out. The kiosk was unsurprisingly popular--they'd been set up a couple of weeks ago and there had been a local advertising campaign--but, thankfully, there were a half dozen of them. There was a staff member standing by to assist with any confusion in the process. Presumably the software is being streamlined. It didn't take anywhere near as long to order as the article I'd read suggested. Probably not much longer than waiting in line and playing a normal order at a fast food establishment. There are some quirks in the software, though ... it works but the on-screen menu isn't as well designed as it could be -- i.e. when ordering fries, drinks and other items. The design wasn't overtly terrible, tho'. The only thing that was slightly confusing was a screen that popped up asking me to select my 'location number'. Now, McDonald's doesn't put numbers on tables ... and even if they did, well, you order before you sit, right? Turns out, there was a supply of locators (mine is half-visible the first photo) stuck to the side of the kiosk. This wasn't immediately obvious. You take locator, punch its the number into the kiosk and the staff then use the locator to find you. In addition to being able to order these burgers on a takeaway basis (although presumably not via the drive through window) was an option, there was an option to not bother with using a locator. I assume in that case you'd need to wait at the counter. \\ Anyway, before moving onto the burger itself, some tidbits about the kiosk (which may or may not apply if/when this product is introduced Stateside/elsewhere): You can, seemingly, order anything from the McDonald's menu via this kiosk. It's not just limited to the 'Create Your Taste' offerings.In addition to being able to create burger (choosing from three-or-so kinds of bun or opting out of buns altogether, choosing the meat, adding extras like bacon [crisp rashers or shortcut], selecting vegetable-based fillings, choosing condiments, etc) you can choose several pre-designed burgers (sexed up cheeseburgers and the like). With a whole lot of people waiting, I didn't want to take the time to find out if you could, say, tinker with classic offerings like the Big Mac or Quarter Pounder.You are not obligated to pay at the kiosk and/or are fearful of the day when the fast food experience is entirely automated, Jetson's/Skynet-style. If you really like waiting in queues you're free to pay at the register.My order wasn't overly exciting ... Apologies for the shitty, iPhone 3-quality photo. The receipt is illegible: Brioche bunAngus patty (no option, so far as I could discern, to choose a 'normal' McDonald's patty or even a chicken patty--could be wrong on the latter, tho')Crisp bacon (the only addition I made that cost extra)'Whole leaf' lettuceLengthways-sliced picklesColby Jack cheeseChipotle aioli and normal aioli (I didn't realise the latter was selected by default)Red onionCaramelised onionFor sides I stuck to the usual fare of Coke and fries. The burger itself is reasonably well presented, not that the photo is as flattering as it could be It sort of ticks the 'gourmet burger' boxes one-by-one: a wooden board, fries in a mini fryer basket, fake newspaper (newsprint-free, etc). This is reflected in the toppings and condiments you can add to the burgers. Aside from shifting them from a red carton to the basket, the fries are the normal McDonald's kind of fry. The drink, not pictured, is served in the usual waxed cardboard cup. The burger itself was a mixed success for McD's, in my book. The bun and the 'gourmet' fillings were all very good. The bacon was crisp but not burnt. The lettuce was, well, a whole leaf of lettuce--as it said on the tin--as opposed to the mushy shredded stuff. The duelling/dual aiolis were as rich as anything you'd get in a normal 'gourmet' burger. The 'problem' was the patty. Now, I don't know if Angus patties are available in the US--I would imagine they are--but in the US McDonald's has two or three Angus burgers on their normal menu. They're not very good. They're thick and dry and a bit sad. Now, I'm not expecting some kid out the back to the hand-grinding/hand-forming small batches of fancy pants burger patties ... but considering the surprisingly high quality of the rest of the burger McDonald's need to step up their game on the meat front. Especially when you consider the price. Ah. Yes. The price. That's a sticking point. See, in Melbourne, I can go to a food truck (yeah, it's a truck--but McDonald's is, well, McDonald's) called Mr Burger and get a very good cheeseburger for ~$10. A local establishment charges about the same for most of its burgers. That's about the going rate for most decent burgers in Melbourne. You'll get a few burgers well above that (particularly if you're eating in some lavish and/or trendy place in the city) and a few below, but yeah ... for context, a Big Mac bundled with small fries and a small drink weighs in at about $6. Now, I'm not expecting a $6 custom burger--I think $10 is reasonable--but my (medium-sized) meal worked out at some $16. That's slightly dearer than what I'd pay for a burger, fries and Coke--a like-for-like comparison--at the local place that actually has a decent beef patty. Unless I hear that McDonald's has started to offer better patties to go with these high end burgers, I doubt I'd bother again ... even tho' I liked the rest of the package. The patty's just too significant a component to drop the ball on.

I didn't pick up a bottle when I had a chance yesterday and regret it. Will correct this misstep over the weekend. I think it was one of the best rye whiskies I've ever tasted.

Twice? Wow. In Australia the Vida is $100AUD. The Chichicapa and a couple of others are $125, which is close enough to $100 to not be a big influence on my purchasing decision (same price bracket/still expensive). Then you have some $150 models.

My bottle of Chichicapa recently did this. I attributed it to some fuzzy aspect of physics: it was a warm day and ... well ... hot/cold/pressure/blahblahblah. Maybe. I mean, I haven't witnessed it again: even though we've had very hot days in which the temperature has dropped relatively quickly. More on point, I'm sipping on some Vida at the moment. It's lovely. I like the Chichicapa but I'm almost inclined to say I like the Vida more. Maybe as much as my all-time favourite, Ilegal reposado. Wondering where else I'd like to go in the Maguey range next.

[Host's note: To avoid an excessive load on our servers this topic has been split. The discussion continues from here] I tried the Millstone 100 expression today. Stunning. A bit sweet on entry and then SPICE. Everything you know and love about rye squeezed into a single bottle.

Shite iPhone photo. Dal Maguey Vida. Tequila Fortaleza blanco.

Made this using some of the monster bottle of Balentine's someone gave me, as I figured any of the other scotches I had--all single malts--would clash with the Aperol. Now, I normally fucking hate Aperol, but this is a rather pleasant drink. I see what you mean about the chocolate factor.

There's that, especially considering the smokehouse is stored outside.

I'd possibly want to further investigate the idea of an external smoke generator. The panels aren't something I remember occuring to us yet weren't overly difficult to assemble.

Indeed it is good. Thanks for the tip on the Ritt.

I put away two Zombies last night. By this afternoon I felt the need for a drink I generally despise: a Bloody Mary. I looked at John Currence's recipe, which is meant to be good, but it sounded like a lot of fucking around. So I used the ratios over at Kindred, following a suggestion from the page's comment section to sub the vodka with aquavit. Wise move. I also subbed the lemon for lime and bolstered the Tabasco with some Hellfire. No fresh celery on hand so I used some of my pickled celery and a pickled onion (also my own) as a garnish. On a stick. There's basically no chance of this being a go-to drink, but an aquavit-powered Bloody Mary is a superior beast to the vodka-based classic (assuming you're not using some kind of flavour-infused vodka). EDIT Actually, consumed with bacon and eggs or something--maybe even the hot wings I'm going to throw in the oven in a few minutes--one or four of these would be pretty banging. Kind of. Or maybe not. Anyway, I might try a V2 with tequila (50:50 tequila and mezcal, even) in the role of the 'vit.

Oh, yeah. Throw that in when making red beans and rice and similar dishes. It's not like smoky pork hocks will say no to pork stock, right?

Using them in places where you'd typically use water (if they're really intense stocks, you might want to cut them with some water) like, say, curries. The bases for sauces. Some of those classic French sauces, both in their classical and modern (i.e. 11 Madison Park/Daniel Humm) forms, gobble up vast amounts of stock.

It's $20AUD cheaper for a still-good rum that mostly only ever gets used in cocktails. So, yeah, downgrading. But not without cause.

Restocks: Appleton (V/X instead of my usual 12), Espolon blanco, Buffalo Trace and Maker's Mark. A related purchase: a drawstring canvas bag for producing crushed ice.

It was one of those days. Zombie season. Picked up an item from the display bin marked 'ruby grapefruits' without actually looking at it. After dumping a shit tonne of rum and etc into my shaker I noticed that ... I did not have a grapefruit. I had an orange. The Devil's citrus when it comes to cocktail-making. But there was no way I was walking to the supermarket. Experiment time. 2 tsp ruby gf juice subbed for 1 tsp each of lemon and orange. It tastes a little weird but if you were stuck on a desert island that was, like, full of rum ... and oranges ... and limes ... and lemons and whanot ... you'd live. But you'd probably have to call it a notZombie--you know, like a Last of Us/28 Days 'zombie'--to avoid offending the eG cocktalian crowd.

It's been a while. Mansakuno Hana junmai ginjo. Clean smell. Fruity ... soft fruit ... banana? Maybe. Bit of bitterness. Harsher than the ginjos I've had but not terribly so. Bit of berry tucked away there. Something I can't identify on the far end of the tail. Something herbal? Maybe a surprising touch of aniseed. Dunno. But after an insta-chill (bottle + ice cubes crammed into cocktail shaker and parked in fridge) it's workable.

Goma Kanpai 'Japanaese potato cookies'. When I saw the packaging in the store I envisioned a Japanese version of something like a product sold in the Australian chips, etc aisle. Only sesame flavoured. When I opened the package I was surprised to see something that looked ... glazed. So, hey, these things are kind of sweet. Only there's that salty potato snack flavour sitting in the background. I can't really tell if I actually like them or am just entranced by their weirdness in relation to the standards of western potato-based snack foods.

Espolon silver-powered Margaritas using the Death & Co ratio.

Mixed with plain old white vin this time rather than the prescribed champagne vin.

You know how to live, Jo.