What are we drinking?

A little bit of Bowmore 12, every now-and-then. Neat. Perhaps with a drop of water if I happen to remember the recommendation of Bill the Bartender.

My mezcalito.

There's really only one brand of Norwegian Aquavit that is available in the US - Linie. It's not bad, but it's not the best one either. I have a bottle of Gammel Oppland but that is nearly done, and a bottle of Bergen, but travel to Norway right now is pretty much off the table.

Turns out there's a distillery down in Santa Ana near LA that makes Norwegian style Aquavit called Blinking Owl and they just put out a "barrel vacationed" one that mimics Linie's schtick. It's actually quite good. Better than Linie and Bergen, not as good as Gammel Oppland. Got my dad a bottle as well for Christmas, where he had some Gilde Jule Aquavit.

Edit: I take that back, there's also Høvding, which I haven't tried yet. I'll have to try to track that down as well.

I had to look up Akvavit. I read the description and thought, "That's a nope from me." :lol:

Screwdrivers.

Hah, you sound like my wife. She hates the stuff.

I like it, but pretty much only the Norwegian kind. Danish kind (usually Aalborg) is sorta okay, and the Swedish stuff is swill.

Can’t just make vodka, oooohh no. Gotta put spices ‘n shit in it. :assclown:

There's very little flavor in anything Norwegians make, so I guess we have to splurge when we have the chance. I'm honestly shocked it's not dill flavored.

Feeling like I wanted some dark beers the other day, so I picked up some Anderson Valley Brewing (Boonville, CA) stouts, a four-pack each of Bourbon Barrel Stout and Huge Arker. I saw that the Bourbon Barrel has 6.7% ABV, but I did not look at the Huge Arker, thinking it would be similar, or maybe a little stronger, because it is an imperial stout. I got it home and noticed that it is a whopping 15.5%! That's like three beer in one. :lol: The Huge Arker is about what I expected. It is so dark that it absorbs all the surrounding light like a black hole. It is sweet and delicious with caramel notes, which makes it difficult to nurse, considering how strong it is. I have not tried the Bourbon Barrel Stout yet.

I also got a four-pack of "dessert beers" from Wicked Weed (Asheville, NC.) They were all imperial stouts, between 11-13% ABV. Flavours were: S'mores, Cookies and Cream, Expresso Cheesecake, and German Chocolate Cake. I made the mistake of forgetting how strong they were and drank three in one evening. :lol: They were all as advertised and sweet like candy. I did not appreciate the Cookies and Cream though. I was expecting Oreo cookie, but it was more like spice cake. I got half-way through it and poured the rest out. Spices in beer is just not my thing.

Lori and I have had a few cosmopolitans lately. Using 100% cranberry juice as opposed to cranberry cocktail makes a big difference, FYI. ;)

I am trying the Bourbon Barrel Stout right now. The flavour is much more subtle. It is very similar to Guinness, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I was just expecting more, I think.