well the other hack be told us was too stir the espresso because similar to distilling alcohol you get different components early in the process of extraction and late. the acid is apparently in the first few seconds.
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Well i drink my first cup of the day with my breakfast, which is nearly always eggs on toast, and I usually salt the eggs. Cuppa is best of the day
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salt reduces bitterness, which is the most notable defect of most bad coffee.
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Old navy trick.
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Today we got a call from Art Frames saying that the pieces of art we had left with them were ready. So since we were going up there, C asked if we could stop at the Dillon’s next to it to let her get some black tea. And I went in there to check their soft drink shelves for diet Cock’n’Bull ginger beer, which is now my favorite soda and which our nearby Dillon’s doesn’t seem to carry (they occasionally have nondiet, but there isn’t even a shelf label for diet). They had multiple four-packs of it! So I bought a dozen bottles, which should last me at least a couple of weeks. If I stick to one every three days it will be a month—but I celebrated when we got home by drinking the last bottle of it in the fridge . . .
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Anarchy Brew: Blonde Star
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My father-in-law just got back from Wisconsin, with a case or two of New Glarus’ Spotted Cow – a beer that is against Wisconsin state law to commercially export from Wisconsin (mostly as a ploy to lure Chicagoans across the state line to spend their taxable dollars in the cheese state). It’s good… Not mind-blowing, but worth the effort to bring back if you are making a visit to WI.
New Glaurus is a good brewery but I’ve found their Two Women is better than their Spotted Cow.
The Wisconsin brewery I’ve found to be better to my taste is Lake Louie Brewing in Arena. Their Kiss the Lips IPA is one of the best beers I’ve ever had.
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Is that Constitutional? The USA doesn’t have internal free trade?
My understanding is that the state of Wisconsin has exclusive distribution rights to New Glarus; they will not permit sales outside of the state; if a commercial entity buys it in-state and then moves it over state lines, it triggers some federal trade laws and restrictions.
Edit: additional information: in the US, alcohol can only move across state lines in very specific situations. Via licensed distribution or as a consumer (but with limitations on amounts permitted) are the two primary cases that account for 99.999% of the instances. Alcohol is highly regulated at the state level and the federal government plays peacekeeper to keep the different states’ alcohol policies enforced when cross-jurisdiction intervention is required.
Ah! Wowserism trumps free-trade principles.
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We do, but booze is special. It’s also worth pointing out that there’s nothing special about New Glarus’s beer in this regard. Transporting any beer from wisconsin into illionois is illegal, because of taxing rules. That includes stuff you can buy in Illinois or anywhere else. And, as you’d probably guess, no one really cares about personal use quantities.
There’s also nothing very special about their beer, in my not so humble opinion. I’ll drink it when it’s given to me, and I sometimes even buy it when I’m buying beer in Wisconsin, but I’m not going to drive across the street to buy it, let alone make a trip to wisconsin to do so (which is only an hour each way from where I live in Chicago.) There’s plenty of more interesting beer, whether it’s made in Chicago or Wisconsin. New glarus limits the distribution because they found they couldn’t produce enough when they were distributing into the midwest. They’ve expanded a couple times since then, and I expect the mystique of being a hard-to-get brew works for them.
(What am I drinking? Temperance Brewing’s gatecrasher. They’re a local brewer (in Evanston IL, which was the home of the WCTU, and dry from founding in the 1850s until 1972.) the beer is a reasonably well constructed traditional english-style IPA. it could probably use a bit more malt flavor. Not really my thing, but my wife likes it, and she’s the one who last bought beer.)
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Sitting waiting on the ferry to Islay for a wee camping holiday.
With 9 distilleries on the island I’m looking forward to… 1 tasting that we’ve managed to book so far.
Good timing for the trip; between Covid restrictions shutting down regular tours and tastings, 2 distilleries undergoing construction work, and licensing restricting us from being able to have our 8yr old daughter with us - it’s become pretty slim pickings on the whisky front.
Saves us boring the wee one with her holiday becoming distillery tour after distillery tour, I suppose 
The one tasting we’ve got booked is for a few whiskies from Kilchoman down on the beach though, which I imagine will be a nice setting for a couple of drams… (as always with Scotland outdoors, weather dependent)
May try and stop in at Bruichladdich’s shop and pick up some whisky and a bottle of The Botanist gin though. Wife and I can arrange childcare for a weekend some time and come back when things are a bit more back to nornal
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Lovely stuff, recommended if you like a fairly botanical-heavy gin without too much faff about it (which I do; before I found it my usual gin was Hendrick’s).
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I love the botanist, though I don’t buy it often. Hendricks, Caorunn and a selection of the gins from Eden Mill are some of my favourites.
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I enjoy some Botanist on occasion.
Bowmore has a pretty nice Whisky bar on the premises. With a good view… In the center of Islay the wool mill has great blankets and shawls 
and the old machinery may be more interesting to an 8 year old than the distilleries.
And even if you don’t go in, the scenery around Caol Ila and Bunnahabain (especially the road there) is beautiful.
There is a nice hike from Port Ellen to Ardbeg that passes by Laphroiag and Lagavulin. The wall outside Laphroiag is worth a visit Ardbeg is a beautiful building and all three of them are right next to the sea…
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The venue for the inaugural tekelilicon is making itself apparent.
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I am all for it once certain other issues are sorted out 
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There are loads of breweries in and around Masham where Theakstons and Black Sheep is made. That sounds perfect too…
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