January 2010

  • The Lush Chronicles: Why We Drink- Distraction

    By msarko on 1/29/10 4:32am
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    In the middle ages in Europe when local economies were driven as much by barter as by hard currency, food found its way into the wages of everyday laborers as much, if not more often, than precious metals. Some fiefdoms ended up having to deal with drunk workers because many of them were paid in high-quantity spirits like beer. After all, alcohol kept for a long time and could be parceled out in discreet packages like bottles, bags and jugs. For your average feudal worker, an ale today had more value than a coin to be spent tomorrow. And why not get a little sloshed when there's wood to be cut and fields to be plowed? An alcohol buzz is distracting, pleasantly or otherwise. Though we today aren't permitted to drink on the job, there are plenty of us who would gladly take the opportunity to do so.



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  • Growlers: Take-Out Beer at Its Finest

    By becksta on 1/28/10 2:52pm
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    Growler!Growler!

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  • Happy Birthday Canned Beer!

    By becksta on 1/25/10 2:11pm
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    Canned BeerCanned Beer“Schlemiel, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated!”

    I’ll give you five dollars if you can tell me where these lyrics are from and who sang them. OK, actually, I probably won’t because it’s too easy. Of course, the lyrics are from “Laverne and Shirley”, which is definitely an iconic television show from the 70’s. What the lyrics actually might mean is another story altogether.


    “Laverne and Shirley” was set in Milwaukee, WI, which is pretty much famous for one thing only: beer.

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  • The 100 Club

    By becksta on 1/20/10 12:37am
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    The 100 ClubThe 100 ClubWho says college isn’t fun? I graduated quite a while ago, but still remember the good old days of watching the near-by guys religiously become members of “The 100 Club”, which was most definitely a rite of passage for many of them, even those who never joined the Greek system.

    The idea behind “The 100 Club”, which now has its very own Facebook Group dedicated to the idea, is to drink 100 consecutive shots of beer, one every minute, for one hundred minutes without vomiting or running to the toilet. It is definitely debatable whether this is a positive drinking experience for most of the participants- my guess is that half of them can’t even remember it.


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  • Leaping Horse Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 California

    By lisala on 1/19/10 10:19pm
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    I will confess I'd never heard of either Leaping Horse or their parent label, Iron Stone Vineyards, located in Lodi, California. This is a family winery, and a product of the Kautz family Vineyards. John Kautz begin as a grape supplier, growing wine grapes on twelve acres in Lodi. Today the Kautz family owns several thousand acres of vineyards in Lodi, and California Sierra Foothills. The Leaping Horse wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Shiraz, Merlot, and Chardonnay) are from a single vineyard.

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  • Crane Lake Wines Part I: The White Wines

    By lisala on 1/14/10 7:28pm
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    Crane Lake is very much a budget table wine label. It's one of Frank Franzia's labels, part of his Classic California group, and owned by Bronco, best known as the makers of Charles Shaw wines, the "Two Buck Chuck" wines sold exclusively through Trader Joe's. I've been seeing Crane Lake at the local RiteAid at two bottles for $7.00, and I have to confess, I turned my nose up, after a less than positive experience with Charles Shaw wines. All of the Crane Lake wines (but not Crane Lake Down Under) are California wines.

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  • Crane Lake Wines Part II: The Red Wines

    By lisala on 1/14/10 7:22pm
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    This is the second part of a two part series on Crane Lake wines; this one is on the Red wines. The first part was on the white wines, and you can find it here. Crane Lake is a budget tier table wine, one of the Bronco wine labels owned by Frank Franzia, part of his Classic California group. Bronco is best known as the makers of Charles Shaw wines, the "Two Buck Chuck" wines sold by Trader Joe's. These are all California wines.

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  • The Beer-Tasting Challenge

    By becksta on 1/14/10 12:50am
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    Beer Tasting PartyBeer Tasting PartyWhen I was a kid, my mom gave us the Pepsi challenge. I was sure that I would pick Pepsi since I was a member of the Pepsi generation, but strangely  and embarrassingly enough, picked RC cola over either Pepsi or Coke.

    In preparation for an upcoming party, I decided that I definitely needed to have another challenge. Since most of my friends prefer beer to pop, I thought a beer challenge would definitely be the way to go.

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  • The Coolest Playing Cards Ever

    By becksta on 1/7/10 6:58pm
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    Why You Should Never Lose at Drinking GamesWhy You Should Never Lose at Drinking GamesDrinking and cards go hand in hand. Whether you are playing drinking games and accidentally end up wearing a chicken hat, or whether you are playing for a high stakes poker game while pretending that you are in Las Vegas, you’re going to want cards that do not get wet on the table. These cards are not only clear (as in you can see through them), they are plastic and incredibly cool. They are made by “Bicycle”, which as far as I know has no correlation with bicycles.

    Pictures after the jump.

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  • What Do You Do When You Accidentally Crash a Dinner Party?

    By becksta on 1/3/10 6:35pm
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    Dinner PartyDinner PartyI crashed a dinner party on New Year’s. Pretty impressive, huh? It wasn’t on purpose and I did apologize as I sat on the couch nibbling on the left-overs while watching six 20-somethings eat and make polite conversation while they pretended to either be from the movie Barcelona or “Sex and the City”.

    It happened like this.

    Our friend was here from out of town and our mutual friends came over to drink some with us. Two beers turned into three, and three beers turned into four, and suddenly one of our friends felt sorry for us invited us to her friend’s dinner party. We protested, but not really that much, imagining that a dinner party was supposed to be casual, which by very definition it is not.


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