Mega Purple: The Secret Ingredient in Your Vino

If you’re a big wine aficionado, you probably already know about Mega Purple. But when I stumbled upon it over the weekend, I was pretty surprised.

When you read about wine, you hear all kinds of positive things—how beneficial a glass a day can be for your health, how delicious it is, how amazingly intricate the process of making wine is, how natural wine itself is.

It turns out that wine isn’t always 100% natural… or, at least, not in the way many of us would think. In a world full of food additives from everything to growth hormones to preservatives to colors, it’s really not that surprising.

Mega Purple, a food additive made by grapes, is used to add color to many “cheaper” wines, but it has also been known to alter the taste of wine, as well as the texture. It’s used by most wines below $20 in the United States in order to—get this—standardize wine.

Don’t you think that’s sort of weird? Chalk it up to watching Sideways and French Kiss too much, but I always thought that each wine was supposed to have a distinct, separate flavor, color and texture composed of a variety of subtleties that only wine lovers can properly identify, and even they often can’t guess each and every one since the process is so amazing and beautiful and mysterious—as if every vineyard were its own Shangri-La, every sip its own Eden.

Okay, that’s probably a bit romantic, but still—standardizing wine to make it more uniform just seems like a crime to me. What do you think?

Mega Purple is also known as Mega Cherry Shade Grape Juice Concentrate, Mega Purple Grape Juice Concentrate, and Mega Red Grape Juice Concentrate. (Doesn’t that just sound like kool-aid added to your wine?)

Many people hate the fact that Mega Purple is added to wine, believing that each wine’s tasting experience should rely on the wine itself and not additives. It’s also considered to be a mark of poor wine-making by many enthusiasts.

The additive is supposed to be 100% natural itself, to be sure—it’s made out of grapes. So the argument isn’t really that the final product itself is no longer really natural, but that the wine definitely has had some work done.

Does it really matter as long as you still like the wine? Mega Purple isn’t really hurting anyone, after all—it’s not like adding pesticides or harmful ingredients. Still, the very question makes many wine lovers cringe. What’s your opinion? Is it okay for winemakers to use Mega Purple?  

Drink-of-the-Month

If you’re looking to expand your drinking experience and try out some new brands, flavors and combinations, why not make a goal of trying a new drink each month? You can expand your taste buds, find out what you like (and what you don’t) all without overdoing it.

First, you can create a list of all the drinks that you would like to try. You could look them up by flavor; for example, if you love cranberry juice, you may want to have a Cosmopolitan, a Cape Cod, or a Ruby Relaxer. If you’re more into hard liquor, you might want to look up all the drinks you can find that feature whiskey, such as a Rob Roy, an Irish Coffee, or an Italian Stallion. You can search for different drinks by using your base as the search term, or visiting a site such as The Webtender.

Conversely, you can assemble a list of the most popular drinks there are and check off the ones you’ve already tried, and simply make your way down the list. The Art of Drink website features a list of 100 drinks to try before you die (both alcoholic and virgin drinks). Or, you may want to get a list of all the drinks at your favorite pub or restaurant and simply check those off each time you visit.

Finally, asking friends and family what their favorite drinks are and creating your list around that can also be a good idea. Sometimes they’ll know regional favorites that are harder to find, as well as where to buy them. You’re also likely to get a varied list this way, as everyone has different tastes.

If you want to make sure to try only low-calorie drinks, you can mix your own with specific recipes for this purpose. Simply look up “low calorie drink recipes” and include the recipe you’re after. Many bars can accommodate you as well, depending on the drink you want.

To schedule your “drink of the month,” write a little note in your calendar on a specific date, the first Friday of the month, or whenever you want to schedule your tasting. Draw a martini glass if you like, or put a sticker on the date. If you have a list of things to do each month, simply write “Drink of the Month:” and then when you have your drink, write in which one you tried. You can also schedule the flavor you’re hoping to try that month as well.

Session Beers

A few weeks ago I wrote about Full Sail Brewery's Session lager. I quite liked it,

and was a little curious about the name, but since Full Sail didn't seem to have a particular rationale for naming their lager Session, I associated it with "session," in the context of traditional "session" music, when musicians at a pub take turns, over several hours, to perform.

I wasn't completely wrong, but I wasn't right; session beer refers to a specific sort of beer that's brewed and enjoyed over the course of a session—typically of drinking, though, and not music. Session beers are lower alcohol, usually less than 5.0% ABV; the idea behind session beers is to create and enjoy a beer that is low alcohol but still good enough to have several over the course of several hours, and enjoy them. You'll sometimes see the phrase "session strength" used to refer to a beer; that's a session beer. Lew Bryson of the Session Beer Project offers two definitions:

  • 4.5% alcohol by volume or less
  • flavorful enough to be interesting
  • balanced enough for multiple pints
  • conducive to conversation
  • reasonably priced

Bryson's second, more succinct definition of a session beer is "low-alcohol, but not low-taste." Full Sail's Session lager certainly fits the "low alcohol," though at 5.10 ABV, it's higher than Bryson recommends. Session beers are about drinking socially, with a group, but not getting blasted; it's about enjoying the taste of the beer, and the company you're with. I suspect both Peroni and Peroni Nastro Azzurro would qualify, at 4.7 ABV and 5.1 ABV, respectively, and both of them very easy to drink by the pitcher, especially with food.

Bear Republic Brewery

This weekend I took a trip up to the Russian River. For 5 hours I laid back in the sun, floated on the subtle current, and even paddled on occasion- all the while doing good drinking for the river- Enough Tecate and Coors Light to fill a bathtub. As fantastic of an afternoon as it was, the best was yet to come. My friends and I stayed at a hotel in Healdsburg and went for dinner at the Bear Republic Brewery- well worth the journey for anyone who finds him/her-self in Sonoma County and wants a break from the wine sipping.

I’ve had a few of their beers in bottles but never the chance to visit the brewery and enjoy their large draught selection right from the source. 

First stop was the bar to wait for our table. Probably the most well known of the Bear Republic Brewery beers is Racer 5 IPA, a crisp and smoothly bitter ale that you should stop reading now and go get if you haven't had it. I've had a lot of it over the years. So I told the bartender that I love Racer 5 but I wanted to try something new- what would she recommend for someone who liked Racer 5?

Red Rocket Ale, she said- if you like Red ales. Sure. All I can say is it was exceptional, and you should go get one of those as well. They say it started out as a Scottish ale and has taken on a life and flavors of its own- a complex mix of grains in the brewing creates a full-bodied beer that is less bitter but more hearty than the Racer 5, while still satisfying the hop-hungry IPA lover.

Then dinner was ready and it was time for the food. The restaurant is nothing special- pretty standard brewery fare with college kids home for the summer on staff. That part is nothing to write home about. I had the halibut sandwich, a solid "meh," with a basket of garlic parmesean fries, which are definitely worth getting, if you like garlic. There's plenty.

With dinner I had a Grizz, which comes in an extra-special goblet. It is a stretch for people who like their beer bitter, as it is unapologetically sweet, but hearty like a stout. It's a Belgian style strong ale that many people would call a "sipping beer," as it is meant to go down slowly. It was good with the food, but a little too chipper for my tastes in ale.

After dinner it was on to the sampler tray. A cheater’s way to enjoy beer, for sure, as beer can take on different tones and tastes through the course of a pint. But as I said, it was my first time at the Brewery and I wanted to try as many things as I could. Two favorites from the sampler: the El Oso (Spanish for Bear), just because it was tasty. And the Hefeweizen, which I usually don’t like because they are light, but this one had body and a hearty sweetness that made it much more than a fancy pilsner. 

To learn more about the Bear Republic, visit them online: http://www.bearrepublic.com

Then, visit their Brewery in Healdsburg for some Good Drinking.

Pig and Whistle, San Francisco

In this crazy mixed up world in which we live, there are but a few constants. Bad Chinese food. Those little yappy dogs. Australians. And, of course, wherever you might roam, from Montpellier to Machu Picchu, you will find faux Irish bars. Some are good, some are bad, and some (shudder) serve chilled Guinness.

One thing I’ve always wondered about, however, is why there are not more English style pubs? The short answer might be that no-one likes poor service, rude patrons and warm beer. But that, I feel, is a somewhat myopic view of what a pub can be. I lived for a while in the south west of England, and whilst I’m not going to attempt to convince you of the merits of drinking beer at around room temperature (here’s a clue, though; it makes it taste nicer), I became very fond of a quiet pub on a Sunday afternoon, no gaudy neon, juke box quietly ticking over in the corner; hey, I even got to like the crappy food.

So, one of my favorite haunts in San Francisco has become the Pig and Whistle, on the corner of Geary Boulevard and Wood Street. Of all the many bars that I frequent, this is probably the nearest that this city has to an English pub. This feeling might be helped by the fact that we normally trek down at lunchtime on Sundays after our Soccer game, searching for a beer or two to salve our wounds, both physical and mental. We normally lose, see.

They also have a great beer selection. More accurately, perhaps, they have one of my favorite beers in the world, Old Speckled Hen, from the Greene King brewery, Suffolk, which is in the East of England. It’s smooth, creamy and malty, with a light sparkle, and it goes down well without leaving you feeling bloated. If only they could serve it warmer, huh. They also have Fuller’s London Ale, which is another fine pint. Of course, if you prefer less exotic fare, they have the standard Stella Artois, Guinness and American beers. But you should go for the English ones. Seriously.

There’s also a brief menu, which has fried foods of various types; burgers, fish and chips, onion rings. It’s nothing amazing, but if you’re feeling peckish it’ll keep you going and not leave you overly regretting it. Don’t have the chips and curry sauce, however. No man should have to suffer through that.

There is also a pub quiz on Sundays, starting early evening. It’s normally quite popular, so get there in plenty of time if you want to secure a table. Or just go at lunch and stay there all afternoon. Though, this might not leave you in the optimal condition for answering trivia questions, even if it does sound like a good time.

On top of this, they have a cricket team. A cricket team! This pretty much makes it the best place in the whole of Northern California. Go check it out!

Hidden Gems - Jack's Club and Yats PoBoys, San Francisco

Jack’s Club, situated on the corner of 24th and Utah Streets in San Francisco’s Mission district, is fairly unremarkable from the outside. If you didn’t know about it, you probably wouldn’t even go in. There are plenty of bars nearby that are hipper, cheaper, flashier or more conveniently located. In fact, for the most part its clientele is made up of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers from the nearby general hospital, who come in to take advantage of their happy hour offers.

Their beer and drinks selection is fine; they have the usual selection of national beers (Budweiser, Coors, etc) with a few local ones thrown in for good measure. Prices are four to five dollars, or a recession busting two dollars during happy hour, which runs every week day from 2pm until 7pm. You can’t say better than that, really.

They also have a pool table, and on Thursday nights there is karaoke. It’s nominally a sports bar, and actually makes for a pretty decent place to watch games, as it’s nice and quiet and for the most part not populated by idiots.
So, why does this qualify as a hidden gem? It sounds pretty normal, no? Well, the answer lies

to the right of the bar, the other side of a wooden hatch. And the answer is Yats (as in whereyat?), a Cajun kitchen which sits inside the bar itself. Their menu includes daily specials such as chicken wings, or jambalaya, as well as any of southern favorite that you could possibly desire. And boy, is it good. There are a few southern style restaurants in the Bay Area that try to fussy things up for a Californian audience, but that’s really not the case here. This is gutsy, honest, soulful cooking.

Personally, I’ve tried a couple of the Po’Boys, and the Veggie Philly (they do cater a little to San Francisco with some vegetarian options!) melt, and have yet to be disappointed. The prices, too, are as reasonable as the food is tasty, topping out at around $10.99 for the priciest entrée, with sides (fries, mac and cheese, all the good stuff) coming in at around $3 or $4.

Perhaps most pleasingly of all, they also deliver to the hospital for orders of over $15. It could be argued by some that it’s food like this that puts people there in the first place, but honestly, if I can’t get a gravy soaked artery choker delivered to me on my deathbed, well, that’s a world in which I don’t want to live in.

One thing worth noting, though, is that the kitchen is only open till three in the afternoon; the first time I tried to go and get some dinner, I was met with disappointment. I have found, though, that a beer and some fresh cheesy, greasy goodness makes a tremendous hangover cure; If you stop down on a Friday lunchtime, I’ll be the one in the corner picking at my fries and thinking about what I’ve done.

The Punchline, San Francisco

There’s always something a little different about comedy clubs. For a start, they want you to come in, drink up, and get out and leave in a couple of hours, so they can get the next show underway. And then, of course, there’s the whole thing with someone standing in front of you on a stage, telling jokes and trying to make you laugh. What’s that all about?

So, as you might have guessed, the Punchline, on Battery between Washington and Clay in downtown San Francisco, is a comedy club. I was there on Monday night to see a trio of comedians. I guess it’s not really appropriate to judge the bar itself by the quality of the entertainment, but I’m sure you’ll want to know whether Parks and Recreation star Aziz Ansari is funny or not. Well, mostly not. On one hand, he was trying out material for a DVD filming to follow in a few weeks, and on the other, well, people had paid upwards of twenty dollars a ticket. Plus, comedians setting up impressions of things that don’t really exist isn’t really funny, and is mostly just lazy comedy. Still, he did have some fairly hilarious stories, and the audience was laughing all the way through, so maybe I just didn’t get it.

So, the bar itself. Well, the service is slow, if friendly; they offered to hold my bike helmet behind the bar for free (were they worried I might use it as an offensive weapon? I can be pretty dangerous when I’m only injured), but then the wait staff pretty much ignored us for twenty minutes before coming to see what we wanted to drink. It is table service only, so you don’t get the option of going up to the bar. The drinks are not cheap, and there’s a two drink minimum. They have the basics at four dollars – Budweiser, Coors, and light varieties, and then bottles at five and more palatable pints at six. Cocktails is where it starts getting pricey – my friend had a couple of eight dollar tequila gimlets, which she assures me were tasty.  As well they might be, at that price.

They also have a limited menu priced at around eight to ten dollars – pizza, nachos, and the like. We didn’t eat, but the people sitting at our table did, and their pizza sure smelled good, for what it’s worth.

So, they have comedy acts pretty much every night of the week; it seems like they sell out, so I’d advise booking ahead (the full schedule can be found here, you have to pay the traditional service fees, but at least it’s not Ticketmaster, huh), and then getting there early to secure yourself a decent seat. Also, if you’re found of more than two beers without having to take out a second mortgage, you might consider going somewhere else first. There are a couple of bars along the Embarcadero, for instance, that would do the job nicely.

Beyond the Long Island

Seeing as June is Iced Tea Month, I thought it might be fun to dig up some good tea recipes. Tea is delicious in many shapes and forms, and is an excellent drink base. You may think you’ve had a tea cocktail if you’ve had a Long Island Iced Tea, but the truth is that there’s no tea in it! There are plenty of ways, however, to get a refreshing glass of tea with a little something extra if you’re interested.

American Tea: For an easy sweet treat, add two ounces of honey liquor to your sweet tea and stir.  

Tea Spike: Mix an ounce and a half of white rum, half an ounce of dark crème de cacao, and 4 ounces of iced tea in a shaker; then pour into a highball glass. This makes for a sweet, cool summer drink.

Coney Island Iced Tea: Now this one does have tea in it! For a walk on the tropical side, add an ounce of spiced rum and a dash of lemon juice to your iced tea. Use lemon tea for extra zing.

Southern Kick: Mix half an once of whiskey and half an ounce of Southern Comfort in a glass; then, fill the rest with tea. Serve over ice.

Canadian Sweet Tea: Another simple drink, this one simply calls for 2 ounces of Canadian whiskey in your iced tea.

1800 Sweet Tea-quila: Combine an ounce and a half of 1800 Silver Tequila, 2.5 ounces of unsweetened iced tea, half an ounce of orange juice, half an ounce of sugar syrup, and half an ounce of lemon juice over ice and shake. Strain into a highball glass and garnish with a lemon wheel. Yummy!

Compton Iced Tea: Mix together 1.5 ounces of vanilla vodka, 1.5 ounces of Everclear, 1.5 ounces of coconut rum, 1.5 ounces of Jagermeister herbal liqueur, and 5 ounces of iced tea. Serve over ice.

Bengal Tiger Tea: Mix 4 ounces of cold tea, 2 dashes of bitters, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of sugar syrup, and an ounce and a half of cognac together and pour over ice, then garnish with a slice of lemon.

California Iced Tea: Mix together half an ounce each of gin, tequila, vodka, rum, and triple sec, 2 ounces of sweet and sour mix, and fill the rest of the glass with orange juice. Serve with a slice of orange.

You can also purchase liquor already made from tea, such as White Tea Liquor and Black Tea Liquor from Qui Spirits.

Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista in San Francisco

 

Irish coffee. One of the great beverages to be created by the formidable hands of talented mixologists and passed across the bar into the grasp of locals and tourists alike.

And if you want an Irish coffee made the right way, you go to the Buena Vista in San Francisco, right at the end of the streetcar line near Fisherman's Wharf.

First thing's first: What's an Irish coffee? Whiskey, coffee and heavy cream. 

And like I said, they make 'em like they're supposed to make 'em at the Buena Vista.

They have a great rundown on how Buena Vista became the spot to go here.

But here's the quick and dirty:

In 1952. Jack Koeppler, owner of the Buena Vista put a challenge to Stanton Delaplane, international travel writer, to re-create the renowned Irish coffee at the Shannon Airport in Ireland. After a series of unsuccessful attempts, the two nailed the recipe. The rest, as they say... is history.

My first Irish coffee there was a magical experience- literally. I walked in and sat down- well, I walked in and stood, stalking a stool at the bar for maybe half an hour until something opened up. The place is always packed, day or night, but the people are mostly friendly and there to have a good time.

Back to the magic. I sit down with my date and the guy behind the bar is doing card tricks like he came out of the womb doing them. Amazing. He had bright white hair, almost down to his shoulders, with a bushy mustache. For the three or four Irish coffees I had while sitting there, the bartender did a few more card tricks, usually for the pretty ladies that sat down for their first. And he had game.

I know my date looked at me when he did the trick for her and said, "If you learn how to do that... like that, I'll be yours forever."

Well, I'm no magician and the girl is gone, but the bartender, the magic tricks and the Irish coffees are still there.

If you're in San Francisco, make the trip.

Hottest Clubs in Arizona Series: Crabby Don’s in Mesa

We continue our hottest clubs in Arizona series by presenting to you a fine club in Mesa (east valley), Arizona. This time around, it’s Crabby Don’s, which gets major thumbs up from us in all directions for really offering a rocking good club. From fine drink prices, good menu and tasty food selections, to having one of the better stages in the state, and a smoking patio. Seemingly, Crabby Don’s has it all, and then some. So, let’s take a closer look shall we, and see just why we dug this awesome nightclub so much. If you are looking for a place to party on the weekends in the east valley, Crabby Don’s has got you covered!

Five Reasons Why This Club Rocks:
1. Awesome interior. Newly remodeled, this club offers tons of seating, brand new tables and chairs, a fresh paint job, newer bathrooms that are clean and great customer service.
2. Amazing stage and live sound system. A brand new stage, lighting, sound system and more allow them to offer some of the best live music and production that you can find anywhere in the state.
3. Kick ass drink prices. Patrons enjoying drinking premium beverages for cheap. With two bars in the joint, you never wait long for a drink.
4. Great location. Ideally located in central Mesa, near several major freeways and thoroughfares, getting to this club is easily done.
5. Cool crowd. An even blend of early twenties to mid-thirties folks come and party at Crabby Don’s in Mesa AZ. You will always find cool people here on the weekends.

Longshots (The Band) Live at Crabby Don’s
You can get a really good idea of what live music is like at this venue by watching the video that we have imbedded below. It shows an Arizonan local band called Longshots performing live on the brand new stage and lighting setup at Crabby Don’s. With their new stage, their awesome lighting trusses and their amazing and very costly live music system, this club easily can compare to some of the other hottest clubs in the state. Unlike many other live music venues, this club does not rip off bands; they give them all of the door proceeds and free beer for the night. The newly remodeled and under new management Crabby Don’s is quickly becoming one of the hotter live music clubs in the state, for many good and obvious reasons too.

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