Tag: champagne (Page 1 of 2)

Barracuda

September 9, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

“If the real thing don’t do the trick, you better make up something quick.” Ann sang the words angrily, as she should have. Her righteous indignation was totally justified. When their reality did not seem racy enough, the promoter started a rumor about an incestuous affair between her and her sister, presumably because that would help sell records? Sure, it would get people talking, but still, it seems an odd tack to take. Whatever the motivation, you have to hand it to the Wilson sisters. When someone pisses me off, I get angry, I kick rocks, but I don’t go off and write a classic rock song that is still relevant 44 years later. That’s why I am here writing about drinks and not off somewhere cataloguing my vintage rug collection while my assistant polishes my gold records. I guess we all have our ways of dealing with things. So, in the spirit of doing something productive with your anger and avoiding sore toes, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Barracuda.

The Crushed Nun

May 17, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

Obligation is a funny thing. It is simply defined as “a course of action a person is bound to do, arising out of a sense of duty or customs or law.” They go on and on describing edge cases, but it really does come down to “a responsibility that you assume” for whatever reason. I think that is the key part, the free will portion, which is funny because obligations are constraints, they limit freedom, by their nature. It is at precisely that moment when you make that choice to accept responsibility, a choice that will keep you from being able to make some other choices, that obligation begins. That has been on my mind a lot lately, those chains we bind ourselves with. Those ties to the place, family, groups, and the tasks that define us. Ultimately, these choices say a lot about who we are, who we can be and how we will get there, if we honor them. So, in the spirit of choices made, deadlines and commitments, won’t you join me now as we stand and make The Crushed Nun.

Northern Lights

May 3, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

I said I was finished with champagne cocktails, but then, it turned out, I wasn’t. I did not set out to deceive you but circumstances changed. Once, way back in my college days, my girlfriend asked, “Is it a lie, if I meant it when I said it?” I did not have a good answer. In that case, I was having trouble processing the changes in circumstance that led to that remarkably honest question. She taught me a lot, and if I had been listening that evening, perhaps I’d have had an easier time with those lessons. The thing is, when I said we were finished with bubbly cocktails, I had no idea, I was going to crack a bottle of sparkling wine for my baby brother’s birthday. I knew Grandma was making Chicken & Dumplings, which meant cranberry sauce, so once I realized we weren’t going to finish the bottle, I decided to make the best of this unexpected bounty. So, yeah, I meant it when I said it, but things changed, and I deceived you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for this and so many other unintentional trespasses, as we stand and make Northern Lights.

Otho’s BrunchaPuncha

April 28, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

If you are not doing brunch, you should be. I mean, assuming you don’t have other plans that require you to head out early. Actually, even if you have early plans you could always pop back by the house to eat, that is totally in bounds. In fact, some say that brunch was born of folks heading out early before coming back home to eat. If you believe the legends, the idea originated with English hunting parties, where a late breakfast would be prepared using the meats from that morning’s hunt. Whether that is true or not, I like the idea of it and I love sitting down to a mid morning repast with a glass of something bubbly. We are sticking with our sparkling wine theme and making a large format punch for brunch. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make Otho’s BrunchaPuncha.

Lady Washington

April 27, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 2 Comments

I love how pop culture can be used to expose folks to ideas that they have not heard before. It is always interesting to hear classic psychology, ethics or logic problems suddenly enter the pop lexicon because someone took the time to write them into a script. A couple of years ago The Good Place introduced folks who had not taken sociology to the classic Trolley Problem and it clearly got them thinking about what really did constitute the greater good, and that is a net positive. Recently, Wandavision brought the conundrum of the Ship of Theseus to the forefront and that got me to thinking, not about this drink, but something near to it. So, in the spirit of not knowing where one thing begins and another ends, won’t you join me now as we stand and make, the Lady Washington.

Death In The Afternoon

April 26, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

The champagne was cold, but the girls were hot and I was as green as the absinthe swirling in the glass as they stepped on to the dance floor. That’s how it was in those days. I left home full of vigor, ready to prove myself a citizen of the world. I figured I had learned all they knew in school and it was time to see what lessons the real world could teach me. Mostly, it taught humility. Spain looked good on paper. I was living the life, as they say. A life mostly spent sitting in the corner of one club or another watching other folks enjoy that life I described in my letters home. As the cigarette smoke slowly rose from the ashtray, I signaled the barman with a nod. Sure, I’d have another. If I could not write like Hemingway, I could at least try to drink like him. So, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the classic, Death in the Afternoon.

Negative Space

April 23, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

We are in my wheelhouse today, so to speak. Paying as much attention to what is not happening as to what is actually going on. Focusing on the silence, the space between the notes, the whitespace that defines the picture or gives the words their form. At its most basic, this is what I do most days, manipulating the relationship between background and focus, laying out graphics and words, seeing those words as shapes and always vigorously defending the field on which that particular game is played. So, in honor of the emptiness that defines the thing and the lies between, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Negative Space.

Violette Royale

April 22, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Simple times call for simple drinks. Of course, these are not simple times. In fact, these times are about as complicated as times can be, even when you remember to carry the two and subtract by the hypotenuse. I could drone on and on about how I am not feeling well, having sustained a broken rib at a baby shower last weekend and how I am inclined to make an uncharacteristically short and sweet shout into the darkness, but rather than writing about all that, I reckon I should just get along with the business of actually being short and sweet in word count, not in stature. So with that lofty goal in mind, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Violette Royale.

Death in Oaxaca

April 21, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

My grandfather used to say “The only folks who don’t make mistakes are the one’s who don’t do anything.” I was mistaken about this drink, so, clearly, I do things. That is how post hoc fallacies work, right? Or was that a non sequitur? I get so confused. I’m sticking with that sparkling wine theme, so in the spirit of some honest bubbles won’t you join me as we stand and make the Death in Oaxaca.

Champagne Cocktail

April 20, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 2 Comments

Though I usually eschew them, I am sticking with a theme this week. Either that or I am stuck in a rut, it is often hard to tell the difference. I guess it’s all going to come down to the marketing, so a bubble filled theme it is as we continue with yet another sparkling wine classic. Not just a classic, but perhaps the classic, as in the original bubbly concoction that inspired this entire class of drinks, putting them on the gustatorial map, so to speak. So, without further ado, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the classic Champagne Cocktail.