Tag: mezcal (Page 2 of 4)

Morning Man

June 27, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

They say that if you remain open, life provides. I don’t know if that is true on a large scale, but that’s how things have gone for me, generally. You know how it goes, all hope is lost and suddenly, the thing you need drops in your lap all deus ex machina-y. Or you are sitting thinking about things, all lost in your head when the phone rings and it’s the person you need to hear from, even if you did not know it. Some folks call it kismet, I call it a slingblade. No, that’s wrong. I call it life providing. Anyway, the thing is, it worked out for me today, so please join me now as we stand and make the Morning Man.

Bela Lugosi

June 8, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

There are times in life when you do everything right, but still come up short. It happens. Even when you make every possible effort and don’t miss a trick, the world just doesn’t line up for you. It’s all about the effort. That’s why we teach kids to always do their best, fully aware that sometimes your best simply isn’t good enough to overcome the obstacles life has placed in your way. That’s the way the world works and that is ok. I am reminded of that tonight and a fellow who was among the best at what he did. A man so good at his job that he ended up typecast, trapped in a role he could not escape even as the world changed and left him behind. So, in honor of doing one thing and doing it well, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Bela Lugosi.

Lively Gus

May 27, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

As Captain Augustus McRae once said, “What’s good for me might not be good for the weak minded.” I always liked that idea. I have enjoyed a great many distractions over the years that I would not recommend for the weaker of heart or constitution or for myself, really, in retrospect. That said, I am glad I’ve been afforded the opportunity to be pretty foolish over the years, without serious repercussions. One downside of good fortune is a healthy dose of belief in yourself, whether warranted or not. So, with a nod to both Dunning and Kruger, and in the spirit of taking a swing when you don’t even deserve to be in the game, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Lively Gus.

Mexicillin

May 5, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

I don’t much care for the name of this drink, something about it just doesn’t sit right, but they did not call on me for help, so it is what it is, as they say. I suppose there are a lot of things in the world that would be different if I had been consulted, but I wasn’t, so some things aren’t as good as they could be and I guess some are better. Either way, we are gonna have to learn to live with that. I suppose we could take the sting out of things with a drink, so won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Mexicillin.

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.

White Negroni Piña Colada

April 9, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Here we are, the lilac is blooming in the backyard once more and I am standing in my kitchen making a drink. A lot has changed since this time last year when I poured the first of what would become our daily cocktail from quarantine. In those days you were lucky to get a full paragraph detailing how to make the daily drink, delivered Joe Friday style. I know more and I tend to say more now. It took me awhile to discover that it wasn’t about the drink, it was about the ritual and finding a space for my voice, whenever I had something to say. So, in honor of those lessons learned and so many words along the way, won’t you join me now as we make the White Negroni Piña Colada.

El Coronel

March 15, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

You win some. You lose some. Some get rained out. This is the way of life, in three simple, easy to swallow sentences. What it doesn’t tell you is how to deal with things depending on the vagaries of fate and weather. Today, it rained. I couldn’t do anything about that. I could, however, control my response, so I walked on in the storm with my head held high and when I got home I dried off and made a drink. In the spirit of not letting your conditions control your attitude, won’t you please join me now, as we stand and make the El Coronel.

Song of the Siren

March 11, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Today marks one year of official pandemic life. It is hard to believe. In some ways it feels like it has been forever since we lived “normal” lives, on the other hand it feels like just a few weeks ago when we were freaking out trying to find masks, hand sanitizer and toilet paper. It is amazing how much life has changed in the last 365 days. How much more we know about the disease that changed all of our lives. How much we have lost over that time, how many friends and family members are no longer with us. How much we have gained in appreciation of each other and the things that really matter in life. How much we have learned in how to be self sufficient or maybe I should say pod sufficient. I know that my zombie apocalypse team requirements and expectations of who would make it have changed significantly. It has been quite a journey and now we can finally see a safe harbor on the horizon, if we can just stay the course a little longer. This is the toughest part, holding on when every part of your fiber longs to be with friends again. When that temptation calls out to you from the shore, beckoning you to come visit, after all you deserve a break, right? So, in the spirit of doing the hard things, especially when you don’t want to, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Song of the Siren.

The Wild Card

February 23, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

It is funny just how much of life hangs on split second decisions. The ones’s that don’t seem to matter at the moment, you just take a chance and suddenly you are on a different road. You turn left instead of right and end up in an unexpected place, you hold the door for someone and share a smile or you decide to fill out an application, you speak up in a meeting or take the time to fix something you see that is wrong. Most of the big changes in my life can be traced back to something that seemed inconsequential at the time. We all know the big ones, deciding which college to attend, though, to be fair, in my case that was a snap decision made in a moment of frustration, that seems to have turned out ok, but if I look back, that decision was only made possible by a much earlier decision to sit back in a chair, light a cigarette and tell the truth to someone who cared enough to let me. So, in honor of those low probability, high impact events that shaped us, won’t you join me as we stand and make, The Wild Card.

Spruce Moose

February 19, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

We still have snow. Lots of it. We still had hours. Lots of them. So, we walked, in the snow. We kayaked down the hill, in the snow. We got the mail, in the snow. We built a set of shelves to hold our abundance of cocktail glasses, in the, well, that was in the basement, but we had to trudge through the snow to the barn to get the lumber and then through the snow back to the basement to work. When afternoon came, we cleaned the snow off the car and went to the store, leaving the property for the first time since Sunday, in the snow. To be fair, there was a lot of sun as well, luckily I was wearing shades, pretty sure the dog went snowblind, though. It is what it is, as they say. Might as well have a drink, so in honor of our newly northern existence, won’t you please join me as we stand and make the Spruce Moose.