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Post by lagatta on Aug 20, 2009 20:35:03 GMT
Cheap white wine night for me tonight (free, actually, though such things always involve barter in some form). And some kind of sparkling water, as I'm thirsty and don't want to guzzle wine.
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Post by bazfaz on Aug 20, 2009 20:49:03 GMT
Kerouac, I bet your cheap red wine isn't as cheap as ours: 70 centimes a litre from the grower in the St Pons market. I don't know what we'll do when me move to the Lot. Cahors wine is expensive and living on its reputation. There must be a local cheap grower.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 19:02:10 GMT
This was in my glass yesterday, even if it is still in the bottle in this picture.
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Post by fumobici on Sept 17, 2009 23:02:02 GMT
Espresso with a bit of steamed milk today. I've got an ancient '70s Swiss espresso machine that makes exquisite coffee to drink if you put the right coffee in. I've even been harboring shameful dirty thoughts of decaf, just so I can enjoy more. Maybe I could just blend in half decaf beans. There's probably already a coffee thread around isn't there?
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 17, 2009 23:17:12 GMT
I'm having plain ole coffee, but it is Oaxacan coffee, and it is freshly made.
You know, I think there is a coffee thread. *sigh* Now I will have to compulsively look for it.
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Post by rikita on Sept 18, 2009 20:30:14 GMT
just water, lately
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Post by imec on Sept 18, 2009 20:40:10 GMT
Oh, hell, I forgot to post last weekend - was at a fundraiser and sat through two tastings:
1. Champagnes - Moet and Veuve Cliquot yellow followed by Dom P. and la Grande Dame
2. "Iconic Wines" - Corton Charlemagne Latour 2005, Sassicaia 2004, Beringer Private Reserve Cab 2004, Mouton Rothschild 2004
Very tasty! (and lubed me up enough to sing with the band later ;D)
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Post by BigIain on Sept 18, 2009 21:05:01 GMT
a very nice rioja.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2009 18:33:29 GMT
Oh wow, Egyptian red wine packs an unexpected wallop, especially when served free at an open bar.
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Post by hal2000 on Oct 27, 2009 19:40:28 GMT
Does a can of Diet Sprite count?
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Post by existentialcrisis on Nov 3, 2009 9:29:29 GMT
Did some beer sampling tonight at a local brew pub. Tried the Pilsner, 2 Lagers, Brown, Pale Ale, Heffeweisen, and Irish ale. All were decent aside from one of the lagers which tasted like cheap draught - yuck. Gave it to the bartender to pour out.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 3, 2009 18:22:40 GMT
Mmmmm ~~ sounds good! Which was your favorite?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2009 18:39:42 GMT
Tonight, I am having an Amer Bière, an Alsatian specialty -- beer mixed with a bitter orange brown alcoholic concoction. Most of France would call this a Picon Bière, because Picon is the only national brand that you can find everywhere. However, a bottle of Picon costs about 250% more than the local brands found in Alsace and Lorraine, so I always stock up when I am there.
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Post by imec on Nov 4, 2009 0:19:56 GMT
Never seen that - in fact I've never seen an Alsatian beer other than Kronenbourg which I'm not sure counts. I'd love to know more about Alsatian beer and the food - I've recently developed an appreciation for Alsatian Riesling. Am I reading it correctly that it's 15% alcohol?!?
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 4, 2009 0:51:37 GMT
Sounds really good!
If you google it, there are recipes in French and in English. They all call for Amer Picon® orange bitters, and some specify lemon syrup as well. If you could get the Amer Picon, it would be easier to enjoy it more often.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 4, 2009 0:58:42 GMT
Never saw those 600ml fliptop Grolsch-like bottles of Pecheur/Fischer from Strasbourg that were fairly commonly imported into NA in the '80s imec? Nothing special but cool bottles!
And what's with the escalation in the general alcohol content of wines? Remember when reds were typicallt 10-12% and whites like a Riesling maybe 8-11%?
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Post by imec on Nov 4, 2009 1:11:37 GMT
Fischer sounds vaguely familiar... but I could be confusing it with Kingfisher from India.
Yeah, the high alcohol thing is getting pretty silly. I think it's the "new world" with their warmer climates (which produce grapes with more sugar) that we have to thank for that - my guess is France is chaptelising the cheaper wines to compete but maybe kerouac, bjd or baz could comment more intelligently than I can on that. On the other hand, it's possible to produce some very interesting products at the very high range - some of the California Zin specialists (Edmeades for example) produce some 15-16 percent wines which are almost port like - and great drunk in that context.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2009 6:09:21 GMT
Never seen that - in fact I've never seen an Alsatian beer other than Kronenbourg which I'm not sure counts. I'd love to know more about Alsatian beer and the food - I've recently developed an appreciation for Alsatian Riesling. Am I reading it correctly that it's 15% alcohol?!? Yes, you mix it with beer to make a bitter orange flavored beer which is often drunk as apéritif or on a hot summer afternoon when you do not have to operate heavy machinery.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 4, 2009 7:10:16 GMT
I had a huge beer (0.5l) on my last visit to Strassbourg that contained something to sweeten it. I think it might have been called picon. Didn't remember it as tasting very orangy though.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Nov 4, 2009 8:59:58 GMT
I've realized that, in general, I am partial to brown ales. So that was my favorite. I enjoy Kronenburg but I feel a little dumb for not knowing about Alsatian beer - where is this region? I'd like to try the Amer Bière, or Picon Bière but I've never heard or seen anything like it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2009 10:05:33 GMT
I think that Picon can be found in specialty shops in North America.
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Post by imec on Nov 4, 2009 19:04:36 GMT
Oh, I see, so the product pictured above doesn't actually contain beer - it's to add to beer(?). That would make sense. In what sort of proposrtions does one mix it? And is there a preferred beer type with which it should be mixed?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2009 19:14:43 GMT
It is normally just mixed with ordinary "blonde" beer as it is called. The same as with pastis, the proportions are up to each person, but I would not imagine using more than 1/8 of amer bière in a glass unless the point is to get blasted, since it obviously increases the alcoholic content.
Regarding the beers of Alsace, I don't think there is more than one major independent brand left. Kronenbourg is now British owned (Kanterbrau is also controlled by the same company), Fischer (also called Pecheur) is owned by Heineken, Mutzig is owned by Heineken, Karlsbrau is German owned. I think the remaining independent Alsatian brewery is Méteor.
Nevertheless, 61% of French beer comes from Alsace.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 4, 2009 19:30:27 GMT
Is there any truly good French beer? I hear reports like I do sometimes that there are excellent Italian beers but in both cases the tasting experience has always been to some degree disappointing. I'd think that both France and Italy would demand and be capable of making great beers but most keen beer lovers in either place seem to drink German or Czech beer or maybe Stella or Heineken if they aren't quite so keen ;D
I can well remember going to a restaurant in Perugia for lunch and finding out the only beer they poured was Peroni- it was one of those places that has one of those horrible exclusive arrangements with a brewery- and feeling crestfallen. If you are only going to serve one beer at least make it a German or Czech one for crying out loud.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2009 20:03:02 GMT
The French drink more and more beer, but they do it more for thirst than anything else. Many people think that Kronenbourg's "1664" brand is excellent, but I have no specific opinion about it. My own favorite French beer (but not for thirst) is Pelforth Brune, brewed near the Belgian border.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Nov 5, 2009 8:52:12 GMT
Drinking beer for thirst? Strange concept.... when there is always water or juice... I don't find beer very thirst quenching at all.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 5, 2009 11:44:23 GMT
But it's great when you're thirsty, isn't it? And the best part is that you want more and more!
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Post by bjd on Nov 5, 2009 12:38:06 GMT
I don't drink much beer except sometimes in summer or with a specific meal. If I do drink any French beer, it would be Pelforth Brune or Ambrée. Kronenbourg is really awful, tastes like the Peroni we had in a café in Rome. We usually buy Leffe, which is Belgian. I think the French and Italians should stick to making wine.
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Post by imec on Nov 5, 2009 13:07:16 GMT
I drank lots of Pelforth Blonde while in Gaillac in July.
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Post by imec on Dec 20, 2009 17:51:20 GMT
A hefeweizen seemed just the ticket last night...
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