F*ck those anti-rules: Bourbon Edition!

There are people out there, which always want to simplify matters. I have read this post on liquor.com: "3 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO WHEN IT COMES TO BOURBOn" and I found it totally idiotic - let us directly go to it:

Don't spend more than $50 on a bottle

What kind of stupid rule is that? I can understand the drift: you can really great bourbons under $50 (mostly in the US). However what is about gin? And vodka? Or cars? Or houses? Or wine? Or or or... Obviously I don't mean $50 - but you don't need to spend a fortune to get a great experience without spending a fortune.
The deal is: you always can find relative bargains, and you can find transcendent experiences, which might be marginal or largely superior (and some are even not as good as the less than $50 dollar bottle. But there is no point of making this moronic rule!

Don't only drink bourbon neat

Besides of the next rule, which suggest exactly the opposite (not telling people how they drink their bourbon), there are for sure expressions, which you rather want to drink neat, or on the rocks or with a mixer. Again, it seems like a non-sensical rule

Don't tell people how to drink their bourbon

Yeah - in the previous rule, the author just said, how people shouldn't only drink it, and then she says, that you should not tell people how to drink - that's madness...
Other than that, I have been always against bartenders (...), who are dictating their guests, how to consume their purchased drink. I have had some regular returning guests, who ordered "reputable" Old World red wines - non of them remotely cheap, and drank those wines then with ice! They were very friendly. and even tipped very generous - and I have never had an issue with their behavior.
So - what do I think is wrong with the rule? Somebody who deals with good whiskey everyday just might know, how it taste best. So I do like to suggest to people, how they will enjoy their dram the most. It is not "dictated" but suggested. When a guest goes another way, it is cool. But I experienced so many occasions, when guests came to me and thanked me, that I have open their mind for a great experience.

All what I can say is, just don't generalize and don't do this stupid rules, which don't make sense.

I hope you can agree on that!

Comments

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution! But when Chris, over at A Bar Above discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most ...

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez...

Fanta Pineapple

After the agave nectar scandal , nothing seems to be big enough to post about. At it seems odd, that I am coming here to review a commercial and mass produced product. But hey- I do admit, that I love coke and really like some other commercial sodas. I only try to stay away of artificial ingredients. This said, Fanta Pineapple doesn't start a nice relationship with me. While the front states "Pineapple flavored soda with other natural flavors" - the ingredient list looks like a witches brew: carbonated water, HFCS, citric acid, natural flavors, modified food starch, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate [to protect taste], sodium citrate, coconut oil, salt, sucrose acetate isobutyrate, yellow 5, yellow 6 Well - that doesn't really look like my homemade sodas. Yes citric acid, sodium citrate [a simple product, when you let citric acid and bicarbonate of soda react], carbonated water… this is understandable. HFCS is obviously far cheaper than sugar - this is...

opinionated alchemist

Search This Blog