Awkward Wealth

[Sarah in SC]

Such swanky gargling, CAman!
I myself tend toward the use of the old remedy "Rock and Rye" for sore throats and such. And a decent excuse to drink in the morning.

 

[redduck]

...
It would be interesting what you find out about the cognac. The good ones are so aromatic I would certainly expect to be able to tell the difference. By the way, I used to gargle VSOP cognac when I had a sore throat..... However, the cheaper (less aromatic) ones didn't work at all. (Or could it just have been an excuse for cognac in the morning?)

I love the smell of good cognac in the morning.

 

[sengsational]

Talking About Cheap Wine...

A lot of my brewer buddies have taken to making something called Skeeterpee -, which is a "wine" made from lemon juice. The recipe includes bottles of Real Lemon and lots of sugar (fortification!), and is designed to be executed after you have a yeast cake from a previous batch of wine. It makes this 10% "wine", supposedly for those hot summer days. I've tried it but "don't appreciate" it

 

[NW-Bound]

I have told this story before, but want to repeat it here.

One Xmas some years ago, my 2 brothers who are also Cognac drinker and myself did an impromptu taste test after dinner. We had all 3 grades of Cognac but not all from the same maker, a VS ($30), a VSOP ($50-60), and an XO ($120+). It was not a blind taste, as we poured it ourselves.

The unanimous conclusion was that the VSOP and XO were head and shoulder above the VS in terms of "smoothness", the latter having a "bite" and an aftertaste. We also all agreed that we needed to pay attention to differentiate between the VSOP and XO.

 

[NW-Bound]

And I remember that at that same dinner, we joked around and said that being rich would be being able to use XO for mouthwash and tooth brushing.

And that meant you would not swallow.

 

[Ronstar]

DW once served Aspen Sugar Daddys at our Christmas celebration. SIL was admitted to the ER a few hours later with a gall bladder attack. It's a great winter drink.

Splash of pomegranate juice
Sugar
Ice
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce triple sec
1/2 ounce Amarula
1/2 ounce pomegranate juice
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Moisten the outer rim of a chilled martini glass with the pomegranate juice and coat with sugar. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all of the remaining ingredients, shake well and strain into the martini glass.

 

[NW-Bound]

If the above also gives some kidney stones, I am in.

 

[Bestwifeever]

DW once served Aspen Sugar Daddys at our Christmas celebration. SIL was admitted to the ER a few hours later with a gall bladder attack. It's a great winter drink.

Splash of pomegranate juice
Sugar
Ice
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce triple sec
1/2 ounce Amarula
1/2 ounce pomegranate juice
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Moisten the outer rim of a chilled martini glass with the pomegranate juice and coat with sugar. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all of the remaining ingredients, shake well and strain into the martini glass.

Nice! If we ever have another party I am serving pitchers of this to pour into margarita glasses, as I no longer have a gall bladder or martini glasses.

 

[NW-Bound]

On a 2nd look at the recipe for Aspen Sugar Daddy, I realize I do not know what Amarula is, so look it up. And I cannot imagine what this tastes like, so may give that a shot to see for myself, at the risk of a gall bladder malfunction.

And while surfing the Web for "Annie Greensprings" for a late self-education, I found a forum where a poster wrote the following.

I recall Feb of 1971, at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, panhandling on Bourbon St. to get a buck for that familiar green bottle of Boone's Farm apple. Bourbon St. was a great place to panhandle, because people gave you paper money instead of change. We didn't have to pass the bottle, we each had our own. As soon as it empty, we'd take 5 minutes to panhandle up a buck for another one. The streets were literally curb deep in broken green glass. What a mess. ​

PS. The smiley above was verbatim, meaning it is not mine. And I am sure the writer had a wonderful time.

 

[Walt34]

Apparently I am also common as muck.

How about Cella Lambrusco? I drank a good bit of that. Mostly from the large economy-size bottle.

 

[splitwdw]

You don't have to go to Trader Joe's to buy your caviar and be awkward with your neighbor. Costco's online flyer came out today and has 5 jars of caviar on sale for $249. Shipping and handling included!!

 

[NW-Bound]

Isn't it really a 3-pack, not 5? $249 for a 3-pack, each of 2 oz. Or you can buy singles for $100.

Real Osetra sturgeon from Bulgaria. Farm-raised, but they guarantee it's just as good as wild.

Even if I spent the $100, I still would not know if their claim was true. How does one get wild Osetra caviar to compare, as it is near extinct?

 

[Ronstar]

Nice! If we ever have another party I am serving pitchers of this to pour into margarita glasses, as I no longer have a gall bladder or martini glasses.

No gall bladder or martini glasses - no problem - you're good to go.

On a 2nd look at the recipe for Aspen Sugar Daddy, I realize I do not know what Amarula is, so look it up. And I cannot imagine what this tastes like, so may give that a shot to see for myself, at the risk of a gall bladder malfunction.....

I still have some Amarula. As you probably know after your research, it's a marula fruit liqueur from South Africa. 17% alcohol. Tastes like a typical liqueur - very creamy. Almost couldn't get it out of the bottle that's been sitting here for 10 years.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

Isn't it really a 3-pack, not 5? $249 for a 3-pack, each of 2 oz. Or you can buy singles for $100.

Real Osetra sturgeon from Bulgaria. Farm-raised, but they guarantee it's just as good as wild.

Even if I spent the $100, I still would not know if their claim was true. How does one get wild Osetra caviar to compare, as it is near extinct?

Well, maybe we can't compare against wild. So I propose an alternative. A blind taste test with some of your closest friends: Costco vs Trader Joes vs your neighborhood bait store fish eggs.

Then after you tell them, compare how many friends you had before vs now.

 

[NW-Bound]

At $100 for 2 oz, I don't love my friends enough to run this test.

I am curious, but cringe at spending this to try even for myself, as I did not like caviar when I tried it many years ago. I do not mind spending this kind of money for an expensive bottle of booze because I know it would not go to waste. Maybe one of these days, I will try caviar again, but not now.

 

[splitwdw]

Isn't it really a 3-pack, not 5? $249 for a 3-pack, each of 2 oz.

Plaza De Caviar Caviars of the World 5-Jars $249.

 

[NW-Bound]

OK. Costco has multiple deals. The one I saw is a 3-pack, 2 oz each, all Osetra. The one you posted about is a 5-pack of assorted types, 1 oz each.

Hey, that 5-pack is a good deal for that taste test.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

Sometime in the early 90s I was in Russia, a city in the Urals, and went with my cute translator to a small shop where they scooped caviar out of big bins into plastic bags to take home. It surprised me because I had always thought that caviar was extremely expensive. They were probably middle class by Russian standards at the time, but very poor by our standards, a small broken down Russian car, very small apartment, when they had guests over, they used a board on some chairs for a dining table in front of the sofa, no electric appliances, very sparse belongs, etc. But they ate CAVIAR and scooped out of big bins no less! I always wondered what kind it was, but never could bring myself to ask. I guess everything is relative, including awkward wealth.

 

[Bestwifeever]

So my first bad drink memory was "Sloe Gin Fizz" which is what all of the other girls ordered when we went out to a dance club that let us drink underage ('70s). Horrible stuff.

Then got to college and became acquainted with the aforementioned "Purple Passion" aka "Purple Jesus". Worse stuff.

I'll take 2-buck-Chuck any day.

I think my first hangover came from sloe gin fizzes. It was a long time before I could drink 7up again

 

[NW-Bound]

Sometime in the early 90s I was in Russia, a city in the Urals, and went with my cute translator to a small shop where they scooped caviar out of big bins into plastic bags to take home. It surprised me because I had always thought that caviar was extremely expensive. They were probably middle class by Russian standards at the time, but very poor by our standards, a small broken down Russian car, very small apartment, when they had guests over, they used a board on some chairs for a dining table in front of the sofa, no electric appliances, very sparse belongs, etc. But they ate CAVIAR and scooped out of big bins no less! I always wondered what kind it was, but never could bring myself to ask. I guess everything is relative, including awkward wealth.

How did you like their caviar?

 

[CaliforniaMan]

That was 20 years ago, so I don't remember much. I think I had only tasted caviar one time before, at a bank shareholders meeting. I guess they were trying to impress their shareholders. They would have impressed us more had they not gone bankrupt. I have had caviar a few times since, but never thought of actually buying any. On crackers, if it cost the same as salami I would choose the salami.

Edit: Oh I remember now, I brought a few small bottles back (they sold in bottles too) as gifts for friends. Wow! Caviar from Russia! They ate it, but nobody asked for more. It was special only because it came from my trip. Later they sent me some in the mail. It went unopened.

 

[NW-Bound]

It seems like caviar is an acquired taste. Spirits are the same, or even beer. Feed a spoon of ice cream to a baby, see how he likes it. Now try a spoon of Cognac... Oh wait, that's child abuse, so let's just use our imagination here, OK?

Babies would not like beer, but many people drink beer. I doubt that many love it at first sip. Many drink sweet cocktails. Fewer like myself like the stronger stuff, while the others call it "gasoline".

So, is caviar universally liked, same as ice cream, or is it more like strong booze, only for the few who acquire the taste? I have always wondered because I found caviar difficult to eat, the same way many do not see the pleasure of sipping a stiff drink.

 

[EastWest Gal]

One of my mom's uncles who I only met once, about 40 years ago, lived in Fairbanks (my grandmother had 10 siblings, some of whom were left behind in Russia in 1902, and several who went to Alaska). He entertained me with stories about how Alaskans didn't appreciate caviar the way he did, they thought it was awful, so he got big quart jars of it for free.

I hope that was farmed caviar in Russia, as the wild fish need to be protected as their numbers are dwindling severely.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[CaliforniaMan]

Speaking of an acquired taste, how about chocolate? Usually when the doughnuts get put out, the chocolate doughnuts are the first to go. But about ten years ago I started working with a lot of people born in China. At the end of the day, only the chocolate ones were left. However in the intervening decade seems tastes were changing, and I had to get there early to get a good chocolate one.

 

[FUEGO]

Babies would not like beer, but many people drink beer. I doubt that many love it at first sip. Many drink sweet cocktails. Fewer like myself like the stronger stuff, while the others call it "gasoline".

I've got one of those babies that loves beer (is a 2 year old still a baby?). Don't worry, it was just a few mL taste in a shot glass to get him to leave us alone. After he said he liked it, he kept asking us for more. Awkward.