Unnatural Natural Almost Disasters

07 Wednesday Sep 2011

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Upon returning to NYC from New Mexico the god almighty above said let insanity be done upon Brooklyn, in accordance with the prophecy, for Tristan has cometh back.  Bah, just kidding, I wish I could take credit for first an earthquake and then a hurricane, but alas while I have the power to get thee drunk I can not, yet, shake the world.  Yet it is true, as I sat at the distillery one fine afternoon I took note of what I thought was the familiar feeling of a subway train trundling down a tunnel just under the building, and yet come to think of it there isn’t a train near the distillery… it must be the freight elevator and someone unloading crates onto it, ‘damn trucks,’ I thought to myself.  It was the shuddering of the bottles quietly tinkling on the shelves as they shivered against each other that made me look around and rest eyes on our tubs of liquid begin to roll back and  forth with visible waves of corn and barley sloshing against their lids, something weird might be happening.  Trying to make sense of this nonsense I finally stumbled my way over to a window to set my eyes upon the street lamp looking like a damn metronome, at which point I admitted to myself that yes in spite of being on the east coast I was experiencing my first earthquake, so I made way way to the door frame where I stood watching inexperienced Brooklynites bounce down the hallway laughing at the absurdity of a New York quake.  Although it lasted much longer than I would have thought possible, it left as fast as it came, rolling in as large waves to shake up my bourbon and my afternoon.  Even though it did leave me a little off balance for a little while the biggest fallout was easily the mass movement of social media outbursts.  Following the earthquake it was apparent that more people ran for their phones then for cover, which left me with endless entertainment all day.

The Apocalypse is coming, here’s why:

Following our shake up my father posted on my facebook wall, ‘watch out for the hurricane that’s coming next.  haha.’  A jest.  A poke at the fact that Brooklyn should be too cool for earthquakes.  So I found myself bunkering down one fine night a week later with my friends, 10 gallons of water, 10 gallons of bourbon, some canned food, and three 12 packs of beer watching as our good friend Hurricane Irene thrashed not overly violently against our house.  The true fallout from Irene were the 3 days prior to it actually hitting us.  With the blitz on stores for canned food and water, as well as Rittenhouse Rye which was wiped form all liquor store shelves, people’s emotion were actually running on high and you could see it in everything.  It was a palpable feeling wafting through the streets on the day before it was supposed to hit us, excitement and dread actually hung in the humid air.  It sounds dramatic, but walking the neighborhood that morning watching people bustle around in an overly quiet and inward mood, feeling the weight of the oppressive humidity, there was something vaguely electric in the air that made your heart beat faster the longer you lingered out unprotected in the world.  I’ve heard it described before but never felt such an eerie energy actually pulse through a community.  Much like the unsettling emotions stirring around outside, the opposite was equally as strong upon entering the safety of home.  The comfort of seeing the girls lounging idly on the couch, hearing soft weathery music playing through the speakers, and enjoying gentle rain against windows were all amplified by the tangible tension outside, it created such a warm sensation of safety.  In the end it turned out to be just a good excuse for NYC to take a weekend off, the best possible result.  Although our night filled with friends, cocktails, and Tears for Fears karaoke seemed to resemble any normal night, there was a depth created by the uncertainty of what might happen that seemed to elevate it to an event, luckily this time the hurricane gave to us an awesome night rather than the potential nightmare that it threatened to unveil.  What better time is there to open the good bottles of booze and thaw out the emergency stash of Hatch green chile then when you are locked up in a house with your best friends about to face certain doom.

I am now waiting for a dinosaur to knock on my door, as it seems the next logical step in the end of the world.

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Not Enough Hours

01 Thursday Sep 2011

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Every time I post on here I swear that I am going to become more religious about updating you guys on the happenings of Brooklyn and Manhattan, and yet it is the very lifestyle of those chaotic locales that keep me from doing so.  I find that when I finally have a moment to breathe rather than grab my computer and begin to type away I actually need to get some sleep!  Since I last updated you at the end of June, much debauchery has transpired.  In order to better organize my thoughts and give you a preview of the extreme purge about to attack your screen here is a quick rundown of what 2 months can contain: Cognac tastings at Daniel, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, lots of bourbon, endless amounts of bars, trips to Colorado and New Mexico, bartending, pro soccer games, the US Open, trains through the Hudson Valley, Hikes through upstate NY, Sufjan, Decemberists, grilling, chalkboards, carrying cabinets through Williamsburg, and much much more.  Ready for this?  It might take a few days, and more than a few posts, but as I have come to rely on this website to catalog my travels and experiences, I truly do want to get it all up.  So without further ado, let’s dive in.

The more time I spend at Amor y Amargo the more in love I fall with being behind the bar.  All week I look forward to being at the bar with my good friend Chris serving up drinks to the fine people of the East Village.  Side by side I feel like Chris and I gear up every single shift with the mind set to conquer the night.  We are never content to simply make it through a night like a job that merely needs attending, but rather  make it our mission to make sure that every night is an experience for the guests as well as ourselves.  It has inspired both of us to continually attack volumes of spirit and cocktail knowledge and return to the bar week after week with new techniques, drinks, and fun facts to try out on our unassuming clientele.  This constant drive to expand understanding of the cocktail world has fortunately dropped us into some really cool events, such as a cognac tasting at one of the worlds most prestigious restaurants.  Being served foie gras delicacies prepared by Daniel Boulud himself and sipping on endless amounts of cognac based cocktails seems to be a method of teaching that I can truly commit myself towards.

After a crazy winter, not much of a spring, and then an obnoxiously erratic and hot summer it was time for me to escape this side of the world and retreat back to the wonderfully open and fresh southwest.  Flying first to Boulder to capture some mountain air and remind my good friend Kara Henry that well earned hangovers are worth it, and in the process uncovering one of my new favorite cocktail bars in the US, the Bitters Bar.  I spent the days hiking the mountains and the nights dining at Boulders incredible restaurants and bars, almost enough to convince me not to leave.  Colorado also being a hub for American distilleries, I made sure to swing into Stranahan’s to meet their Head Distiller and tour around their incredible facilities getting a feel for what a full blown coast to coast distributed Whiskey process was like.  Intimidating.  Exciting.  From Boulder I drove south towards home with my father, and feeling like a star struck foreigner in my own home, couldn’t recall to its proper position my dropped jaw at just how beautiful the landscape is out in the nether regions of our enormous country.  I have in the past heard time and time again from visitors about the vivid colors and sweeping vistas of New Mexico and until being away for an extending period, exaggerated by living in a concrete jumble of buildings, had not comprehended what exactly that had meant.  Returning from NY to NM was like flicking on some absurd filter on a digital camera that blows colors into whole new levels, my dad only slightly annoyed by my repetitious outburst of awe.  For 5 days I relaxed and basked in the thin and crisp air of 6000 ft elevation, feeling much rejuvenated, I flew back to NYC with suitcases burdened by 20 extra lbs of green chile.

Upon my return to the city from the spacious Rocky Mountains, all hell decided to break loose.

Work beckons me back this afternoon, bourbon for some reason refuses to make itself, but tomorrow afternoon we will continue with upstate adventures, earthquakes, Sufjan Stevens dressed as a crystal, and hurricanes.  I promise.

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Digging In

30 Thursday Jun 2011

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I am digging my claws in and not budging an inch.  Finally I seem to have gained a permanent home in a good neighborhood, a good schedule, and a healthy disposition.  Addie and I have taken up residence in the highly sought after, cooler than you but not trying to be, tree lined, Italian flag painted, vinyl sided, overly caffeinated, booze saturated, neighborhood of Williamsburg.  We have found ourselves in a two family home on a quiet street which most importantly has its own stoop.  The apartment itself is normal in such a way that you have already seen it, two bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, some hardwood floors, enough windows to keep it light… you have seen it a hundred times in your life, it is to a T, an apartment.  Outside though… outside is another story all together.  Stairs.  Big wonderful stairs that perch above our street and below our trees and happen to be the ideal spot to drink a beer, eat a baguette, read a book, talk to friends, and people watch.  Summer evenings and mornings should always be based around a fine stoop, and it’s nice to find that friends flock to stoops (and beer) like moths to a flame.  What’s even better is Jack the Terrier who graces us occasionally with his regal self lounging across our bottom step, it’s nice to once again have a good dog around, even better when you don’t have to walk, feed, or clean up after him.  Swing by sometime and grab a beer, there are plenty of steps to pull up and take a load off.  Soon enough Addie will have finished her Stair Chair creation, a chair with the back two legs chopped to the level of the stairs so you can sit it on the stoop anywhere and sit properly.  Diagrams and instructions to follow some day.

I am going to attempt to shorten my posts in order to make them more frequent.  While a novel length post summarizing all of the previous months is more convenient, I don’t think it is able to strike the finer points of a story.  So for tomorrow: the distillery, and a cognac tasting at Daniel.

Pictures to come as soon as I gather them from my herd of electronic companions which are apparently frying my brain with radio waves.  Until then, please enjoy this song from Wye Oak, my current obsession.  You need this album.

 

 

Kick It Into Gear

14 Tuesday Jun 2011

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And we’re back…  Chaos reigns supreme over these last few weeks, but it brought with it a rush of  exciting new adventures!  Finally finding a stride in my working life between the distillery and the new bar I have been able to focus in on some new projects that are long over due, and at the same time build in a little tiny bit of leisure time.  In spite of a looming transition to a new location the distillery seems to be flying along with some really neat new things.  You can now finally find our bourbon on shelves around the city for sale at liquor stores and bars!  Last Friday I jumped into our ever steadfast Metro Moonshine Mobile, Lisa to friends, and zipped through the bridges delivering our first round of the brown stuff to our awaiting accounts.  As it turned out it was actually quite a nerve wracking moment for me as I realized we were finally submitting to the public what we had been working on since the beginning, it was now subject to very wide scrutiny.  That being said it is now out in the world for all to enjoy, and I am anxiously awaiting feedback.  While you can find our Bourbon and Moonshine most everywhere now it is time for me to start working on some other projects.  Recently we began new partnerships with friends to begin working on some cool new releases, which won’t be available for quite some time, but none the less are fun to begin tinkering with.  It is a hard thing to wrap my head around creating some really cool new things to know that they won’t be available to the world for at least 1-2 years, damn the aging process!

Amor Y Amargo is finding its place in the New York bar scene.  Our new little tiny bar is beginning to truly carve out a niche for itself and has found its way onto quite a few publication pages.  Every Saturday night my good friend Chris Elford and I post ourselves behind the bar playing random eclectic music including, but of course not limited to, Tears for Fears, Grizzly Bear, Kanye, Bon Iver, Decemberists, Naked and Famous, Beatles… the list is weird and long.  To the beat of many different songs we pour bitter and amaro based drinks out to friends, family, and customers in what usually escalates to what can only be described as a crowded neighborhood house party.  Our little bar fortunately seems to draw an unusual crowd of nice, interested, and respectful people!  You can’t help but talk to everyone in the bar due to its small size and intimate setting, and that you may or may night be plied with very strong drinks.  It really does amount to being a great time from start to finish, so come find us on Saturdays!

Scotch.  I have talked much about Single Malt Whisky hailing from Scotland.  Scotch is my drink of choice, I drink it regularly and it brought me into my profession, I love Scotch.  Last week I was fortunate to be invited along to a tasting held in the West Village featuring 12+ single malts from every region and style in Scotland.  Hosted by Macallan and Highland Park, both favorites of mine, we enjoyed a non biased (not brand specific at least) tasting of some of the worlds greatest drams.  At 12:30 on a Thursday afternoon I met up with some good friends to be ushered around the world of scotch one taste at a time.  We all sat down to an awesome spread of food, and then were instructed on proper tasting techniques.  After wrapping our heads around being presented with 12 cups of whisky, we dove in.  From Balvenie to Springbank to Highland Park 25… we nosed, chewed, sipped, and drank our way from Lowlands to Highlands.  If you are interested in the actual tasting notes please let me know.  After stepping away from our tables somewhat carefully we then all gathered around the keystone of the day: Highland Park 30 year, and proceeded to pass around the bottle.   All in all, a day to be remembered.

I have lately struck up some new projects through the distillery that have put me in contact with some cool new people around Brooklyn.  Our new friends at Brooklyn Winery in heart of Williamsburg just recently released their first wine, which include an awesome Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot, and in their honor through a gala at their beautiful facilities.  Drinking wonderful wines and mingling a night away with fun people who like to make booze, not a bad way to spend an evening.  I’m really excited to work with these guys on some new stuff coming up soon!  If you haven’t been over to their wine bar or to see their wine making facility it is definitely worth the trip.

Finally summer is upon us!  The heat has been coming and going with the rains but on the occasional clear and warm day we are attempting to take full advantage of the season.  Our park adventures have already taken us up to Central Park with a thermos (or 3) filled with cocktails, alongside a spread cheeses, baguettes, and fruit needed to sustain us for some of the best people watching anywhere in the city!  It truly is nice to have a large area of green to escape from the concrete heat, it is so easy to forget that you are locked in the center of a huge metropolis.  If we can’t make the trip up to the park at least we can always find a cold beer on the block and enjoy a Williamsburg fashion show from open windows.

Much much more to come… Tonight we are off to see the Decemberists play at Prospect Park, a concert that I have waited years to see!  Be on the lookout for our bottles of booze, just yesterday picked us out in Maxim Magazine, things are on the way up.

Reaffirming Beliefs

22 Sunday May 2011

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After a very rough couple of days I had a moment of personal epiphany waiting for a train at Union Square. It has been for the last few weeks that I find myself waiting for the L Train in the early afternoon after leaving the gym, and while I lean against my large metal column passing the time until my ride home arrives I am inevitable approached by the same shaved head, small pony tailed, orange toga wearing, tambourine playing, pamphlet distributing… gentleman. At first I was, as usual, polite yet dismissive, and yet as the days became weeks and his advances getting more aggressive trying to ply me with a poorly edited brochure, I reached a point where I snapped and asked him if he was blindly distributing his attack on education and logic. I instantly regretted my outburst, and attributed it to the swirling chaos of my life at the time. More and more I thought about it until I realized that although I do blatantly despise the pressure that these people force upon others to ‘awaken’ to their own religion, I also know that before I judge anything I should first attempt to understand it. This afternoon I was post-workout, apple in hand, waiting for the train when of course I was approached by our local Union Square Hare Karishna Ambassador. Being in a sour mood I was tempted to repeat my actions and send him packing, but fortunately I had sustenance in hand and time to kill. So instead of sending him on to the next cold dismissal I invited him to sit down and explain what exactly it was he was trying to accomplish and why I should tolerate his overly aggressive tactics. After hearing this man out it was quickly reaffirmed that I did not support or find logic in his personal gospel, but at least I knew that from fact rather than bias. In return I asked him to listen to my own views and prompted him about spending the time he was using up with handing out flyers and to instead go out and in the name of Hare Karishan volunteer his time with someone who was helping others. Rather than request that people listen to him without reason, lead by example and show people why the would want to be apart of his belief. He kindly listened to my retort, and then continued down the train path handing out booklets. Maybe tomorrow I will stop him again and repeat our interaction, it seems to me that might speak to him.

What did come from all of this is a reminder that I firmly believe to first write off something as wrong or at least disagreeable with your own personal views, you must know it. I now know one more thing about the world I am in, and although my beliefs on it did not change, at least I have a firm leg to stand on when asked why.

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