Barrel Aged Old Fashioned (3 Weeks In)

Sass & Gin Barrel Aged Old Fashioned (3 Weeks In)

Last month I received a new, 2-liter, lightly-charred American Oak Barrel from Deep South Barrels. I've been wanting to try out barrel aging for some time now, thanks to this particular cocktail trend led by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, and since it's Old Fashioned Month here at Sass & Gin, I figured, why not!?!

Barrel aging comes with its own challenges. A lot of the barrel aging you've seen trending in cocktail bars is being done in used barrels that once aged whiskeys or wines. As this is a new barrel, there are several things to remember: (1) it needs to be cured, (2) it will produce a stronger oak flavor in your spirits the first few times you use it, (3) it will take your selected spirit or cocktail 6 to 12 weeks to mellow out.

To cure my barrel, I filled it with hot water (close to boiling) and let it sit for approximately 24 hours until the wood had absorbed some of the moisture, expanded, and sealed all the microscopic gaps that exist in new barrels. Deep South Barrels have a great set of instructions on their website. [Note: Sometimes older barrels need to be re-cured too.]

Next, I filled my barrel with a batched cocktail. You want to choose something liquor forward, like a Manhattan or a Negroni. Since it's Old Fashioned Month here at Sass & Gin, I went with the classic, using Canadian Club, cane syrup and Angostura bitters. 

I've been tasting my concoction once a week. I'm currently 3.5 weeks in.

Week 1- You can already tell a huge difference. It reminds me a bit of the toasted effect I got from speed aging a cocktail with cedar paper. 

Week 2- The oak stands out a lot more. But it needs more time for the flavors to come together and mellow out. 

Week 3- I tried it next to a freshly made Old Fashioned. The oak is still omnipresent, but the whisky and bitters are starting to mellow out. The color hasn't changed much and it somehow seems sweeter (???), likely from the caramel coming through from the charred oak. 

I don't expect it will be where I want it to be until week 6 or so, but I'll keep testing it out. 

The barrel itself is small (only 2 liters) and comes with its own stand. It fits easily on top of my little home bar and is a nice conversation piece for when I have guests. I'm excited about trying more cocktails in it in the future. I think next up will be a batch of Negronis. More notes to come on my Aged Old Fashioned as the weeks progress. 

Cheers!

Laura

http://www.sassandgin.com/2015/03/barrel-aged-old-fashioned-3-weeks-in.html

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Ghostbusters Music Video With No Music Is Weird

♫ Bustin' makes me feel good ♫ This is an abbreviated version (they cut out all the clips from the movie and the celebrity cameos, including Chevy Chase and George Bluth Sr.) of Ray Parker Jr.'s 1984 music video for Ghostbusters with the song removed and realistic sound effects added. It was awkward to watch. Like seeing a friend try to hit on somebody that's way out of their league but you encouraged them to do it anyways to teach them a lesson about rejection and the resulting depression. Keep going for the video, as well as the original.



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submitted by ABOOD-THE-PLAYER [link] [17 comments]

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Spring is here! After all those months spent cooped up inside, the weather is finally nice enough to enjoy the outdoors. Because we know that a lavish roof garden (or even a backyard) isn't a reality for a lot of apartment dwellers, we've compiled this gallery of inspiring small outdoor spaces. Even if your balcony is one of those tiny ones with barely enough space to step outside, there's something here for you.

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fingerbacksnap:if i ever stop reblogging this it’s because i’m...

Best Roof Talk Ever fingerbacksnap:if i ever stop reblogging this it's because i'm...

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if i ever stop reblogging this it's because i'm dead and in my grave. 

http://bestrooftalkever.com/post/114897646089

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A Lot Of Extreme Beer Sucks, But This One Is Great

Deadspin A Lot Of Extreme Beer Sucks, But This One Is Great

Last weekend I skipped the Beer Advocate Extreme Beer Festival, even though it was five miles from my home and tickets didn't cost any more than what I blow on beer any given day off anyway. I regret not going. It would have been fun, and it would have made me better at my ridiculous how-is-this-an-actual-job? job, which also means the ticket would have been tax-deductible. It's downright irresponsible and borderline treasonous to pass up any chance to claim beer as a legitimate business expense. I'm an asshole.

Read more...

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/a-lot-of-extreme-beer-sucks-but-this-one-is-great-1693867878

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Ballad of Serenity- Gospel Version by Joe, Eddie, And Cisco!

The cast of the Flash, singing the Serenity Theme while Joe West wears a superman hat!

Everyone should be watching The Flash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac3a49-sj3A

Play it now: Monologue

You, the mustachioed Wild West villain, have just tied your nemesis to the train tracks. Can you recite your entire evil monologue before the locomotive comes barreling down?

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Hide Apple TV Channels in Bulk to Declutter Your Home Screen

Apple TV keeps getting more and more channels, which is great, but all that visual clutter can make it tough to find what you're actually looking for. 9to5Mac points out that it's easy to hide a bunch of channels at once if you know where to look.

All you need to do is head into the Settings app > Main Menu. Here, you can quickly hide or unhide all the channels you want by just scrolling through them in alphabetical order and clicking on the ones you want to hide. With all the channels available right now, this is a great way to get rid of the junk you don't need.

How-To: Rearrange and hide Apple TV channels to personalize and declutter your home screen | 9to5Mac

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Ingredient in Monsanto weedkiller Roundup probably causes cancer (non-Hodgkin lymphoma), says WHO

It’s unclear how much exposure would be cancerous, or why glyphosate leads specifically to this kind of cancer. Read the rest



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Watch Tweedy Knock Out “World Away” On Conan

Tweedy started out looking like a sweet little lark of a side project, a veteran easygoing rock star starting a band with his son. But more than six months after they released their debut album Sukierae, Tweedy have gelled into a serious touring unit. Last night, the band played their deep cut “World Away” on […]

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Fritz the Golden Retriever is not very good at catching food

He's learning, says his human. Read the rest

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Sadness: The 'I Survived Another Meeting That Should Have Been An Email' Blue Ribbon Award

This is the 'I Survived Another Meeting That Should Have Been An Email' award designed and sold by pop artist Will Bryant for $3.50. I feel like he should have made it a purple participation ribbon instead of blue. Blue is usually reserved for first place, and if you regularly have to sit through meetings that should have been emails, you are NOT in first place. That is like, the opposite of first place. That is like thinking the race is tomorrow when it was actually this morning. Hit the jump for a closeup.



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Pop Icons Reimagined As Marvel Superheroes

Brazilian artist Butcher Billy created an army of superpowered heroes based on iconic post-punk musicians such as Gary Numan, Siouxsie Sioux or Robert Smith from The Cure.

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H&M Offers a 20% Discount If You Give Them Your Old, Used Clothes

Lifehacker H&M Offers a 20% Discount If You Give Them Your Old, Used Clothes

You probably have some old clothes lying around that are in no condition to donate or sell. If you're an H&M shopper, you could use those clothes to score a 20 percent discount for the rest of the month.

H&M recently launched their Comeback Clothes campaign with DoSomething.org. Bring in your used, old, ripped, or stained clothes, and they'll take them to a recycling facility so the fabric can be reused. The idea is to reduce waste and promote sustainability. And, yep, you'll get a 20 percent discount for your donation.

We've talked about H&M's Long Live Fashion campaign. Comeback Clothes is similar. The latter offers a bigger discount, although it'll only run from today until March 31st. (Long Live Fashion offers a 15 percent discount, but it's ongoing.)

Last year's campaign recycled over 340,000 pounds of clothing, according to DoSomething.org. All you have to do is bring your clothes into the store, and you'll get the 20 percent off coupon. If you like H&M and you've got some stuff to get rid of, it could be worth the trip.

H&M And DoSomething.org Team Up With Victoria Justice For Second Annual Comeback Clothes Campaign | PR Newswire

Photo by Mike Mozart.

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James Murphy – “We Used To Dance”

Noah Baumbach’s upcoming film While We’re Young, due out 3/27, is about a couple of married, middle-aged creative types (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) whose lives are shaken up when they start hanging out with a pair of free-spirited young Brooklynites (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried). Yes, that all sounds very Noah Baumbach-y. Fellow ponderer […]

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AP Issues Correction Acknowledging Robert Durst Was Not In Limp Bizkit

On Saturday, Robert Durst — millionaire real estate heir, subject of HBO’s true crime miniseries The Jinx, and alleged murderer — was arrested in New Orleans. Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, no relation, remains at large. The Associated Press, however, isn’t so sure about that. According to a report that went out Monday evening over […]

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