The League of Gentlemen Adventurers

In this second discussion on the subject of drinking, the Gents explore the intricacies and minutiae of the consumption and enjoyment of alcoholic beverages.

On the Agenda:

1. Opening Toast, by Mr. Gregory Bass, (or equivalent)
2. Open Discussion on the subject of “Drinking”
3. Advice from a Gentleman: Mr. Bass advises on the subject of escape plans
4. A Gent Recommends: Mr. Lee Dunteman has some advice on the subject of mixers
5. Closing toast, lead by Mr. Hunter Hunstock

 

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Yesterday I toured the Guinness Storehouse, on the site of the St. James Gate Brewery, where most of the world’s Guinness
is produced. It was your basic flashy, A-list tourist attraction, with multimedia displays taking the visitor step-by-step through the history, production, and distribuition of the black stuff, and ending with a free pint at the bar at the top of the building. And I have to report that it does indeed taste just a bit better here in its home.

Aside from the basics, here are a few things I’ve learned about Guinness Stout while here in Ireland. Some I leaned in the tour, some elsewhere.

1. Arthur Guinness started the business in 1759, and signed a 9000 year lease on the location. This being the 250th anniversary of Guinness, that leaves them another 8750 years of brewing in their present location.
2. Many Irish people will only drink Guinness in their own country. I have had more than one Irishman (including a 6’6″ rugby-playing bartender, whose pub I ducked into to avoid an altercation with a group of drunk Eastern Europeans I had somehow inadverntently slighted) tell me, “It doesn’t travel well.”
3. One of the Duke of Wellington’s officers, after being seriously wounded fighting Napoleon’s troops at Waterloo, wrote, “when I was sufficiently recovered, I felt the most extraordinary desire for a glass of Guinness, and I am confident that it contributed more than anything else to my recovery.”

Following up on the beginning of our most recent podcast:

The liquor store we mentioned, which appears to be your basic dirt-merchant dive on El Cajon Blvd, but which has a phenomenal selection of obscure beers, is called Pacific Liquor.  I stopped there for a six pack of Leffe recently, and noticed that the gueuze that had for sale was in fact produced by the Cantillon brewery, which Lee and I visited when we were in Brussels.  Small world.

Drinking

In this Second Official Meeting of the League of Gentlemen Adventurers, the subject at hand is Drinking, something beloved by Gents far and wide.

On the agena are:

1. Open discussion among the Gents in Attendance.
2. We Highly Recommend: Andy, our non-drinking Gent, recommends Sparky’s Root Beer
3. Words of Advice: Lee recommends that you Always be Less Drunk than your Date
4. We Highly Recommend: Jesse recommends the only dry vermouth worth a damn, Noilly Prat.

 

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After reading Lee’s post about Adventure Provisioning, with its mention of Calvados apple brandy as the ideal invigorating spirit, I began to reminisce a bit about Lee and my trip around Europe and North Africa in 2006, and our discovery there of the joys of Calvados and cider in Normandy. So I began reading a bit more on the history of Calvados brandy, and chanced on a description of Cafe Calva.

Cafe Calva (photo by Paul Terhorst)

Cafe Calva, which is apparently available off-menu in most French cafes, consists of a cup of coffee (espresso, to us Americans), with a teaspoon of Calvados poured on top, accompanied by a small, shot-glass size snifter of the brandy to sip. Paul Terhorst has a nice description of discovering and ordering the drink on his blog. Had Lee and I only known of the existence of this supremely civilized combination, we certainly would have enjoyed more than a few of them. Ah, well. There are always future trips.

Lee and Jesse in Caen (photo by Jesse’s camera, with a timer)

The most king-hell awesome picnic ever (photo by Jesse)