Well, here’s to Fall. Falling down drunk, that is [zing!]. With cooling weather and two of the booziest holidays, autumn is generally a liquor soaked romp for yours truly. Granted, that’s true for most every season, but autumn is one of my absolute favorites.
For one, I can hide my flabby form with bulky sweaters. Also, I can wear scarves. Best of all, I can use the excuse of bad weather to sit inside my favorite dive and suck down Spanish coffees. Inevitably, I get belligerent and wind up walking Spanish into the leaf strewn streets.
See how it’s all connected? One drunken season pours into the next. One cycle ends and another begins. It’s the circle of booze, like a cup stain on the bar after a long night. It’s a beautiful thing.
First things first. Send me your Fall drink recipes. I’ll post them in later installments of Autumn Boozy Goodness, and you may even see one in the Mercury food section. Hell’s yes.
When I’m talking autumn drinking, I’m talking about spiced ciders, the fore mentioned Spanish coffee, rye whiskey and beer.
We should really start with beer, shouldn’t we? Yes yes, I know that old saw… never sicker blah blah blah. But beer is the premier drink of Fall. This is a great time to get out and taste all those darker, heavier, sweeter brews. My favorite of the dark variety has got to be Hopworks Survival Stout. That stuff is like drinking your breakfast: a little sweetness, a whole bunch of dark oaty tones, and a hit of coffee on the backside. Seriously, I would drink this for breakfast every morning if I were certain it wouldn’t get me fired.
Speaking of Hopworks, why don’t you head over there on October 18th between noon and 9pm to help celebrate the hops harvest? They will be sampling a number of fresh hops beers. This is beer brewed with hops that has been just hours off the vine, rather than hops that has been crushed and bailed and dried. The result of fresh hops is apparently more earthy and aromatic than your normal brew. I haven’t had that much experience with fresh hops beers, so I’ll likely be there, tasting away.
Oh, and remember that Create the Oregon Bounty Cocktail Contest put together by Travel Oregon? Well, guess which lucky so and so got to be a judge? Me. If you happen to be around Bluehour on the evening of October 1st, come on by as we roll out the winners. You can also download a copy of the Oregon Bounty cookbook and see the recipes from seven finalists. Here’s a sample:
Over the Bar
Oregon Coast
Andrea Knudsen-Danehower,, PortlandServes 1
2 oz House Spirits Krogstad Aquavit
Cold-smoked Oregon salmon, sliced into thin strips
Sprig of fresh dillThread one strip of salmon and dill sprig on a long pick. Pour spirit into a frozen
tall shot glass and place the salmon garnish in the glass. Eat the salmon, and then
shoot back the spirit with a big toast to Oregon’s ocean-going fishermen and
women.
One final boozy note: I recently heard that a certain beloved cocktail joint is planning to open a distillery in conjunction with a new second location. That juicy little tid-bit should keep you guessing. I’ll keep you posted.
Here’s to sweaters, scarves and Spanish coffee. Cheers!