Talk around the Beach Bar over the past week has been about the anger inherent in tribalism across today’s world.  

When we are THANKFUL we embrace the good in the world. 

When we are ANGRY we digest the bad in the world.   

Expressing anger makes us feel good in the moment – as our ego is stroked and we feel a sense of belonging to our tribe. However, the good feelings are shallow and destructive.

Thankfulness provides a lasting warmth to our body, mind and soul. It creates a two way connection. When we express gratitude to others, their reaction mirrors positive feelings towards us. 

This idea of thankfulness sparked memories of my dear friend Scott MacAuley – who passed away 12 years ago – his funeral was September 15, 2008. Scott was the visionary who helped create the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts of Canada on Prince Edward Island.   

Scott had always been thankful for life. He was always filled with joy. This natural spirit grew as his life was coming to an end.   

He was thankful to people – but also was thankful of the beauty of the sound of the waves on the ocean, thankful of a unique building design and thankful of the special tang in a cocktail sauce that we had on fresh Malpeque oysters in the kitchen of my farmhouse on the island.  

If Scott was with us today he would be embracing the good.  

I encourage you to embrace thankfulness – just as Scott did. It could well be the antidote to the tribalism around us.  

In memory of Scott who is buried in Dalmore, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, I created a riff on a Rusty Nail. The classic Rusty Nail was a drink of the “Rat Pack” in the 1960s. It uses Drambuie, a liquor from the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Legend has it, the recipe was from Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746. 

I call it a GREAT SCOTT… as SCOTT was a great human.  And a Great SCOT as well 🙂

GREAT SCOTT

Build over ice & stir:

1 1/2 oz of Tall Stacks – Smoked Bourbon

1/2 oz of Drambuie

Big Splash of Ginger-Ale

A recent quote by chef Jacques Pepin on cooking is great advice on LIVING and INNOVATING, especially in a Covid world:

“Cooking / LIVING / INNOVATING is the art of adjustment.  It is not always about following the recipe.  

The recipe is a guide but also a restraint. When you cook / LIVE / INNOVATE, you cannot just follow the recipe, you have to adjust to the product / SITUATION that is in front of you.  

The pears / ENVIRONMENT might be more or less ripe, more or less juicy, more or less sweet.  Your use of the recipe needs to be adjusted to accommodate the differences.“ – chef Jacques Pepin and the “ / BOLD FACE” are my additions

It’s a shift of mindset to see real time adjustments as part of life – instead of as a frustration. 

It’s a shift of mindset to see adaptations as continuous innovation – instead of as an annoyance

It’s a shift of mindset to see new ideas as a means for working smarter – instead of as a disruption

Special thanks to my dear friend Suzy DeYoung, founder and leader of La Soupe who shared the quote from the famous chef Jacques Pepin on Facebook. 

2 – 1 – 1 COCKTAIL Experience

This week I’m going to give you a “Cocktail Recipe” that is flexible – it is your task to make it great. Your starting point is the basic cocktail ratio:  2 – 1 -1 

This means – 2 STRONG – 1 SWEET – 1 SOUR

• 2 oz of STRONG (Whiskey, Rum, Vodka, etc)

• 1 oz of SWEET (Simple syrup, Honey Water (50/50 blend), Triple Sec Liquor etc.)

• 1 oz of SOUR (Lemon Juice, etc.)

If you do it with Whiskey, Simple Syrup and Lemon Juice, you have a Whiskey Sour. If you do it with Tequila, Triple Sec and Lime Juice, you have a margarita. If you do it with Vodka, Chambord and Pineapple Juice, you have a French martini.

However, this is the starting point.

• If your fruit is sweet, you might turn down the sweetness you add. 
• If your spirit has a high alcohol level you might use 1.5 ounces instead of 2 ounces.

AND – next up, you can add some herbs, bitters, sparkling water, soda to give your cocktail a unique twist.

Enjoy,

Doug

P.S. Congratulations to the Brain Brew team on Paddle Wheel winning a 95 Rating  (“EXTRAORDINARY – HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION”)

Lexi feels it’s the BEST of TIMES!

Around the campfire recently, we talked about how happy our dog Lexi is with Covid-19.  She gets more walks and gets to hang out with us all day.

The conversation reminded me of the famous Charles Dickens quote:

“It was the BEST of times, it was the WORST of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

What Dickens is suggesting is that it is our mindset that determines if it is the best or worst of times.  Consider…

Yes we can feel it is the WORST of times:

• Feeling alone and or isolated
• Stress eating
• Eating when bored
• Hard to stay active

Then again, we can also feel it is the BEST of times:

• Having extra time to destress
• Fewer barriers to eating slower and savoring the experience
• Easier to find the time to get more sleep
• Able to cook and eat healthy versus eating high calorie meals out

This week I’m focusing on it being the BEST of times by celebrating the good and the amazing Lexi. 

NOTE:  I’m partial to Charles Dickens – his writing, his challenges, his entrepreneurship.  He also visited Cincinnati and even stayed at the house of famous whiskey maker Edmund Dexter (our Old Dexter brand is named after Edmund). A Tale of Two cities was published in 1859 – just three years before Jerry Thomas published America’s first Cocktail Book. 

To celebrate Edmund Dexter and to bring some joy to your world, here’s a a fun twist on the Tiki Bar classic the Painkiller using Old Dexter Easy Drinking Whiskey. 

Painkiller

2 oz Old Dexter Whiskey

2 oz Pineapple Juice

1 oz Orange Juice

1 oz Coconut Cream (we prefer the Coco REAL brand)

Shake all ingredients with ice cubes then strain into a glass. Sprinkle some nutmeg on top before serving.

Cheers,

Doug

This past week the temperature retreated from the 90s to a more reasonable 70s and low 80s.   As the temperature came down, I’ve been getting outside more.  

I’ve been jogging around the lake, kayaking, swimming and eating outside more. In the process I’ve rediscovered something I learned last summer about the restorative nature of being outdoors. Being outdoors more each day has been up-lifting. 

I said rediscovered because I first learned this last summer when I read the book The Nature Fix – Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier and More Creative by Florence Williams.  It’s a rich and rewarding  book that lays out research study after research study on how the sights, sounds and smells of the outdoors transform how we feel. 

I remembered The Nature Fix because of the depth of research it presents on the benefit of being outside.  As I started to reread the book I was reminded that the book was in the words of creativity researcher Ned Herrmann a “whole brain” book.  She explains in the first chapter: 

“This book explores the science behind what poets and philosophers have known for eons: place matters. Aristotle believed walks in the open air clarified the mind. Darwin, Tesla and Einstein walked in gardens and groves to help them think. Teddy Roosevelt, one of the most hyper-productive presidents of all time, would escape for months to the open country. On some level they all fought a tendency to be “tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people” as hiker-philosopher John Muir put it in 1901.”

For me, to experience the wonders of nature, I need to become conscious of the sensory aspects of nature.   

When kayaking, the sound of the water rippling, the sounds of the birds, and the splash of a turtle leaving a log for the water, all come together to relax my soul. When walking our dog Lexi around the lake it’s appreciating the smells and sights that she is instantly alert to. When enjoying a cocktail beside the fire as the sun goes down over the lake, it’s experiencing the calm rhythm of the scene. 

So – if you’re feeling tired and nerve-shaken, get up, get out and enjoy the outdoors. 

With a post on being outdoors it’s appropriate that I publish a cocktail that celebrates the outdoors. And for this I am turning to an amazing new cocktail book, Camp Cocktails – Easy, Fun and Delicious Drinks for the Great Outdoors by Emily Vikre.  She has a PhD from Tufts and lives in Minnesota. She and her husband are co-owners of the Vikre Distillery. 

SCAFFA – This is an old cocktail that tastes great on ice or if you’re outdoors. It’s perfect for a flask because it tastes great warm. (Camp Cocktails by Emily Vikre, page 42)

Combine the following ingredients together:

• 1 1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
• 3/4 oz Deckhand Rye Whiskey 
• 1/4 oz (or 1 1/2 teaspoons) Cointreau
• 1/4 oz (or 1 1/2 teaspoons) Amaro Montenegro

Cheers,

Doug 

A new mindset is growing on what matters and what doesn’t. 

As the sun sank down over the lake at the Beach Bar recently, the conversation turned to how each of us has changed our mindset on what matters and what doesn’t.

With the new mindset, what used to be considered “annoying” has changed.  

When you hear of friends who are sick with COVID, or worse, you change your perspective. 

• Someone cutting the line in front of you in the grocery store just doesn’t matter. They may be rushing to get back to their kids or someone who is sick 
• Missing a TV show you wanted to watch just doesn’t matter. You can always find it on the internet someday 
• Finding that a store is sold out of a special they advertised just doesn’t matter. You discover something else just as wonderful. 
• Someone distracted at a red light causing a delay just doesn’t matter. You simply smile in understanding.
• Forgetting to buy a key ingredient for dinner just doesn’t matter. You just adapt. 

Letting these types of things pass through us is liberating.  It’s like the meditation teaching that, “as you hear sounds or think thoughts let them just pass through you. Don’t hold onto them.”

Overall, I’m really liking this new mindset. It reduces my stress. Give it a try!

Recipe for Today

A simple test of the quality of your bourbon or rye whiskey. 

Yesterday my wife and I did video cocktails with friends in Scotland.  When we connected, I showed them how to make a proper mint julep.   

For fun I made three versions – using a $20 bourbon from a Big Company plus two higher quality whiskeys, our Paddle Wheel (95 score) and Deckhand (97 score). 

I precisely measured each mint julep and gently muddled just 1 teaspoon of simple syrup with 5 mint leaves. Then, I added 2 ounces of bourbon/rye and stirred with ice for 40 revolutions.   

I was surprised to learn at how much better the better quality bourbon/rye made the mint julep.

I then made a mint julep using the $20 bourbon and three times more sugar (1/2 ounce of simple syrup). Suddenly, the cheap bourbon julep tasted decent – but frankly too sweet for my tastes. 

The overall lesson was a julep with light sugar is a great way to test the quality of your bourbon or rye. 

Cheers, 

Doug