Aug/26/2008 Filed in: Dry Sack
Dry Sack on the Rocks
By
Dan Dunn
Though
it sounds like a condition for which an elderly
gentleman might need to see an urologist, in actuality
Dry Sack is the world’s most popular sherry. Produced
in and around the city of Jerez in southwestern Spain,
sherry is wine fortified with brandy after
fermentation. For just over one hundred years, Dry Sack
has been made from a blend of white Oloroso and Pedro
Ximenez grapes aged a minimum of six years under
Spain's time-honored “solera” system of fractional
blending, which involves rotating the wine through a
series of barrels.
Because it’s lighter and sweeter and hence more
palate-friendly than most dry sherries, Dry Sack is an
ideal ingredient for preparing the most popular of all
sherry-based cocktails, the Cobbler, a refreshing
fruity adult treat usually served over ice in a wine
goblet or old-fashioned glass. Oh, and don’t forget the
straw — tradition demands a Cobbler be consumed through
a straw.
|
Aug/25/2008 Filed in: Cabo Wabo
| Sammy
Hagar
By Dan Dunn
Like many a diehard Van Halen fan, the Imbiber would have preferred the Sammy Hagar years had never come to pass. Granted, VH produced a number of chart-toppers during its eleven-year Red Rocker era (1985-1996), but as anyone who caught the band in concert on their recent tour can attest, tracks such as “Why Can’t This Be Love?” and “Summer Nights” reached new levels of sonic stupendousness with the dynamic David Lee Roth on vocals. Plus, didn’t the world just seem a little less exciting without Diamond Dave swinging from the rafters in pastel-colored “mandex” tights? Read More...
Aug/07/2008 Filed in: Tom Leykis
Look, ma, I’m on the radio!
On July 9th your Imbiber was a one of three members of a “booze panel” that appeared live on Tom Leykis’ nationally syndicated radio program, and boy oh boy was it ever, uh, interesting. Let’s see, we got drunk on the air and I inadvertently insulted the sole female panelist. Then I accused Leykis of being high on absinthe and punk-slapping Adam “Sommelier to the Stars” Leemon. Also got myself in hot water after a less than flattering assessment of the overall pulchritude female population of Philadelphia… it’s my hometown – I was just joking! The show was a real hoot. If you’d like to listen to it…
CLICK HERE
And if that’s not enough for you, the following link will take you to the podcast archive for Leykis’ “Tasting Room” program, on which I also recently guested. When you get there, scroll down to where it says “Alcoholic Writer Dan Dunn” (um, are they trying to tell me something?) and click “Play.” Then sit back, relax and enjoy the smooth vocal stylings of yours truly…
CLICK HERE FOR THE TASTING ROOM ARCHIVE
On July 9th your Imbiber was a one of three members of a “booze panel” that appeared live on Tom Leykis’ nationally syndicated radio program, and boy oh boy was it ever, uh, interesting. Let’s see, we got drunk on the air and I inadvertently insulted the sole female panelist. Then I accused Leykis of being high on absinthe and punk-slapping Adam “Sommelier to the Stars” Leemon. Also got myself in hot water after a less than flattering assessment of the overall pulchritude female population of Philadelphia… it’s my hometown – I was just joking! The show was a real hoot. If you’d like to listen to it…
CLICK HERE
And if that’s not enough for you, the following link will take you to the podcast archive for Leykis’ “Tasting Room” program, on which I also recently guested. When you get there, scroll down to where it says “Alcoholic Writer Dan Dunn” (um, are they trying to tell me something?) and click “Play.” Then sit back, relax and enjoy the smooth vocal stylings of yours truly…
CLICK HERE FOR THE TASTING ROOM ARCHIVE
Aug/07/2008 Filed in: Chambord
The Champion of Chambord
By Dan Dunn
The Imbiber has long been a fan of Chambord for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that the ladies flat-out flipped over the empty bottle I had mounted on the dashboard of my El Camino back in sophomore year of college. As aphrodisiacs go, it was the automotive accessory equivalent of raw oysters and expensive champagne… or so I imagined, given that the most a date could reasonably expect out of me in those cash-strapped days was some beer and pot stickers during happy hour at TGI Fridays. It was back then that Chambord, a syrupy raspberry-flavored liqueur from France’s Loire Valley, emerged as a key ingredient in such Party Girl cocktail favorites as the purple hooter and a popular variation of sex on the beach. Indeed, for many skirt-chasers like me who came of age (drinking age, that is) in the eighties and nineties, Chambord is and always will be the abiding liqueur of love. And by “love” I mean drunken one-night stands in cramped apartments shared by far too many roommates. Read More...
By Dan Dunn
The Imbiber has long been a fan of Chambord for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that the ladies flat-out flipped over the empty bottle I had mounted on the dashboard of my El Camino back in sophomore year of college. As aphrodisiacs go, it was the automotive accessory equivalent of raw oysters and expensive champagne… or so I imagined, given that the most a date could reasonably expect out of me in those cash-strapped days was some beer and pot stickers during happy hour at TGI Fridays. It was back then that Chambord, a syrupy raspberry-flavored liqueur from France’s Loire Valley, emerged as a key ingredient in such Party Girl cocktail favorites as the purple hooter and a popular variation of sex on the beach. Indeed, for many skirt-chasers like me who came of age (drinking age, that is) in the eighties and nineties, Chambord is and always will be the abiding liqueur of love. And by “love” I mean drunken one-night stands in cramped apartments shared by far too many roommates. Read More...
Aug/05/2008
Pairing Wine with Porn
By Dan Dunn
(The following is a variation of a feature I wrote for the April issue of Playboy. This version was apparently too racy for Hef’s liking. Be forewarned, there are "big people" words and concepts contained herein -- DD)
Most guys consider a good bottle of wine as a means to an ending, preferably a happy one. But adult film superstar Savanna Samson turned that approach on its head, using sex to get the wine. Launching her own vino label back in 2004, Savanna (whose given name is Natalie Oliveros) admits she fully expected to get bent over a barrel and reamed by skeptics. But before wine purists and whining prudes could pounce, the brand’s sapid debut release, “Sogno Uno,” received a ringing endorsement from critic Robert Parker, likely the single most important voice in the whole wide world of wine. Any reaming that occurred after that was limited to poorly-lit film sets in Van Nuys. In the opinion of He Who Matters Most, Savanna Samson, wine producer, was too legit to quit. It’s this unique combination of expertise in the production of both adult beverages and adult films that led me to enlist Savanna’s aid in pairing wine with porn. Hard to believe I beat Parker to the punch on that idea, eh?
When I arrive at her commodious Madison Avenue abode, Savanna’s got her hair up in a ponytail and is sporting black stretch pants with a tight, long-sleeved paisley t-shirt. She looks downright adorable, and it suddenly dawns on me that she’s more than the mere embodiment of all that men desire in the bedroom, not to mention the featured player in so many of my own sexual fantasies. Savanna is Natalie, and Natalie is someone’s sister and daughter and ex-wife. Natalie has friends she’s known since high school who work 9-to-5 jobs, and she’s got a little boy, too, as evidenced by the toys strewn throughout the apartment. Shortly thereafter, over a bottle of Krug, she giddily puts forth on the ins and outs of gangbangs and pop shots, and I make a mental note to call my therapist. Read More...
Jul/15/2008 Filed in: Fever Tree
| mixers
Mixer-ing it up
By Dan Dunn
You know, over the years people have often asked me what type of mixers I prefer with my cocktails, to which I would invariably respond by punching them in the nuts. Or, if they didn’t have nuts, making fun of their hair and/or telling them they looked fat in a dress. Ah, but lately my court-ordered anger-management coach has been advising me to be more open with people, and to avoid violence and insults altogether if possible. To that end I’ve decided to come clean about my mixer-maker of choice… and to offer a public apology to my next door neighbor, Glenn. I’m sorry, man…you look really cool with a mullet.
In my opinion, Fever Tree makes the best mixers out there. First off, Fever Tree mixers are made with all-natural ingredients…and if Bo Derek taught us anything when she came running up that beach in “10,” it’s that all-natural beats fake any day of the week. And dammit if that isn’t that the first reference to “10” I’ve made in about two decades? Read More...
By Dan Dunn
You know, over the years people have often asked me what type of mixers I prefer with my cocktails, to which I would invariably respond by punching them in the nuts. Or, if they didn’t have nuts, making fun of their hair and/or telling them they looked fat in a dress. Ah, but lately my court-ordered anger-management coach has been advising me to be more open with people, and to avoid violence and insults altogether if possible. To that end I’ve decided to come clean about my mixer-maker of choice… and to offer a public apology to my next door neighbor, Glenn. I’m sorry, man…you look really cool with a mullet.
In my opinion, Fever Tree makes the best mixers out there. First off, Fever Tree mixers are made with all-natural ingredients…and if Bo Derek taught us anything when she came running up that beach in “10,” it’s that all-natural beats fake any day of the week. And dammit if that isn’t that the first reference to “10” I’ve made in about two decades? Read More...
Jun/26/2008 Filed in: whiskey
| Old
Granddad |
Wild
Turkey |
DeKuyper's
Apple |
Hendrick's
gin |
Partida
Dude, You Needs to Chill
By Dan Dunn
Man, this heat is making me crazy. It isn’t merely, as they say, Africa-hot, it’s Halle Berry frolicking in cocoa butter with Jessica Biel in Africa hot. It’s so hot around these parts that most New Yorkers have spent the past few days sweating harder than beleaguered Mets manager Willie Randolph. When it’s this sweltering, we’ve got little choice but to remain indoors watching TV with the AC on full blast. Problem with that is, this summer’s network offerings have the potential to fry most viewers’ brains faster than the sun ever could.
Sure, I'll admit to being mildly intrigued by MTV’s “Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew 2,” if for no other reason than it portends a day when my own reality show idea, “Naked Baking with Philip Seymour Hoffman,” might be considered commercially viable. But I’d rather spend a steamy afternoon locked inside a sealed glass box on the roof of the Empire State Building than endure a single minute of “Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods” or, worse, “Survivor” creator Mark Burnett’s latest effort, “Jingles,” in which amateur songsmiths compete to dream up melodies on behalf of real products. And you thought “Viva Viagra” was the nadir of televised shilling! Read More...
By Dan Dunn
Man, this heat is making me crazy. It isn’t merely, as they say, Africa-hot, it’s Halle Berry frolicking in cocoa butter with Jessica Biel in Africa hot. It’s so hot around these parts that most New Yorkers have spent the past few days sweating harder than beleaguered Mets manager Willie Randolph. When it’s this sweltering, we’ve got little choice but to remain indoors watching TV with the AC on full blast. Problem with that is, this summer’s network offerings have the potential to fry most viewers’ brains faster than the sun ever could.
Sure, I'll admit to being mildly intrigued by MTV’s “Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew 2,” if for no other reason than it portends a day when my own reality show idea, “Naked Baking with Philip Seymour Hoffman,” might be considered commercially viable. But I’d rather spend a steamy afternoon locked inside a sealed glass box on the roof of the Empire State Building than endure a single minute of “Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods” or, worse, “Survivor” creator Mark Burnett’s latest effort, “Jingles,” in which amateur songsmiths compete to dream up melodies on behalf of real products. And you thought “Viva Viagra” was the nadir of televised shilling! Read More...
