Posts Tagged ‘Drinking’

Sly Fox Keep the Glass

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Tonight it the Sly Fox U Buy The Glass Night at the Abbaye. A supremely affordable $10 will buy you a keepsake pint glass as well as free refills from 7-9 P.M. Featured Sly Fox beers include the Abbey Xtra, Dry Stout, and the Seamus Red Ale, which I recently sampled and thoroughly enjoyed. Who am I kidding? I love almost everything that Sly Fox brews. I’m totally biased. In addition to hanging out and drinking, U Keep the Glass Night also offers the chance to win a whole bunch of swag from the featured brewery. Then you can have a sensible late dinner while you keep drinking. Good times.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 7-9 P.M.
The Abbaye 637 N. 3rd St.

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At Home with Jenn : Homemade Syrups

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Jenn Sharon

The art of mixology to me is about three things:

1) Creativity. The creative process in cocktail making is key. You’ve got to be willing to try a few bad experimental drinks before you land on a great one. Start with a foundation spirit (let’s say gin), and build from there. Ask questions of your perfect cocktail– what flavors to YOU think compliment gin? What flavors do YOU like in general? Do you want gin to be the pronounced flavor in your drink? If not, what do you want the pronounced flavor to be?

2) Ingredients. These can include juices, bitters, fruits, syrups and even spices, but of course your main ingredient in the cocktail is alcohol. Having several different ingredients on hand makes experimenting with cocktails fun.

3) Accuracy. A heavy hand may be awesome at a house party, but it can ruin a drink. I’m not saying your drink must be to the exact milliliter of the recipe, just to be mindful of your measurements.

Today I’m going to talk about ingredients. Well, one kind of ingredient—syrups. It is pretty often when I’m writing for Art in Bars that I’ll want to include a syrup I’ve made but then I have to tell myself “Jenn, you are the only person that has a ginger pineapple syrup, so you can not put it in the recipe.” So, I am going to teach you readers how to make simple flavored syrup. (more…)

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At home with Jenn – Fake-Out!

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Jenn Sharon

Brrrrr!! Winter is here for real. Snow is on the ground, coats and boots are by the front door and winter’s icy hold has turned our thoughts to the playful blooming days of spring.

Oh and of course our cocktails are hot! Spiked hot chocolates and rum covered teas dominate our winter palettes.

But what if the heat in your apartment is on, and you are settled in for the night or maybe you just don’t feel like a warmed libation? Just take everything you were going to put in your hot drink and make it classic and cool. For instance the Fake-Out!:

You’ll need—apple juice, cloves, lemon juice, powdered cinnamon, whiskey, brandy, allspice and honey.

The Fakeout

The Fakeout

In a cocktail shaker add:

2oz brandy
1oz whiskey
3oz apple juice
Splash of lemon juice
_ ounce honey
3 or 4 whole cloves
1 or 2 crushed allspice
Pinch of powdered cinnamon

Shake it up and pour it out. All the tasty qualities you’d find in a warmed apple cider, without the heat. The brandy is spicy itself so that helps to bring out the other spices, and the lemon juice and honey help to meld all of the different tastes together.

I think you’ll find this drink to be a delicious manipulation on the traditional drink. Plus your tea kettle will get a night off! Garnish with a cinnamon rim or a slice of apple. Stay bubbly Philadelphia!

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An Ode to Beer

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

By Jenn Sharon

Ok readers. I like beer now. Before this fall I wasn’t really into beer for two reasons:

1) When I was a young lass first learning how and what to drink, I didn’t slam brews with the cool kids. I drank whiskey or bourbon. Usually just on the rocks. I somehow knew even then that whiskey would give me more hollers for my dollar. And at 21, I didn’t have a lot of dollars. Maybe it was the inner geek in me, but a $4 beer at 4.6% ABV and at 16 oz versus $6 of Jack Daniels at 40% ABV and at around five or six ounces would equal out to be about 15% ABV for me. In other words, I would have had to drink 3 lagers to equal the same amount of a buzz, and that wasn’t good for my wallet! Because of this I believe I just didn’t get into beer.

2) Just like with wine I feel there is a good amount of snobbery associated with beer. Looking at it, swirling it around, smelling it and talking about it in the context of regions and countries; going to bars with 10 page beer lists and so on. Very much the opposite of the working class coming home from work and grabbing a cold one perception I’ve carried with me all of these years. I mean, can you imagine the Roseanne character Dan Conner trying to order a beer from say, the Abbaye?

Beer, Something Jenn now likes

Beer, Something Jenn now likes

But then a funny thing happened at a wedding I attended last fall. The bar was wine and beer only; red and white wine and 3 different kinds of beers. Since it was too hot for wine I chose the beer available with the highest alcohol content. That beer was Lancaster Milk Stout and from the first couple of sips I fell in love. I thought that this beer had been brewed for me and me alone. Not hoppy, dark and creamy with a rich, sweet taste. I loved it so much that after congratulating the bride I started asking where she found the beer and where I could get it (Sorry Calen!)

After that I was on a mission to find and drink anything that called itself a milk stout and that broke off into cream stouts and oatmeal milk stouts and so on and while some have been better than others I think this is the niche of beer for me.

But then I realized something – maybe it’s ok if some people are beer snobs, or dorks, or whatever. And without people like that digging up ancient recipes and caring what region of hop or grain goes into a beer there wouldn’t be the creative craftsmanship that brought Lancaster Milk Stout to me. So you live and you learn, and sometimes as a reward you get a delicious beer!

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Shhh – Secret Bars

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Philadelphia has no shortage of restaurants or bars or gastro pubs or any sort of new hybrid of all of these things that may come out as this article is being written. Places in this town will open and close before I even realized it was there. (Seriously, what is the name of the latest restaurant on 12th and Locust?) Drinks will be either expensive or cheap, and food will be some sort of fusion of every culture that has ever existed with an American spin. Oh, the restaurant industry.

But sometimes though you can find a hole in the wall restaurant that serves beer or cocktails; an unexpected gem in the culinary journey of life. The food in these secret bars is usually more authentic and the drinks are inexpensive. For instance Chinatown is steeping with secret bars. You can get some of the best food of your life and get $2.00 beers or $4.00 cocktails. Mah Lai Wah’s, Joy Sin Lau’s, Sang Kee’s Peking Duck house are all places I love and love to get my drink on.

Another place that you may already be familiar with is Midtown Diner. Now I know that they have closed most of their locations but I believe there is still one on 11th and Sansom. The food is reasonable and they will bring with beer right to the table, you don’t have to sit at the counter. 12oz steak for $10.00 and a $3.00 miller high life, yes please!

In West Philly you have the Salt and Pepper on 47th and Chester right up the street from Clark Park. This take out joint will serve you some of the finest hotplate specials you can imagine –seafood+fries, chicken fingers+mac and cheese plus breakfast sandwiches, and although the beers there are carryout, there are tables inside and out where you can sit and eat. And the beer selection is out of this world. It’s no Foodery so you probably can’t even get a beer above $4.00. The food is good and the beer selection is great.

The newest place for me that I’ve found is actually a few blocks from me. Thang Long a neighborhood Vietnamese place on Sergeant and Kensington has fantastic giant bowls of soup and you can buy a half a chicken meal for $6.50 (P.S. – they get the chickens very fresh next door, at the chicken butcher). And of course super cheap beers to go with your meal.

So! It’s not fancy but these places get the job done. Better food than you can get in a bar and cheaper drinks than you can get in a restaurant, a win/win for me. Do you readers have a favorite secret bar? Let me know why it’s special—oldoldwoodenship@yahoo.com
Jenn Sharon

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Memory Lane – The Griffin and the Skank buses

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Once upon a time there was a bar in Old City called The Griffin. This bar had high pressed tin ceilings and beautiful copper walls, a long bar area and wooden booths for extra seating. It also was the home of the D.J. stylings of Lunch Money Productions on Thursday nights way back in 2006. The drink specials were great (Editors note – $5 pint cocktails if I remember. And I’m fairly sure I don’t remember.) and the company even better. But if I had to choose one memory of my time at this bar it would have to be the onslaught of Skank Buses!

The Skank Buses are those strange school buses that appear in Olde City and Northern Liberties at night. They are filled with (hopefully) 20-something college students from outside the city that are unloaded on Philadelphia corners to run the streets and into bars. The half block corner by The Griffin near 3rd and Market was a popular dumping point for these buses. Young men and women would get off of the bus and head right into the trashier old city bars (you know the ones).  We called them the Skank Buses because the ladies always dressed inappropriately for the weather and sometimes in costume, yet these college students were a force of numbers once they got off of the bus.

Sometimes, instead of going to the usual bars, some of them would stray from the pack and come directly into The Griffin. They would come in stumbling, falling, drunk and looking for more shots and a bathroom. Although most times these local students were something to be laughed at, occasionally things weren’t as funny – when you look out of the window and see a girl crying on the curb of Bank St. Or one other time when the bus parked outside of the Griffin and all of the kids got off . . . except one. This time ambulances were called for someone. I guess they partied way too hard ON the bus .

Even though this isn’t a memory of actual hijinks inside of the bar from me or people I know or knew, I don’t think my Thursday nights at The Griffin would’ve been the same without those crazy buses!

Jenn Sharon

(Editors note: You didn’t even mention the omnipresent vomiting! Or when the skanks would invade for like a 10 minute dance party before abandoning the joint. Or the fact that The Griffin closed due to a mysterious fire *cough*insurance scam*cough* or the weird secret passage to the bar next door. Good memories though.)

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Drink Me – Tequila and Tonic

Monday, January 11th, 2010

TnT - not much to look at, but should be a well staple

TnT - not much to look at, but should be a well staple

Tequila and tonic. Ok, I know this drink sounds crazy. Or maybe you think it sounds delicious. However you vote I think you should give this drink a try. The tequila and tonic is exactly what it sounds like; tequila, tonic, and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Even though this drink has an interesting nickname, TnT, this acronym is wildly misleading as a description to the actual taste [Editors note - I think though for the effect it is apt. Especially if you have a few at a happy hour.]

The flavor is sweet with a little bitterness at the end. The citrus flavor blends nicely with the tequila taste, and all together you have a smooth, lightly tart, flavorful cocktail. The sugary quinine and acidic limes will also cover up any unpleasant taste from let’s just say a “lower quality” tequila. So of course on the opposite end of the alcohol spectrum I wouldn’t recommend that you use your $55 bottle of 100% blue agave tequila for this cocktail.

If you get this drink at your favorite local bar, you may get some strange looks from your friends and maybe even the bartender — but this mix should qualify for any happy hour well drink special, and much is more original and delicious than Jack and Coke or Cranberry Vodka.  So whether you try it at your local pub or in your kitchen give this concoction a shot you’ll be glad you did!

Jenn Sharon

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Memory Lane – Venture Inn

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
ventureout

The Venture Inn on Camac. Don't miss it!

Sometimes a bar is just a bar. You go there with friends, or because it is close by. Other times a bar may have a drink special that you love. But more often than not, the true magic from your favorite haunt comes from the distributor of libations, the keeper of recipes and tabs . . . the bartender!

The bartender can make or break a place for me. Of course I don’t want a rude bartender; forgetful is also a frustrating trait. On the other end of the spectrum too chipper or no personality at all is weird. And when you find that special barkeep you will go back to that institution again and again. And if that person leaves, you probably won’t go back again for a very long time.

So is the tale of the Venture Inn. Some folks may remember my very first ArtinBars post about a forgotten love between me and the Venture. The truth about the Venture is it is an old gay man’s bar, and I never had any business there at all. But after going a few times with friends, I noted that the bartender Anthony was very nice, and let’s just say he was heavy handed with his pours. Over time I started going a couple of times a week with my partner in drinking crime, Brian, but only on days Anthony worked because the other bartenders in the place were kind of rude. The three of us built a very awesome bartender/patron camaraderie. After a while the other regulars got to know us, and Alabama Slammers (Brian) and Red-Headed Sluts (Me) would appear before us without even ordering. Those were just the drinks assigned to us by this little community Wednesday and Friday nights on Pine and Camac.

Anthony the bartender set the tone for true awesomeness and fantastic memories. I have at least one hundred stories from my time at the Venture Inn, all of them different and fun. Most of them include TOO much fun. But what’s wrong with that? So you see dear readers the bartender is the most important part of the bar experience, they set the climate for the night. When Anthony left the Venture Inn, I only went back once. It wasn’t the same.

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At Home with Jenn – Bee’s Knees (from outer space!)

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

It has been a very warm autumn, wouldn’t you agree readers? I remember other years already being in a coat during Thanksgiving time. Not this year I guess. It was so warm in fact the other day I felt completely satisfied making a very citrusy summer-like drink to start the evening off right. On this day I choose a prohibition-era concoction: Bee’s Knees. This original cocktail contains three of my favorite ingredients: gin, honey and lemon juice. But there is just too much opportunity to jazz up this cocktail. And I did just that. Initially I thought that my modern twist would be too sweet for this drink, but I quickly learned (and you will too) that the apparent sweeteners in this cocktail can’t do much to escape the sour grasp of the lemon juice.

The Bee's Knees

The Bee's Knees

Things you will need for the Bee’s knees (from outer space!) are as follows— Gin, honey, lemon juice, cloves, ginger, triple sec, orange juice, orange bitters, and brown sugar.

In a cocktail shaker muddle approximately 3 ounces of grated ginger, add one or two cloves and ice.

Add:
2 oz gin
_ oz triple sec
2 oz lemon juice
1 oz orange juice
_ oz honey or honey syrup
Dash of orange bitters
Sprinkle brown sugar

Shake well for at least 10 seconds to make sure you’ve dissolved the honey into the drink. Pour into the glass, and enjoy! Some things you can do to jazz this drink up even further– drizzle honey around the inside of the glass and pour this drink on top. Or you can add some club soda or seltzer water to make your drink a spritzer! Any way you choose to appreciate this current contortion on a classic cocktail, I think you’ll love it!

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The Drinkingest Day of the Year

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Legend has it that tomorrow is the day that the most Americans go out and drink in bars. To which I say, huh, really? Not St. Paddy’s? Alright then. Urban legends are so for a reason; who am I to doubt? I did not grow up in a culture where one got trashed the night before hanging out with relatives (rather, the four drinkers in the family generally split 4-6 bottles of wine over actual Thanksgiving), but to each their own. If this is a tradition for you, you probably already have a bar picked out in your home town, and visions of getting wasted with friends from high school are already forming. If you’re new to this tradition and will actually be in the city tomorrow, here are several places with pretty enticing pre-Thanksgiving specials. Because there’s nothing to put you in a grateful mood like a wicked hangover and talking with your parents.

Memphis Taproom- 2331 E. Cumberland St. – on Wednesday November 15th all draft beer is $3 all day and night. Memphis will be closed Thanksgiving, and then open on Friday, November 27, with brunch from Noon-3pm featuring six new and different firkins of Franconian lagers.

Resurrection Ale House – 2425 Grays Ferry Ave. – is offering all drafts for a mere $2 from Noon-2pm, followed by $4 draft beers from 2pm-2am on the 25th. They’re also doing a black Friday brunch from Noon-3pm and more $4 draft beers (all day and night).

The Grey Lodge Pub -6235 Frankford Ave – on both Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving Night is offering Dogfish Head Punkin Ale Tapping.

Now, these are all good, wholesome, fun bets for blowing off steam with friends old and new before the stress of family and over eating the next day. If you’re looking more for shall we say, pass out experience, I am hesitantly pointing you towards the 4th Annual Turkey Ball Tavern on Broad 200 S Broad, Corner of Broad and Walnut Beneath the Bellevue $10 in Advance $15 at the Door. OPEN VODKA BAR 9-10 Drinks Specials ALL NIGHT LONG $4 Vodka Drinks $3 Blue Moon and Coors Lights Drafts. Classy. Also, apparently if you email the promoter and let them know you were born in November, you get free admission, lucky you. Here’s the website.

Happy drinking; in the city, in your hometown, with friends, with family.

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