We took our third trip to Café Hollander last night. The beer selection is out of this world, including many Belgian beers on tap. Most places don't have this kind of beer selection in bottles. The frites are good, and their unique menu has something for everyone. In order:
Others in our party had Hoegaarden and a Lindeman's Kriek.
As if the beer and food aren't enough, they sponsor the Café Hollander Bicycle Team.
Here goes:
33 Beers on tap
100 Beers in bottles
25 Single Malt Scotches
5 Small Batch Bourbons
All at Growler's Pub here in Creve Coeur. No I didn't drink all of that. Thanks to small glasses I got to try:
Their whiskey selection includes two rare finds out on the town: Macallan 25-year scotch and Blanton's bourbon.
Throw in a little pork schnitzel and you got yourself a good dinner. (Guess you have to heat, right?)
I might just get through the trip without going over to the dark side (AKA drinking Budweiser).
With my recent martini kick, I don't drink as much beer as I used to. But on a warmer spring day (pretty sad when temps in the 40s pass for warm) a good hoppy beer hits the spot. My friend Mike turned me onto the Schlafly Brewing Company, and one of their many fine beers is a Dry-Hopped IPA. If you're ever in the St. Louis area, I suggest you try it, whether from a store or at one of their brew pubs. The thrill of barley without the agony of… Bud Light. As Chuck D and Flavor Flav say: Fight the Power!
However as good as the beer and Ravenswood Zinfandel were, they pale in comparison to the great dinner and conversation. There's no substitute for a well-prepared meal in a warm and inviting home. Props to my homey (and fellow MLHS alum) Mike, his lovely wife Jenny, and their two kids Ethan and Owen. We hope to see them in Wisconsin (for good) soon!
For you bourbon newbies, Elmer T. Lee is the master distiller at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky. He selects one of the barrels (out of thousands) to be bottled with his name on. It's distinctive but not ostentatious, smooth but noteworthy. Put it this way; Nicole isn't really a big bourbon drinker and after a sip insisted on her own glass.
AOS
Nicole and I have been ordering Martinis and Manhattans across the state and finally figured out why mine were smoother: bitters.
I use a few drops of Stirring's Blood Orange Bitters in my recipes and it seems to add a good deal of balance. Acceptable substitutes are (in order of preference) Campari, Peychaud's bitters, and Angostura bitters (if you feel like roughing it).
Lest you think the idea mine, know that bitters were once considered an elemental ingredient in all cocktails. They were using bitters in martinis and manhattans before, during, and after Prohibition.
So without further adieu, here are the recipes:
Medium-Dry Martini
Fill shaker/mixing glass with cracked ice. Add ingredients, stir, and strain into a chilled cocktail (martini) glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. I consider olives heresy, but if you insist...
Old 1920's Cocktail
This Manhattan variation is not as strong as the original, and seems to fit better with modern tastes.
Fill shaker/mixing glass with cracked ice. Add ingredients, stir, and strain into a chilled cocktail (martini) glass. Garnish with an orange twist or maraschino cherry. (I usually drop the cherry into the bottom to give people a reward for finishing the drink.) Once again, I consider olives heresy, but if you insist...
To make this into a traditional Manhattan, halve the amount of sweet and dry vermouth.
Enjoy!
AOS
