Libations

I recently purchased a Miller Lite Home Draft Keg from my local Total Wine (Total Wine is one of the best concepts man has ever created). I have to say I was a little leery of the promise of draft beer taste from what is primarily an over sized plastic beer bottle.

The instructions on the front, although not dummy proof, are fairly easy to follow. You have a carb and a pour spout on the front of a plastic shell that holds 5.7 liters of beer. When you are ready to pour you simply turn the carb to the left until you hear it start to click. Once it clicks, twist it just a few inches more and you should be ready for business.

R.O.T.R. readers , I have to give it to the people at Miller Lite, this is a great product. Not only is it designed to fit comfortably in a fridge, you can lug this bad boy anywhere. Tailgating, trips to the beach. that uncomfortable family get together we all have to attend at least once a year. It retails for about $18.99 and you get a nice amount of beer for your money. The only category where this product comes up a little short, much like my good friend Tom Cruise (Tom Cruise short joke #4…they just keep on coming!) is the claim of 30 days of freshness. I wouldn’t let it sit for 30 days, but that’s just me.

If your looking for a way to light up a gathering or you just have a long day of football ahead of you, pick up some Miller Lite Home Draft. You won’t be disappointed, you might get a healthy buzz, but definitely not disappointed.

I’m too old for keg stands.

About this time every year I start to get very excited. My family notices the extra spring in my step and there is a twinkle in my eye rivaling the one Tom Cruise gets when he gets new lifts for his big boy shoes (Tom Cruise short joke #3…ehh thank you very much).

The Epcot Food and Wine Festival is one month away… hallelujah…holy mouse!!! This will be my families 4th year going and I am ret-to-go! My wife first introduced me to the festival and I gotta be honest, I thought it was going to be LAME. “Seriously, a wine festival at Disney World is not my idea of a good time.”, I said. My wife assured me it was fantastic and wasn’t at all what I was expecting it to be. Now I have to be honest, I had never been to Epcot, so I had no basis for my bias. All the years playing in punk bands made me very  anti-corporate and tend to make you feel a lot cooler than you really are. I’m here to tell you eager readers  the Epcot Food and Wine festival ROCKS YOUR LAME BUTT!

Every country has a sampling of wine and food specific to the region. The cheese booth is really cool because you can go grab yourself a nice wine and pair it with a good cheese ( It’s clearly brie time baby! ). Now I know you beer fans are like, “what about us?”, brew guys and gals you are totally covered. They have beer tents that can cater to your every need. You want a beer from India? Done. Some suds from Norway? Drink up. Now, the common practice is to drink your way through every country. You buy a bracelet drink card, power it up with however much you would like to spend and set out to drink yourself around the world. That being said, nobody likes a drunk guy in pair of Mickey ears puking next to his kid. Don’t be that guy! Take a couple days and really take it all in.

There are some amazing restaurants in Epcot, in fact, I’ve yet to go to one that wasn’t good. There is nothing better than taking the day and really soaking up the culture around you and then ending up at the Biergarten in Germany, downing 1 litre of the Deutschland’s finest ale and tearing into some schnitzel and kraut. Its damn near heaven!

Obviously it’s at Epcot, so it is kid-friendly and you can also catch some pretty good deals with Disney on-site hotel rooms. The best thing about staying on Disney property is you don’t have to drive anywhere. So if you get the chance, put the Epcot Food and Wine festival on your “to-do list” this fall. You’ll be thanking me later.

There is an iconic line from the movie “Cocktail” that is wildly revered by bartenders and the bar community in general. Tom Cruise ( Every inch of his 4′ 11″ frame more adorable than the next ) is getting waxed on a Friday night service bar shift when a surly waitress screams out,” I need a Cuba Libre!”. Poor Tom thumbs ( short joke #2 ) wildly through a bar guide only to look up and say,” Why didn’t you tell me a Cuba Libre was a rum and coke with a lime, you bitch!”. This explains the love and hate relationship tied up between a bartender and his Cuba Libre. Here is some history about our old friend, who turns 110 this year- courtesy of Bacardi.

BACARDI Rum, the world’s favorite and best-selling premium rum, celebrates the 110th anniversary of the creation of the Original Cuba Libre. With its refreshing combination of BACARDI Rum and the American classic Coca-Colaâ„¢ and rich historical ties to Cuba, this legendary drink has withstood the test of time and continues to be enjoyed by millions of consumers internationally.

The origins of the Original Cuba Libre trace back to Cuba’s War for Independence in 1898, when Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and his regiment, known as the Rough Riders, along with large droves of Americans arrived in Cuba. American troops introduced Coca-Cola™ to Cuba, and it soon became a popular choice for Cubans and Americans alike.

In August 1900, while celebrating victory at the American Bar in Havana, Cuba, Captain Russell of the United States Army Signal Corps, ordered his Cuban BACARDI Rum and Coke®, served with a wedge of fresh lime. This new combination sparked interest from the soldiers around him and soon the entire bar was drinking one. The Captain proposed a toast, “¡Por Cuba libre!” in celebration of a free Cuba. The words Cuba Libre – meaning Free Cuba – had a special political significance, and were frequently used by Cubans and Americans alike. It seemed quite natural that the American soldiers selected and applied this popular slogan to this drink, which they considered indigenous to Cuba, consisting of BACARDI Rum and Coca-Cola™. The name caught on quickly, and has remained popular to this day.

“More than 80 billion BACARDI Cuba Libre cocktails have been served since 1900, and close to 6,000,000 are consumed every day around the world,” said Eugenio Mendez, Global Category Director – Rums for Bacardi. “The fact that the Cuba Libre cocktail continues to gain popularity after more than 100 years speaks to the exceptional quality and great taste BACARDI adds to this iconic drink.”

Original Cuba Libre
2 parts BACARDI Rum
4 parts Coca-Colaâ„¢
2 lime wedges
Ice cubes

Fill a highball glass with cubed ice. Squeeze and drop a fresh lime wedge into the glass. Pour in BACARDI Rum and top with chilled Coca-Colaâ„¢, ideally bottled. Stir gently.

Photo courtesy of bobafred

The UK must have it right. Can’t afford an expensive bottle of whiskey? Buy a sample online and have your own private whiskey tasting. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before? Sign me up!

Online retailer and independent bottler, Master of Malt, have launched a revolutionary whisky sample service called “Drinks by the Dram”.

For the first time ever, whisky lovers and drinks connoisseurs will be able to purchase inexpensive 3cl (30ml) samples of a rapidly growing range of Scotch whisky and other spirits from across the globe.

The inability to sample high-end drinks like Scotch whisky before making a purchase has been a clear stumbling block for online off-licenses since their emergence in the late 1990s. “Drinks by the Dram” neatly solves this problem allowing by connoisseurs and beginners alike to ‘try before they buy’ on a huge range of whiskies and other spirits.

Master of Malt’s Sales Director, Ben Ellefsen, explains that the idea originally grew out of an informal sample service for friends and staff:

“As pretty serious whisky fans ourselves, we wanted a way that we could sample new releases from our favourite distilleries and bottlers without the expense of committing to a whole bottle of each before we’d even tried it.

Drinks by the Dram started life as a way of allowing our staff and friends to compare and contrast a range of whiskies safe in the knowledge that the investment required was not one that was likely to land them in the dog-house on a semi-regular basis.”

He continues “We soon found the friends we gave samples to often came back and bought the rest of the bottle! When we showed the idea to the distilleries and brand owners, the reaction was so unequivocally positive we decided make the service available to our customers as well.

A few months down the line, and we’re starting to see excellent results, grateful customers, and slightly more haggard-looking employees… We hope to have several hundred drams available soon, and are currently working tirelessly to offer an even bigger selection for whisky fans everywhere.”

Try before you buy

One of the most exciting parts of the service is the wide range of samples available. The selection is vast, and numerous styles of spirits and whiskies are available; from 10 year old Bourbon, to 40 year old single malt Scotch whisky.

The range isn’t just high end malts though; there are samples of “everyday” whiskies, with prices starting from only £1.95.

The drams are labeled with handmade paper, and each bottle individually wax dipped to seal it.

The initial range includes samples from many world famous brands including Glenfarclas, Bruichladdich and Edradour whisky distilleries, and several outstanding independent bottlers, including Murray McDavid; Renegade Rum; Alchemist; Signatory and The Vintage Malt Whisky Company.

The range is expanding rapidly, and there will be several hundred more samples available by the end of May, with over a thousand expected by Christmas. A full list of samples is available at: www.masterofmalt.com/drinks-by-the-dram

About Drinks by the Dram

• Inexpensive 3cl (30ml) samples to try before you buy
• Revolutionary new concept in online drinks retail
• 50 drinks currently available as “drams” with over 200 expected by the end of May
• See a list of available drams at: www.masterofmalt.com/about-drinks-by-the-dram

About Master of Malt

• Award winning Independent Bottler
• Online Whisky and Spirits retailer with over 25 years of experience.
• Website: www.masterofmalt.com

Follow Master of Malt on Titter: http://twitter.com/masterofmalt

Keep up to date with whisky and spirits news on the Master of Malt blog: www.masterofmalt.com/blog