Random Bits of Detritus

Always a double pour at Buddy’s Corral. Enjoying a six buck Red Label, left. Center and right, At Exile Brewing.

Don’t we all, left. Center, It’s a Hessen Haus Halloween! Right, Reflection in brass.

Recent Visits: Hessen Haus, Horizon Line Coffee

A recent tap addition at Hessen Haus is the Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel, left. Effervescent and refreshing for a strong beer, yet still sweet and caramel malt forward; 7.0% ABV. Center, Bavarian Nachos. Tortilla chips piled on with chopped bratwurst, cheddar jack, mozzarella, banana peppers, pico de gallo, plus sides of sour cream and salsa. Substitute chicken for a buck more. Skip adding Lola’s Hot Sauce if you’re not a fan of garlicky sauces, IMHO. Right, A shot of Jägermeister Scharf. Featuring the same blend of 56 botanicals as the original liqueur along with additional ginger and galangal to add a hot, spicy punch. I like! 33% ABV.

A tasty Gibraltar at Horizon Line Coffee, left, a 1:1 ratio of double-shot espresso and steamed milk. When you want some milk to round out the flavor but don’t want the extra dairy of either a cappuccino or latte. Right, The weather was so fine and I had the only outdoor seat available that day to enjoy some filter-brew Honduras al fresco.

Recent Bites: Scenic Route Bakery, ChuChu Donuts

A Black & White cookie, left, from Scenic Route Bakery is delicious! Solid cocoa flavor, plus white chocolate morsels. Monster cookies, right, are full of chocolate, in drop and M&Ms forms. plus oats and peanut butter.

A Danish by any other name would taste as sweet. Cherry and blueberry Pinwheels are doubly delicious with a center of sweetened cream cheese to pair with the fruit toppings.

A chocolate-frosted cronut at ChuChu Donuts on S.W. 9th. Pillowy croissant layers within a nicely-browned exterior topped with a deeply chocolatey frosting.

Random Bites: Chicken & waffles, giardiniera, pumpkin spice

Post Chicken & Waffles Honey Bunches of Oats. The best part of the cereal is the waffle pieces, which have some maple flavor and aroma. Chicken pieces are sweet with possibly a smidgen of savory, but nothing close to a chicken flavor; that’s a bummer. Other than the waffle pieces sogging quickly in milk, the weakest part of the cereal is the Honey Bunches of Oats portion; it’s distracting.

Got a hold of some giardiniera from Potbelly, left, and it does not disappoint. Briney, zippy, crunchy. Right, Pumpkin Spice egg nog sounds plausible, but in cheddar cheese?!

Random sips of beer, whiskey, and cocktails

Left, Odell Brewing's 90 Shilling Scottish Ale. Lush caramel malt, finishes quite dry. 5.3% ABV. Right, Blue Dream blueberry sour ale from Madhouse Beer, which closed its doors at the end of September. Oak barrel wild yeast fermentation. Wee vinegar funk on the nose and palate, solid berry washes over the tongue, dry and tart. 6.7% ABV. I will miss Madhouse's exceptional sours.

Left, Sangria shandy from Schell's is refreshingly sweet. Aroma and flavor is strongly dominated by strawberry and cherry. 4.7% ABV, 12 IBU. Right, Milk Man from Confluence Brewing is everything you want in a milk stout, deep roasted malt softened with lactose sweetness. Cocoa and coffee notes round out the experience. 5.7% ABV, 28 IBU.

Left, A Skrew Putin cocktail at The Walnut with Skrewball peanut butter-flavored whiskey, Kahlúa coffee-flavored liqueur, and half and half. Take a White Russian and throw in some butterscotch discs with a hint of Skippy. Delicious! As for the Skrewball whiskey… butterscotch aroma jumps out with a sweet peanut brittle flavor and syrupy mouthfeel; 70 proof. This does not suck! Prairie Fire, right, Iowa Distilling’s signature hot cinnamon-flavored whiskey. Pleasantly volatile flavors fortify this smooth un-aged whiskey. Not too sweet either; 70 proof.

Left, George Dickel Tabasco Brand Barrel Finish Tennessee whisky in a mole jar glass. Aromas of alcohol and caramel waft up. A sip starts quite sweet with a spicy kick. Tastes of sugar, raisin, cherry; the heat prickles the tongue and throat, and lingers well. A dollop of water opens up the notes of cherry along with the zest; 70 proof. Center, A Hemingway cocktail at The Lift. Made with rum, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, grapefruit and lime juices, and simple syrup. A fantastic dance of sour, sweet, and bitter flavors. Right, A Beer & A Bump at Ernie’s Boondock: a shot of Black Velvet Canadian whisky with your choice of select domestics for seven bucks. Make mine Schmidt beer.