The Cult of The Gold Chartreuse

I wound up scouring the Internet for informatino about various substances today. I don’t why.
First I was surprised to find that my favorite mixed drink, the B-52, has a page on Wikipedia. I wish some of the half-assed bartenders I’ve wrangled with in various bars would go take a peek at the page and, most importantly, look at the damned picture. That’s how a B-52 is supposed to be made, not mixed up in a glass like a shot of mud on ice. That’s how I gauge a bartender’s competence. I figure if he can’t make a B-52 correctly, he isn’t likely to be able to pull off anything else I’m likely to order.
Anyway, that got me to looking at other stuff. Most notably absinthe. All the wannabe scary people in the world drink absinthe. I admit that I’ve always had a curiosity about it, and have been drawn to it. But unlike a lot of people I’m not going to drink the bogus absinthe that’s for sale in the United States now, which can only be legally sold if the thujone levels are very low. And quite frankly, if the thujone levels are low, you’re not really getting absinthe, are you? And don’t even mention those laughable do-it-yourself absinthe kits on eBay. Absinthe is distilled. You can’t add wormwood and a few other herbs to pure grain alcohol and claim you have absinthe. So … rather than kid myself, I’ll pass.
That led me to a recent favorite, Chartreuse. Ah … that’s my new elixir. Victoria finally got me to join the cult of the gold Chartreuse. I first had the green Chartreuse back on that infamous night when Victoria and I hooked up with her brother, Bruce, and wound up drinking Chartreuse (the green) at the Marchand Bar at the Vinoy, then B-52’s at the Vinoy’s pool bar, and finishing off the night at Ceviche’s with a few more B-52’s (after which Bruce went home and slept on the kitchen table that night). Recently a local grocery store went out of business and sold off the stock of their liquor store at a discount, and Victoria and I wound up buying about four bottles of the gold Chartreuse, figuring that someone should show them proper respect (and we’ve been respecting them, alright).
That lead to me to looking for more information on another recent favorite, Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine. Egads, I live in Florida and can’t find it! There’s supposed to be a distributor in Tampa who has brought it into the area, but the pricks, Republic National Distributing Company, won’t tell us where we can buy it locally (fuck ya, guys). All they’ll say is “any local liquor store can order it”. Which isn’t true. And so we remain neglected and dejected, and can’t get Catdaddy in St. Pete because we can’t find out who sells the stuff.
Okay, this was completely random. I suppose since I’m babbling about my favorite elixirs, I should mention that I’ve stumbled across some beers that I like. They’re made by the Weyerbacher Brewing Company. I don’t know what it says about me, but two of my recent favorites are Old Heathen and Blithering Idiot (which is a barley wine). No comments, please! I also tried their Double Simcoe IPA (which tasted to me like chewing grass in a pasture, and which I poured down the sink) and Imperial Pumpkin Ale (which was like a beer with a slight pumpkin flavor and could certainly be perfect for certain circumstance). I also plan to try Heresy (which is Old Heathen aged in oak barrels that were used for aging bourbon) and Blasphemy (which is their QUAD bee aged in bourbon barrels).
However much it might sound like I’m having fun with these labels, I genuinely like their products. I know I’ll be buying much more Old Heathen. And I’m glad to have found a local source for it. Although I still think it’s funny as hell that we went into a health food store to look for tofu and I wound up find a couple of new beers that I like. If you knew me, that’d make a lot of sense.