Cask and Kettle Hot Cocktails

The advent of the Keurig coffee system changed the way we think of convenience in coffee.  It used to be no problem to load up a filter for Mr. Coffee and brew a pot, but now… c'mon, man, we don’t have that kind of time!

Just as the K-cup boiled down coffee making to the flip of a wrist, it is now providing boozy hot drinks in the same simple manner.

Cask & Kettle is billed as the only hard coffee cocktail on the market.  Everything needed for the cocktail is in the K-cup, including the alcohol.  All you have to do is pop a single serve cup into your brewing system.  You can also open up the K-cup and add hot water, but … c'mon, man, we don't have that kind of time!  The product is decaf, gluten-free and fully recyclable.

Flavors include Irish Coffee, Mint Patty, Mexican Coffee, Hot Blonde Coffee and Spiked Dry Cider.  They are hot cocktails, perfect for cooler months, but they can also work as iced coffee drinks for warmer weather.

The publicity team tells me that Cask & Kettle - based in Temperance, Michigan - is owned and operated by women, and is certified by the Women's Business Enterprise.

Irish Coffee 

This smells awesome while it is making. No coffee needed, no booze - it's all in the K-cup, all except the whipped cream.  Tastes just like the Irish coffees I used to have at Tom Bergin's on Fairfax.  Cooling it off for a drink that's enjoyable in the summer is a workable idea, too.  I added some of my wife's refrigerated coffee creamer to mine.  The pod is 38% abv.

Mexican Coffee

Tequila, vodka and dark coffee notes join with a hint of Mexican chocolate to provide a sweet drink with a south-of-the-border flair.  The pod is 30% abv. 

Hot Blonde Coffee

The vodka is barely noticeable behind the coffee and vanilla.  There is a great mocha note as well.  The pod is 37% abv.

Mint Patty Coffee

This one is vodka-based, too.  It tastes like a boozy thin mint laced with dark chocolate.  Put some whipped cream on this one.  The pod is 37% abv.

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Coffee Wine

Tasting Notes: Red Car Wines

It's been about ten days since I went to the tasting of Red Car Wines at the Wine House in West Los Angeles. I suppose I've been a little bit busy, but I want to post my thoughts on these very nice wines before the memory becomes any more distant.

Carrol Kemp and Richard Crowell, co-owners of Red Car, were pouring their wines for a rather sizable number of tasters. Kemp, by the way, is owner/winemaker. The winery is located in Santa Maria, while they do business out of Culver City. Five wines were featured. From what I picked up by eavesdropping on tasters, it appeared the wines received a mostly favorable review.

Trolley Pinot Noir 2007 - Deep purple with a lavender nose; black pepper and leather come through very nicely. Good acidity and a full mouthfeel.

The Aphorist Pinot Noir 2007 - A fruitier nose than the first wine; very mellow taste full of berries and earth. Sonoma Coast grapes.

Heaven & Earth Pinot Noir 2007 - Sonoma Coast fruit again. The nose seemed very obscured to me. The palate featured soft leather and violets.

Tomorrowland Syrah 2007 - Sourced from Sonoma County, this one had a pleasantly odd nose; really earthy and musky flavors and aromas.

The Fight Syrah 2006 - Central Coast grapes; inky color and a blasting fruit sensation on the nose. The flavors are dark and a bit acidic, but it works very well. Coffee and leather, dark flavors.

Tasting Notes: Artisan Cheese Gallery

We were out for a Sunday morning adventure. Well, actually it was a trip to the Studio City Farmers' Market. We don't like difficult adventures.

The trip did turn out to be more than we bargained for, though. We strolled through the fruit stands - unfortunately, most of the fruit wasn't quite sweet and delicious just yet - and saw the various bead salespeople, the countless baby strollers and the gourmet corn tamale stand I can smell and identify without looking. There were a couple of guys singing folk music and another guy playing a steel drum, probably the happiest sounding instrument in all the musical world. Nobody's playing the blues on a steel drum.

Just about to call it a morning, we remembered the Artisan Cheese Gallery, just steps away from the Farmers' Market. It was an adventure after all. We went for the cheese and stayed for the flight of wines.

The aroma of their cheeses is magnificent. It's not overpowering, because all their cheese is put away and refrigerated overnight. It is a very pleasant aroma for a cheese lover to encounter.

Here's a rule of thumb: if there's cheese, there's wine. Artisan Cheese Gallery is no exception. Two walls are covered with racks of wine for sale and there are several displays in the floor space. A chalkboard on the counter shows which three wines are on the $8 flight. The flight is served in 3 stemless glasses on a wooden tray. The glasses have a dark spot on them in which the names of the wines are written, but it's no substitute for getting up and examining the labels yourself. A printed sheet containing information on the wine should be provided with your flight. I hope they'll do that in the future.

The worldly flight took me to Lodi, Sicily and the Medoc region of France. Here are the wines:

Peirano Estate Vineyard "The Other" 2007 - This blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Syrah has plenty of the earthy characteristics Lodi wine usually brings. This is the most distictive nose of the three, and it has a currant and plum flavor profile. Very nice indeed.

Chateau Poitevin 2005 - Described by a staff member as a Bordeaux blend of 55% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, this Medoc offering was quite dark in the nose and on the palate. The complexity was not surprising. I am always struck by the complex subtlety in wines from Bordeaux and the surrounding areas.

Planeta La Segreta 2007 - This is an interesting blend of the wonderful Italian varietal Nero d'Avola with Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. The nose was rather difficult for me to ferret out, but plums, raspberries and chocolate were detected by my wife. There may be a bit of coffee in there, too. It tasted like a Sicilian version of Pinot Noir, with plenty of spicy, dark notes.

Artisan Cheese Gallery
12023 Ventura Boulevard
Studio City, CA 91604
818.505.0207