Blog — Page 148 of 282

Thus Let Us Drink Beer – T Bone Brewing

It is funny how things work.

Sometimes you accidentally come across something you start to hold in high esteem, you get into it and it sends you down the rabbit hole, opening the doors to more discoveries.

We have covered Belgrove Distillery and praised their excellent emissions extensively. It was when we were convening with owner, head distiller and renaissance man Peter Bignell that when I enquired about the nature of his new delicious Hopped Malt Whisky expression, he explained that it was based on an actual IPA that was further instilled.

Not being a namedropper or one to bignote himself, it took some elaborate eliciting skills to find out that the beer that he used as a base product was sourced from his son’s, i.e. Tom Bignell, craft beer distillery T-Bone Brewing Co.

Needless to say that I was instantaneously intrigued and set out to find out more.

Knowing what Peter Bignell has accomplished within and outside the confines of distilling quality spirits, it was not further wondrous to discover that T-Bone crafts every drops of their brews in-house with key ingredients carefully selected both interstate and locally wherever possible.

Not usually the biggest aficionado of Pale Ales, T-Bone’s variant was a delight with its a clean, crisp, dry hoppy palate experience.

So far, so good.

Things are taken up a few notches with the Fruit Bowl IPA. Now, do not let the name distract you as this is neither a novelty expression nor a feeble attempt at creating a brew with an exotic flavour.

A melange of well selected hops is mixed and accentuated by a generous serve of double dry hops, which create a hell of a smoooth and juicy IPA that goes down as easy as a lager.

For anyone who has followed the “thus let us drink beer” series it should not come as a surprise that I got a weak spot for IPAs and the fact that T-Bone got a Rye IIPA made me light a candle to set the scene for a dram of Lagavulin 8 Year Old to have it with.

High in rye malt content and clocking in at an impressive 8.5% ABV, this rich, bold rust coloured double IPA is reminiscent of a spice tinged, toffee flavoured rye Ale that covers the claviature of dry hop nuances drawing on Centennial, Citra and Simcoe hops.

I am always curious when it comes to new craft beer expressions and despite finding really excellent brews along the way, a brewery that consistently hits the mark is rare to be found.

The quality of T-Bone Brewing’s is testament to the brewers well-calibrated approach that unifies flavours to complex and extremely palatable and enjoyable flavour profiles.

Water of Life - KI NO BI gin

Gin has experienced a renaissance and celebration the extent of which is yet to subside. Craft and micro distilleries are popping up left, right and centre including novelty ones and questionable variants.

Now, I have expressed my deep respect and interest for literally anything that comes from Japan, specifically when it comes to spirits, so needless to say that I was beyond intrigued when I first heard about a new distillery from Kyoto that is exclusively dedicated to channelling its alchemy in gin.

Kinobi roughly translates to the “beauty of seasons” and if Kyoto Dry Gin, the first emissions I was introduced to, is any indication, the seasons and the botanicals they produce are beautiful indeed.

The Dry Gin variant could be categorized as a London Dry variant with a Japanese twist, i.e. apart from the foundation that rests on the shoulders of the juniper berry and pepper tree buda, an interesting dimension is added with its similarity to sake as far as the rice base is concerned as well as sansho berries, Gyokuro green tea leaves, Yuzu citrus, Bamboo, Hinoki wood shavings (Japanese Cypress), et cetera.

The nostrils are tickled with fragrances that carry something idiosyncratic
Japanese and what materializes on the palate is a rich melange that a lot of other gins are lacking, with an elongated finish reminiscent of the warming qualities of a nice green, slightly sweet tea.

The emphasis on tea is taking up a few notches with  the more exotic KI NO TEA Kyoto Dry Gin, which evolved from a collaboration with Kyoto tea-grower and blender, Horii-Shichimeien, who selected a range of rare Gyokuru and Tencha teas to create a delicate green tea DNA that reverberates through this drop in a manner that made it even more enjoyable for me than the more traditional Dry Gin version.

When it comes to spirit, I usually prefer it neat, but it was interesting to see that Kinobi’s Dry Gin shines despite the subtleties of its flavours in a G&T and especially Martinis as well, as its citrussy elements dominate the conception in the best manner possible.

Despite the slightly higher investment, Kinobi’s expressions  are something that anyone remotely interested in gin should experience, no matter if it is the regular Dry Gin or the even more robust “Sei” variation, which is the British Navy Strength variant and packs more of a punch without lacking harmonious elements.

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image from company website

Aesthetics Equals Politics: New Discourses across Art, Architecture, and Philosophy

The MIT Press

There are a range of quotes that came to mind from the title along, e.g. Paul Rand’s formulation that design can be art or aesthetics, i.e. the idea of beauty, and that the fact that it is so simple, is why it is so complicated.

When it comes to politics, Dante Alighieri was spot on when he came to the realization that the darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.

What Aesthetics Equals Politics: New Discourses across Art, Architecture, and Philosophy revolves around is the framework that informs human interaction and engagement at large, be it politically or socially.

Comprised of a range of essays, the tome starts off with framing common ground when it comes to a definition of aesthetics, i.e. something that is not confined to subjectivity or denominators dependent on taste but casting a wider net that captures human activity at large and thereby informs political and societal developments. Bottomline is that despite activists having used an anti-aesthetic approach to effect political changes, this new approach which examines and questions man’s relationship with objects and environments, is ultimately more impactful as it inevitably will arrive at relationships and result in political change.

The wide array of angles from which the subject matter is being tackled is intriguing as it does not only involve philosophers but also artists, luminaries from fields such as architecture and media, which aid in making a comprehensive case and sheds light on the fact that even though the contributors might be home in an unrelated field to yours, there is common ground.

I found the essays pertaining to the perception of reality and the abstraction in ethics particularly enlightening and would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for food for thought and to broaden their horizons.

ZIRK! CIRCUS SYDNEY OPENING NIGHT

Moore Park

Sydney, Australia

July 6, 2019

As the Colombian sculptor and figurative artists Fernando Botero put it oh so eloquently: “

The circus allows one to be logical and unreal at the same time. In the circus, all is possible: there can be a man with two heads or a character with a green face.”

Life can be and most of the time is a circus so whatever is portrayed and performed in the actual one has become less detached and at times more of a reflection of the daily humdrum.

But enough of the allegories - ZIRK! CIRCUS – The Big Top Spectacular incarnated for the first time on terra australis and what materialized under the chapiteau at the opening night was a melange of high calibre acts performed by artists that have honed their crafts under such world-renowned umbrellas like always touring  Cirque Du Soleil, The Russian State Circus or the American traveling extravaganza under the guidance of Barnum and Bailey as well as the Swiss National Circus.

The fact that ZIRK! Is performed within the confines of a more intimate big top, ensures that no matter where one is seated, you are bound to experience the daring acts up and close.

Hosted by the conferencier and Master Russian Clown, Dmitry Shindrov, feats included such awe-inspiring feats like the gravity defying ‘Double, Double Giant Wheel’; acrobats that effortlessly performed acts in aerial heights that I would applaud if performed on terra firma and contortionists that channel their alchemy in ways that seem not in congruence with logic.

Precision is what stands out as the common denominator when it came to e.g. the dexterous   jugglers, whose dexterity is something to be marvelled at as well as the beauty created by the symmetry of the graceful trampoline performers, who are all set in scene under the benign guidance of the creative team whose curation framed the evening in a coherent whole that ends up being much more than the sum of the individual acts.

Apart from the state-of-the-art acts, ZIRK! is an homage to the traditions and skills that originated as part of the Russian circus, whose DNA is married and transported into fast paced day and age.

ZIRK! is one to look out for, no matter if circus is not usually your cup of hot beverage or if you are an aficionado.

Water of Life – Amrut Naarangi and Kadhambam

I have always had a weak spot for sludge metal from New Orleans and Down’s “Bury me in smoke” is a song that we have done a cover version of, however, in a bid to pay homage to my weak spot for liquid emissions coming from Islay, I changed the lyrical content to culminate in “Bury me in peat”.

Over the course of our series, I have covered quite a few heavyweights from the realm of smoky and peaty whiskies, Ardbeg and Bruichladdich being some of my favourites. I am a simple man and my appreciation for a distillery is usually growing in direct proportion to the time the barley grain is exposed to the pungent peat smoke during drying.

Then there are distilleries with expressions whose peated expressions are of a fulminant calibration that triggered the development of a new appreciation for what can be achieved if it is approached in a subtler manner.

Enter Amrut.

Their peated expression has become one of my favourites, which transitioned into an appreciation for their unpeated varieties as well – an interest that triggered me to dig deeper.

Amrut’s Kadhambam is sourced from a melange of regular and peated whiskies, which have matured in a variety of cask, e.g. ex-oloroso, rum and brandy – a fact that is not further wondrous as the etymology of the name leads us to what this expression is in its essence: A mixture and one that is extremely delicious.

The peat is very subtle on the nose and substantiated by oak and vanilla, resting on a bed of honey. What materializes on the top of the roof is spicy with highlights of cinnamon and a not too overwhelming sweetness before the elongated finish leaves me smacking my lips lusting for more of the smoky tobacco finale.

The mouthfeel was easy, but toward the back of the tongue. The finish was smoky, spicy, with cinnamon and nutmeg, and a touch of fruit-sweetness as it faded to tobacco at the end.

I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about the Kadhambam and how much of an experiment it was. Upon tasting, I came to the conclusion that Amrut head distillers must have known exactly what they were going for as the Kadhambam hits the spot in a manner than cannot simply be the result of an experiment. A superbly composed dram that can be had at all times of day.

Another Amrut expression I recently tried is the Naarangi. Now, this one sounded much more exotic to me than the Kadhambam as apparently orange peels are added to the mix before being left to season and further maturation. Again, Amrut is not beating around the bush with “naarangi” meaning exactly that in Hindi, i.e. “orange”.

Not surprisingly, the nose is characterised by fruity nuances but also peppery bits as well a hint of more earthy and oaky notes.

On the palate, sweetness is of course – as one would expect – a dominant forces, however, it is well calibrated and is flanked by chili, chocolate, vanilla and, again, a pleasant oakiness. There is a seamless transition to the warming finish, with orange being the driver yet with pepper and tannins make an appearance as well to round out the picture.

Both the Kadhambam and Naarangi expressions are the outcome of exercises in distilling elegance and enrich the portfolio of a distillery that has yet to emit an expression that underwhelms.

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image from company website