#whiskey water dropper

[tinyshe]

[whumble-beeee]

Whumptember 2023, Day 5

“What do you want me to do?”

Owed a favor | Whispered conversation | Sneaking around

The Bee’s Whumptember Masterlist

CW: alcohol, mentioned kidnapping, mentioned potential character death, mentioned gun

Continued HERE

-------------

Caretaker’s eyes shifted warily as they scaled the walls of the enemy base, rope burning in their hands and they hauled themself up, one after the other. This would all be for nothing if they got caught. Less than nothing. They wouldn’t be of any use to Youngest if they were captured, and that was on top of the agony they’d have to endure at the hands of Villain and the rest of their team if they were captured. So don’t get caught, Leader had reasoned. As if it were that simple. As if that weren’t the most obvious thing in the world. But Leader believed in them, and Youngest needed them, so here they were, freezing their ass off on the wind- and snow-swept window ledge of their most formidable foe, praying to God that they could plead well enough to the only person who could truly help save Youngest’s life.

They pressed their hand into the glass, using the friction and sticking frost to pull open the suspiciously unlocked window. No time to dwell on that, Caretaker supposed. They dove in through the small gap and landed into a silent forward roll across the hardwood floor, only to immediately be greeted by the sound of a glass shattering as it was dropped by shocked hands, followed by a long string of curses as the dropper of the glass stared at Caretaker with abject horror.

“Caretaker–” Spy hissed. “What in the actual fuck are–”

A soft knock at the door. “Medic? Everything alright?” Villain called.

Spy glared at Caretaker, commanding them to hide with a sharp nod that even Leader themself wouldn’t question. Caretaker looked around frantically, before spotting a lovely little wooden wardrobe. That’d do.

“Yeah, everything’s– great,” Spy yelled back, speech slurred. “Jus’… dropped the whiskey bottle. Just a little. Probably too much to drink– Imma gonna… gonna… jus’ clean this up an’ head to bed…”

The door creaked open. “You need–”

“Don’t come in!” Spy leaped over to the door and slammed it shut with their full body, back pressed into the painted wood. “I’m not decent!”

A pause. Caretaker bit their lip inside the wardrobe, cursing themself for not choosing any better hiding spot. The door couldn’t even close all the way!

“...alright then.” Villain’s voice finally came through the door, taken aback. “You’re a very strange drunk, Medic… I’ll leave you to it, just put on some clothes before you deal with the glass, yes?”

Spy groaned dramatically, as if Villain had just asked them to egg the neighbor kid’s house. “--fffffff-ine…”

“Thanks. No pity if you’re hungover tomorrow, yeah? Drink some water and get to bed.” Villain knocked on the door twice in lieu of a farewell, and footsteps could be heard creaking down on the hardwood floors, slowly getting quieter as Villain walked away.

Spy slammed open the doors of the wardrobe, very clothed and very sober. “You better have an amazing explanation for this, Caretaker,” they whispered with enough venom to knock out an elephant. They yanked Caretaker out and picked up a towel from where they had just been sitting, turning on their heels toward the broken glass. “Amazing, perfect, justifiable, and totally not insane reason for almost blowing my cover and getting the both of us killed.”

“They have Youngest,” Caretaker whispered urgently, grabbing another piece of fabric at random and following closely behind Spy. Spy didn’t even flinch as they threw their own towel widely over the glass and started collecting it all into the thick cloth.

“Okay. And?”

“That’s all you have to say?!” Caretaker hissed, soaking up the spill with what they now realized was an old t-shirt. “No ‘where?,’ no ‘are they alive?,’ no ‘how can I help save my teammate from being tortured to death?’...”

“What do you want me to do?” Spy finished placing all of the glass into the towel, then trudged to the other side of the room and threw the entire thing away. 

“Not sure if you noticed, Caretaker, but they think I work for them. And they need to continue thinking that I work for them until I can finish my directive,” Spy nudged Caretaker out of the way with their foot, kneeling down beside them and finishing the job of drying the spill themself. “And helping one of our captives escape is a wonderful way to make sure all my hard work goes straight down the toilet. Then you’ll have two captives that need saving–” They threw the now alcohol-soaked t-shirt into the hamper across the room. 

“--If they don’t put a bullet in my head right there and then.”

“I’m not asking you to save them, idiot,” Caretaker said through gritted teeth. “Just… keep an eye on them, please? You’re their medic. Maybe say they’ve had enough early if the team is torturing them, or, or keep them in the med bay for as long as possible with an unknown illness, or discredit any information they give, or misdiagnose their power so Villain underestimates them, and don’t shoot them if you have the chance to, and on that note, don't let Villain kill them. Just–...” They waved their hands around in front of them frantically, pleading. 

“Do something. Don’t just stand by and watch, and for the love of God, don’t join in. Please.”

Spy stared at Caretaker for a long time, face excruciatingly unreadable. “I acknowledge your request for me to help Youngest. Now get the fuck out.” Spy grabbed the collar of Caretaker's shirt and shoved them toward the open window. 

“Is that a yes?”

Spy spun Caretaker around to unequivocally ask if they were purposefully trying to kill them, only to find Caretaker's hopelessly worried puppy-dog eyes staring back at them. Always with the puppy-dog eyes. They threw their head back with a groan, fingers pinching the bridge of their nose.

“That’s an ‘I’ll do what I can without compromising my mission.’” Spy stated. “Now leave. I can’t have you getting hurt too.”

Caretaker let out a sigh of relief as they leaped up onto the window ledge. They crouched down to fiddle with the rope. “Thank you, Spy. Seriously, it means a lot." Caretaker stared down into the frozen white dust-filled abyss below them. "See you later. I missed you.”

Spy’s shoulders sagged a little. “I missed you too. Send my regards to the team.”

“Will do.” Caretaker saluted to Spy. They pulled on their repelling rope to make sure it was secure, and they were just about to swing back out, when–

“Oh, and Caretaker?” Spy called out from behind them. 

“Ye–” Caretaker turned around, but before they could react, Spy reached up and yanked their head downward by the back of the neck, desperately shoving their lips onto theirs. Caretaker almost pulled back from the shock and force of it, only before fully closing their eyes and leaning down harder into the kiss. Caretaker's breath shuddered hot on Spy’s face as their hand grasped at the back of Spy’s head, the other pulling them in tighter from the spot it found nestled in the arch of their back, holding Spy ever closer so the moment never had to end. 

Spy finally pulled back and gazed into Caretaker’s eyes, breathless. “Don’t get caught.”

“I could say the same to you,” Caretaker chuckled lowly. “Please.”

Spy scoffed and rolled their eyes, pushing Caretaker's chest lightly. “I won’t.”

Caretaker stood and backed up to the very edge of the ledge, grinning from ear to ear. “See you on the other side, Spy.” They grabbed the remaining slack of their rope and vaulted backward off the edge of the windowsill, pumping their fists and grinning like a 5-year-old at a birthday party. 

“That we will,” Spy muttered. They poured themself another glass of whiskey, a real one this time, as they gazed at the spot where Caretaker disappeared.

“One way or the other…”

@whumptember

[vanilla-cigarillos]

How to Make Tinctures

Typically after teas, many beginner herbalists move onto making their own tinctures! While it can seem a bit daunting, the process is easily understood if you have someone to properly walk you through it. 

“Tinctures are concentrated herbal extracts made by soaking the bark, berries, leaves (dried or fresh), or roots from one or more plants in alcohol or vinegar” (Healthline). In the very basic form, a tincture is composed of herb material and a solvent.

Your solvent can be anything from water, to alcohol, to vinegar, but for the purposes of keeping things simple we’ll stick to using alcohol. Using alcohol to make a tincture serves a few purposes: it will extract more constituents than something milder such as water or vinegar (example: alkaloids, sugars, enzymes, essential oil, some minerals and vitamins are best extracted with alcohol).

What Are Constituents?

Consider constituents “active ingredients” of a plant. These are phytochemicals that plants have developed for individual reasons that differ per plant, however many of them are believed to have potentially medicinal impacts on the human body. 

These constituents have been separated into two different classes: primary and secondary metabolites:

Primary metabolites include the chemicals plants use to growth and maintain health (starches, proteins, lipids, etc.)

Secondary metabolites include the chemicals plants use to interact with the world around them (can be used to repel predators/attract pollinators)

Equipment:

Herb of choice

Solvent of choice

Dropper or regular-topped single-serve amber-tinted bottles for storing finished product

Labels

Wide mouth canning jars with lids

Cheese cloth

Bowl—one with a spout is extra handy!

Small funnel

Concerning Alcohol Usage:

Several different types of alcohol can be used, as long as it’s over 80 proof (or 40% alcohol by volume). Too much water opens your tincture up to the danger of mold, which will ruin any tincture.

While alcohols such as vodka, brandy and whiskey are all acceptable, the best alcohol to use for high-quality tinctures are organic grape or organic grain alcohol.

How to Make Tinctures:

Harvest the herb material or root that you want to use 

Remove all parts of the plant that are not desired

Chop/mash fresh herbs and grind dry herbs to expose as much surface area to the solvent as possible

Place herbs in a wide mouth mason jar

Add enough alcohol to cover herbs by an inch or so, and replace the lid

Store your tincture in a cool, dark place and visit it daily to shake or mix up the plant material

After 4 - 6 weeks, strain the mixture through your cheesecloth, squeezing out as much solvent as possible

Store in your tincture bottles and label with the type of tincture and date

Make sure to store in a cool and dry place.

[officialstandardhumans]

SH83: From Highlands to Islands: A Journey Through Scotch Whisky (Part 1)

Let’s drink some scotch!! Y’all might remember that we did an international Whiskey Tasting a year ago where the Scotch won, and then an Irish Whiskey Tasting where the Scotch won again (It was a comparison at the end), so now we are finally diving into the wide world of Scotch Whisky with six bottles from across the country. This part has the first three scotches and part two will have the next three. There are some really good pours here, so grab a dram of your favourite scotch and enjoy the show. Sláinte!

Please drink responsibly and in moderation.

Whiskeys in the Episode

Johnnie Walker Black Label

The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old

Deanston Virgin Oak

Laphroaig 10 Year Old

Ardbeg 10 Year Old

Show notes

SH65: Tasting Whiskeys from Around the World

SH71: Sipping the Emerald Isle: A Review of Irish Whiskeys

Hiram Walker

The World Atlas of Whisky: New Edition by Dave Broom

Auchentoshan 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Good Lowland Scotch)

Johnnie Walker Red Label Scotch Whisky

Cocktail Emporium - Great spot to get bar tools and glassware in Toronto

Glencairn Scotch Glass

Whisky Water Dropper

Diageo

What is a ‘Glen’?

[toadstoolgardens]

Basics of Making Herbal Home Remedies (With Basic Recipes)

Herbal Teas

Teas or infusions are a simple and enjoyable way to use medicinal plants. There are so many incredible herbs that can be made into teas whether you grow or forage them: rose petals, raspberry leaves, beebalm, mint, echinacea, elder flowers/berries, calendula, nettles, thyme, violet flowers/leaves, lavender, the list goes on and on!

Don't be afraid to create your own herbal blends as long as you know all plants you plan to combine are safe. I love making seasonal blends of whatever I can gather at the time, it makes for a one-of-a-kind tea and a special connection to nature and the seasons.

To Make Herbal Teas:

Leaves and flowers are steeped for about 5-8 minutes to make a tea.

Roots and berries need to be decocted to release their flavor and medicines, this means you'll need to simmer them in water for about 15 minutes.

If you're using fresh herbs use 1 tablespoon for each cup of hot water.

If you're using dried herbs use 1 teaspoon for each cup of water. If you'd like to dry the herbs you collect, here's a link to my post exploring some different drying methods!

Syrups

To make an herbal syrup you'll start with a strong herbal tea. Steep your herbs for a good long time so your tea is nice and strong, 15 minutes to an hour should be good.

Here's two simple methods to make syrup, one with sugar and one with honey:

Sugar Method

1 cup of strong herbal tea

2 cups of sugar

(Optional) 1/4 cup vodka or brandy

Combine your tea and sugar in a saucepan and heat on the stove, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved.

Bring your mixture to a boil and let it boil hard for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and skim off the top if needed.

Add vodka/brandy if you choose (it keeps it shelf-stable for longer) and pour into a sterilized bottle or jar. Store in the fridge (it should stay good for up to 6 months).

Honey Method

1 cup of strong herbal tea

1 cup of honey

(Optional) 1/4 cup vodka or brandy

Combine your tea and honey in a saucepan and heat gently on the stove to combine. Stir. Not much heat is needed here.

Add vodka/brandy if you choose and pour into a sterilized bottle or jar. Store in the fridge.

Tinctures

Tinctures are an incredible and long lasting way to use your medicinal plants. The alcohol is such a strong preservative that tinctures don't really go bad, at least not for many years. You can use any alcohol you like, but 80-100 proof seems to work really well to pull medicinal components from the plant material. Also keep in mind that very high proof alcohol (like 190 proof grain alcohol) is often too strong for tinctures. A lot of people use whiskey or brandy for tinctures, but others like gin, rum, or vodka will work just fine.

Folk Method for Making Tinctures:

With Fresh Herbs:

1 pint canning jar

Enough fresh herbs to loosely fill the jar

Alcohol to fill

With Dried Herbs:

1 pint canning jar

Enough dried herbs to fill the jar one-quarter to one-third of the way

Alcohol to fill

Add all ingredients to the jar and screw the lid on tight.

Allow it to steep 4-6 weeks, shaking the jar once per day.

After 4-6 weeks strain the plant material out. Your pint jar should have 1-2 cups of tincture depending on the herb you used. This should be enough to last you about a year!

For most herbs, one dropper full of tincture = 1 strong cup of herbal tea. Use as needed!

Salves/Balms/Ointments

A salve/balm is an herb infused oil mixed with a small quantity of wax (usually beeswax). The amount of wax you'll use depends on how hard you want your salve to be.

Some General Ratios for Salves/Balms:

Salve/Ointment: 6-8 parts infused oil, 1 part wax

Lip Balm: 3 parts infused oil, 1 part wax

Lotion Bar: 2 parts infused oil, 1 part wax

Melt down your wax and add the infused oil using the ratios above!

Infusing Oil for Your Salves:

Here's a link to my more detailed post about making herbal oil infusions, but there's two main methods to make an infusion:

Slower Method (takes a few weeks): Fill a jar two-thirds of the way with your herbs and fill it with oil. Stir it up, put the cap on, and leave it in a sunny spot to steep for a few weeks. After a few weeks, strain it and recap it.

Faster Method (takes about a day): Gently heat your oil and herbs with a double boiler, a crockpot on low, a low temperature oven, or a dehydrator. After heating pour your mixture into a jar and let it steep overnight. The next day strain it and recap it.

When you strain your plant matter from your infused oil, give the herbs a good squeeze. They will have absorbed some of the oil and you don't want to miss out on that good herb-rich oil the plants are holding onto!

Source: Sams, Tina. Healing Herbs: A Beginner's Guide to Identifying, Foraging, and Using Medicinal Plants. 2015.

[acocktailmoment]

In the Name of the Moon !

Serving: 1

3 tang yuan (sesame rice balls)

3 ounces hot ginger broth (see Editor’s Note)

1 ounce brandy or whiskey

2 dashes Chinese licorice root tincture (see Editor’s Note)

Garnish: edible flowers, toasted black and white sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

Heat tang yuan in boiling water until they float. Transfer to a small bowl.

In a separate container, combine hot ginger broth, brandy or whiskey, and licorice root tincture. Stir briefly, then pour over tang yuan.

Garnish with edible flowers and, if desired, toasted sesame seeds.

Editor’s Note:

Chinese Licorice Root Tincture: Infuse 4 ounces neutral grain spirit with 1/2 cup sliced Chinese licorice root for at least 24 hours. Strain and decant into a dropper bottle. Hot Ginger Broth: Heat 2 cups of water with 1 1/2 ounces brown slab sugar cane (half of one piece), 1/4 cup sliced ginger, and a pinch of salt. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Strain out the ginger. Yeung notes the finished broth should be “nice and spicy” from the ginger, but feel free to adjust the amount of ginger to taste.

Courtesy of Sharon Yeung | Seattle

Photo: Lizzie Munro

This article was not sponsored or supported by a third-party. A Cocktail Moment is not affiliated with any individuals or companies depicted here.

[fanfoolishness]

Finding the Way (The Mandalorian)

(Cara Dune & Din Djarin.  After the events of The Rescue, Din Djarin could use a friend.  Cara Dune doesn’t know what it means to be a Mandalorian, but some things are universal.  Friendship, angst, alcohol, religious questioning.  ~2400 words.)

***

She found Din Djarin alone, after the Jedi left with the child.

Cara wasn’t sure exactly when he’d slipped away from the bridge; there’d been a lot happening.  Bo-Katan and Kosca had been deep in conversation about their next destination, Fennec was pinging Boba to set up a rendezvous, and she’d busied herself with gagging the unconscious Moff and stowing him away in a corner with extra restraints.  The bastard had a lot to answer for.

In all that, though, she hadn’t wanted to look at the Mandalorian without his helmet.  It had felt too private, too close, to watch his goodbye with the kid.  Once the Jedi left, it seemed he’d taken advantage of her inattention.  

Without a ship, though, he hadn’t gone far.  He’d only been missing for fifteen minutes or so when she realized and started searching for him on the security console.  She gave a hasty request for the others to watch the Moff -- not as if Bo-Katan would let him try anything else -- and took the lift downstairs.  

She found him the next floor down from the bridge, inside the officers’ mess.  The half-opened door was scored with blaster fire; likely Din’s work when the doors wouldn’t open for him.  She peered in through the half-opened door, glancing away when she saw his mussed brown hair, a glimpse of his face.  She still wasn’t used to it, and still wasn’t sure if it was okay for her to see him like this.

“It’s me,” she called, rapping on the door with her knuckles.  Surprising a Mandalorian was a surefire way to an early grave.  “Can I come in?”

His voice sounded strange without the mechanical filter.  Human.  Almost small.  “Do what you want.”

That was encouraging, at least.  He wasn’t kicking her out entirely.  

She entered the room, rolling her eyes at Imperial waste.  Real wood paneling lined the walls, and instead of the spartan standard issue bench tables in the rank-and-file’s mess, individual tables with sleek surfaces and cushioned chairs dotted the room.  Gideon himself must have taken meals here.  

Din sat at the bar at the back of the room.  There was a half-drunk cup of liquor beside him, his helmet resting next to it, its visor turned away from him. 

“So… you okay?” Cara hazarded, taking the seat beside him.  It looked like he’d made a decent dent in a slim bottle of aged Corellian whiskey. Only the best for the officers, of course.  This stuff went for big credits in the Core, enough so that she’d never tasted it herself.

“I’m fine.”  He didn’t look at her.  He just stared straight ahead at the wall, brown eyes fixed on nothing in particular.  From the corner of her eye she could see the color of his face seemed off, red and blotchy in places.  Hell.  He’d been crying.

Her stomach twisted.  “Look… I’m sorry about the kid.  I know that had to be hard.”

He was silent for a moment.  When he spoke again, his voice was strained.  “Grogu.”

“Sorry?”

“I found another Jedi a few weeks back.  She said she couldn’t train him, but she was able to talk to him, mind to mind.  He told her about his life before I found him.  His name is Grogu.”

“Huh.  Grogu.” She chuckled.  “It’s cute.  Suits him.”

A slight dip of his head, angled toward her.  He was very still.  She could see a muscle in his cheek twitching. 

Blast.  She was no good at this crap.  She fished around for something to say, something that could help.  Maybe she could get him to talk; listening might be easier.  “You’re sure you’re fine?  Because you don’t look fine.” 

“I needed to help him find a Jedi,” Din said hoarsely.  “I did what I was tasked to do.  This is the W—“

But he cut himself off, turning his face away from her. His whole head moved to the side to shift his gaze, remnants of long years wearing a helmet.  Every martial style had its tells, and she could see the differences between the ways Bo-Katan and Koska moved, and how the man beside her moved and battled.  He was different from them, in fundamental ways, but she wasn’t sure why they could remove their helmets and he couldn’t.  Until he did.

Cara shook her head.  Think of something helpful.  You can do this.  “He’s gonna be okay, you know,” she said suddenly.  “I know who that was.  We droppers heard rumors during the war that a powerful Jedi took out the Emperor on Endor.  It has to be him.  Skywalker.  What other Jedi would fly in here in an X-Wing?”

“Good,” said Din.  He still wouldn’t look at her.  “So the Imps will never take him again.”

“I’d like to see them try.  I never knew a Jedi could do that,” said Cara.  She’d heard stories, of course, but stories were one thing.  Proof was another.  “I’m just glad he was on our side.”

Din turned back to facing forward, jaw tensed.  He nodded, a tight gesture that somehow seemed too broad for him.  Without the helmet, it was disconcerting to see emotions popping up on his face, vanishing as quickly as they came -- sorrow, pain, shame.  It almost would have been funny if it wasn’t so hard to look at.  Live your life in a helmet, guess you never have to learn to control your face.

She took a guess at the emotion that flicked past, marked in the set of his eyes, the downturned lines at his mouth.  “I’m sure you’ll see him again.”

“Maybe,” he said, and his gloved hands clenched on the table surface.  He reached out and took a drink.

“I didn’t know you drank,” she said.

“I don’t.”  His throat worked as he swallowed and drained the glass.

Oh.  “Right.”  

She reached out and took the bottle from him, pulling back a long slug on it.  It burned, clean and fierce, but it was strong stuff.  No wonder it sold for the price it did; she was surprised he wasn’t slurring already.  “Be careful with this stuff, then.  It’s not for lightweights.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, then lapsed again into quiet.

Like talking to a durasteel wall, she thought.  “Look, I wanted to make sure you were okay.  That was rough up there.  I just -- if you want to talk about it, or something, I can listen.”  She leaned back in her chair, taking another drink of whiskey.  It seared.  “That’s all I’m trying to say.”

He turned toward her, canting his whole head instead of just moving his eyes.  There it was again, the tell that he’d lived in his helmet for a long, long time.  He took a deep breath, but he still couldn’t make eye contact with her.

“I know he has to do this.  I can’t teach him, not the way he needs.  I have -- I had to let him go,” he said.  The words sounded well-practiced, like he’d said them many times before.  

“I know,” she said.  “I’m so sorry.”  She tried a small smile, though her eyes watered suddenly.  “He -- Grogu -- he was crazy about you, you know?”

A slight shrug, shoulders scarcely moving.

“Well, he was.  Looked up to you like anything.  You guys have a bond.” 

“I did what I could for him,” said Din, closing his eyes.  “I hope it’s enough.”

“It is,” said Cara fiercely.  “You loved him, man.  No kid could ask for more than that.”

He was silent, and when he opened his eyes again, she could see that they were damp.

She swallowed, took another drink, unsure of what to say.  The quiet filled the space around them, a weighty, crushing thing.

Eventually she forced herself to speak again, casting around for something to say.  “So….  They’re making arrangements upstairs.  We’ll be rendezvousing with Fett soon, but you’re always welcome on Nevarro, too. Greef was heartbroken when I told him the Imps had the kid again, so I know he’d want to help you now.  Have you thought about where you want to go?”

“I don’t know.”  He turned away again, shoulders squaring beneath his armor.

“Well, if you don’t want to stay planetside for a while, it sounds like those other Mandalorians want your help. Honestly, if anyone could take back Mandalore, I’d put even credits on them. And on you.  Dank farrik, you even have that sword now.”

“I don’t want it,” he bit out.

“Yeah, I heard.  But you have it.  May as well use it, right?  Why give up a tactical advantage?” asked Cara.   “Sounds like it belongs in the hands of a Mandalorian anyway.”

“All the more reason for me not to wield it,” said Din, and there was something sour, something wrong, in the way his face twisted.

She stared at him, raising her eyebrows.  “What?  Wait. Are you saying —“

“I broke the Creed.  I showed my face,” he said, his voice cracking.  “I had a choice, and this is what I chose.  I am no longer worthy of my beskar.”

Cara tried wrapping her mind around it, remembered dragging him in from the battlefield, his blood hot and slick on her hand, the panic in his voice when she tried to remove his helmet to save his life.  “You chose to show your face to your child who needed you.  You did the right thing for you both.”  It didn’t make sense to her.  “I thought your people wanted to help foundlings.  Well, you helped him!”

“It is forbidden,” he forced out.

“You’re still a Mandalorian—”

Anger, grief, pain, rapid-fire flashes in his eyes and face, every muscle tensing for battle.  “You have never sworn the Creed.  You know nothing about it!”  

She bristled, fighting the urge to say something harsh, or worse, throw a punch at him to knock the sense back into him.  Beside her he was breathing harder, chest visibly rising and falling rapidly.  She bit her lip.  

“Okay, okay, maybe I don’t know what it’s like to be a Mandalorian,” Cara admitted sharply, lifting her hands to calm him.  “But I do know what it’s like to turn away from something you spent your whole life believing.  Alderaan had no army, remember?”

He breathed a little slower.  The flush of red in his face receded.  “You never told me why you became a soldier.  I assumed, after what happened --”

Her mouth twisted.  “Close, but not exactly.  I started seeing what my people couldn’t, before it happened.  The Empire was rising and people were dying.  Diplomacy stopped working a long time ago.  When I told my family I had to fight, even if that meant killing, they turned their backs on me.”

“They were blind,” said Din.  “The Imps weren’t going to stop expanding with peaceful protest.”

“Maybe,” she said.  This was the hard part.  The part that had taken her years to understand, that she was still trying to figure out.  “I think now… we wanted the same thing.  We just saw different paths to peace.  They thought pacifism was the way.  I saw the Empire killing people, terrorizing them, and that wasn’t peace.  I had to fight for peace to even begin to exist.”  She wiped her cheek, fingertips brushing over the tattooed Tear.  “So I was offworld, trying to become a new recruit, when the Empire showed Alderaan what they thought about peaceful resistance.”

“I’m sorry.”

She gave him a tight, painful smile.  “But the thing is, Mando, I’m still Alderaanian.  No one can take that away from me but me.  Not the Empire, not my family, not the royal house of Alderaan.  Even if my family didn’t understand why I did what I did, I knew I was fighting to bring peace.  That’s what makes me Alderaanian.”  No matter what.

He gazed at the beskar helmet, shining beneath the overhead lights.  Its black visor was an empty void, disconnected from its bearer.

She let out a bark of a laugh, blinking away tears.  “I don’t know, man.  It’s your life.  Your Way.  But if your Way won’t let you show your face to your own kid when he needs you, maybe some of those rules should change.  If you still feel like a Mandalorian, I think that’s what makes you one, and not what anybody else says.”

He closed his eyes, hanging his head slightly.  He shifted in his seat with a small clink, one armored arm now resting against his helmet.  “I don’t know what I am now.”

Cara took another drink from the bottle, finishing the last of the whiskey.  “We’ve got two women up there who’d kill you in a heartbeat if you said they weren’t Mandalorian, and they show their faces clear as day.”  She shrugged.  “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to talk to them about some of this stuff.  You could put it together with the old Way and make something new, something that feels right.  But for what it’s worth, Mando… you’ll always be a Mandalorian in my eyes.”  She clapped a hand over his shoulder, the beskar cool beneath her palm.

“It’s not --”  He struggled, mouth thinning, before he let out a long breath.  “That’s very kind,” he said slowly. He turned his head to look at her at last, searching her face.  He looked strangely vulnerable like this, far more so than he had dying in the dust of Nevarro. 

She nodded, attempting to smile, her mouth not quite getting there.  “Well, it’s true.”  

His face shifted into uncertainty.  “Perhaps the Way of the Mandalore is not… the only way to be a Mandalorian.”  He looked down at his helmet and swallowed.  “I’ll speak with the others, at least.”

“It’ll take time,” Cara said softly.  “You don’t have to figure it out right away.  Just… maybe hang on to your armor for a while, that’s all.”

He was quiet.  “Thank you.  Truly.”

“Sure,” Cara said, nudging him with her shoulder and giving him a quick smile.  “Any time.  After all, what are friends for?”    She leaned over the counter, pulling down another bottle of Corellian whiskey and grabbing an empty glass.  “What do you say to a toast?”

A dry chuckle.  “Sure.  You’ll have to tell me if I’m doing it right.  I’ve never done this before.”

“I think you’ll get the idea.”  She poured them each a glass, and raised hers high until it caught the light.  “To Grogu.”

The edges of his mouth turned up, just slightly.  Just enough.  He raised his glass to clink to hers, his brown eyes bright, his voice warm.  “To Grogu.”  

The whiskey burned in her throat, clean and pure.  To finding the Way.

[experimentalmadness]

Treatment

More one-shots featuring my OC and Harvey Dent, if you’re curious about more of their story you can find other stories here. Hope you like YEARNING, because we are doing some mutual pining in this household tonight. 

---

She had broken into many places in her life, but that had been her first pharmacy. Jacky kept to the rooftops. The old apartments here were so close together it was easy enough to jump from building to building, no fancy equipment required. If only all jobs could be so quick and painless. The poor pharmacist was going to be sleeping with the lights on for the foreseeable future, Jacky guessed. Hopefully she’d be true to her word and not snitch. Good kid though, they didn’t have to help them find the right medicine, but they did it anyway. Maybe they thought she was just someone desperate with no insurance.

Well, she was, wasn’t she?

She flinched as the first drop of rain landed on her nose. Oh great. That meant she only had a few more minutes until—a curtain of water descended from the night, slicking the roof tops and soaking Jacky through in less than a minute. A quiet purr of thunder followed. Never could have just a little mist or drizzle in Gotham. Had to be a storm or nothing. 

Luckily she was almost to homebase. 

One more leap was all it took, she skidded on the landed, sliding right for the roof access door and almost losing her balance. No one was around to see this less than graceful entrance. Trying the door she found it locked. Huffing strands of wet, fading-bleached hair out of her eyes, Jacky considered busting the door in. Nah, too much trouble. And she really didn’t fancy getting more soaked than she already was trying to pick the look in the dark either. 

Shortcut it was. 

Heading back over to the roof’s edge, Jacky peered down until she spotted the fire escape. Lining herself up and saying a quick prayer she jumped down, slamming onto the cold, iron grating. The impact went from her knees to her teeth, but at least she was golden. The resident inside the apartment window she’d landed beside gave a single scream. Jacky turned about, raising a half salute before climbing down to the apartments below. Poor lady, hopefully she didn’t get any thoughts about calling the police. Jacky was not in the mood to deal with the GCPD. 

It was two more flights before she arrived at her destination. The curtains were closed, blocking her view inside, but should tell the lights were still on. She rapped at the window twice before giving it an experimental push. 

She hadn’t counted on it being unlocked.

The window flew inward and Jacky had just enough time to think that this was exactly why she really hadn’t gotten into burglary before she tumbled into the apartment, tangling up in the curtains. The unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked kept her still. “It’s just me, boss,” she said through a mouthful of cloth.

“Jacky?” 

Harvey pulled the curtains off of her as she rose to her feet. “We could have shot you.”

“Eh, I liked my odds. Besides it’s not my fault the roof hatch was locked again.” Jacky slicked her short hair back, sniffling as she wiped the rain water from her eyes. 

It had been three months since she started working for him full time and Jacky still couldn’t equate seeing him in this slum. She’d grown up not too far from this street. She knew he’d come from those same roots, but somehow he was always in an orbit far beyond her. Far beyond the scum she’d been trying to kick the dust off of for years. Harvey set the revolver on the small, circular table at the corner of the room that served as the majority of the apartment. 

“What are you doing here?” he snapped, fixing her with his good eye. Sometimes if she tilted her head right he’d look the same. But even that blue eye had an ice, cold edge to it now. 

“Angling for that overtime pay?” 

He did not look amused. “Okay, okay, I got something for you,” she held out her hands in surrender before fishing for the items in her satchel. “Doc says you should be using these—”

“We don’t need those.”

“—every day or there could be serious complications!”

 “Did we hire you to be a goddamn nurse?” It was still taking some getting used to, the voice that was and wasn’t Harvey Dent’s. The person that moved his body around, that possessed him, that was still him in all the ways he didn’t want to admit. 

“No, you hired me to take care of your enemies, and sometimes, Harvey, that’s you.”

She was never sure how far to push the man who was still her friend, a total stranger, and now her employer. Saying yes to the job was easy. She’d already gone down as far as one could go in this city. If anyone was going to follow him down the rabbit hole it had to be her. 

Harvey ran an exasperated hand through his hair. “Get yourself dried off, Jacky, and get out of here.” He gestured to the bathroom off the corner. 

Stubborn. Well he was in here with the champ. But she was soaking wet, still. She grabbed the medical supplies and hauled off into the cramped bathroom, taking a towel she dried off the ends of her hair, wiping down her face, neck. She turned on the tap to get some hot water on her chilled hands. The hottest she could get it was still lukewarm. “Damnit,” she cursed, shutting off the water and slamming the towel against the rim of the tub next to her. Leaning against the sink counter she got a good hard look at the haggard woman staring back at her in the dirty mirror, along with Harvey, leaning against the doorway. 

Her fingers curled against the yellowing counter top. It hurt to look at him. There was still that blue eyed stare that got to her the way no one else’s ever had or ever would. “I’m not leaving,” she said to the reflection. 

“We can make you.”

Two nights ago she’d watched as he broke a man’s neck on the flip of a coin. When only two years ago those same hands had helped her put up campaign flyers and posters in her shop and gestured emphatically about how Gotham was going to change. And a few months before that had held her secure as he danced her across Bruce Wayne’s manor, both of them laughing about made up scandals and whiskey. 

Jacky turned around, hiked herself up on the counter top and sat back. “Alright, heads you throw me right out on my ass out the window, scarred side you try the damn treatment.”

Oh, he was livid. But he still went for the coin in his pocket. It was only three stories up, if he really did throw her out it wouldn’t hurt much. Jacky watched the coin flip, saw how carefully he studied it. The most decisive man she ever knew, basing his every move now on the whim of a silver dollar. He pocketed the coin in silence and padded over to her. She stiffened, back pressed up against the mirror. Shit, he really was going to pick her up and toss her out. 

“So...you gonna show us what exactly is in this damn stuff you got, or—”

Jacky breathed out a shaky, laughing breath, her shoulders rolling forward, muscles releasing every line of tension. She felt for the satchel still at her belt, not taking her eyes off him. “It’s for the scarring, least that’s what the pharmacist said. I made him find the right things.”

“Useless junk,” he mumbled.

“Not if you don’t want to get infected,” Jacky countered. “Let’s see what you do when you can’t even talk back to me ‘cause the skin’s so tight from the scar tissue you can’t even move your damn mouth ‘cause you refuse to get skin grafts, genius. And can you even see out of that eye anymore?” She waved in what she knew was his blindspot. 

“Shadows and light,” Harvey said quietly. “But that’s all we need.”

“You’re gonna lose that eye,” Jacky was already working on the eye dropper bottle, tearing the seal and setting a packet of gauze out on her lap. “And I’m sorry, Harvey, but I’m not gonna just sit here and watch you do that. I’m not. And I know you didn’t hire me for this, but I’m gonna be honest...I’m kinda cashing in on five plus years of friendship on this one. You have to trust me.”

Sometimes he looked at her like he didn’t quite know her. That part she refused to get used to. The expression faded as he nodded. “Alright, Jacky, we trust you.”

He was still looming over her, close enough to touch, close enough to make her aware of how pathetic she’d been for these five odd years. Oh, Jacky, you miserable idiot, what were you thinking? This all felt close to some vivid hallucination. Harvey sat along the edge of the tub, no more smart remarks or resistance. Jacky leaned over him now, the countertop giving her the needed height as she primed the dropper. That pharmacist had better have given her the right stuff or she was going to pay them another far less friendly visit. 

Harvey looked straight up at her and Jacky’s mouth went dry. The scars gave him a permanent snarl where the left edges of his lips had burned away, but on the undamaged side she swore she could see something akin to...disappointment? The burned eye was red, wild, and from this close it really was like looking into two different faces. Yet they were both patient. And they both were as good as their word. 

The pharmacist had said two drops so that’s what Jacky did. Harvey pulled away as they hit the red eye, flinching, trying to blink without eyelids. Jacky was ready for that. She placed the gauze pad over the eye, tearing off medical tape and sticking it delicately around the edges. “You gotta keep it on for the rest of the night, Harvey,” she said. 

“Like how you kept the damn tape on when you got your nose busted?” Harvey jabbed her right in the bridge of the nose in question, pushing her head back gently as she laughed unexpectedly. 

“Hey, that was different,” she bit back a grin as she fished around in the bag, pulling out the ointment.

His laughter nowadays was a grating, raspy, vicious sound. She still loved hearing it. “You know I had that little situation under control before you walked in. Thought you were gonna kill that poor mugger.”

The gel came out clear, she ran a finger’s worth down the middle of his face, where the scar tissue met undamaged skin. 

“We wanted to,” he snapped. 

“I’m flattered, boss.”

She had to bring herself so close in order to do this right. The burned skin felt different than she had imagined. This was a rough map and she was tipping over the edge of it. Jacky didn’t fish for conversation as she smoothed the medicine over his face. She had to focus, trying hard not to catch Harvey’s gaze meant she concentrated harder on this new map she was following. The burns were harder, more twisted in some places, in others almost smooth, like new skin was trying so hard to break past the ruin. She didn’t go near his lower cheek and jaw, where the tendon was barely holding the structure together. 

Blood hit her tongue, and Jacky unclenched her teeth. She should have been there that day. Didn’t matter how impossible that was. Didn’t matter she would never have known, didn’t matter she had only just been released from Blackgate a few weeks prior, didn’t matter she would have had no business being in that courtroom. Then at least he wouldn’t be sitting in this slum of a hideout with her. He’d be home with Gilda and she’d still be going about the necessary work of untangling herself from his association for his own good. 

Jacky really wished in that moment she hadn’t noticed that Harvey wasn’t wearing his wedding ring anymore.

Things were already dangerous enough. 

Her hand went down across his neck where the acid had splashed. The attacker would have had to get in close, possibly only a difference of inches between how close she was to Harvey now. She knew that because the only difference between her and that hitman was who they had signed a contract with. It was sheer dumb luck Maroni had put the hit out first and not Falcone when it cold have easily been him. And it could have easily been her holding that bottle of acid, and what would she have done then? 

Her panic blinkered out as Harvey tilted his head into her hand, eye closed. He pulled in a deep sigh that uncoiled every hidden line of stress in his body. She could feel the tension in his muscles unravel beneath her fingertips and transfer directly into her as she clutched the edge of the sink counter. 

That sigh might have bought her a few years out of purgatory. 

Jacky had managed to interpret the new map of his face in its entirety, but this expression now was utterly foreign. His undamaged side faced hers, good eye still closed. She wanted to reach out and brush aside his hair, tell him she couldn’t work for him. This wasn’t a job. Maybe start telling him about all the impossible things she’d gotten very good at boxing up and locking away. 

Instead, like the coward she always was, she moved her hand away.

Harvey opened his eyes. 

And Jacky continued her work without comment.

She knew there were more burns down his shoulder and chest that she could not get to, and she had to get out of this apartment soon or she was going to lose what little she still had of her mind. She was about to close up the bottle when Harvey held out his hand, letting it rest, palm up in her lap. The only quiet insistence that she wasn’t done yet and the closest thing she was ever going to get to him admitting she had been right about the medicine. 

He flexed his fingers as she soothed more of the medication into his palm. The scars on his hand were the ones she could handle the least. The disfigurements were an adjustment, but the burns on his hand were the reminder of the real brutality. The sudden instinct to defend, the recoil. Jack knew she lingered for a second too long, fingers tracing directionless along the edge of his wrist. 

Some excuse was about to escape her lips when, with his free hand, Harvey reached up to tuck back a loose strand of her hair. “Hey,” he whispered in a voice that sounded like his own, incredulous, and strangely surprised. Why did it sound like he had only now noticed it was her sitting here the whole time? “Hey, Jacky…” He let the piece of hair fall from between his fingers, the backs of his knuckles trailing down her cheek as Jacky forgot to breathe.

His fingers tilted her chin up as he leaned in closer and oh, good Christ, she was going to let this happen. There were no more reasons to stop herself. Her whole world was already upside down. It wouldn’t fix a damn thing, but the medicine wouldn’t magically heal those scars either, that didn’t mean it hadn’t helped. 

She had just about convinced herself to give in when Harvey pulled away, opting instead to dive for the coin in his pocket, his breath coming in short, almost panicked bursts. He tossed it up once and Jacky had to restrain the sheer mania that nearly made her snatch the coin out of the air. Instead he caught it as he always did, uncovering it to reveal the scarred side of the dollar. He stared at it hard, brow knitting into a frown and Jacky felt her heart sink from the unexpected heights it had managed to reach seconds before. She hoped it didn’t show on her face. She looked down, fumbling with the cap to the medicine, pretending none of that had happened. 

“Still want that overtime pay?” Harvey placed his unburnt hand over hers. What remained of his lips tried to smile.

“Didn’t come here for the money.”

“Yeah...yeah I know,” his fingers curled around her wrist, thumb rubbing a half circle around the back of her hand. Jacky felt every pinpoint of pressure; a reminder of how far out to sea she was. 

“You shouldn’t be here, Harvey,” Jacky blurted out, a modicum of real courage seeping into her veins. He shook his head even as the first words left her mouth, rising to his feet, pulling away from her. “I think you should let me drive you to a hospital, a doctor...anyone...I think you should let Miri and I put you up until you can get back on your feet so you’re not hiding out in this slum,” she was losing him. His back was to her as he tried to wave her off. 

“Not going to happen, Jacky,” he said, and was she hallucinating or did she detect a note of genuine disappointment. “You get out of here. Go home. When we got work for you we’ll call.”

“For what?” Jacky hopped down from the sink, grabbing her jacket from the tub and shoving her arms through furiously. “When you need a bank robbed? A hit put out on more of Falcone, or Penguin’s men? You think you’re really gonna take this city?”

“We know we are,” he glared at her, from over his shoulder, his red eye unmoving, unblinking. “We’re gonna give this city back what it gave us double.” He stepped away, idly tossing that damn coin in his good hand. Whatever quiet spell had overtaken them just moments before was gone now. The would-be-mob boss was firmly back in his place. 

“That’s not what you told me,” Jacky said. Maybe he’d shoot her after all. Her fingers were still slick with the gel, she could still feel the map of the burns under her skin. “You told me you were gonna change this city. It’s not too late.”

“If you’re not with us, Jacky, you’re against us.”

That snapped a raw nerve she didn’t even realize she had left. She shoved him back, hard, watching that already snarling face twist further. “You gotta ask me that, Harvey?”

“The name’s Two-Face.”

“Your name is Harvey Dent and I’m not letting you forget it! I think you should come with me, but I can’t make you. So screw it,” she ran an exasperated hand through her hair as a desperate laugh choked out of her. “You want me to shake down a few civilians? Put a bullet in the right person’s head? Yeah, sure, Harv, I’ll do that easy. Whatever you want. But I think you should flip that coin of yours again.”

“Not how it works,” his voice had gone quiet again, but it was still the same persona. “Fate isn’t always fair, Jacky. Please just...go.”

If she was a braver woman she would have ignored fate and finished what they had started. “You gotta remember to use that medicine,” she said leaning hard against the door. 

“We will.”

“You’re a terrible fucking liar, Harvey.”

“So are you.”

“Well,” Jacky sighed, a tired laugh escaping her as she opened the door. “Guess that makes us two sides of the same coin.”

[scuffed-tarot]

Fuck Off Juice

A banishing spray intended to get whatever the hell is fucking with you to stop fucking with you. This won’t be exact doses for the most part. Mix into a spray bottle with at least a 16 oz capacity. Aim for 32 oz if you can.

12 oz water - boiled is preferable, but distilled will work

2 droppers of rose floral water 

2 droppers of patchouli floral water 

2 droppers of lavender oil 

2 droppers of jasmine oil 

2 droppers of moon water (or rye whiskey and hot sauce with some bourbon if you got it) 

20 drops of frankincense oil 

1 tbsp of salt (does NOT matter which) 

Add all ingredients. Top with water to fill the rest of the bottle. Shake the motherfucker to mix. Spray as needed. 

Usual warning but with oils and such - Don’t apply this shit to skin or your eyes. Don’t drink it. Don’t use it to season your food. Please don’t be that jackass who ends up on the news for drinking essential oils in this much of a concentration. 

[beerguysradioshow]

Bourbon: Origins, Tasting, and Recommendations

Whiskey comes in many forms, but bourbon is America's spirit

The origins of bourbon are both known and debated.  We know early settlers in Virginia and Kentucky made use of the abundance of corn to distill their whiskey, but there are a variety of stories on who was first to put it in a new, charred oak barrel and to actually call it bourbon.  No matter the exact origins of bourbon we now have a spirit that is all American to enjoy.  Congress declared so in 1964 stating that bourbon is a "distinctive product of the United States."  Score one for America.

We're joined this week by Bruce Tierney, all around aficionado and spirit consultant to Dekalb Bottle House.  Tierney shares with us the history of bourbon, let's us know what it takes to call a whiskey bourbon, and offers some suggestions on affordable options to test the waters as well as some of the rarer bourbons to seek out.  We also discuss what flavors to look for when tasting as well as common off flavors, and a quick course on how to taste your bourbon.

There's much more information on bourbon than we could cover in this show so we've included additional information and resources here.  Side note, if you're used to sampling beer in 4 oz pours know that 4-5 1 oz pours of bourbon kick harder than you think.  Proceed with caution.

Copper pot stills at ASW Distillery in Atlanta, GA (Photo: Thechadwix, CC BY-SA 4.0)

What makes a whiskey bourbon?

Must be produced in the United States

Many people mistakenly believe bourbon must be made in Kentucky but it can be made anywhere in the US.  Several other countries support the American origin, but some do not.  Be careful when purchasing overseas.

Must be made from at least 51% corn

Has to be aged in new, charred oak barrels

Can be distilled to no more than 160 proof.  Higher proof distillation begins to strip flavors.

Has to be entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof

Must be bottled at 80 proof or more

There is no minimum age requirement for bourbon as long as it meets the above guidelines

Outside of these requirements there are several variations allowed such as wheated and "high rye" bourbons, bottled-in-bond, straight bourbon and blended bourbons.

How to begin your bourbon experience

Tierney has offered up his very detailed advice on how to get started with bourbon including notes for selecting a bourbon, glassware and tasting.

My first recommendation for someone new to bourbon is to start your experience by tasting standard bourbons from the major producers first before deciding if you want to branch out and try other brands. I recommend brands that tend to be between 90-100 proof. Yes, that may seem a bit hotter at first but they also tend to be more flavorful. The minimum permitted proof is 80 proof and at that point you are drinking a good bit more water than bourbon anyway!

If it seems intimidating to shell out the money to buy a bunch of different bourbons you are right! Although all of the major bourbon producers have a brand that costs in the $20-35 range it can still be a lot of money. Pick a couple that are of interest or are readily available in your area and start with those first. Don't try too many different brands to start with. Or if you are fortunate enough to live near a bar with a good bourbon selection start by tasting different bourbons a glass at a time if you don't want to commit to buying a full bottle. Any bourbon bar worth its name will have many if not all of the standard brands from the major distilleries. If they don't then you are in the wrong place!

Try to learn a bit about the different bourbons you have selected. The internet can be your friend here. I can personally recommend straightbourbon.com as a good source for information about bourbon and many other types of spirits. Remember all bourbon is made from at least 51% corn but what is the rest of recipe of grains, known as the mashbill, that makes up the bourbon? Most bourbon use either rye or wheat as the "flavoring grain" in addition to the corn and a little bit of malted barley when you are buying brands from the major distilleries. Many people think of rye as making bourbon a bit spicier although to meet it seems a bit earthier than spicier. Is it mostly corn with a little bit of rye? Buffalo Trace falls into this category. Or does it have a lot of rye? Four Roses Single Barrel is one of the higher rye content bourbons. Maybe make those two your first choices and see which you like better! Most other brands tend to fall somewhere in between. Or is it a bourbon with wheat as the flavoring grain? This type is a bit less common but still readily available. Basic options include Maker's Mark, Larceny and Weller. Perhaps start your journey with a rye bourbon and a wheated bourbon. After you have tried your choices several times you can decide which one you prefer and then try something more similar to see what appeals to you.

Try tasting the bourbon without adding anything at first. That means no ice, no water. Once you find a few you like you can then drink them however you like. But learning how to taste Bourbon is different from drinking Bourbon.

Try to acquire a glass made for tasting bourbon and other spirits. A typical rocks glass works fine for drinking but to appreciate the aroma as well as the flavor a glass like a Glencairn that narrows a bit at the top helps hold in the aroma. A small tapered white wine glass can also work well but just be careful how much you pour! What looks like a small pour in a wine glass can be quite large.

Have some water available. Water is useful to cleanse your palate between tastes in addition to keeping you well hydrated! It is also useful if you want to add a drop or two to your bourbon but only after first trying it without any water. An eye dropper is useful for adding water a drop or two at a time rather than just trying to pour a small amount in. You can always add more drops but you can't take water back out if you pour too much in.

Try to think about what you taste and smell as you drink the bourbon. It is very useful when first starting out to take notes about each bourbon you try. Consider getting a small notebook to take those notes and be able to look at the notes from bourbons you may have tried earlier.

Bourbon drinkers tend to refer to the flavors they appreciate when tasting by a variety of names. Does it have caramel or vanilla flavors? Fruity or herbal flavors? Woody or buttery flavors? If you are struggle to come up with descriptions don't panic! Instead, perhaps try looking up a Bourbon Flavor Wheel on line to help you try to determine what you are tasting.

Four broad categories to think about when trying a bourbon include Appearance, Aroma, Taste, and Finish. Try not to look at reviews by somebody else before you taste. That will tend to put certain flavors and characteristics in your head. Instead do your own review first and then see what others said afterwards. Also, everyone's palate is different and your own palate can change over time depending on what you have eaten or been doing recently so what somebody else describes may not be what you taste. You may also want to taste the same bourbon several times over a period of days before making a decision on whether you like it or not.

Note the color of the bourbon by holding it up to a light or placing a clean white sheet of paper behind the glass. Is it light and amber or dark brown? Is there a reddish hint to the color? Swirl it gently and see how quickly it and slides back down in the glass. The streaks or “legs” that appear may quickly drip down or it may happen a bit slower suggesting a more thick or viscous whiskey.

Check the smell or "nose" of the bourbon. Open your mouth slightly and give it a gentle sniff by putting your nose practically in the opening of the glass. Do so gently because initially you make pick up strong scent of alcohol before you get the aroma of the bourbon itself.

Don't gulp the bourbon down in a single quick swallow! Instead take a moderate sip and then let the liquid move across your mouth and tongue. Yes, it may burn a bit initially but you will eventually adapt to that. You will pick up different flavors on different parts of your tongue and mouth that you will otherwise miss out on. You can even “chew” on the bourbon gently to let it coat your mouth. Take your time before you swallow!

Finally swallow the bourbon and try to appreciate the finish of the bourbon before reaching for the water! Does the taste linger awhile or disappear quickly? Did the flavor change by getting more sweet or bitter or fruity in nature?

Pulling barrel samples at the Buffalo Trace Distillery (Photo: Buffalo Trace Distillery)

The ten major bourbon distilleries

Barton 1792 Distillery Sazerac owned Barton's primary brand is known these days simply as 1792. In the past they made an excellent budget bourbon called Very Old Barton 100 proof, a six-year-old bourbon that delivered great flavor for less than $20. But it was not not widely available and the six-year age statement was eliminated a few years ago. Barton doesn't really have a special limited release but has recently moved to expand their line of whiskeys with several new brands. But for someone new to bourbon the 1792 brand is the place to start.

Brown Forman This distillery is primarily known for the brand Old Forester although the also make a brand called Early Times. Old Forrester 100 proof is readily available at a decent price and the recent release of Early Times Bottled in Bond is also well priced if sometimes less readily available. Brown-Forman has an ongoing release of other specialty bourbons and one annual allocated release known as Birthday Bourbon that celebrates the birthday of the founder, George Garvin Brown. It used to be more readily available and decently priced but has more than tripled in price over the last 8 or so years and is as hard to get as any of the special releases. The best place for the new bourbon drinker start is the standard Old Forester 100 proof.

Buffalo Trace Buffalo Trace is a distillery with many brands that is owned by the Sazerac company. It has of course become the darling of the bourbon world primarily because of one name and that name, of course, is Pappy Van Winkle.  But Pappy is the brand of another company run by the descendants of Pappy Van Winkle. They currently source all of their bourbon from Buffalo Trace using the same mashbill as the Weller line of what is known as “wheated bourbon”. It is different from bourbon made under the various Buffalo Trace brand names because the Van Winkle family chooses bourbon that fits a particular flavor profile that they feel best represents their products.  Among the different Buffalo Trace brands that you may be familiar with are Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, EH Taylor and the Weller line of bourbons. Also from Buffalo Trace are several sought after but currently hard to find brands like Blanton's and Elmer T. Lee. The big annual special release from Buffalo Trace is known as the Antique Collection which includes George T Stagg, William Larue Weller and Eagle Rare 17 year-old bourbons along with Thomas H. Handy and Sazerac 18 year-old rye.  These have become extremely difficult to find and are usually marked up well above the suggested retail price much like Pappy Van Winkle bourbons.

Four Roses There are four standard bottlings - Yellow Label (Which now has a beige label but is still often referred to as yellow label), Small Batch, Small Batch Select and Single Barrel. Yellow label is the lowest proof and least expensive but both small batch and single barrel are excellent bourbons well worth considering when starting your bourbon journey.

Heaven Hill This distillery produces several bourbon brands that you may not even know are from Heaven Hill. They include Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, Henry McKenna, Fighting Cock and Larceny. Old Fitzgerald and Parker's Heritage Collection are currently two of the primary annual special and allocated releases and periodically they release Elijah Craig 12 and Elijah Craig 18 barrel proof bottlings.

Jim Beam Jim Beam is a well know and long-standing bourbon producer of many different brand names. The classic Jim Beam "White label" can be found almost anywhere in the country. Other brands from Beam include, Bookers, Bakers and Knob Creek which tend to be a bit more expensive although Knob Creek can still be a decent value. In addition, Beam makes a second mashbill or style of bourbon that include Basil Hayden's and Old Grandad which has long been regarded as an excellent budget bourbon. It comes in several proofs at 80, 100 and 114. The 114 may be a little strong for the novice bourbon fan but consider the 100-proof version or a Knob Creek 100 proof as examples of Beam bourbon.

Maker's Mark Once an independent distillery making a wheated style of bourbon exclusively. It is now part of the Beam family (officially known as Beam-Suntory after they were purchased by the Suntory company of Japan). Maker's Mark used to make only one bourbon for domestic consumption now they have three, having expanded first with Maker's 46, which many think is a bit better than the standard, and the cask strength Maker's Mark bourbon. They don't really do a particular special release each year but have been doing variations on Maker's 46 lately.

Midwest Grain Products / MGP MGP is unique in that it was the only major whiskey distillery not located in Kentucky. Instead, it is located just across the Ohio river in Indiana. They are also unusual in that they don't sell their own whiskey save for a few very limited exceptions. They do now have their own brand called Rossville Union which is a rye whiskey but to my knowledge they don't routinely sell their own Bourbon. Instead, they distill and age whiskey for other companies to buy and sell under their own label. As a result, there is tons of it on the market. The best way to tell if you have an MGP whiskey is to look at the label and see if it says "Distilled in Indiana". This most likely means the company either doesn't distill bourbon themselves or have only recently started distilling and need time for their own Bourbon to mature. And while bourbon enthusiasts sometimes make fun of the fakers and schemers who carelessly bottle MGP as if it were their own whiskey, it is important not to forget the great MGP bourbon and rye that has gone into various bottlings of excellent whiskey from places like High West, Smooth Ambler, Willett and others.

Wild Turkey Wild Turkey has long had a large and loyal following and is often a spirit that bourbon enthusiasts look for old and rare bottlings from.  Brands include the basic Wild Turkey bourbon at both 80 proof and 101 proof along with Russel's Reserve, Rare Breed and Kentucky spirit. They have also started a premium line called Master's Keep which is a unique and different style of whiskey every year. This is a case where I would suggest the Wild Turkey 101 bourbon over the standard 80 proof version as the best place to start.

Woodford Reserve Woodford is owned by Brown Forman but made it its own separate distillery. Well sort of! It is unique for being made by using pot stills rather than the more common column style still other major distilleries use. Some people, find the Woodford has a bit of a coppery or metallic component to the taste. In any case, typical Woodford whiskey is reportedly blended with whiskey from Old Forester to create a more balanced flavor. The basic Woodford Reserve is my recommendation to try if you want to compare it to other brands. (Tierney notes this is not one of his favorites.)

Newer Distilleries Here are a few new up and coming Kentucky distilleries to look for after you have had time to develop your bourbon preferences: New Riff, Wilderness Trail, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Luxrow Distillery (recently purchased by MGP), Angel's Envy (Port finished Bourbon)

Drink Local! In addition to these well-known distilleries many areas have local options for Bourbon.  Check and see what's available near you.

Still want to learn more?  If you've got Hulu check out Neat: The Story of Bourbon, a great documentary featuring many of the master distillers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJHBLEaNZ3c

The Beer Bourbon List

Elijah Craig

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof

Four Roses Small Batch

Georgia T. Stagg (Buffalo Trace Antique Collection)

Old Forester 1910

Old Forester 1920

William Larue Weller (Buffalo Trace Antique Collection)

Craft Beer News

Hop Growers of American Have Released Their Annual Report For 2020

ABInBev Is Moving Production of Stella Artois To The US By The End of The Year

Draft Sales Were Down 46% Nation-Wid During the Super Bowl

Check out these other episodes...

Beer & Bourbon & BBQ at The Nest | Ep. 254

Kombucha and Fermentation Fun with Cultured South | Ep. 236

Sake Primer with the Taps @ Ph’East | Ep. 214

Check out this episode!

[beehivebittersco]

Most know the classic mule, vodka, ginger beer & lime as pictured with this @loveandvictory Mule pin, but we like to play around with that recipe! • The Blackberry Mule: In a glass add 2 oz @shdistillery vodka, 2 half droppers of our Frutta Blu Bitters, the juice of half a lime and 5 oz ginger beer. Top with crushed ice and garnished with a sprig of mint. Then drizzle a blackberry syrup reduction (recipe below) on the top, and then sip away and pretend summer will never end! • Blackberry syrup reduction: In a saucepan add 1 cup fresh blackberries, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Stir on medium heat until dissolved then low dimmer for 15 min. Allow to cool and fine strain into your preferred pouring vessel and keep refrigerated. Add a 1/2 oz of vodka to the syrup to help it last a few extra weeks in the fridge, cheers! • • • #beehivebitters #beehivebitterscompany #bitters #utahbitters #cocktail #cocktails #cocktailbitters #mules #moscowmule #whisky #whiskey #rum #gin #vodka #tequila #sale #drink #drinks #mixology #homebar #bar #bars #blackberries

[tipsycad147]

MEDICINAL & MAGICKAL TINCTURES

Written by Algoth’s Grove

“YOUR HEALING IS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS,

THE WHOLE EARTH IS YOUR PHARMACY.”

                                                                – ANONYMOUS

You may not have the greenest fingers in the world, but that should not stop you from making your very own herbal tinctures. To make a tincture you can use berries, roots, bark, or dried flowers. The process needs patience and knowledge of the different herbs. Do not trust everything the internet says about contra-indications and medicinal properties. Rather make sure that you consult a trusted herbal grimoire such as Scott Cunningham’s Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews, or his Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. It must be noted that you always follow the Latin names, check them, and check them again.

Never ever overdose. Start with a small amount when ingesting, and never feed herbal tinctures to those who are not aware that you are doing it. Everyone acts differently to medicine, whether it is our plant spirits or pharmaceuticals. So use, make and dispense with caution.

Now that the warnings are done with, let’s get our hands dirty…

Tinctures, unlike extracts, are made with a high concentrated alcohol, Vodka is a personal favourite amongst the alcohols, but you can use Brandy or Whiskey if that suits you better. The essence of extracts and tinctures are the same, the only difference is that extracts are used with a high concentrated apple cider vinegar, glycerine, vinegar or water.

Tinctures can also be used in a tea, in food, or simply taken just like that through the use of a dropper. There is a slight difference in the amount of herbs to use between fresh, dried, barks, berries, leaves and flowers. So before anything let’s sort out some measuring…

Berries, Barks, Roots – Fresh

Chop your fresh berries, barks and roots finely to release the juices and expose their insides.

Fill your mason jar 1/2 way, or 2/3’s of the way then cover completely in alcohol.

To gauge the measurement, when you shake the jar ensure that the ingredients fill the jar but can move freely.

Berries, Barks, Roots – Dried

Make sure that your dried herbs are as fine as possible.

Fill your mason jar 1/4 to 1/3 and then completely cover in alcohol.

To gauge the measurement, you will notice that your herbs almost look double when tipping the jar.

Flowers & Leaves – Fresh

Chop your fresh berries, barks and roots finely to release the juices and expose their insides.

Fill your mason jar 2/3 way, or 3/4’s of the way then cover completely in alcohol.

To gauge the measurement, when you shake the jar ensure that the ingredients fill the jar but can move freely.

Flowers & Leaves – Dried

Make sure that your dried herbs are as fine as possible.

Fill your mason jar 1/2 to 3/4 and then completely cover in alcohol.

To gauge the measurement, when you shake the jar ensure that the ingredients fill the jar but can move freely.

Let’s make a tincture together, step by step:

What you will need:

Your dried herb of choice

A mason jar with a plastic lid or use a sandwich bag under the lid

Sharp knife

Amber glass bottles

Droppers

Your choice of Alcohol 67% – 70% (190 proof Vodka is used in this preparation)

Metal funnel

Cheesecloth

Pen

Card/Sticker/Paper and glue to make labels for the jars

So before anything let’s sort out some measuring…

Berries, Barks, Roots – Fresh

Chop your fresh berries, barks and roots finely to release the juices and expose their insides.

Fill your mason jar 1/2 way, or 2/3’s of the way then cover completely in alcohol.

To gauge the measurement, when you shake the jar ensure that the ingredients fill the jar but can move freely.

Berries, Barks, Roots – Dried

Make sure that your dried herbs are as fine as possible.

Fill your mason jar 1/4 to 1/3 and then completely cover in alcohol.

To gauge the measurement, you will notice that your herbs almost look double when tipping the jar.

Flowers & Leaves – Fresh

Chop your fresh berries, barks and roots finely to release the juices and expose their insides.

Fill your mason jar 2/3 way, or 3/4’s of the way then cover completely in alcohol.

To gauge the measurement, when you shake the jar ensure that the ingredients fill the jar but can move freely.

Flowers & Leaves – Dried

Make sure that your dried herbs are as fine as possible.

Fill your mason jar 1/2 to 3/4 and then completely cover in alcohol.

To gauge the measurement, when you shake the jar ensure that the ingredients fill the jar but can move freely.

It is important to allow your tincture to sit for approximately 6 – 8 weeks. Ensure that no air enters the container as this can introduce bacteria’s and moulds. Once you have mixed together your concoction place a plastic sandwich bag over the bottle and screw on the lid onto of that.

Leave your tincture to rest now. Once the time is up, get out your funnel and cheesecloth and drape the cloth over the funnel. Allow your mixture to drip through the cheesecloth into a amber bottle. Once it has stopped dripping, squeeze the concoction in the cheesecloth again until nothing more comes out.

Close the bottle and well done – you have your very own tincture!

Use it in tea,

      Use it in Magick,

                  Use it for medicine…

P.s. remember to keep your tinctures in a dark cool area… like the pantry.

Let us know how your first tincture goes!

Algoth’s Grove

[thewhiskeylifestyle]

This week’s cocktail is a hot one… literally! Beverage Manager Meredith Barry at St. Louis’ Grand Tavern by David Burke created this as a liquid escape the winter cold. And don’t worry, Spring is right around the corner. #thewhiskeylifestyle . Ingredients: . 1 oz Bottled in Bond Whiskey . 1 oz Yellow Chartreuse . ¼ oz Cinnamon Demerara . 1 oz Dark Chocolate Syrup . 1 dropper Curry Bitters . 1 tea Tomato powder . Instructions: . In an irish coffee mug, combine all the ingredients except for the tomato powder and top with hot water, mix until all is dissolved and combined. Garnish with a boozy marshmallow and tomato dust. . Let us know if you have a cocktail recipe you love or if there’s a recipe that you want us to break down on social media with the hashtag, #TWLcocktail. Please drink responsibly. . #whiskeycocktails #bourbon #spirits #spirit #cocktail #drinks #cheers #cocktailbar #drinkoftheday #cocktailrecipe #cocktailvideo #drinks #cocktailparty #bartender #bartenderlife #bartenderskills #bartenderlove #mixologist #mixology #cocktailgram (at St. Louis) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuMJEAvHLl2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1akkc3fi87s4

[lunaticlockwood]

norwaypack‌:

“Oh so all the girls fall for it, or do they fall fer your ugly face?” Max asked with a giggle as he gave her the glass of water. “Nope, nope whiskey tastes better than water does.” She said taking a swig of the bottle.

“It’s gotta be the ugly face, obviously. It’s a real panty dropper. And whiskey tastes like shit but go off. BTDubs you’re going to regret it in the morning. And I don’t want to hear any *oh Tyler why didn’t you stop me* please you’re a grown ass woman. So tomorrow you will just have to suffer like one.”

*a very drunk Max has shown up at Tylers house in the middle of the nigh* "HOw dare you call me mean? I mnot mean, you are. And your fancy house. Do you think im mean cause I wont have sex with you??"

“Whoa! Sex? Whoa!”

@norwaypack​

[wildozark]

The Rhapsody Collection consists of four colors of my handmade watercolors made from one large rock with a dark side. Half was red sandstone, and the other half was dark brown. They’re wild-crafted Ozark pigments.

Rosy Heavies

Sheer Rosy

Black Rose

Black Rose Gouache

Contents

Everything you need to make a painting on the go!

foam core

3 sheets watercolor paper

rubber band to secure paper to foam core

clip to secure paper at top on foam core

easel

dropper bottle for precision and water conservation

muslin cloth

tin for water to mix and rinse

whiskey painters brush (No. 2)

pigments

All neatly packed in a self-contained travel box. This little box started out as an unfinished, empty box. I liked it then, but decided to do a little something more with it.

I made a stain using linseed oil and some of my Russet Lites pigment. To do this, I mixed it just as if I were making paint, on the mulling board with a muller. You see, when you have a pigment, you can make any kind of paint with it. Ordinarily, I make watercolors. But for this I basically just made a thin oil paint.

The stained box turned out beautifully!

But I wanted to do more. At this point I knew what I wanted to do was to make a self-contained travel kit for a set of my latest colors. I had some ideas and experimented until I found the way forward. Using my Rhapsody painting, I made a pocket for the papers and the water dish. The dish is a tin with a screw on lid. I use one side to hold a few drops of water to wet my brush, and the other side for rinsing with a few drops. It is decorated to look old and distressed. Like a well-worn treasure.

front

spine

the colors

back

The Rhapsody collection comes with everything you’ll need to paint on the go. It has paper, a water pan, the brush, and a dropper bottle for water, and water conservation. So it needed a way to contain the bottle. So I made a little tube pocket to hold the dropper bottle.

Then of course, there’s the paints. There’s magnets underneath the name plate to hold the paint pans. So although when it arrives it’s going to have the paint collection I chose for this box, it doesn’t limit you to using only those colors. You can change out pans at will. I’ll have new colors and more of these colors stocked in my online shop soon, in the metal pans that work with the magnets.

The next thing was to find a way to store the paint brush. So I did that with tubes, too. That’s a No. 2 Whiskey Painter’s brush, by the way, and it works wonderfully. If I can only have one brush, this is the brush I’d have.

After that the only thing left to do was to decorate the box. I waffled on this. Should I leave it alone and not add anything to it? Or should I label it in a small and unobtrusive way? No, what I decided to do was make full labels and then distress it some. The front label was black and white when I printed it on the heavy watercolor paper. I painted it, added some swatches of the Rhapsody collection on the bottom.

This box is meant to be stored upright, like a book. And so the book end needed some identification so you’d know which of the collections was inside. I know you’ll want to collect more than one, right? So I added a distressed and burnt label to the spine. And on the back there’s the namesake painting, pretty distressed, too.

What I love about the box holding this Rhapsody collection is that it looks like a treasure box. And it is exactly that. I hope you feel the same way too. There will never be another exactly like it, although I have enough of the paint from this set to make three more. The next three boxes will also be handmade (not the box itself, but the outfitting of the box), so they still won’t be the same as this one. Each one is numbered and signed.

  2020 Rhapsody Collection The Rhapsody Collection consists of four colors of my handmade watercolors made from one large rock with a dark side.

[thathighdesertwitch]

Setting up the Home Apothecary Cabinet

(I cannot find the link to this lady’s blog but its good info so i wanted to post it here, but it is not my writing)

I just finished putting the final touches on my home apothecary corner in my new home and it is a thing of wonders. Most of my life, I've dreamed of being a medicine woman with my own garden of herbs, honeybees, and an area of my house devoted to crafting healing potions and herbal remedies.

I haven't quite gotten to the herb garden and honeybees yet (stay tuned next spring!), but my apothecary corner is up and running. It's a big change from stuffing bags of herbs into a box in the closet beneath our winter coats and working from the kitchen table (although that worked just fine). This new creative workspace is full of so much promise and nourishing potential.

A few of you have asked what herbs and supplies I keep on hand, and I thought it would be fun to share with you a peek inside my home apothecary. Below is a list of most things I keep on hand.

Mind you, it's taken me 3 years to build up to this so don't let the length of the list scare you. It all started with some lavender buds, olive oil, and beeswax borrowed from a friend. Let your curiosity take you where it wants to go.

Basic Herbs

Lavender

Chamomile

Calendula

Rose

Peppermint

Elderberries

Fennel

Rosemary

Nettle

Ginger

Lemon Verbena

Dandelion Leaf

Cardamom

Cinnamon Sticks

Whole Cloves

Cayenne

Basic Essential Oils

Grapefruit

Lemon

Lavender

Rosemary

Clary Sage

Peppermint

Tea Tree

Eucalyptus

Rose

Ylang Ylang

Bergamot

Lemongrass

Cinnamon

Carriers

Olive Oil

Almond Oil

Argan Oil

Jojoba Oil

Castor Oil

Coconut Oil

Shea Butter

Cocoa Butter

Mango Butter

Vegetable Glycerin

  Alcohols

Vodka - for making tinctures and other extractions

Brandy, Whiskey, Port - for making cordials

Other Odds & Ends

Clays (for skincare)

Raw Organic Honey - (to make cordials and syrups, and to add to teas)

Apple Cider Vinegar

White Vinegar (for cleaning products)

Himalayan Salt

Epsom Salt

Aloe Vera Gel (for cooling after sun spray)

Aloe Vera Juice (the key ingredient to my mouthwash recipe)

Arrowroot Powder (for deodorant and dry shampoo)

Baking Soda

Castile Soap

Vitamin E Oil & Calendula Oil (I use these every week on my skin)

Rose Water (or you can make your own!)

Witch Hazel

Beeswax (a girl's best friend for salves, chest rubs, lip balms, and air cleansing candles)

Supplies

Coffee and Spice Grinder

Cheesecloth

Mesh Strainer

Storage Jars of all sizes

Funnels

Candle Wicks

Deodorant Containers

Lip Balm Tubes

Dropper Bottles

Droppers + Pumps

Roll On Glass Bottles (for perfumes)

Swing Top Bottles

Weck Jars

Linen Bags

Microplane

Mason Jars

Nut Milk Bag  (for making almond and cashew milk)

 Do you long to hang bundles of herbs from the ceiling and have jars of homemade medicines lining your walls as you stir a cauldron of healing soup over an open flame like our ancestors used to do? Listen to that urge! The work of belonging is to remember the ways of our ancestors and to take our healing and ability to take care of ourselves back into our own hands. Those witchy ways of your great great great grandmothers still live in your blood and bones. Listen to the whispers and keep working with your hands, sister.