Saturday, July 30, 2011

The Suffering Bastard

If you're really into mixed drinks, you may have heard of this one before. I had not. Until I came across it in the papers of a lieutenant colonel serving in Britain's Special Operations Executive. The man had parachuted into Burma during World War II to organize resistance among the Karen hill tribes. He conducted sabotage and ambush operations against the Japanese in intensely unforgiving jungle terrain. Clearly, the man earned the title "suffering bastard" (and by "bastard" I mean hero, in case you had any doubts).

So how do you make a suffering bastard? I came across several recipes on the internet, but none of them were given by SOE veterans who dropped into the jungle to fight the bad guys. So here's my man's recipe, taken from the scrawlings I found on the top of a page in the archives:

4 dashes of Angostura bitters
1 part gin
1 part rum
juice of 1 lime
ginger ale
mint
slice of lemon

So give it a try! If you don't like it, blame the brave men who saved the world (or just try a different version).

Today's image comes from Trader Vic's. It does not represent an SOE-certified suffering bastard, but another variation.

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Friday, July 02, 2010

Introducing the Quincy

As faithful readers will recall, there was a time when the Men of Quincy were trying to come up with a signature house cocktail.

Some time ago a Quincyite was in a bar, wanting to order some Jim Beam on the rocks with a splash of bitters. Though not a particularly complicated order, he regretted having to use so much verbiage to describe it. And then, in a flash of brilliance, two problems were solved and the "Quincy" was born. It has been growing steadily in popularity ever since.

Last weekend I was on Long Island for a wedding. I was pleased to observe that a variety of guests at the reception were ordering Quincies from the bartenders. (And, for the sake of full disclosure, let me clarify: neither I nor JT, the other housemate present, led this rush of orders.)

So next time you need a some cheap bourbon over ice, with the pleasure of bitters, save yourself some breath and simply ask for a Quincy.

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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Quincy Ark, an adaptation


After a recent viewing of Alexander Sokurov's 2002 film Russian Ark there was a lively discussion among the house members recognizing the parallels between the two venerable historical institutions, the Hermitage Museum and the Quincy House. This lead to the development of a short film treatment.

Quincy Ark - Screen Treatment

Narrator/Camera view point - Nathan

Vignette 1 - Front of house
Coffee House revelers two men and two women are walking up to the house with narrator following.
Revelers go around the side of the house. Men are lagging behind women jostling for position as one claims a female.

Vignette 2 - Below back porch
Revelers go up the back stairs while narrator bumps into Santi at bottom of stairs, both go below stairs under house walk by window looking through to see Jeremiah Cunningham and Col. Brooks working on his still discussing the founding of the house.

Vignette 3 Back yard

Santi and narrator are interupted by loud noise behind them, turn around to find rugby players loudly reveling in the back yard. Santi and narrator wander through the partying crowd. No one notices them and Santi urges caution, discusses their petty jockishness while being drawn to the reality of their vital debauchery. One jock on the periphery notices santi and chases the pair off.

Vignette 4 In the basement

Enter the basement through the outside door. Come upon period couple and child huddling in corner whispering in fear. Discussing the know nothing riots. Santi recalls the fire to the narrator. They walk past and up the stairs.

Vignette 5 - The hallway/bathroom door.

Reaching the top of the stairs the two walk to the bathroom door. Santi motions as if to enter. Narrator cautions strongly and fearfully against it. Open door see house resident in bath tub scrubbing. Resident remarks about the terror of trying to clean the bathroom. Scares out Santi and Narrator.

Vignette 6 - Fireplace half of Living room - Scotch tasting


Santi and narrator enter the room to a resident (perhaps in some sort of period clothing) giving an introduction to a scotch with much pomp and circumstance. Santi quietly mocks while narrator disagrees. Both mention not knowing the taste of alcohol any more. Move to the dining room.

Vignette 7 - Dining room - contemporary people

Enter the dining room with 3 contemporary people, one staring at the St Bridget poster, one investigating beer on the table, and one looking at the movie shelf. Narrator and stanti move to the person at the movie shelf who is now holding a bergman film. Santi questions the person and ultimately berates them for a lack of taste in film.

Vignette 8 - (optional) Kitchen scene

Narrator tires of santi's conversation and wanders to the Kitchen, enters kitchen sees landlord fixing broken diswasher muttering about students trashing the place. Is approached by "re-founding" members of the house. Discuss their idea for a house of Catholic men.

Vignette 9 - Living room other half

Narrator begins to search for Santi again. Wanders through dining room now full of people talking. Sees performers in the stage area who begin to play music. walks through the area finds Santi hitting on some woman. Tries to talk with him, but Santi ignores/can't hear him. Band finishes song and people applaud, start to get up and make their way out. Narrator sees original couple that was entering now sitting hand in hand on couch. Narrator finds Santi standing there and they converse, Santi says he is staying. narrator makes it out to the front door, and out the window on the door one only sees water.

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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Quincy: The Drink

There has been talk of late about creating a mixed drink that is uniquely Quincy: a signature cocktail that would be the Quincy House in a glass.

What, you ask, would such a drink entail? An excellent question, and one we've been asking ourselves. At this point the Quincy cocktail is still in the concept stage, but previous discussions have suggested that it be strong, bitter, and complex.

Suggestions for ingredients? A name? Please, share!

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Sunday, April 05, 2009

The making of a Caucasian






Anyone who has spent any time in the Quincy House dining room will have noticed that two things we are passionate about are fine films and fine alcoholic beverages. One film that I have always enjoyed is the Cohen brother’s, The Big Lebowski, which is not only a classic film, but it also prominently features a classic drink. The Dude’s love for white Russians has certainly made the drink a part of the American vocabulary. One practice that the film has not caused growth in is (at least according to my extensive search of the interwebs) the practice of the dude’s unique recipe, which is using non-dairy creamer to make the drink. In fact, I was not able to find a single mention of anyone who had actually tried doing so. Since we recently screened the film, it seemed incumbent upon us to document and review the process of making a Caucasian.

Ingredients:
Vodka
Kaluha
Ice
Coffee Mate Non-Dairy Creamer

After mixing the drink, the first observation that I had was that the creamer did not immediately mix as evenly as the milk did.


Even after some vigorous stirring the creamer still clumped together in small chunks.


This led to an interesting drinking experience because every once and a while I caught a large bit of creamer crystals. The surprising bit was that the added texture was almost enjoyable. It is almost akin to having the cookie bits in a Krackle bar.


Aside from texture, the flavor of the creamer fit the drink quite well. Indeed after finishing the Caucasian, I moved to a more standard white Russian and I had a hard time discerning much difference in quality, however there may have been other intervening factors.
And of course the drink was best enjoyed while watching the film.

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

75 Years! Time to Celebrate

"You make wine to cheer human hearts, olive oil to make faces shine, and bread to strengthen human hearts." Psalm 104:15


Today, December the 5th 2007 is the beginning of the 75th year that the absurdity of prohibition was repealed in the United States.

Here at the Quincy House we are raising a glass to those courageous lawmakers who realized that the heavy hand of the state was causing more harm than good.

This is a cause for celebration, however, even now the vestiges of that dark time still live with us. The freedoms that our forefathers, Jefferson, Washington and countless others fought for are still not fully attainable to the average American. If my patriotic fervor led me to emulate our first president and distill a batch of rye whiskey, the over reaching federal powers would definitely not smile.

So raise a glass.

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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Two pounds of coffee is the new bottle of wine.

I was reading the DCist, and came across this article. I knew that coffee was big, but not this big.

Check out the article.
Rather than bringing a bottle of a nameless, never-tried bottle of Pinot Noir to your holiday parties, bring something the hosts will actually remember that it was you who brought it. Bring something that they'll be thankful for the morning after two too many egg nogs or a night of putting up with the relatives in town for Hanukkah. Bring them Joe....

I don't know if I fully agree. But it's something to think about anyways

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Thursday, September 06, 2007

It's Tomorrow




I know you can hardly wait...

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

From the Cradle of Wine

For all of you Quincy House blog readers looking for another online diversion in life, I suggest you check out From the Cradle of Wine, a public diplomacy project I'm putting together for one of my classes at the Institute of World Politics. The point of the site is to increase western appreciation of the Republic of Georgia (where they've been making wine for 8,000 years!), its wines, its culture and its people. New material is posted every day, so check back often. Feedback is quite welcome.

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Friday, September 15, 2006

Study Finds that alcohol use helps boost income.
The study published in the Journal of Labor Research concluded that drinkers earn 10 to 14 percent more than teetotalers, and that men who drink socially bring home an additional seven percent in pay.

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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

An incredible beer!

It seemed to me that one of the positive aspects that many of the house members at quincy share is a love for fine beers and other alcoholic beverages. It also occurred that this blog may be a good place to help share the overflowing knowledge that we posses. I would like to share with you all a little about a wonderful beer that I had the privilege of trying this summer. This beer is Stone Brewery's Oaked arrogant Bastard Ale. If you have ever tried the Arrogant Bastard, you know that it is a strong beer. Its hops are very forceful, but their power brings out a very subtle complexity and oddly refreshing mix of tastes. I sometimes wonder if part of the appeal of the beer is simply its name, because such a name really plays on the pride of the connoisseur. But a taste of this beer is enough to show that there is more than just wordplay here.

The Arrogant Bastard is available at fine select liquor stores, but the Oaked Bastard is a little harder to come by. If you can find it I would highly recommend giving it a try. Oaked means that this beer is aged in oak casks, and the character of the oak gives a pleasant change to the flavor of the beer. It has both a mellowing and flavor adding effect. The intense bite of the hops looses a little of its edge, while retaining all of the robust flavor. The oak flavor also adds a subtle sweet undertone, which takes an already complex and rich beer and just brings it over the top. I would encourage all of you to take a chance and try a little of the Bastard.

More beer reviews to come ...

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