Friday, March 02, 2012

Broadening, Yadda, Yadda XLIII

I did say we're on about Porters of late, didn't I?  Why yes... just yesterday, in fact.  We added a new one to the fridge today: Rogue Brewery's Mocha Porter.  Which looks a lot like this:


The Bros like this one a lot, too, rating the brew "Exceptional."  I'm beginning to think they've yet to meet a Porter they didn't like and there's some small body o' evidence to support that suspicion.  Excerpt:
Just bought a six pack of the stuff, very tasty. I smelled that Rogue aroma from a mile away like a police drug dog sniffing for coke.

Great American porter, nice how they got so close with the chocolate and coffee flavours. I would not mind seeing this beer more often.
Well, we're only half-way through our first one but I tend to agree with Mr. Alström... we'll prolly see more o' this brew as time moves on.  The beer is aptly yclept... that mocha flavor comes shining right through.  Great good stuff, Maynard.

In other beer news... my local beer emporium no longer carries Abita beers and I have complained, mightily.  It turns out that I am NOT alone, as it's not the beer emporium's problem... it's the local distributor who dropped Abita.  Today's beer emporium attendant was very sympathetic as he mentioned that most of the Abita that went out the door was sold to employees... and me.  He added that last to appeal to my vanity, I'm sure, but his point was well-taken.

So... he then says "Well, could I interest you in some Singha?  It's big in Bangkok."  I just smiled and said "I know... but no thanks.  We're into the Porters right now."  As for the knowing... I've prolly put away more Singha, IN Bangkok and the provinces... than that dude's ever seen, given his (relatively) tender years.  But that's one of those "ya hadda be there" kinda stories.

Update, somewhat later:  It occurred to me to question just why the beer guy offered up Singha as an alternative to Abita. I'm wonderin' if it was sumthin' along the lines o' parallelism, especially after I waxed nostalgic about N'Awlins and the great good times I had there in the way-back.  It should be noted that I did NOT wax nostalgic about Bangkok, even though I could have. 

Bangkok and N'Awlins DO have certain similarities... both cities are sultry (as in weather, as well as other areas) sensuous, sinful, friendly, welcoming, and immensely entertaining for the casual visitor, appealing as they do to all five of the senses, not the least of which are the culinary marvels that abound in both places.  The cities could almost be equal, but I'd give the edge to N'Awlins, on two counts: the inherent gentility of the Old South and the architecture.  And Mardi Gras.  Bangkok (and the whole o' Thailand) has its Water Festival, but nuthin' equals Mardi Gras.  I'm not just bein' an America-Firster with that statement... you KNOW, if you've been.

So there's that.  And there's this:



6 comments:

  1. Never been to Bangkok, but I have been to the Big Easy a few times. Just not during Mardis Gras.

    Love that Simon song. And that line "Take your burdens to the Mardi Gras" reminded me of that old gospel song I did a post on a few days ago: "Take your burdens to the Lord." I guess both are "religious" ways to ease your burdens, the N. O. approach being the more pleasurable of the 2.

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    1. The similarities between the song you posted and this one by Simon hit me, too. As for N'Awlins... it was the very BEST thing about bein' stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. I went as often as I could afford to go in the way, way-back.

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  2. Forgot to mention...I'm gonna get me some that Rogue chocolate/coffee beer, if I can find it around here. Sounds like it would be mighty tasty.

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    1. I think you'll like this, Dan. I'm kinda amazed we get so much beer from the West Coast here and almost none from the east... except for Sammy Adams. And he's everywhere.

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  3. Sorry about the Abita vacuum. The spring seasonal Strawberry hit the shelves this week and Pepper has already transported several six packs.

    I've never been to Bangkok, but I already miss Mardi Gras!

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    1. It was a partial vacuum even when we had Abita, what with only Turbodog, the "regular" ale, and Purple Haze on the shelf. We never got any of the seasonal beers and more's the pity.

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