Nothing says summer like cooking on the grill, and the best grilling recipes usually call for bourbon. So here’s another quick and easy dessert that involves two of our favorite things: grilling and bourbon. Be sure to save a tipple of bourbon to accompany this fun treat. And, we recommend pouring it over one of our handcrafted whiskey stones – they chill without diluting.

GRILLED PINEAPPLE WITH BOURBON GLAZE

15 minutes • Delicious Boozy Dessert • Serves 4

Ingredients:

• half cup bourbon
• half cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• quarter teaspoon cinnamon powder
• half a pineapple, cored, peeled and cut into long wedges
• bamboo skewers, soaked in water 15 minutes
• ice cream

Preparation:

1. In small saucepan over medium heat simmer bourbon, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until sugar dissolves. Set aside.
2. Thread pineapple pieces onto skewers.
3. Heat grill to high. Grill pineapple until brown, basting with bourbon glaze and turning occasionally, about 6-8 minutes.
4. Remove pineapple from skewers. Dice. Serve warm with remaining bourbon glaze and your favorite ice cream.

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This may just be the best dessert you’ll ever taste. It’s a chocolaty, boozy molten cake that is simply magical. Hands down, the best recipe for molten cake you’ll ever come across. The depth of flavors are staggering: dark chocolate, smokey sweet whiskey, warm vanilla, a zing of pepper and candy-like hints of orange zest. Don’t let the fact that there’s cayenne pepper in the mix scare you away; it’s not there for heat,  just to add a slight warmth.

And don’t forget to save a tipple of whiskey to accompany this delicious gooey dessert. We suggest serving it straight with a slight chill, using one of our unique handcrafted whiskey stones.

Molten Chocolate Whiskey Cake

Ingredients:

• 8 oz chocolate baking bar, 60% bittersweet
• 1 cup butter, unsalted
• 3/4 tsp iodized salt
• 3 tbsp whiskey
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp  fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 tbsp orange zest
• 4 eggs plus 2 yolks
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large microwave safe bowl, microwave butter and chocolate for 1 minute or until melted – being careful not to burn the chocolate. Then whisk in the salt, whiskey, vanilla, powdered sugar, ginger, cayenne, pepper, and orange zest. Whisk in eggs and yolks, one at a time. Whisk in flour just until combined. Divide batter into 8 greased ramekins. Place on baking sheet.  Bake for 13 minutes or until the sides are set. The middle will have a slight sag to it, but don’t worry that’s the molten filling. Remove from the oven and let stand for 60 seconds. Loosen edges with a knife and invert onto dessert plates.

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Jim Beam offers $10,000 and a chance to tend bar for a rock & roll icon.

Jim Beam and Kid Rock have partnered up to create one hell of a summer internship; touring the country with Kid Rock as his personal bartender while being generously compensated along the way. Fans can enter Jim Beam’s Mix for Kid Rock Contest to compete for the chance to be the rock star’s personal bartender during his “Best Night Ever” tour. One lucky fan will have the opportunity to pack their bags and hit the road with Kid Rock for 3 tour stops this summer, experience some one-on-one bartender training from Beam’s Master Mixologist and earn a $10,000 salary package.

We might just trade in our gig making the world’s best whiskey stones for this little dream job; there’s no better way to spend the summer than having plenty of bourbon, music and stacks of cash.

For more information and to enter the contest, visit http://www.JimBeam.com/Music/Kid-Rock

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Every fine bourbon should eventually mingle with chocolate.

Kentucky’s premiere bourbon chocolatier can be found in Louisville. Art Eatables® is the originator of the Small-batch Bourbon Truffle™ and waht sets them apart from most other confectioners in that they focus as much on bourbon as they do chocolate. What’s more, they carefully pick chocolates that accent the complex flavor profiles of America’s native spirit. This is how candy-making becomes art. Often their combinations reveal previously hidden notes in the bourbons they use. By paying strict attention to both the chocolate and the bourbon, they manage to deliver a taste experience like no other.

These decadent treats are substantial, consider them two-bite truffles. Each bite delivering a wave of different flavors, creating a unique tasting experience. They proudly hand dip each one of their bourbon truffle masterpieces. Here’s a list of just some of their offerings:

• Maker’s Mark® Bourbon Truffle – Smooth and approachable, just like the bourbon, the milk chocolate accents the caramel notes of the bourbon and lets the vanilla shine through.  This is a full-flavored bourbon and chocolate candy like no other. Features Maker’s Mark® Bourbon Whisky.
• Signature Black Cherry Bourbon Truffle™ – Decadent dark chocolate and pronounced black cherry are up front, while the bourbon gradually swells in.  Chocolate, bourbon and cherry all mingle together over the finish. Features Red Stag® by Jim Beam® Black Cherry.
• Black Bourbon Truffle™ - Dense cocoa presents initially, with woody overtones that play on the mellower flavor of the bourbon.  While it’s still a surge of bold bourbon flavor, the aging shows more complexity and smoothness.  The finish is a pleasing drift of cocoa. Features Jim Beam® Black.
• Sweet Honey Truffle™ – Their mildest bourbon truffle, this confection is creamy and sweet, with only a hint of bourbon flavor developing in the mid to late part of the tasting, and finishes with a high, faint note of tea.  White chocolate.  Features Red Stag® by Jim Beam® Honey Tea.
• Ol’ Basil’s Truffle™ - They pair an extra dark chocolate to play with the ginger and cinnamon top notes while the milk chocolate accents the smooth caramel and vanilla notes and preserves a spicy finish.  The finish is a pleasing drift of cocoa. Features Basil Hayden® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
• Yellow Rose Truffle™ - With this one the bourbon comes into play early. Well-rounded mix of smooth bourbon and creamy milk chocolate flavor.  As the flavor heads into the finish, the spicy notes come out and leave you with a pleasing warmth.  Features Four Roses® Yellow Label.
• Branch Out Truffle™ - This bourbon is unique in that it uses only corn (51%) and barley (49%) in the mashbill.  This results in an earthy bourbon with a subtle body and it’s captured in the truffle.  Surprisingly smooth and earthy, it’s less sweet than others.  The finish stays with you with hints of chocolate and a bourbon topnote that goes on and on. Features Town Branch® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
• Gobble-it-Up Truffle™ - Dark and extra dark chocolates bring plenty of rich cocoa to the front which keeps the truffle from being too sweet, while still allowing a dense, mouth-filling bourbon flavor with caramel and vanilla notes to come to the fore.  Features Wild Turkey® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (81 proof).
• Wood River Truffle™ - Decadent dark chocolate is quickly met by the bourbon and they play back and forth, accenting the wood, smoke and leather notes.  At the finish, a high note of cherry comes out. Features Woodford Reserve® Distiller’s Select.

Art Eatables®
631 South Fourth Street
Louisville, KY
(502) 589-0210

http://www.arteatables.com/

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The 139th running of the Kentucky Derby will see just its second African-American jockey since 1921.

Between 1875 and 1902, over half of the titles won at the Kentucky Derby belonged to African-American jockeys. Former slaves and the sons of former slaves, they were the nation’s elite riders. But the legacy did not last long, black riders were systematically boxed out of the Sport of Kings, and by the 1950′s Churchill Downs was altogether segregated.

This year, a 29-year-old jockey by the name of Kevin Krigger will attempt to recreate horse racing’s past. On May 4, riding a horse named Goldencents, Krigger will become only the second black jockey to compete in the Kentucky Derby in over 90 years.

Krigger’s obsession first surfaced at the age of 5, when he took a neighbor’s horse for a ride, tearing off at full speed. Krigger soon had a mare of his own, racing friends on the beaches and dirt roads of his native St. Croix. While he’s now fully aware of how he’s helping to return black jockeys to their former status, Krigger also understands that the only thing that will win him a title is commitment. Waking well before dawn each morning, he’s at the stables by six, exercising horses and fine-tuning his skills for hours on end. When he’s not at the track, he’s working out on a machine called an Equicizer – a sort of mechanical horse.

He is known for his moments of bravado, like the time he won a race by seven lengths, standing in the stirrups and pointing to the crowd while crossing the finish line. A forgivable sin, taking into account how hard his journey to the Derby has been. As a teen, he walked 4-hours round trip to St. Croix’s only racetrack. He came to the States at 17, traveling the nation’s circuit of low-end racetracks struggling to catch a break. Now on May 4th, Kevin Krigger hopes to prove that once again African-American jockeys can dominate the sport of horse racing.

So, tonight we’ll pour a tipple of Kentucky bourbon over one of our handcrafted whiskey stones. Then we’ll raise a glass to the 5-foot-6, 112-pound Kevin Krigger, who has proven that the small can indeed be mighty.

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Drinking antique booze has become a thing of late. Much of the allure lies in the idea that it can provide a clear snapshot into the past.

In 2010, salvage divers from Sweden found 230-year-old intact Champagne bottles in a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Of course, they popped a bottle and found it to be ”very sweet Champagne with notes of tobacco and oak.” South Pole explorer Ernest Shackleton left behind three crates of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt whisky under the floorboards of his expedition’s Antarctic camp. Over 100 years later, master blender Richard Paterson gave it a thorough chemical analysis and good old-fashioned sip. Now, thanks to Whyte and Mackay, for $175 you can sample a recreation of the Mackinlay’s Rare Old. They suggest you take a taste, close your eyelids, and imagine Arctic landscapes with roaming penguins.

Distilleries aren’t the only ones getting into the act, bars are also catching the bug. Salvatore Calabrese, co-owner of the bar at the Playboy Club London, made headlines in 2012 when a customer accidentally dropped a $77,000 bottle of cognac. In New York’s East Village there’s a bar called Pouring Ribbons, it flaunts an entire page of vintage Chartreuse bottles on its menu. A simple tipple can set you back as much as $125.

So whether you’re uncovering an ancient Swedish Brännvin tucked in the corner of your grandfather’s liquor cabinet, or purchasing a 1952 Petrus Pomerol at some high-end auction, there are a few things to keep in mind before you tip one back:

• They all oxidize at least a little, which alters the original flavors.
• Make sure the bottle is sealed. At best, some alcohol will have evaporated. At worst, there’ll be bacterial contamination or mold.
• Gin, vodka and tequila last if sealed well. Any top notes will most likely soften. A bad gin will be cloudy or have an iodine-like odor.
• Brown spirits were created to age, but won’t age much in a bottle. Some non-chill filtered whiskeys will cloud with time, which is fine.
• Some wines like Port and Sherry, continue to mature in the bottle. A good rule of thumb is not to decant anything over 20 years old.
• Absinthe and other herbaceous liquors have infusions, which may not endure with time. Be sure that these have remained sealed.
• As a rule, avoid cream liquors. They can spoil after only a few of years.

In the end, not every antique wine or spirit is expected to last. Some of the most expensive old wines turn out to be just millionaire’s vinegar. As for us, we’ll stick with a 10-year-old bourbon poured over one of our handcrafted whiskey stones. We’ll leave the decoding of ancient history to archaeologists.

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Japan’s First Lady of Whisky

Nothing is more Scottish than whisky. Known world-wide for its quality, Scotch is one of the country’s largest exports. Recently though, Japanese distillers have been producing whiskies which have been called some of the best on earth.

The whisky trade in the Far East began in the 1930′s and one of the driving forces behind it was a soft-spoken woman from Kirkintilloch, Scotland – Jessie Roberta Cowan. To this day she is celebrated as the “mother of Japanese whisky”.

Jessie Roberta “Rita” Cowan met Japanese student Masataka Taketsuru while he was in Scotland in 1919 learning how to make whisky and studying at Glasgow University. They were married in 1920 and later moved to Japan in 1923.

In 1934 Masataka set up Dai Nippon Kaju KK, which became known as the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company. The couple chose Japan’s inhospitable North Island as the location for their distillery because of its similarity to Scotland. Rita was instrumental in the distillery’s success, which turned its first profit in 1940 and continued to do so until her death in 1961.

Since the couple’s passing, their genius has been recognized by whisky experts the world over. In 2007, a bottle of “Taketsuru” was voted the world’s best blended malt. A year later, the 20-year-old “Yoichi” was awarded the same distinguished title.

So, we raise a tipple poured over one of our handcrafted whiskey stones to Rita, the mild-mannered girl from Scotland – Japan’s First Lady of Whisky. She is buried on a hillside overlooking the couple’s distillery – a spot which continues to be a place of pilgrimage for whisky lovers everywhere.

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It’s okay to get a little crazy on the weekend. Just make sure you can get through Monday. 

We’ve all been there. Your head is pounding, your vision blurring and that stomach of yours is churning. All thanks to a memorable weekend. Should you drag yourself into work looking like the ghost of whiskey shots past? Or, should you raise suspicions by calling in sick? We say neither. Part of being an adult is learning how to manage an occassional hangover. Here are some tips on how to overcome the effects of too many cocktails and a hard night spent on the bathroom floor.

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Council Votes to Let Some Drink & Drive

The County Kerry Council in southwest Ireland recently passed a motion that would allow rural drivers to legally drive while under the influence of alcohol.

The council voted 5 to 3 – with 12 absent and seven abstaining – to issue special permits to people who live in rural areas and wish to drive home on remote country roads after consuming two to three alcoholic beverages.

Councilor and County Kerry pub owner Danny Healy-Rae introduced the bill, arguing that citizens driving while intoxicated in rural areas have never killed anyone. He defended the measure by asserting that it would prevent loneliness and reduce the risk of suicides.

“A lot of these people are living in isolated rural areas where there’s no public transport of any kind, and they end up at home looking at the four walls, night in and night out, because they don’t want to take the risk of losing their license,” Healy-Rae said.

While we agree that an evening at the pub with friends enjoying a tipple or two can be the cure for loneliness; we could never agree that the public sanctioning of drinking and driving is a good idea.

Ireland is known for it’s tough drunk driving laws which have been credited with reducing the number of people killed in recent years. The overall number of deaths has decreased by 56% in the last five years.

The Irish Department of Transport has voiced it’s opposition to the proposal, citing the overwhelming evidence linking alcohol consumption with impaired driving.

“Unfortunately, rural areas are among the most dangerous roads in Ireland. We need to be looking at how to make our roads safer, particularly in rural areas, instead of trying to reverse existing measures, which are clearly working,” said an Irish Department of Transport spokesperson.

As for us, we’ll take the four walls at home any day over the four walls of a jail cell, or the mind-crippling knowledge that you’ve ruined a life. That’s where you’ll find us on any given night, in the living room, feet up by the fire. Enjoying a perfect tipple poured over one of our handcrafted whiskey stones. Drinking responsibly.

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Experiment With Whiskey

Legions of new distilleries have sprung up across the country in the last decade. The nation is now peppered with hip, youthful artisans pushing the limits of their new-found craft. The distillation of whiskey has now become a full-fledged battle royale, with the  Tennessee and Kentucky old-timers going toe-to-toe with the brash young upstarts. Here are three of our top picks that deserve your personal inspection:

• Balcones True Blue 100  ($57) Made in Waco, Texas, from 100% Hopi blue corn. This whiskey avoids comparison by virtue of the fact that there’s nothing else like it. Put your nose to it and your mind will think of rum, even single malt. This liquor glides onto your palate, offering tastes of cocoa, espresso and bourbon. It’s both tantalizingly strange and oddly familiar at the same time. Delicious to the drop.

• Woodford Reserve Four Wood  ($100) This whiskey sees a maturation that is unparalleled. First it ages in the standard oak, then goes on to “finish” in maple. It even spends time in re-purposed sherry and port barrels. Hence the name Four Wood. It’s like drinking regular Woodford that’s been on steroids. It has more viscosity, more lusciousness. It declares itself a meal rather than a drink.

• Master Distiller’s Blend of Mashbills  ($80) Produced by Heaven Hill, the only remaining national distiller that produces Bourbon, Rye, Corn and Wheat Whiskeys; this one is phenomenal. It’s a combination of two 11-year-old mash whiskeys, one made with wheat and the other made with rye. Tread lightly here, this one’s 130 proof. It requires some water, but not too much. In a word – transcendental.

We’ve enjoyed these 3 fine spirits poured over our handcrafted whiskey stones. The slight chill they provide allows us to enjoy full flavor while we control the amount of water added. So tip your hat to those who have gambled on experimentation and won, because we reap the rewards. And as whiskey distilleries continue to struggle to separate themselves from the herd, we can’t help but think of it as a good thing. Because innovation is the heart and soul of business. And whiskey – is big business.

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