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An Amusingly Disgusting Way to Drink Vodka in Sweden

While I was in Sweden with Karlsson's Gold vodka, we learned a traditional way to drink vodka. It is called Kaffegök, and it is gross.

You take a cup and put a coin in the bottom.

Then you fill it with coffee until you can't see the coin anymore.

Then you add vodka until you can see the coin again. That's how you know you have enough vodka in there.

Then you drink it. Damnnnn that's some kinda breakfast.

 

SF Brew News: Barrels, Vintage Bottles, and Porter with a Punch

There is so much happening with beer right now I'm not able to keep up (I have my hands full with cocktails) but here are some awesome items of interest:

- The Alembic has launched a barrel aged beer list, with "some very rare and unusual offerings, and new stuff coming in all the time."

- The Monk's Kettle is launching a vintage beer list starting June 18th.

There are several styles of beer that are well-suited for aging, and they are generally higher in alcohol, and often bottle-conditioned (with yeast in the bottle for an additional fermentation).  Styles that generally lend well for cellaring include Belgian strong ale (and Belgian-style strong ale), barleywine, imperial stout, old ale, lambic and gueuze (as well as their American counterpart, American wild ale).  As with the rest of the list, the Monk’s Kettle will seek to strike a balance of style, bottle size, and vintage/year in its reserve list.

- It's not just spirits that are getting into bed with coffee roasters: Speakeasy brewery collaborated with Ritual Coffee Roasters to create a beer named Ritual Coffee Payback Porter.  I asked how it was made. Kushal Hall, Lead Brewer at Speakeasy, said:

"We cold decoct the coffee (one pound per barrel) in the finished, uncarbonated porter. We spent a lot of time and effort working with Ritual roasters to find the right coffee.  It was a light roasted Brazilian natural unwashed coffee (called) Chapadao de Ferro."

The beer is so far only available on tap. It was recently at City Beer Store (call to make sure it's still there), and after they make more in a couple weeks it will be back on tap at the Speakeasy brewery (open on Fridays at 4PM), and other "specialty accounts."