8 April 2018

From the bartender’s corner: Green House Negroni

Following up with my last two write ups on the Green House gin – unique gin but felt can’t go well with most cocktails. The citrusy one I tried – Lime Rickey – did not work well. Tried one where the gin does not have to carry most of the character – a Negroni. And this one turned out to be far better. Of course the palate and the nose of Campari and somewhat that of the Sweet Vermouth took the dominance out of the Gin.

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7 April 2018

I am surrounded by some angels!!

I met Christina for the first time with the CEO of her company in a meeting room in Atlanta way back when her company and my business unit was building a joint solution for the market. We became friends from there on. Eventually I left the company but I had kept up with her – especially in that one trusted way of mine – calling on birthdays!

Couple of weeks back, I finally got a chance to meet her again at a bar in New York. I am glad I did. I learnt so much about her, her husband and her family.

“So, if I recollect correctly, you quit your job, right?”, I asked
“Yes. For some time.” she said
“Where did you join?”
“Well, I work in the same company. As a consultant now.”
“You were not interested in working anywhere else?”
“No, I needed the flexibility of working hours”
“Got it. You said you had taken some time off from work, right?”
“Indeed”
“How did you use your time off?” (I was so ready to talk to her about how excited I am with motorcycles, mixology, hospice etc… but I wanted to hear her story first).
“I took the time off to raise my family”
“Oh! Congratulations! How many kids?”
“Three”
Frankly, I was like – “Wow! that was quick”. But what I asked was “How old are they?”
“My eldest son is sixteen years…” she went on.

But I had stopped listening to her. My cortical part of the brain had completely taken over. 16? But I had met her around 2010. How could she have taken time off after I left the company – which was itself 3 years after I met had her for the first time and have kids 16 year old. My mind was swirling in all sort of confusion.

As she kept talking, I could hear a few words through that cloud of confusion that started stabbing me back into consciousness….

“Wait! Wait! Roll that back for me. Did you say you adopted from Ethiopia?”

Second time around, I got the story straight. She and her husband had determined not to have their own kid – and instead change the lives of a few. They adopted a son from Ethiopia. Then found out that the child had a sibling (also given up at an orphanage). They adopted him too. Not content with the good that they had already done, they went back and adopted yet another – this time a girl from Ethiopia.

Again, life stories like this overwhelm me. This level of magnanimity and grace boggles my mind. I have mentioned this before about my time spent with an organization in Dallas where we rescued battered women and kids from physically abusive houses. I saw up close and personal how there are more kids than caring parents in this world.

People who can subtract one from that problem are just incredible human beings. I have no words for people who go back and do that multiple times.

I remembered my other friends from Wisconsin – Bob and Audrey (http://www.rajibroy.com/?p=7681) – who have adopted multiple times from Ethiopia and China and told their story to Christina.

This week, I ran into Girish in Cancun (http://www.rajibroy.com/?p=16292) – and found out that he and his wife have adopted two kids from Guatemala.

Amidst all this, the one thing I feel great about myself is that somehow I have been lucky in life enough to call people like these as my friends. For, these guys play the game of life at a very different level than I am able to comprehend.

It was magical to see you again, Christina! And may your tribe increase!

Category: Intersection Points | 3 Comments on I am surrounded by some angels!!
6 April 2018

Those indelible ink marks – one more of my favorites

This is one of the heaviest pens I have. Made from stone, I had collected this from a professional pen maker who hailed from New York at a pen show around 2008, I believe. I have always used this pen with red ink. Over the years, the nib has become a little broader and I need to replace it with a fine tip. Still, writes like a charm…

Category: Fountain Pens | 29 Comments on Those indelible ink marks – one more of my favorites
5 April 2018

Nikispeak: Making coffee this morning

This morning, I was trying to catch up on quite a few things after coming back from vacation. There were a lot of calls to be made. While taking such a call from the breakfast table, I noticed that Nikita had started making a cup of coffee for me.

I put the phone on mute and said. “Thank you Nikita. That is very nice….” That is how far I could go.
She promptly cut me off with the rejoinder “Yeah! Yeah! I know. Now remember this when I ask you for money” !!

And they say she is just like me 🙂 🙂

Category: My Family | 3 Comments on Nikispeak: Making coffee this morning
5 April 2018

From the bartender’s corner – Gin #35: Green House Gin

You probably would not expect much from distilleries in Texas. Although there is that Tito’s vodka from Austin that is definitely top notch. This gin, while not in the same class as a Hendricks or Malfy has enough uniqueness that makes it worth a try. First, I tried it thinking it would be one more of the so-called “hand crafted”, “artisan”, “small batch” etc etc gins. All the adjectives used to try to position the uniqueness. I expected it to be very juniper forward and not expect much more.

Quite to the contrary, the juniper is subdued. Unlike some other reviewers, I would not call this as a traditional gin. This is more in the American Style gin to me.

Now comes the frustrating part… there is a overwhelming aroma of something in this gin – which is very pronounced when you exhale – but for the life of me, I cannot pinpoint what it is. I do not think it is any of the berries (like the açaí berry in it) – it is definitely a mix of citrus (probe the Sicilian bergamot – something that I have never had in my life) and something else – more flowery. Kind of like lavender but less pronounced.

I had Sharmila try it – who is far better in pin pointing the components than me, but between us, we are still struggling. If any one of you can nail it, please let me know.

You definitely want to have the first one neat. Take in small sips and let it sit on your tongue for a while. The nose has that flowery aroma that I talked about. But as you let the gin sit on your tongue and breathe in and out for the first time, it breaks down into a very rich mixture of that citrusy-flowery smell. You can quickly smell the juniper right after it. On the palate, it has a buttery feel to it. The length is very long and sweet.

I am still not sure how this will go in a cocktail or even with tonic water. I have a feeling the character of the gin might get totally killed with some of the stronger components. I will try it and see how it comes out.

From the distiller’s notes, the following are some of the botanicals – but not the complete list, they insist:  juniper berries, cardamom, coriander, Sicilian bergamot, lemon, lime, orange, açai berry, and cucumber.

Category: Cocktails | 4 Comments on From the bartender’s corner – Gin #35: Green House Gin
4 April 2018

The Caribbean!

The whole spectrum of blue – from turquoise to ultramarine, the Caribbean waters has it all. The picture quality is terrible – we were about 10,000 feet above ground when the airplane banked to its left to head north and I had a few seconds to pull out the iPhone before the plane straightened out again. The clouds in the sky and the greasy window pane in the plane did not help matters much.

But you can still get a glimpse of what it looks like. That is the Cancun beach in Zona Hotelera. A 8 mile long “C” like island. If you can spot the three red roofs towards the very low end of the “C”, that is where we were staying…

So long, Cancún!

Category: Vacations | 7 Comments on The Caribbean!
4 April 2018

Sometimes, real life can be so funny…

Saw this board in Cancun airport. It was very funny – or should I say “punny”?. Brought Nikita from where she was to show it to her.

Sitting in the plane, I was wondering if there was a myth behind the Conch Republic. Found out there is no myth. Only reality!!

There is a micro nation (mostly the Key West) which is called the Conch Republic. It even has an army and artillery – chiefly water guns and stale Cuban bread!!

I lived in Florida and never knew about this. You can read up about the hilarious history here…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch_Republic

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4 April 2018

That was a colorful town

On our way back from Chichen Itza, instead of taking the normal route, we had planned to take a slight detour and visit a small town that my friend Christina had told me about. I am glad she had given me that tip. Valladolid is very different from most of the other small towns or neighborhood we have seen so far. The striking thing is how colorful each and every building and house is. The even have doors painted in bright colors contrasting with the house colors. The city center roads were cobble stoned.

Reminded us of a place we had visited in Italy a couple of years back – I think it was called Burano. (island off Venice).

Very nice people and you can see the pronounced indigenous features in the faces of the citizenry here. An interesting feature was all the middle aged and elderly ladies seem to dress the same style – a casual, white tunic like one piece dress with some modest prints on them.

Went to a flea market to check out the local wares…

Category: Vacations | 5 Comments on That was a colorful town