5 November
2017
4 November
2017
From the bartender’s corner: Gin #23 – Bols Genever
The original Bols family had started a distillery way back in 1575. To put it in perspective, William Shakespeare was just a few years old then!! There have been a few reincarnations of the distillery ever since. The Genever making started in the mid 1600s. It is one of the oldest distilleries in the world and one of the oldest Dutch companies still in business. (Although I wish they had spelt it “Jenever” to keep up with the old local tradition)
If you recollect, genever is the forefather of today’s gin (referred to many times as London Dry – although there are many other types today). Unlike dry gin, genever used to be aged in a barrel – much like whisky or wine of those days.
Therefore, Bols – like every other genever has the very typical smoky nose to it. The base alcohol comes from malted wine and neutral grain spirit. It is then distilled – three times in fact – in standard copper stills. The botanicals – which are held as a secret – are added in the last distillation.
The nose strongly reminds you of the malty and grain roots with the juniper and citrus coming thru much later. To the palette it is sweeter, thick and smooth. The finish is smoky due to the ageing.
As with all other barrel aged drinks (like whiskey), this is best drank neat (with a splash of water or maybe an ice) or in a cocktail. But genever is not a G&T drink. Although I have to admit, I did make one (genever with tonic) and had it. Nothing to write home about.
4 November
2017
An afternoon with imaginary numbers. But real math
1 November
2017
Gins of the World
I started this year thinking I will do all my research and studying of gins. The history of gins, the manufacturing process, the different ingredients in different gins and the difference in gins by their origins. I also wanted to try out those gins in different cocktails and make a comparative study.
The good news is that so far, I have learned a lot. I mean a lot.
The bad new is that my original estimate of 26 gins in 52 weeks has now ballooned to 38 gins. I think I will continue with this in 2018.
In the meanwhile, I mapped out all the distilleries for these 38 different gins spread over 13 different countries in 4 different continents. Looked cool…
And here is the link to the map in case anybody wants to know more details: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?hl=en&mid=1tsYujwbCei154Wv5BYBTQxUyn0I&ll=29.843387093543175%2C-80.20935361249997&z=3
31 October
2017
A little something for me too…
A lot of things were accomplished this trip – the top two missions were to be with dad and mom and also try to meet some old teachers. Could not meet many – actually any – of my old classmates, friends from neighborhood and all that. Although, did get “bhaiphnota” after three and a half decades from my sister.
Finally, it was time to do something just for myself.
After alighting at Frankfurt airport, went to the biggest Duty Free shop and got hold of one of those helpful young gentleman from the store. They had a huge wine and liquor section.
I am nothing if not a bunch of quixotic passions put together. Since gin is my major area of focus this year on the cocktails front (and looking at my inventory, it is promising to go well into next year), I asked him if he could show me some German gin. He got me a bottle of Monkey 47. But I have already gone thru that. He had none other.
Changed my tack – showed him the list of 11 countries that I have gins from.
“If you can get me gins from any country other than these 11, I will buy them”.
We settled for Norway and Japan!!
What can I say? Apparently, I have more “research” in front of me 🙂
31 October
2017
The defining image of this trip…
Undoubtedly, this trip was all about my dad. Watching him go thru the transitions and helping him phase into a new stage of life is what I was there for. What I had not counted on is the level of transition this meant for my mom.
In an earlier post, I had written about the challenges of being a caregiver of a elderly patient with limited ability to move or make himself understood. I had further mentioned that on top of that, being a mother is totally incomprehensible to me in terms about effort and sacrifice.
As the days went by, I realized another thing. My mom is realizing that, in addition to all those, she is now going to be the head of the household. She brought out a couple of big files from the almirah and asked my brother and I if we could explain to her the house finances. (Dad has no ability to explain anything). We sifted thru a lot of papers and bank passbooks and armed with some prior knowledge we had, we helped her understand her monthly expenses, sources of income and current assets in bank.
In fact, my brother and I went to a couple of banks a few times (I went to an Indian bank after about 25 years!!) to set up a few things for her.
In my previous visits, mom would either be cooking or sitting with us or be sleeping (remember, she is a psychiatric patients and those medicines have a strong sedative effect). This time, for the first time, I saw her often sitting by herself and in very pensive mood. She seemed to get very deep in her thoughts.
I always wondered whether to interrupt her thoughts. One time, I managed to take a picture of her and then I did break down and asked her what was going thru her mind.
“Eka songshar ki korey chaalabo tai bhaabchi”.
She was thinking thru how she was going to manage all the family affairs by herself.
That is when I realized that on top of her normal role and the added role of being the primary caregiver, she now has to be the head of the household too. Forget her. I myself became too confused how was one person going to deal with all of these.
I have mentioned this before – For all the things my dad and mom are going thru, we have one of the best support systems you could think of. My sister lives next door to my parents. My brother lives couple of hours away and regularly visits them to get my dad’s medicines (those are available only in Kolkata). And I get to see them every three months. Between the three siblings, till date, we have been fortunate enough to financially support them on any care or services they might need. I know none of these are constants and things can change on any front dramatically quickly but that said, till date, we have been incredibly lucky in our support system for parents.
Even then, watching my mom, the thought came across my mind – may be I should just go and stay with them for the last few years of their lives.
That pensive picture of my mom has been permanently seared in my mind now…
31 October
2017
Some new… some not so new…
Sometimes journeys are memorable due to the newness of things – new places seen, new people met, new experiences undergone. And sometimes journeys are memorable due to the constancy of a few things. It is like those are the things you actually look forward to for every such trip.
My trips to India have a few similar things that repeat that I absolutely wait for. In fact, they often define what my trips are all about… being with parents, sitting out with my dad in the morning, having drinks and “namkeens” with the siblings late evening, “golgappas” with the nephews and niece in the late afternoon, taking my inlaws out for a lunch or dinner one day …
Not to forget hitting the road with my brother. Every trip entails meeting some new people after a few decades. And that means driving to new cities and towns and testing the limits of Google maps in the Indian context (it does amazingly well, by the way). My brother insists on driving always and we spend quite some time together on the roads. We have some incredible experiences on the road.
Which brings me to one more of those “constant things” – having tea with him at various tea stalls along all the highways and village roads. We usually choose those tea stalls that do not have a lot of customers – which allows us to make friends with the tea stall owner and find out more about the neighborhood.
This particular one was taken somewhere on Durgapur Expressway near Saktigarh (for the ones familiar with the area – this is NOT one of those thousands of places selling “langchas”).
31 October
2017
Family time in India
31 October
2017
That was an uncommon name in the list…
Upon entering Delhi airport last night, I was glancing thru the list of flights on the boards to see where I was supposed to go and finish my check in for the Lufthansa flights. Somehow, among all those flights listed in three big boards, my eyes got arrested on one line.
“Durgapur”!!! My small old town has flights going from Delhi!! I was aware of a new airport and I think there are very limited number of flights going there (one? two?) but I had never seen Durgapur’s name up their on those flight boards.
That was a random moment from this trip – but one of somehow great satisfaction. Not sure why?
Maybe a throw back to those good old days when we – the three siblings- were all below 10 and used to play imaginary airplane games in our backyard?
Like I said – felt good though!!
31 October
2017
That is nuts. Errr… I mean coconuts…
Walked up to the empty Lufthansa counter to check in for my flight back and did my usual small talk with the young lady at the counter – you know “How long have you been with Lufthansa?”, “Are you from Delhi” and all that. And in the middle of that I yelled “Whoa!”.
She looked at me inquisitively.
I was still staring at the memo listing the stuff I cannot have in my checked in luggage!! After glancing thru the usual list of dangerous things, I came to a screeching halt when I saw the picture of a coconut!
Coconut??
Coconut?????
Why is the coconut in the list?
What did the poor coconut do? When is the last time a terrorist threatened national security with a errrrr…. coconut?
On an aside, WHO is carrying coconuts in their carry on luggage?
P.S. I am no expert, but I assume the shape of a grenade and the water inside has something to do with triggering the alarm system? But why ban even the half-coconut? (Look at the picture). Again, I do not know why anybody would want to carry half coconuts in their checked in luggage either…
