BTW

First off: Merry Christmas, Day 3.

Those who know me know that I like my bourbon manhattan before dinner.* Occasionally I'll vary it with a Rob Roy, or substitute rye whiskey, Irish on St. Patrick's Day, Japanese on major Japanese holidays, or Haitian rum (to support the nation's economy). But most of the time it's bourbon and sweet vermouth in a ratio of 5:2. For Christmas- and Eastertide I like to have a special bourbon. This year, for the first time, my regular boozery was selling Berkshire Bourbon, from a distillery established in 2007 in Berkshire County in western Massachusetts. The price was high enough that I figured it should be pretty good. I was not disappointed. I've had a few drops unmixed, and the flavor is fairly mild, and it is very smooth. It also makes a very pleasant manhattan.

I hadn't realized that whiskies made outside Kentucky could legally be called bourbon, but I find that any whiskey made in the United States with the proper ingredients and method can properly and legally be called bourbon. Live and learn. So Berkshire Mountain Distillers are "kosher."


*Many years ago I went out to the porch shortly before dinnertime on a cloudy day to look at the weather. When I came back in my mother asked, "Precip?" (short for precipitation, accent on the first syllable) meaning, "Is it  raining?" But I pretended that she had asked, "Pre-sip?" meaning, "Would you like something to drink before dinner?" We liked it enough that for years we called drinks during the "cocktail hour" pre-sip.

I should give you more Theology of the Body, and I also want to tell about the Race Committee party last week, when I was making progress in getting to know one of the newer guys on the Committee. Hopefully I'll get to both very soon.