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Subject: Beverages
Tap City: How to approach Mattingly Brewing Company? Go for the beer. Stay for the beer.
March 11, 2009The Noble Writ: Giving Cava Some Credit
I'm not so crazy about Champagne. By Champagne, I don't mean sparkling wine in general or a $6 bottle of Cook's from California. I mean proper Champagne, the great sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France.During production, much Champagne is aged in its bottle with yeast for several years prior to release. This extended interaction with yeast gives Champagne a range of flavors that many people find compelling and record positively as toasty, yeasty, nutty or freshly-baked bread. But th
June 2, 2009Java Enabled: Dedicated to Coffee and Free for All
"If you look out that window, you can still see the original smokestack that they put in when they started roasting coffee here," said Mike Marquard, a barista trainer for Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company.We were sitting in the back room of the roaster's DeMun café. Sure enough, tucked away behind the heavy curtains that frame the tall windows was a small, crooked smokestack. It felt like coffee archeology.Sitting in the room where the Kaldi's first experiments with coffee occurred was the perf
June 3, 2009Brew, Baby, Brew: The ranks of St. Louis' craft brewers are swelling as we swill
June 3, 2009FoodWire: "Vintage Rock" Wine Dinner at Fleming's
Fleming's (1855 South Lindbergh Boulevard) is holding a "Vintage Rock" wine dinner on Tuesday, March 10, and Friday, March 13. The dinner features wines from Mick Fleetwood and, uh, the manager of the Doobie Brothers. (I would have been really impressed if they had chosen a wine by Maynard James Keenan of Tool.)The four-course menu:"Groovy" goat cheese & oven-dried tomato crostini paired with "Double Platinum" Champagne cocktail by 101 Champagne Cocktails author Kim Haasarud"Rockin'" shrimp
February 27, 2009The Noble Writ: Chardonnay for the Chardonnay Haters
Dave Nelson is the author of the blog Beer, Wine and Whisky. He writes about wine for Gut Check every Tuesday.The world produces an ocean of chardonnay. In California alone, almost 100,000 acres of this incredibly popular grape variety are planted. That's enough chardonnay to make -- using modest crop and efficiency estimates -- over 250,000,000 bottles. Add the chardonnay acreage in France and Australia, and the worldwide total pushes 400,000 acres.Given chardonnay's ubiquity, it's not surpris
March 3, 2009Java Enabled: Once You Go Black, You Never Go Back
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.A friend of mine in college always invited me to dinner when her father came to town for business. During one such dinner, when it came time to order dessert and coffee, my friend announced to her father that she'd alway
March 11, 2009Java Enabled: The Café, Unplugged
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.I sit at the mouth of the winding Alice in Wonderland hallway that once bridged the two halves of Kaldi's Coffeehouse on DeMun Avenue. A black power cord snakes from my old clunker of a laptop, across the cracked and pa
March 25, 2009Java Enabled: Is Coffee Recession-Proof?
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Is coffee recession-proof?Reading the bad news about Starbucks, you'd sure think it wasn't. But while some Starbucks locations have been forced to close their doors due to dropping sales and tightening purse strings, it
April 1, 2009The Noble Writ's Under-$20 Oregon Pinot Noir Shootout
Dave Nelson is the author of the blog Beer, Wine and Whisky. He writes about wine for Gut Check every Tuesday.In just about any wine store, and even in many grocery stores, the pinot noir selection seems to keep growing and growing. Frankly, I thought there would be a plateau and then perhaps a fall as we got further removed in time from The Movie, but there are few signs of things slowing down.I'm actually happy about that: Pinot noir can be an incredibly tasty, food-friendly wine. For many pe
April 7, 2009Java Enabled: Kaldi's Barista Smokes His Way to the Top
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Tobacco smoke, caramel and coffee sound like things you'd encounter only while visiting a great-aunt. This, however, was the flavor combination that won Mike Marquard, a trainer with Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company, six
April 8, 2009FoodWire: Wine Dinner at Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar
Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar (222 South Bemiston Avenue; Web site) will hosts its monthly wine dinner at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21. This month's guest is Lucas Meeker, assistant winemaker at Meeker Vineyards. Executive Sous Chef will preparing the following menu to pair with Meeker wines: Cabrales flan w/ rosemary-roasted wild mushrooms & dried cherry and fig compoteMeeker Gold Leaf Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Mendocino CountyFennel sausage-stuffed Heritage Acres pork loin roast w/ cri
April 9, 2009Bigger Beer Ain't Better Beer
April 15, 2009Jave Enabled: Coffee for One
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Betrayal was the first emotion I felt. My boyfriend said he was giving up coffee -- and for tea, of all things! What does tea have over my black beauty? It was like hearing, "It's not you, it's me." Or, "I think we need
April 15, 2009We Owe Him Thanks
April 22, 2009Can Java Enabled Win the One-Cup-a-Day Bet?
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.I am not addicted to coffee. Oh, I can see your eyes roll as I type this, but it's true. I don't get a headache if I miss my morning cup; I'm not agitated or moody or completely lethargic without it. I am, however, alwa
April 29, 2009Actually, Java Enabled Meant to Say Expresso
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.When I was in high school, I once made the mistake of ordering an "expresso." The barista behind the counter sarcastically remarked to his co-worker, "Ex-presso? He must mean espresso."Over the weekend, I remembered thi
May 6, 2009Gut Check: Raise a toast to departed restaurants — then have a beer or three
May 27, 2009Java Enabled: Coffee Break Point
Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.The first shot was fired across the bow last Tuesday at approximately 10 a.m. CST. The perfect storm of "economic conditions" finally made landfall at my day job, and several people, including my boss, were swept away.
May 27, 2009The Noble Writ: Tell Me a Story
We live in a time when well-made wine is readily available to just about everyone. You can walk into most grocery stores -- not to mention wine shops -- and find dozens of wines that are cleanly and soundly made starting at or below $5 a bottle.But I need a wine to be more than "good." A "good," technically sound wine isn't what feeds my passion. I need a wine to draw me in -- to capture my attention with something distinctive. Sure, there's a base level of quality that needs to be met, but the
June 9, 2009Java Enabled: Mokka Express, Revisited
My Bialetti Mokka Express stovetop coffee maker was the first specialized percolator I ever bought. With a newly christened driver's license, I used to drive to J. Viviano's and Sons on the Hill to buy Italian coffee in search of the promise of real espresso at home. It will be no surprise to the home espresso brewer that what I ended up with was far removed from the sweet, complex flavors that come with good espresso.My Mokka Express isn't to blame, though. I am.Stumptown is a name any serious
June 10, 2009The Noble Writ: Is the Bloom off the Kiwi?
The wine world has seen few success stories like New Zealand sauvignon blanc. In the past decade, the country's production of sauvignon blanc has increased by 800%, and the value of all wine exported from New Zealand is set to top NZ$1 billion next year. Sauvignon blanc put New Zealand on the wine map and continues to dominate the nation's output.In addition to aggressive export, the New Zealand wine community has been at the forefront of two revolutions. First, as an industry, it committed ear
June 16, 2009Java Enabled: Chill Out with Cold-Brewed Coffee
Last summer I was in New York visiting friends over Memorial Day when I first saw the signs. Walking between friends' apartments, going to restaurants and even a backyard barbecue in the West Village, I kept seeing café windows advertising cold-brewed coffee. Between the cafés and people I spoke with, it seemed that cold-brewed coffee was sweeping the city in the face of summertime heat. With the official start of summer coming on fast, I still haven't seen cold-brewed coffee sweep St. Louis
June 17, 2009The Noble Writ: Vino Soave
Remember chugging Lancer's, Mateus, Black Tower or Blue Nun in the parking lot before the Three Dog Night concert?Me neither.But I certainly hear plenty of quasi-wistful reminiscences about them. I was relatively surprised to learn that many people lumped one of my favorite white wines, Soave, in with these pop-culture laughingstocks.It seems that in a decade not too long ago Soave was the Italian white wine -- the pinot grigio of its day. As with so many things, popularity bred mediocrity as pl
June 23, 2009Java Enabled's Day at the Roasters
"It smells sweet, like candy," my friend said as I extended my wrist to his nose. My skin had absorbed the caramel flavors that had been wafting around me all day like a welcome second-hand smoke. It was the smell of coffee roasting.It was a bad day to hang out near a coffee roaster -- much less two. The high was 96 degrees, with the humidity already maxing out at typical St. Louis swampy levels, when I went to view the roasting operations at both Northwest Coffee Roasting Company and Kaldi's Co
June 24, 2009Java Enabled Visits Kaldi's Barista Jam
Crowds, kegs out back, live music and coffee -- lots of coffee. While it might sound like that college party you don't remember very well (the one that ended up at Uncle Bill's at 4:00 am), it was, in fact, Kaldi's Summer Barista Jam.Last Friday, Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company hosted its third barista jam, a barista-education and coffee-industry pow wow for St. Louis and the Midwest region. The theme for this season's jam was "back to the basics," an intense focus on espresso roasting, present
July 1, 2009The Best of Gut Check: The Noble Writ
Dave Nelson is the author of the blog Beer, Wine and Whisky. He writes about wine for Gut Check every Tuesday.While Gut Check is on vacation this week, check out some of Dave's best work:Chardonnay for the Chardonnay Hater (March 3, 2009):The world produces an ocean of chardonnay. In California alone, almost 100,000 acres of this incredibly popular grape variety are planted. That's enough chardonnay to make -- using modest crop and efficiency estimates -- over 250,000,000 bottles. Add the cha
July 7, 2009FoodWire: "Divine Swine" Wine Dinner at Five
The recently relocated Five (5100 Daggett Avenue; Web site) is hosting the "Divine Swine" wine dinner on Thursday, July 23, at 7 p.m. The five-course meal features pork, pork and more pork -- all from Benne's Farm in St. Charles -- as well as wine from the Two Angels winery. The cost is $55 per person (tax and tip not included), and reservations are required. Call 314-773-5553 for more info or to make reservations.Check out the menu after the jump.
July 21, 2009The Noble Writ: Romo-ance and a Romo-rant
This week we're going to delve into yet another virtually extinct grape variety that, in the right hands, makes absolutely delicious wine: romorantin. First, though, a bit of a rant. There are more worthy grapes out there than just cab, merlot, pinot noir and chardonnay. And, for the really adventurous drinkers out there, more than zinfandel, syrah, sauvignon blanc and riesling too!Limiting your wine experience to these superstars is like having the Crayola 64 pack, using the red, blue, green a
July 21, 2009Java Enabled: Have Coffee, Will Travel
One of the things I love most about travel is getting the chance to try new cafés. (As I wrote last week, some coffee aficionados base entire trips on this premise.) But even when your travels won't lead you to some undiscovered java gem, you might not want to sacrifice the comfort and security of a good cup of coffee.I found myself in this very position over the Fourth of July when I was on holiday with my extended family. Food has always been very important to my family, but this affection h
July 22, 2009The Noble Writ: Pairing Pizza with Wine, via Piedmont
Wait, it's pizza and beer, right? Not in my book. As someone who loves beer, pizza and wine to degrees that would probably embarrass most folks, I'm mystified how this generic "match" has become a ubiquitous populist myth.What kind of beer? What kind of pizza? What kind of wine? These are areas rife with variations and passionately-held pedantic points of honor.The most critical pizza component when deciding which beverage to pair is the sauce. Basically, any pie with a tomato-based sauce is go
July 28, 2009The Noble Writ: Corkage with Class
On the relatively few occasions when I dine at a nice restaurant, I'm usually seen carrying my "geek bag." (I have used the 820 model for almost ten years.) Inside will be three or four wines from my cellar that I am willing to pay to open pursuant to the restaurant's corkage policy.A restaurant that allows corkage permits you to bring in a bottle of your own wine and drink it on its premises for a set fee. In St. Louis, this fee usually ranges from $10 to $25, and many finer dining restaurants
August 4, 2009Java Enabled: How Do You Store Your Beans?
The only time I've ever had something remotely close to an argument with another coffee drinker was over how beans should be stored at home. How often have you heard of someone storing their beans one way and thinking, "Oh god, they're ruining that coffee"?For me, the greater question is why there's no standard storage method. It's the same product sold around the world, but there are so many passionately differing opinions on how to store it properly.Where's the Scopes Monkey Trial for coffee s
August 5, 2009The Noble Writ: A Riesling Primer
Riesling is my favorite white grape variety, and if pressed, I'd probably choose it as my favorite grape overall (pinot noir being its only real competition). So it pains me that so many folks interested in wine seem to ignore it, if not deride or despise it. There are many misconceptions about riesling, and the German on many riesling labels acts as a further barrier. However, no other grape so clearly articulates where it is grown, which makes the effort not only worthwhile, but obligatory for
August 11, 2009FoodWire: Veritas Hosting Pahlmeyer Wine Dinner August 19
Veritas Gateway to Food and Wine (1722 Clarkson Road) is hosting a five-course dinner featuring Pahlmeyer Wines on Wednesday, August 19, at 6:30 p.m. Pahlmeyer Winery sales manager Dave Landis will be a guest. Pahlmeyer Wines include the "Jayson" line, named after founder Jayson Pahlmeyer, which even a cheapskate like yours truly knows is good grape juice.Dinner costs $125 per person. Reservations are required and -- very important -- limited to only twenty-four diners. Call 636-530-9505 to make
August 11, 2009Java Enabled: Probat, Unlike Any Other
It's the Cadillac of roasters -- or maybe the Mercedes-Benz, considering its origin. The German coffee roaster Probat isn't a household name, but it's synonymous in coffee circles with high quality coffee roasting. Some of the best artisan roasters in St. Louis -- Shaw's Coffee Ltd., Northwest Coffee Roasting Company and, most recently, Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company (more on that later) -- have been using Probat machines for years.When I visited Northwest earlier this summer, owner Rick Milto
August 19, 2009Innovations in Sneaking: The Solid-State Cocktail
Fernando de Sousa, Wikimedia Commons While I'm constantly amazed at the number of movie theaters in St. Louis that offer beer, wine and decent coffee, there still aren't many places you can enjoy a good cocktail during the show. What's a sneak to do?1. Pre-mix the cocktail and bring it in a bottle or thermos.This is all right for simple cocktails, like a screwdriver, but for something more complicated or garnished, this is a poor choice. It's also hard to get an appropriately-sized serving for
August 24, 2009Java Enabled: Coffee's Big-Ass Red
In What to Drink with What to Eat, sommelier Steve Beckta writes about the challenge of finding that perfect bottle of wine to meet the different tastes of every diner at the table: "Scientifically, there may be a bottle of wine they 'should' have. But...they're not going to like that at all. What they're going to love is a big-ass red from Australia. And their enjoyment is more important to me than getting the perfect wine and food match." The answer isn't having that Dionysian bottle of wi
September 2, 2009The Noble Writ: Are Sulfites Friend or Foe?
One of the larger areas of misconception surrounding wine is the use of sulfur compounds, most commonly sulfur dioxide (SO2), during the wine-making process. Many consumers seem to misunderstand why most winemakers add SO2 and what ill effects it might cause. Given that all wines containing more than 10 parts per million of sulfites are required by the Food and Drug Administration to sport a deadly-serious-looking official government label that warns of their presence, it isn't surprising that m
September 8, 2009Java Enabled: Southwest's Coffee Gets a LIFT
It's been a while since I've taken a vacation and even longer since I've flown. So when a good deal on a Labor Day weekend in Orlando, Florida, popped up, I jumped at the chance to go. As I filed down the ramp with the rest of my fellow passengers, I was surprised to see an ad on the wall for LIFT, Southwest's new on-board coffee. My interest was piqued. When was the last time you were excited to taste an airline's coffee?Southwest served the first cups of LIFT in May of this year. The boldest
September 9, 2009The Noble Writ: Comfort Wine
My tastes generally run to the esoteric, the obscure, the endangered and, sometimes, the downright odd. Which isn't to say I can't and don't appreciate more "mainstream" wines, because I can and do, but with so many wines available in the market, I can't resist the urge to explore.Occasionally, however, I want a sure thing. One of the wines that has served steadfastly in this role for me over the past seven vintages or so is the Les Hérétiques bottling from the Iché family at Chateau d'Oupia
September 15, 2009Is AB-InBev Trying to Play Down the Belgian Roots of Bud Light Golden Wheat?
anheuser-busch.comOn Monday, Anheuser-Busch-InBev announced the nationwide release of Bud Light Golden Wheat, the latest spin-off of the company's most popular brand (Chelada, anyone?) and another attempt by the world's largest brewer to break into the micro-brew market and quench the nation's ever-increasing thirst for craft beers.Described in the press release as "an unfiltered wheat brewed with citrus, a hint of coriander and the superior drinkability of Bud Light" the beer is essentially
October 7, 2009Java Enabled's Postcard from Costa Rica: Typical Coffee
At first glance it looks like a baby's sock hanging from a mini oil derrick, slowly dripping the black liquid into the cup below. OK, maybe it's closer to a Chemex than I'm making it sound, but the "typical" -- or "tipico," as restaurant menus across the country will remind you -- percolador style of coffee preparation in Costa Rica is certainly unique.
October 7, 2009Java Enabled: Lo Mejor de Monserrate
Lo Mejor de Monserrate. It means, "the best of Monserrate." This perhaps presumptuous claim is the name of a tiny cooperative nestled high in the mountains of Colombia's Huila coffee region. Last month Tyler Zimmer and Mike Marquard of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company visited Monserrate. This was a rare opportunity for a U.S. roasting company to get the chance to visit one of the farms where its coffee originates, so I was curious to hear about the trip. After returning from my own visit to Latin
October 14, 2009The Noble Writ: Wine Shopping from Afar
A point comes in many wine lovers' lives when they are unable to find a bottle they really want in their local wine shops. It might be a wine from the birth year of a special person, a bottle enjoyed while traveling or just something about which they've read that simply captivates their imagination.The simple fact about wine distribution is that far from everything is available in any particular market. While we St. Louisans are relatively well placed in a large metropolitan area spanning two st
October 20, 2009Drink of the Week: Pot for Two, London Tea Room Blend, The London Tea Room
My companion is not a "tea room" kind of guy. In fact, he winced a little when I suggested the London Tea Room for lunch. Still, he plays along, even when I propose ordering tea for two. Knowing that black coffee is more his style, I resist the frou-frou flavored options in favor of the London Tea Room Blend, an austere and balanced black tea blend. Upon ordering a half-sandwich and soup combo, in which bacon is featured both on the sandwich and in the soup, he seems a little more at ease.In
October 28, 2009Java Enabled Previews the Midwest Regional Barista Competition
"It's like Iron Chef with baristas making coffee drinks."That's how Josh Ferguson, owner of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company, describes the Midwest Regional Barista Competition. The competition gathers the best baristas from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota to compete and share the latest in coffee."It brings people together to showcase their talents and come together with a community who want to raise the level of specialty coffee," Ferguson says.The
October 28, 2009List of Hot Cocktail Trends Is a Good Excuse to Post This Video
So Bombay Sapphire has surveyed "1,000 bartenders from 40 states" (according to the press release it sent out) to determine the top ten "hottest trends in mixology."The list includes both the expected (variations on classic cocktails) and, well, the unexpected -- such as hot trend #4. What is hot trend #4? Find out the answer (and the rest of the top ten) after the jump. But first, this clip to give you a clue...
November 3, 2009Java Enabled: Fifteen Shots Later, Part 1
When I received an e-mail a few weeks ago inviting me to sit as one of the sensory judges at the 2009-2010 Midwest Regional Barista Competition, I jumped at the opportunity. At my most delusional, it sounded like "celebrity judge" -- at the very least, it sounded like a great time. Last weekend, I trained for my judging certification and then sat as a sensory judge for the first round of the competition on Saturday. Fifteen shots later, I attended the final on Sunday. Over the next three week
November 5, 2009
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