Intellectual Ferment of a Different Kind
~A Melange in Vienna~ I pause from reading the newspaper to take another sip of my coffee. A melange –– a Viennese classic coffee that goes by a French name sans the accent. A true mix: no single-origin beans here. Right now I’m …
The trees are starting to don their autumn colours and the kegs have already been tapped for this year’s Oktoberfest in Munich. Today in Vienna the curtain rises on a less well-known festival, but one entirely in keeping with the spirit of the harvest season: …
New job, new city. The two combined have left me precious little time to write. I know, I know. Tough life living in Vienna. Until the remnants of summer stop beckoning me to every nook and cranny of this fine town, my time at the …
Twelve years off and on in Ithaca, NY, has given me plenty of time to observe the beer, wine, and food scene of the Finger Lakes region change and evolve. Wine has been going strong for the past few decades, craft beer has enjoyed an …
Said Theseus to Philostrate: “Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments. / Awake the pert and nimble spirits of mirth.” And said a more contemporary Jane to Dick: “Get thee hither and fire up that damn lawnmower, for it has been more than a fortnight …
Aesthetics made me do it. That, and the intriguing description of the beer on the back of this attractively packaged embossed bottle crowned with gold foil and unconventional of size and shape. Adapted from the bottle notes: A blend of complex earthy, fruity, and light …
Calm seas in Tempest Land will give way to a torrent of words in the coming weeks. Expect the first rumblings tonight or tomorrow with another edition of “Your Saturday Six-Pack.” On the menu: Saisons. In the meantime, feel free to check out my “Rough …
Rabbit was a rare bird on many a North American menu until relatively recently. Sure, the French had their Lapin à la moutarde and the Germans their Hasenpfeffer. But it wasn’t until European-influenced chefs on this side of the pond began wondering where all the …
Tempest is marking time in more ways than one these days. Tempest recently turned eighteen months young. It’s been far too long since I’ve been at my keyboard. April and May kept me busy with our local homebrew club, as did interview preparation for a …
Earth Day 2015 is now receding in the rear-view mirror, but it’s worth keeping the Earth Day ethos in mind whenever we fire up our brewing systems. With the annual Big Brew festivities rapidly approaching, we may even want to challenge ourselves to put some …