Bourbon (Baked) Donuts

A couple months ago or so I happened upon a tweet by @BourbonBanter about really wishing he could put his morning donut in some bourbon. That got me to thinking, bourbon should be, no would be, really good in a donut. All that vanilla and carmel flavor melding with the sugar, a little cinnamon and nutmeg...I got to drooling just thinking about it (as an editorial aside, I still am. Saturday morning, these may be breakfast again...).

So I went looking for a pan to bake donuts in. I like fried donuts, but there is too much clean up. That and you have to get the oil just the right temperature or they soak up so much of it that your mouth is coated in an oil slick that is almost impossible to remove. No, baked sounded like the way to go. At my local Bed, Bath and Beyond (way beyond...) I found what I was looking for. The Wilton Donut Pan. It works pretty good and I was happy enough with it that I went back and bought another (since the recipe makes 12).

It took a couple tries to get right. The first time I didn't add enough bourbon. While you don't want too much, I really felt that since I was using good bourbon it was only right to taste it a bit. And since I told @BourbonBanter that I would share the recipe, here it is. It is a variation of the recipe on the packaging of the pan. I added bourbon and cinnamon and adapted it to what I had on hand. 

Bourbon (Baked) Donuts

(Makes 12 donuts)

Dry Ingredients

2 cups cake flour

3 Tbsp SaCo cultured buttermilk blend

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup bourbon (I used Knob Creek Single Barrel because 120 proof means more flavor and less water)

1/2 cup Egg Beaters (too many cholesterol problems to eat real eggs)

2 tbsp butter, melted. (shut up. I get the irony)

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, buttermilk powder, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. 
3. Mix together bourbon, water, egg beaters and butter. Add to dry mixture. 
4. Beat until just combined. Fill each doughnut cup approx. 2/3 full. 
5. Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of the donuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 4-5 minutes before removing. 
6. Finish donut by dredging through cinnamon sugar or confectioners’ sugar. Donuts are best served fresh. 

New Stash Addition: Redbreast 12 Year

I know, this isn't bourbon. It isn't even American. But fear not, I don't turn my back on my patriotic duty to drink as much bourbon as possible. I just turned the other way when I walked into Blue Max tonight. Turn left you find Bourbon, Rye and Canadian Whisk(e)y. Turn right and it it Scotch and Irish. I decided on a whim to turn right. And honestly, I didn't recognize anything on the shelf for the Scotch. I'll need guidance there. But I went just a little further and I noticed the Redbreast 12. It wasn't terribly expensive at $38 and some change. So after going and looking at the American whiskies, I talked to the wife and we decided to broaden our horizens a bit. After hearing all the advertising they do on WhiskyCast, I decided to go with the Redbreast. I've heard decent reviews so, we'll see.

 I've yet to crack it open. But as a designer, I love the quality of the packaging. Both embossed and debossed. Both on the same sheet. That's some spendy fininshing on that box. Hopefully what's inside lives up to the money they spent on it.

Initial reaction: very tasty, more to come.

Blue Max Liquors: Burnsville, MN

So, in the time I've lived in Minnesota, I probably passed Blue Max Liquors in Burnsville, MN about 50-60 times without really noticing it was there. I mean I occasionally noticed that there was a building that had blue awnings, had Blue-something written on it and was a liquor store, but I never really gave it any real attention. When I got the first issue of my Whiskey Advocate subscription, I noticed it in the back under the Specially Retailer section. 

"Where the hell is that? I've been everywhere in Burnsville," I muttered. Or something very near to that. Probably with happy curse words attached. Once I went to their website (http://www.bluemaxliquors.com for the curious) I knew exactly where it was. I'd driven past it numerous times. The listing said they were know for their scotch and bourbon selections. 

Yes, I was in the car before the book closed, why?

When I pulled into the parking lot, I was a little leery. This close to the south end of the metro, you don't normally see stores with bars in the windows. But I persevered, visions of bourbons dancing in my head. And was I ever rewarded. I can't speak to the other types of whisky, as I have much less knowledge about them, but the bourbon selection was indeed the best I'd seen in Minnesota. And the prices were lower than the chain just down the road. It wasn't the shiniest place I'd been in. There weren't wide aisles or bright lighting. But it was comfortable. And more importantly, it was stocked to bursting with wine, craft beer (they claim 1300 varieties), whisky (450 varieties) and, I assume, other liquors as well. To be honest, I've never really ventured beyond the beer and bourbon sections. I've walked past wine bottles, but didn't really pay them much mind. And the people. They were so nice. Helpful, cheerful, ready to chat with you. Just what I would hope for in a place of such wonderment.

There is just one knock on them. And it is something that I really do not understand because their prices are good, their selection is excellent, and the staff is so nice. They are about a 20 minute drive from my house. So one time I called ahead to see if they carried a certain whisky. The guy said they did and then even put down the phone to make sure it was in stock. When he got back on the phone he confirmed that it was indeed in stock. I told him I'd be right in and then asked how much it was.

His cheerfulness faded. "We don't give prices over the phone," he snapped. I was shocked. I had just told him that I would be right in. I keep aside a bit of cash each month to help stock the stash I didn't want to bring all of it if I didn't need to. 

Having worked in retail, this confuses me. I understand not wanting to tip off your competition, but to turn away customers as well seems like throwing the baby out with the bathwater and counter-productive at best. Needless to say I didn't go in that day. In fact, I might not have gone back at all, but...there was one bourbon in particular that I wanted and I knew they had it and I couldn't find it anywhere else. The guy behind the counter was so nice that I was won over all over again. 

Selection: I found two Pappys sitting on the shelf:   love

Price: About a couple bucks lower than the closest chain:   like

Customer Service: Confusing mix of awesome and terrible:   meh

Overall: I really like this store. I've just tried to memorize which of their products are cheaper (most) so I don't need to call again.

 like

Why I love craft distillers and how they can use that fact.

I love craft distilleries. Or micro-distilleries. Or whatever you want to call them. I visit them whenever I get the chance. I love the can-do, small-business, All-American work ethic that they have. These guys are going up against some of the biggest companies on the block and saying: my stuff is good too. And most of the time they are right.

The deck is stacked against small distillers. A lot of these guys don't have and don't want investors. They need to find a way to stand out and make some money. Now. The start-up costs are high, the on-going costs are high. And if they want to make an aged product, it won't be ready for months to years. Toss in the fact that the big guys are making a good product, they have loyal customers who like what they are producing and they have the scale to make the product cheaply and you are looking at a deck that is not only stacked, but but a game that should be unplayable. 

So how can the small guy stand out? Because passion doesn't pay the bills and love doesn't keep the lights on. Well one way is by engaging with your audience. Turn your customers into followers on twitter and Facebook. Talk to them, reach out to them online, show them that you are a real person and the passion you have for what you do. If you do it well, you'll turn those followers into brand advocates. You'll get them on your side and recommending your stuff to their friends.

I've got a great example of this, (and though it comes from one of the big guys, this particular big guy has had to do a lot of brand reconstruction and recovery in the last decade to make up for the many decades of neglect their brand had had before). My wife is currently going through chemotherapy. Two or three days before her first treatment, I tweeted that I'd gone out and bought a 2009 Four Roses Mariage for her to crack open after the chemo treatments had been deemed a success. Because Four Roses follows both my wife and I, they saw this. On the day of her first treatment, they sent out message to my wife telling her that they were thinking of her and pulling for her. My wife was in the chair, scared and being hooked up when she got it. It made her day. And, whether it was their intention or not,  it made her much more likely to choose a Four Roses when she's standing in the liquor store and doesn't know what she wants.

Every small distiller, hell, every small business person has time to do this. I use social networks when I'm not doing anything else, not when I'm busy. It's before bed, while watching tv, when someone else is driving, when I'm eating lunch, or (I'm ashamed to admit) when I'm in the toilet. Times when I'm not doing anything productive.

So what else? Because a loyal following will evaporate if there isn't an interesting product. And this is the topic I love most about small distillers. And why I prefer the term craft distiller to micro-distiller. They have the opportunity to experiment. Experiments are not all successful. I was a bit harsher than I intended in my review of MB Roland's product the other night. (Not because of the rating. I was trying to rate it from the perspective of an uninformed public. Someone who didn't know anything about the history of the thing, but saw the name bourbon on the label.) But because I forgot to mention the fact that even though this particular product wasn't my favorite based on my own preferences (don't really like the smoked drink thing, not even in beer) I love the fact that it was produced!

Let me repeat that: I love that MB Roland created an aged bourbon made out of smoked corn. 

I love the sense of experimentation. The creativity and the innovations that they and other craft distillers are creating. I have, and will again, plunk down my hard earned cash to support such ventures. Because although experiments fail, sometimes they succeed beyond our wildest dreams. And, to circle back to the first bullet point, if they've done the engagement part of this they have a willing audience to not only pay for these experiments, but to show them off and tell their friends about them. I have no doubt that there are people who love the Black Dog Bourbon that I gave a "high-meh" rating to. And I hope to find them and tell them about this product that I've tried and want to share with them. 

And I do this because I found out Paul was a real human being, not a faceless corporation. I've engaged with him online, we've talked, and tweeted, and emailed and facebooked. And I hope to continue to in the future. 

In the spirit of experimentation, here is a cocktail recipe that would not have been possible without experimentation and creativity on the part of a craft distiller. I give you my Smoky Old Fashioned.

Smoky Old Fashioned

.5 tsp sugar
water
2 drops Angostura Bitters
2 oz Bulliet Rye whiskey
a heavy tsp MB Roland Black Dog Kentucky Corn Whiskey (no substitutes)
one cherry to garnish (a moonshine cherry works well)

mix sugar into just enough water to allow it to dissolve (heat it for 10 seconds in the microwave to use less water). Add 2 drops of Bitters. Add ice to cool the sugar water. Pour whiskeys over ice. Stick cherry onto a stick and use it to stir.

MB Roland X-Barrel Experimental Series: Black Dog Bourbon

Since I owe my love of whiskey to these guys, I thought it only appropriate that my first review is of one of their products. One of the things I like about Paul (@MBRDISTILLERY on twitter) is that he is honest. He's not going to give you some bullshit story about how wonderful an experimental product is. In fact when he poured me a tasting of this at the distillery's tasting room. He warned me it wasn't his favorite. But he got a look on his face as he tried it with us that said he was maybe rethinking that statement. And then he told me that a little time oxidizing in an open bottle had done it some good. This is why I've put off reviewing this (yes, I have plenty of notes even if I haven't shared them with anyone yet). I tried it right away and it wasn't very good. I've left it on the shelf only taking a little here and there to see if it has improved. It's been 6 months or so and I'd say it's as ready to drink as it will be. 

So here's how Paul explained this product to me. He lives in tobacco country so he took some of the corn he was going to turn into distillate and put it in a tobacco barn to fire it along with the tobacco. (He sold the resulting new make as Black Dog Corn Whiskey.) And, boy, the smoke comes along to the party. If you drink it neat, it's a bit like licking an ashtray on the finish. That's why I don't drink it neat. I like to use a splash of it in an Old Fashioned.

Alright so I'd experienced this Black Dog as new make, I'd found a use for it and I'd liked it in that one use. So, when I got the opportunity to try an aged version, I was stoked. Not because I particularly liked the non-aged version, but because it was new and completely interesting. And it is interesting. But only for folks who are really interested in something different.

Nose: a smokey honey BBQ sauce

Taste: Chipotle, even more bbq sauce. The sweet and zesty kind, not the vinegar kind

Finish: Wood smoked honey with just a hint of sea air. I have a feeling I'll be burping this one up later.

Notes: This product is all about smoke. Not very balanced, just sweet and smokey. I'd like to try this with a burger to see how it holds up. I have a feeling it would complement it very well.

Rating: I like this just because it is so different, but for general audiences:

 meh.

My Bourbon Journey

I orginally posted this as a comment on the Bourbon & Banter website. Thought I’d put it here too.

My bourbon journey started with a hot Sunday afternoon almost 2 years ago. In Minnesota you can’t buy any alcohol, but 3.2% beer on a Sunday. Being from Wisconsin, I can’t bring myself to drink that. So since I was out of beer, couldn’t buy any, and really wanted a cold one I was inspired by my then new favorite show, Mad Men, to check out what was in the liquor cabinet. Most of it had been there forever. A rum, a vodka, a few liqueurs that were so old that the cap wouldn’t come off. I looked at what I had, ran to the store to buy some club soda, made my self a drink (once I got home) and decided I liked cocktails. Things were going pretty good, I’d even found a way to keep a cocktail in the diet once I’d decided I’d needed to lose weight. I was exploring my way through the various categories in the liquors store. Gins, vodkas, tonics, syrups, various liqueurs. Never did get a taste for rum. 

Then I took a vacation. Due to my new found love of spirits, I looked and found a few craft distilleries along my route from Minnesota to Georgia. One of which was MB Roland located in the little tail of Kentucky (@MBRDISTILLERY on twitter, love those guys). I hadn’t made it to the whiskey section of the liquor store yet so I bought a bottle of the Malt Whiskey he was selling. I put it in the luggage and forgot about it until I got home. 

Once I got home, I decided to substitute this Malt Whiskey for my usual cocktail while watching Mad Men. I’d paid a lot for the little bottle, so I decided to not mix this and to try it straight. I’d heard that people did that with whiskey. One sip and I was hooked. I loved it. It was sweet without adding sugar, it was spicy and flavorful without bitters. I was shocked and I continued to sip on that little bottle until I realized that if I didn’t find anything to switch it up with, I’d be out really soon. And since he was a craft distiller, I’d have a long drive back to Kentucky if I wanted more. So I stopped by the liquor store to get another bottle of whiskey. Didn’t know what I wanted. Scotch was too expensive. So bourbon. I’d heard there were some good ones of that. 

I have no idea what I bought first. I do know that I liked whatever it was enough that within a few weeks, I’d bought Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve, Maker’s Mark holiday gift packs. I also knew that as sad as I was to admit it, these bourbons were a lot more to my liking than the Malt Whiskey that had turned me on to whiskey in the first place. From that point on, I’ve been inspired to try every new kind I can. I’m up to 16 bourbons, 4 ryes, 2 non-bourbon experimental whiskies (from a craft distiller) and one quasi-local Irish Whiskey to help me celebrate St. Patty’s Day. My wife has had to put me on a whiskey budget each month (roughly $80 so I can get some of the higher end ones) and I’ve devoured every book on the history or how to make bourbon. I am fascinated my the stuff. I’m also a Bourbon Evangelist.

And I’m loving it.

Bourbon Trail Distillery Tour Review: Buffalo Trace

Editor’s note: Please note that I went on this tour a month ago now, Easter Weekend. I might have gotten a few of the details messed up, but I think my memory is pretty accurate. And you might have a different experience since it was a holiday. Also this is not an official Bourbon Trail stop, but is one you should go on anyway. You’re right there. You might as well. Ok. On with the show. 

It’s Saturday morning. We’ve had storms all night. At one point the thunder is so loud that I jump straight out of bed and land on the floor looking to make sure the ceiling is still above me. Reports of flooding are rampant. I’ve got one distillery to go and after a bit of packing I’m ready to go.

As we head out of Bardstown for the last time on this trip we notice that the thunder was only the most audible of the storm’s effects. Branches are down everywhere and there are a traces that running water was everywhere too in the not too distant past.

We get to Frankfort a little early. There is a definite need for some coffee. Can you believe that the only coffee place in Bardstown was closed still at 8am? So we stop for coffee and plan what we are going to try to do when we get to Buffalo Trace. 

We get there just as they are opening and we get on the first tour of the morning. We had reservations for the Hard Hat tour a little later, but are assured of making it back in time. So we decide to give it a try. 

The first thing I notice while waiting for the Trace Tour to start is that we are in a beautiful old building. The second, as I chat with the tour guide, is that I think I am going to like this tour. Our tour guide is JW (editors note: I’m pretty sure…it has been a month now). This guy is awesome! So much raw excitement.

We start out with a little history. Then we head over to another building for a movie. This movie is as good as the rest. That is to say very informative and nicely done. After the movie JW takes questions and then we are asked to gather in the back of the room. 

Once we are in the back of the room, JW gives an old cabinet a pull and it pops out from the wall. It’s actually a doorway to get into one of the aging warehouses. It’s a small thing, but is impressively cool none the less. 

 Unlike some of the other tours we’ve been on, we don’t go into the rick house very far. We get to see some barrels and even an experimental barrel or two. But it’s all good. The smell is the main reason I like going into them anyway.

After the rick house we travel to a small building where JW explains just how much liquid is lost due to evaporation over time. This is the coolest visual aid we’ve seen on this. the rest of the tours we’d been on just sort of tell us there is evaporation. All of a sudden I understand why an 18 year old bourbon is so much more expensive than a 12 year old one. Pretty cool.

The one thing we didn’t see was the bottling. Once again. Make sure you don’t plan your trip for a holiday weekend. Or really a weekend in general if you want to see that. Just saying.

Then it is back for the tasting. We get to taste the Buffalo Trace and the Eagle Rare single barrel. Both are very good. There is something about seeing how something is made that kind of changes your opinion of it. I didn’t care for the Buffalo Trace before I went, but really like it at 11 am this rainy Saturday morning, so who knows. But the star of the show is the Bourbon Creme. Toss that guy in a little root beer and you have a knock your socks off adult root beer float. Holy Cow. That’s what I ended up buying as my souvenir.

After the tasting I chat with JW a little more. He’s a great guide and I hope that the rest are as good as him. After that it is time for the Hard Hat tour. 

We gather next to the tasting area for this one. It is my wife and I, an older couple and their daughter and son-in-law. Coincidentally, they are from the Twin Cities too, just not recently. Small world. We all keep an eye to the sky because there is more weather threatening.

To start this tour we get a tiny bit of history, not a lot since this is much more of a factory tour. We see some of the grounds. Very pretty. Then it is over to the industrial portions. The first stop on the way in is where the grains are unloaded. They are unloaded through a grate in the ground.  

Once inside we walk past the mash cookers and up some stairs. Once up there we get to see them from the top. They really look like giant pressure cookers. And wow, are the lids attached with some heavy duty closures! We also see the yeast cooker.

Then it is across a skyway to the fermenting building. It seems like each place we go to builds them bigger than the last. These fermenting tanks hold 92,000 gallons! Buffalo Trace also has a very cool CO2 removal system that we haven’t see anywhere else. At least I thought it was cool. (Oh and the “No Swimming” sign next to them is pretty much priceless.)

After that we see a small still for making experimental bourbons and some smaller fermenting tanks. Nothing in these.

Finally there are the stills. These suckers are multiple stories high. I forget how many, but we were way up there. These are column stills. I like the little touches here. Even the taps to pull a sample have a small buffalo on them. Love that.  

Then we are done. We stop a little bit to look at the flooding. The river in their back yard has not crested yet and is already high. Amazing.  

Then tasting. I already had one of these so I tell them that so they didn’t get in trouble for serving me twice. While he was serving the others I ask about the root beer. Dr. Mcgillicuddy’s. Not available most places. But available online, in that distillery and in certain places in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Yep. It’s made near me. It’s owned by the same company as Buffalo Trace. Some of the best I’ve had. Seriously. I also buy some of root beer. It’s gone before I leave the parking lot. Sad.

I loved Buffalo Trace distillery. I wish I had seen it in operation and on a sunny day. It was pretty, but I could only imagine the improvement a some sun would make. I will go back. I may try to get on both tours again. I think this tour was the best one. If I had to choose just one tour, it would be this one. And it isn’t even on the Bourbon Trail officially.

Bourbon Trail Distillery Tour Review: Jim Beam

It is still raining when we leave Maker’s Mark. Raining so hard that we at times we need to slow down as the wipers can’t keep up. We’d planned to go to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln this afternoon. But, that’s out due to weather. So what else can we do?

I know! We’d planned to go to Jim Beam tomorrow, but we might be able to get a tour in yet today. Let’s give it a shot! 

I’m not all that excited to go on a tour because everything I’ve read states that this is a self guided tour. They list tour times on the Bourbon Trail site so I’m confused. But I figure I’ll figure out when I get there so off we go.

The rain is letting up by the time we get to the Beam Distillery. As we walk up to the steps to the gift shop, the sun is even peaking out. There’s a nice lady inside the front door. I ask her when the next tour starts and she tells me that it’s coming soon. Cool. We use the rest room and wander around the gift shop for a while. Here I get my first hint that Beam makes something other than the White label that I never really cared for. I’m intrigued and am starting to get to the point where I can’t wait for the tour to start. 

We gather at the back of the gift shop and head out the side door. The first stop of the tour is the old house. We looked at the old photos and saw a very small working still. This is pretty cool. I must admit. After that is the obligatory movie. They all do this and they are all pretty good. This is no exception. 

The tour guide answers some questions for us and we head out the back door. Now some of this part is the old self guided part, we kind of breeze past that with a promise that if we come back next September (2012) we’ll get tour of the distillery for the first time. But for now we get an enthusiastic tour guide who tells us stories and paints us word pictures. 

We work our way down to an aging warehouse. Oh man. That’s heaven. This is the money part of the tour. Our tour guide, I wish I could remember her name, gave us such a description of the aging process that even though I’d been on 5 previous tours at 5 other distilleries, I felt like I learned something. Then it was out for a tasting.

We got to taste the Basil Hayden and the Knob Creek Single Barrel. Both are awesome. At this point my mind officially changes regarding Jim Beam. 

I loved this tour. It was short and you didn’t see as much of the process as you do at others, but the enthusiasm of the tour guide made it the most fun tour of the six we went to. This tour is FUN. Capital letters. And if your only exposure to a Beam bourbon is the white label, especially take the tour, get the tasting. If your a fan, you’ll love it. If you are not, you’ll change your mind. 

This was the tour where we got our last stamp on our passports. Our t-shirt stop. So fun.