Wakey Whiskey: Cane Land Distilling's Original Mississippi Floated Whisky

by Eric Ducote

Good morning everyone, and a fantastic Mardi Gras to you all!  My employer graciously gives us all the day off for Fat Tuesday, so what better way to celebrate the culmination of Carnival than a little wakey whiskey?  For this morning's selection I went over to the Bite and Booze HQ and found a local Louisiana whiskey from Cane Land Distilling in downtown Baton Rouge.  Cane Land is a relative newcomer to the Louisiana alcohol scene, having opened their doors on St. Phillip St. in 2017.  They produce their rum and vodka from their Louisiana sugar cane plantation and mill, making it a true "estate" product that is harvested, mashed, distilled, and bottled all by the same company.

Cane Land's whisky on the other hand is not grown locally but instead hails from the historic practice of floating barrels of American whiskey on barges down the rivers of Kentucky and Tennessee into the Mississippi and subsequently South to the ports of Louisiana. Cane Land recreated that process by sourcing Tennessee whiskey at a minimum of 5-years aged and transporting the filled oak barrels by barge all the way down to Louisiana, and then finishing the spirit in cognac vats before being bottled locally.  Harking on this process, Cane Land refers to their whiskey as Original Mississippi Floated Whisky. I reached out to Cane Land and their GM John Landry told me that so far they have brought down one barge full containing 150 53 gallon barrels, and they intend on doing it again. They bottle their whisky at 80 proof, or 40% alcohol and it's sold directly out of the tasting room, in local retail outlets, and can be found at several local bars.

Cane Land's OMFW - Original Mississippi Floated Whisky

Enough background, it's time to get into the whisky. The color is in the amber range, darker than straw but not quite getting into copper territory.  The aroma is extremely pleasing, a strong oak presence followed up by a fruity sweetness from the cognac finishing.   I feel like the cognac really improves the aroma by balancing out the candy corn sweetness typical from a corn mash whiskey.

The taste is more of the same, surprisingly smooth, with delicate fruity sweet notes playing well with the more bold oak char flavor of the barrel aging.  The alcohol sensation is minimal, and there is a lingering vanilla and cinnamon finish that adds an additional layer of complexity.  I think it was a smart move by Cane Land to source their whiskey rather than start out with a young and unpleasant offering.  I don't know for sure if they intend to produce their own whiskey mash in the future, but we can only hope that it turns out as tasty as this offering.

With that, I hope you all have a fantastic Fat Tuesday, enjoy yourself a #wakeywhiskey of your own, and cheers!

Beers with Chuck: Attacus Atlas from Parish Brewing

by Chuck P

I know I’m a bit late to the party with my review of this beer. After I received these from my good friend Buddy Etheridge things got pretty busy here at Bite and Booze HQ. Then I was attacked by the vicious flu not once, but TWICE which put me and my taste buds out of commision for about a month. Now that I’m back from what felt like the grip of death I felt the time to break out my 4-pack of Attacus Atlas from Parish Brewing had come.

This Triple IPA is packed with a crazy amount of Galaxy hops and Idaho 7, a fairly new hop that was released in 2015, to counter the amount they had to use to get the high 9% ABV. Honestly, I didn’t get a lot of booziness from it as I expected but I’m sure after a few of these it would creep up on you.

Attacus Atlas pours a nice yellow/orange mimosa-esque hue which is pretty much what most of the juicy IPA’s tend to look like, at least to me. The aroma is a mild mix of orange and mango, but my nose still may not be 100% yet. Taste wise the hop juice hits you right off the bat in a big way. The citrus notes come in nice and smooth with a bit of creaminess. There was some bitterness on the finish but to me it’s very mild.

Once again Parish knocks it out of the park with another strong entry into their ever growing hop portfolio. I’m glad my taste buds were able to get back to normal so I could truly enjoy this beer. Let’s all hope this one shows itself more often.

Jay D's Bites: Bánh Mi Burger

Burgers are one of the most versatile dishes anyone can make. From the type of protein used to the flavor profile, a burger can take on many forms. We wanted to steer away from the traditional type and do a play on a Vietnamese sandwich favorite, a Bánh Mi. We seasoned our pork patty with Jay D’s Spicy & Sweet Rub along with a hint of ginger and green onions. For the sauces we used a cilantro yogurt and converted Jay D’s BBQ sauce into an Asian glaze then topped it with pickled carrots, cucumber and jalapeño.

Bánh Mi Burger

Serves 4

Photo: Jordan Hefler Photography

Pickling Brine:
1 cup water
1 cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup sugar
1 large carrot
1 cucumber
1 Jalapeno

Using a vegetable peeler, cut ribbons of carrot and cucumber. Thinly slice the jalapeños. Put carrots, cucumbers, and jalapenos in separate containers. In a saucepan combine water, rice wine vinegar and sugar over medium heat. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, pour brine into each container until vegetables are submerged. Keep covered and refrigerated overnight.

Pork patty:
1 lb ground pork
¼ cup green onion
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 Tbsp Jay D’s Spicy & Sweet Rub
¼ cup panko

Season pork and form 4 patties using recipe above. Sear on each side until golden brown and cook for 4-6 minutes total.

Cilantro Yogurt Dipping Sauce:
1 cup Greek yogurt
½ bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Asian BBQ Sauce:
1 cup Jay D’s Louisiana Barbecue Sauce
3 oz pineapple juice
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1½ Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
3½ Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp mirin
2 tsp cornstarch

Combine all ingredients and simmer for 15 min.

Top patty with BBQ sauce. Toast bun, add cilantro yogurt on both sides, and top patty with pickled vegetables.

Wakey Whiskey: I.W. Harper Kentucky Straight Bourbon

by Eric Ducote

Good morning everyone, and welcome to an unfortunately Saints-less Super Bowl Sunday.  I was really hoping to be drinking this morning in support of the Black and Gold, but I guess I'll just raise an early morning toast to football as a whole. I honestly don't know who I'm going to be cheering for this evening... I'm not partial to either team, I don't have some sort of irrational hatred of the Patriots, I don't have any affinity for the Eagles... so I guess I'll just be hoping for some thrilling football.  The best way to start off a day of thrilling football?  How about a hopefully thrilling glass of wakey whiskey?

This morning I raided the Bite and Booze whiskey stash and found a media sample of an I. W. Harper Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.  This sample was bottled at 82 proof, and upon a little research is one of two I. W. Harper bourbons on the US market, the other being a 15-year aged variety of the same base mash.  Personally, I had never heard of I. W. Harper, so off to the Google I go... and it turns out this brand has been around since the 1870s, created by German immigrant Isaac Wolfe Bernheim.  He ended up settling in the Louisville area and started a distillery creating the I. W. Harper (thoughts are he changed the last name for marketing reasons) brand.  Currently the name is owned by Diageo, and the whiskey is still produced at the I. W. Bernheim distillery in Louisville (a more modern version of, at least) before being aged at the Stitzel-Weller facility, then bottled at a Diageo facility in Tennessee that is associated with George Dickel, another Diageo brand.  For some time this brand focused on foreign markets, particularly Japan, but in 2015 I. W. Harper was brought back to the American market.

Okay, enough history, how about the whiskey, right?  As for the color, I'm looking at a mid-range amber, not richly deep bordering on ruby red like the recent Super Blue Blood Moon, but not as light as straw either.  The nose is innocent and inoffensive, with hints of honeysuckle, a bit of vanilla, and a fructose sweetness from the corn in the mash.  There's nothing bad here, but nothing that really gets me excited either.  On to the palate, my first impression is that the body is a little on the light side, maybe this could have been cut down a little less and bottles at 90-100 proof instead of 82?  The ethanol flavors are pretty strong in this one despite the low proof, and there is a lack of complexity on the tongue, with a bit of oak, and a stronger dash of licorice.  All in all, a fairly forgettable whiskey, unfortunately.

And on that note, let us all hope that this is not a forgettable Super Bowl.  I'm not a fan of either team, so I just want to see some good football!  Cheers!

Jay D's Bites: Molasses Mustard Beer Cheese

by Jay Ducote

I'm excited to share that I've teamed up with Morton Salt to help #EraseFoodWaste, which is especially timely with The Big Game taking place tomorrow! Did you know that this Sunday is the second biggest food consumption day of the year? Yep, only beat by Thanksgiving! That means lots of leftovers, and lots of great options for next-day meals to reuse that extra food!

If you're entertaining like me, I can pretty much guarantee that you've already got two of the most essential ingredients for any football party: beer and cheese! I’m making my Molasses Mustard Beer Cheese - the perfect dip for pretzel bites to enjoy during The Big Game. The best part about this recipe? You can use the leftover pretzel buns and beer cheese to make pulled pork sandwiches for Monday night dinner!

Along with Jay D’s Louisiana Molasses Mustard, this dip featuring both beer and cheese will warm your body and soul no matter who you're cheering for. We used Avery Brewing Co. TWEAK Stout to add a deep flavor along with the Molasses Mustard, which balances well with the tangy and sweet notes of the mustard, and a touch of Morton's Kosher Salt to bring it all together.

For a perfect dip, we used some local pretzel brioche buns from Rösch Bakehaus, but you can use whatever you’d like.

Molasses Mustard Beer Cheese

Serves 10-12

Photo: Jordan Hefler Photography

4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup Jay D’s Louisiana Molasses Mustard
12 oz stout beer
1 tsp horseradish
1 quart warm milk
3 cloves garlic, microplaned/finely grated
1 tsp onion powder
2 Tbsp Morton kosher salt

In a saucepan, combine butter and flour over medium heat to make a blonde roux; stir constantly. Add milk, stout beer, horseradish, garlic, Molasses Mustard and dried seasonings. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat and whisk in cheese.