Kings County Bourbon: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Kings County Bourbon

Eric and Jeremy, who are two of the people who help score my Whisk(e)y Wednesday posts, recently took a trip to New York and came back with a bottle of bourbon from the Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn. This place has gotten a lot of media attention as one of the darlings of the artisan distilling movement so I anxiously awaited our tasting! Unfortunately, the Kings County failed to live up the hype. The nose had a strong mineral aroma in addition to the corn ethanol. It smelled like a freshly opened sack of deer corn to me. More corn came through on the taste, which is to be expected in a bourbon, but not like this. It had a flavor of roasted corn in the husk but with more of a savory bite than sweetness. Jeremy noted that the bourbon's flavor proved to be all corn with no complexity. On the finish the there was a bit of spice but no oak at all other than some charcoal bitterness. Eric called the bourbon simple and pretentious. Jeremy may have summed it up best when he said it "tastes like Brooklyn." Indeed, the whiskey reeks of hipster skinny jeans, colorful shoes, and American Spirits.

Kings County Bourbon

Average Score 52.67

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 90 is rather extraordinary.

Bite and Booze Radio Show: Best of 225 Part II

If you missed last week's radio show podcast, you might want to go back and listen to it before tuning in to this one. Last week we discussed how the Best of 225 survey works and it is required pre-listening to this week's ongoing discussion of the flaws and bright spots in the Best of 225 dining section. Again this week, I'm joined by Chuck P., J. Slater McKay, Jeremy White, and Chef Eusebio Gongora as we continue with Part II of our Best of 225 dismantling. Enjoy!

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The Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket airs on Saturdays at 5 PM on Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.  It is also available on iTunes.  The show's sponsors include Calandro's Supermarket, Visit Baton Rouge, Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning, Louisiana Cookin' Magazine, Juban's Restaurant, the Tin Roof Brewing Company, and the Louisiana Culinary Institute.

Peameal Bacon for the Win

St. Lawrence Market in Toronto

While in Toronto with Visit Baton Rouge a little while back I had a golden opportunity to go to the St. Lawrence Market, one of the largest and highest rated food and farmers markets in the world. I took a walk down construction-riddled Front Street until I arrived at my destination. Passing a Starbucks, Lonestar Grill, Quizno’s, and Chipotle, I felt right in the middle of Anywhere, USA. However, once I got to the St. Lawrence Market, I knew I had arrived somewhere at least a little different. The market is full of vendors slinging fresh seafood, meats, produce, cheeses, and much more. My sources told me to keep an eye out for the famous Peameal Bacon on a Bun, the real true Canadian bacon. I found what I had been looking for at the Carousel Bakery booth but noticed that they seemed to be operating under a cash-only policy. Not having exchanged my dollars for… dollars, I found an ATM and withdrew some Queens. I got my peameal bacon and a sense of Canadian pride overwhelmed me.

Carousel Bakery

This bacon was unlike anything I've ever eaten before. It is not the same bacon that we put on our pizza and call Canadian bacon. This bacon, the peameal bacon from Carousel Bakery at the St. Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto, is legit. Salty, fatty, and ever so porky, the layers of swine melted in my mouth as I devoured the sandwich on my way out the market with a fresh brew of fair trade coffee in my hand. The bread held the layers of bacon together until the entire sandwich filled my stomach and I licked my fingers to savor every morsel of flavor that I could.

Peameal Bacon Sandwich

Toronto's Skyline from the CN Tower

Amazing Freakin' Tacos: Bob's Taco Station

Bob's Taco Station in Rosenberg, TX

Tacos in Texas are better. I admit it. It is a food group that we don't do extremely well  in Baton Rouge. Sure, Taco de Paco slings some tasty tacos from their truck, and yes you can now find some pretty decent breakfast tacos at Kolache Kitchen, but they still just aren't quite the same. And for anybody truly wondering, go check out the tacos at La Morenita on Florida or La Tiendita on Siegen. But then again, take a trip to some taco stands in Texas and you'll really understand. One such joint is Bob's Taco Station in Rosenberg outside of Houston. It has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives for good reason. It is an authentic taco joint with no frills, bells, or whistles. Just tacos. Really. Good. Tacos.

Amazing Tacos at Bob's Taco Station

They have other plates to choose from, but I opted for an assortment of three tacos to really get a taste of the namesake dish. I began with the Bacon, Egg, and Potato taco (right). While nothing revolutionary with ingredients, the fresh tortilla marvelously wrapped up the filling and I scarfed it down like a bear on the salmon run. The Chorizo and Egg taco (left) equally impressed me. The spanish flavors of paprika and other spices filled up the flour tortilla and I soon entered breakfast taco heaven. Fortunately, all of Bob's tacos were served all day long, so I also ordered the Barbacoa taco. Along with cilantro and chopped onions, the cooked down beef highlighted my favorite taco of the afternoon. The superb flavor matched the character of the joint and the authenticity I expected. This, my friends, is a taco spot worth visiting.

National Tequila Day: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Good Tequila

1) Tequila is not whiskey. Or whisky. I know. But some of it is barrel aged!
2) Today, July 24th, is National Tequila Day.
3) Since Wednesdays are usually reserved for my Whisk(e)y Wednesday posts, I decided to make an exception today to celebrate a different spirit.
4) Drink good tequila.
5) Try a paloma. Another recipe is below.

Tequila really ought to be celebrated. Agave is the plant that tequila is distilled from. It is mostly grown in a select area of Mexico, with one of the most famous regions being the state of Jalisco. Contrary to popular belief, agave is not a cactus. It is actually a member of the lily family, and only blue agave may be used to produce tequila. Any other variety of agave makes mezcal, which is tequila's cousin that is prepared differently and has a smoky bite in its flavor. Tequila is made from the juices of the pineapple-like core of the blue agave plant. After roasting or steaming the massive (up to 300 lbs.) cores, or "pinas," they are pressed to release the juices or aguamiel (honey water). The aguamiel is then fermented and at least double distilled before being bottled and sent to your shot glasses. If you're drinking tequila that is "100% de agave," then that's exactly what you are getting. If it is not 100%, it has to at least be 51% made from agave, with water and sugars taking up the rest, to still be considered tequila. Most commercially available tequilas are 80 proof or in that range, though some can go up to 100 proof. A few other words you might see on tequila bottles are:

Blanco ("white") or plata ("silver"): white spirit, un-aged and bottled or stored immediately after distillation, or aged less than two months in stainless steel or neutral oak barrels;
Joven ("young") or oro ("gold"): is the result of blending Silver Tequila with Reposado and/or Añejo and/or extra Añejo Tequila;
Reposado ("rested"): aged a minimum of two months, but less than a year in oak barrels;
Añejo ("aged" or "vintage"): aged a minimum of one year, but less than three years in oak barrels;
Extra Añejo ("extra aged" or "ultra aged"): aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels.

Maestro Dobel Perfect Paloma

In case you want a tequila beverage today, here's a recipe for the "Perfect Paloma!"

2 Parts Maestro Dobel Tequila (pictured above)
4 Parts Grapefruit Soda
Splash Lime Juice
Shake and strain into a rocks glass
Lime Wedge garnish




Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 90 is rather extraordinary.