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  • Writer's pictureCrystal Weldy-Ruiz

Keeping it Classic

Updated: Mar 21, 2021

I hope you all enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day. With beef and cabbage and beer and whiskey! We sure had a nice leisurely time at my house. The people in my family don’t appreciate the customary corn beef and cabbage, so we opted for beef pie with a cheddar-stout crust, au gratin potatoes, and soda bread...room temp stout beer, Irish whiskey, Irish car bombs. It wasn’t the “traditional” St. Paddy’s Day meal, but still an Irish meal and so effing delicious! You know, we may not have kept to all the conventional food preparation for the holiday but the menu was prepared true to it’s Irish origin. Which brings us to this weeks discussion, there are certain things that need to maintain a sense of consistency & timelessness; clothes, art (movies/music), design (Coca-Cola, Hostess, Disney), food, and spirits.

I am not a huge fan of mixed drinks “cocktails” and I definitely am not in like, at all, of these new-age flavor infusions of classic distillations; gin, whiskey, rum, brandy...no. Just no! And I’m not referring to liqueurs, wines, ciders, malt liquors, or seltzers (regulars around here); I’m talking the hard stuff that puts hair on your chest, the firewater your grandpa drank.



This past weekend we gathered around our fire pit, affectionately dubbed ‘Bonfires & Bourbon’, with a friend that helped us with a small yard project and this was one of the topics of conversation. Let me set you up because comments from a photo I posted on social media was the honest truth of how our commiseration started.

Before the last paver was set on the expansion of my backyard patio, I had posted a photo to my personal Facebook acct. Short, sweet & to the point, the caption read “Supervising home improvement projects”. The photo, shown below, is of myself with a glass of whiskey literally overseeing the work my husband and our family friend (and great drinking buddy) were finishing up.



I was expecting a few 👍🏽 and some requests for photos of the finished product...however, I wasn’t anticipating too much participation from the peanut gallery. All the comments that flooded this photo were guesses from family of what my glass contained. Now, these are people that know me; uncles, aunts, friends...and my SIBLINGS! And I’m sure they all thought they were being funny, but, of all the people in this world, you’d think they are the most aware of my beverage preferences.


Unsurprisingly they did all guess a type of alcoholic drink ( for the most part) but no one guessed correctly.🙄There were guesses from Apple Juice (my uncle being chistoso) to Woodford Reserve (which, by the way, is one of two whiskeys that could have most likely been in my hand). Apple Boones Farm was one guess, another Apple Crisp Crown Royal...both of these astute inferences, I write that with every ounce of sarcasm, came from my sisters. My sisters, one older that taught me the ways of turpitude, and the other younger that seriously needs to expand her horizons. My brother, whom of which I am closest in age, guessed Woodford, he gets the Booby Prize for at least making an effort and naming something that it very well could have been. So before I go on, let me be clear about one thing before I divulge what I actually had in my glass and get to the part that gives this post its direction; I drink what is affordable, I happen to be fortunate enough to have premium brands in my liquor cabinet pretty regularly. From Johnny Walker to Don Julio to Bombay Sapphire. I usually won’t purchase anything over $45. But price for me isn’t always tell-tale of a flavorful distillation. Because I can tell you with 100% certainty, I hate Buchanan’s, and I will never, like EVER, develop a taste for it. But, I do like a decent whiskey; call, premium, top-shelf. I’m not a connoisseur or liquor sommelier, but I do have my favorites of each intoxicant in each “tier”. So, going back to what was in my glass: Old Reliable, plain ol’ Jack.

Which, brings me to our fireside discussion & the main topic of this weeks blurb; reading aloud the responses from my adoring and supportive family, when we came to Apple Crisp Crown I stopped and asked why these classic liquors were being altered to be something they shouldn’t. As the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Why do these companies that have been around for (at least) a century, that have endured and survived prohibition, insist on reinvention with a new “flavor of the week”?


I can’t say that I have come across a great “new” flavored hooch that blows the original, traditional out of the water. Can you?



I’m not saying all alcoholic beverages are shitty when flavoring is added to them, I’m just saying that classic distilled demon drink shouldn’t be meddled with. And, before anyone jumps down my throat, I know everyone’s preferences are different, but if you're going to want lime flavored tequila, why not just make a margarita with fresh lime? Please no more Strawberry-rhubarb gin, apple crisp or salted caramel whiskey, grapefruit rum 🤮 ... Lets just keep the classics classy, they have been masterpieces since their inception, and for good reason. “Here, here” 🍻

Hasta la próxima

SALUD 🥃

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