Beverage Adventures

Executive Brief: I had to empty my liquor cabinet due to a recent move (2025-12), and I finally (2026-04) got around to making the hour-plus drive over to a warehouse with a reasonably good range of choices… which brought me to feeling a whim about writing down some of my experiences with various beverages. This section will simply grow over time.

Details…

Introduction

I like to experiment with beverage flavors, mixing this and that. On occasion, I come up with cocktails worthy of a name (and a repeat performance). I have some inherent preferences and revulsions, so your mileage will no doubt vary.

Alcohols

I don’t drink alcohol for the effects; fortunately, that’s not a craving that I experience, which is a relief because substance use disorders (and related disinhibitions) run in my family (with wild abandon).

I am also affected by particular sensitivities that affect my experience of alcohol flavors. I am particularly sensitive as follows:

I am revolted by the “bandaid” olfaction associated with Brettanomyces yeast (aka Brett), peat, (chloro)phenols, and so on.
I am a bitter supertaster.
The Coriander sativum plant tastes like soap (whether the parts are called coriander, coriander seeds, or cilantro).
I have a cavernous haemangioma in my oral tract that is painfully sensitive to the burn of alcohol and spices.
I was exposed to the flavor of bourbon very early in childhood in the form of bourbon balls (made for holidays), and noting that influence meant that I had to create an entire recipe section for this book… whose content elaboration is ongoing.

All in all, I am much more likely to enjoy bourbon and brandy, and only appreciate a much narrower range of whiskey. Smoked alcohols (like peated scotches and mezcal) are right out because the bandaid smell and taste just ruins them for me.

So let’s get on to looking at specific items…

Samuel Adams Utopias - 2025

ABV 30%. A 750ml ceramic bottle was almost $300.

The idea is that this is a blend of beers (made with VT maple syrup) aged in various kinds of barrels, including some 30-year-old bourbon casks. Some of the older ones in their collection are ruby port, Carcavelos (a type of port), and cognac (a type of brandy). Later, they added scotch barrels to their library. And in this most recent vintage they added beer aged in barrels used for Irish whiskey (so not peated), Amarone (a dry red wine made from dried grapes), and white port. So there should, in theory, be flavors of vanilla, caramel, spice, fruit, and on and on and on… essentially all of the identifiers that you tend to see in various descriptions of wines and spirits. There would also be a risk of smoke and bandaids, but I didn’t notice anything substantial.

All in all, the raisin flavor is very prominent; frankly, it is much like a tawny port in flavor, albeit it pours a viscous, dark burgundy with an amber edge. Not that I’m suggesting that you could refill the bottle.

Bubba’s Burnt Sugar Whiskey

ABV 35%. ~20 for 750ml.

I asked for a brown sugar bourbon at the store, and the associate handed me this and said it was the only one that they had, and I saw “BS” on the bottle.

As I was drinking it, I was thinking, “I’m not tasting any brown sugar at all… just a lot of caramel. Now, caramel is essentially burnt sugar. So I looked more closely at the bottle. “Burnt sugar.” Not brown sugar.

And it is also not bourbon, but rather a spirit whiskey, which means that anywhere from 5% to 20% whiskey has been mixed with a neutral spirit… which is why it doesn’t taste like whiskey.

When all is said and done. Bubba’s BS does just what it says that it is going to do. You get a 30% ABV syrup that tastes like caramel. Folks who can drink pure syrup without complaint will like this, and clearly it would perform well as an ingredient; for example, I find that it goes well on vanilla ice cream… which I suppose is true of caramel itself, so that’s not a huge surprise.

Brown Sugar Bourbon (BSB) - Heritage Distillers

ABV 30%. ~$28 for 750ml.

This is what I was looking for when I asked for brown sugar bourbon. (I don’t have a picture of it from my own cabinet because I don’t have any.) Or the more recent 35% version. Or the 51.5% version. Since it was distilled in WA, it was not tough to find in OR. But it appears that Jamie Foxx bought it out, and it is now distilled elsewhere. I’ll let you know if I can get it in ME.

This stuff was great. Definite brown sugar and bourbon with a hint of cinnamon. Worked great for making the traditional holiday bourbon balls.

[2026-04]

[Recipes]