Beer, Bikes and Butts

A Tribute to Beer, Motorcycles and Cigars

Had a great motorcycle ride today, and had planned to have a beer at the ending point, Irvine Lake. Unfortunately the 500 other riders had the same idea, and the line for beer stretched most of the way to Arizona. I don’t do lines, so I contented myself with a brew at home.

He’Brew Genesis Ale - The Chosen Beer

It’s hard to take this beer seriously because the entire presentation is a spoof. The bottle proclaims “chutzpah never tasted so good” and the beer is brewed by The Shmaltz Brewing Company. But apparently the brewmeister took the matter more seriously, because this is a tasty ale.

The bottle describes the beer as a “light brown ale,” but the color is very amber and the taste is not that of a typical brown. The beer pours with very little head, and what little it does manage dissipates immediately.

The nose consists of the expected sweet malt and something akin to bread (unleavened, no doubt). The taste was not very complex, and reminded me of a George Killians Irish Red. By the same token, the mouthfeel was lighter than a true brown. The finish was slightly sweet. The drinkability was good, and I’d certainly have another. A 7.9 rating.

Zino Classic No. 8 (7.5″ x 52)

I’m walking off a dinner with friends on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore in Long Beach, California. We walk by a cigar store so I of course step in. The store was nice enough, but I really don’t know how cigar stores survive. The prices in cigar stores are always so much higher than what I pay online. I guess there are still enough customers that prefer the experience of going into a brick and mortar store (or with money to burn) and are willing to pay two or three times the online price. The store is empty despite the throngs of people walking by, so I feel like I should buy something so the owner will at least have one sale for the night. I settle on a cigar I’ve never tried that is “only” $12.50, which is a real bargain compared to most of the sticks.

The Zino Classic No. 8 comes in black, wood-lined tubos. It consists of a blend of Honduran Jamastran tobaccos, and a small portion of Dominican tobaccos. The construction was good, with the right yield to the touch. My first taste of the cigar evoked an audible “oh boy,” which was the brief version of, “oh boy, I paid $12.50 for this and it tastes like those White Owls I once had to buy because I was visiting distant relations in ‘This Town Isn’t Even On the Map’ New Mexico and those were the only cigars they sold at the gas station.”

Surprisingly, though, this cigar really turned around. After a few more draws, the cigar took on a very mellow spice taste.  I soon found myself smoking a pleasantly aromatic cigar, with little of the bitterness that had initially greeted me. The Zino was not a terrible cigar (he said, damning with faint praise), and I’d accept one offered during a round of golf if I was out of cigars, but I wouldn’t buy another one, no matter how sorry I felt for the proprietor.  A 7.3 on The Morris Scale.

Posted on June 28th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Cigars, Reviews, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Today was my third time going on the annual Ride the Coast charity ride to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Ana.  This is one of my favorite rides every year because it is entirely police escorted.  The ride is relatively short — just 70 miles this year — but from start to finish you get to blow through every red light you encounter, as the Santa Ana Police Officers stop traffic at every intersection.  They even stopped all traffic on the Garden Grove Freeway so that we could ride that portion unencumbered.  Obama’s motorcade has nothing on us baby! 

This year I finally remembered to bring a camera so that I could grab some photos to festoon the blog.  So I’m rolling along at 50 or 60 mph, keeping just one hand on the handlebars because the other is taking pictures.  Just when I’m thinking that the bikers behind me might not appreciate this riding style, one of them pulls up along side and gestures for me to hand him my camera.  From his pantomiming, I take it he is offering to take my picture, but I also suspect he might just take the camera and say, “you’ll get this back at the end, now use both hands asshole,” which actually would have been pretty funny and probably deserved.  I take a chance and do an in-flight hand-off of the camera.  True to his word (actually, gesturing), he takes a couple of pictures and hands back the camera.  Thanks for the great picture, whoever you were.  I’m very impressed you could figure out my camera while driving at freeway speed.

The ride ended at Irvine Lake, where there were multiple booths set up with things bikers would be interesed in, including beer and cigars, proving that I am not the only one who has spotted the natural synergy between beer, motorcycles and cigars (not all at the same time, of course).

As always, click on any of the photos for a larger view.

A bunch of bikes at Irvine Lake

Another perfect day in So Cal

Police escort bikes. Good job SAPD!

End-of-Ride victory cigars

See Bruce, even Goldwings are welcome!

 

Live music at Irvine Lake

Posted on June 28th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Motorcycles, Rides | 2 Comments »

I typically get about 30 comments a day on my blog postings, which would be great except for the fact that the vast majority of those comments are spam.  These aren’t the ”buy Viagra” type of spam you find in your email, but are attempts to look like real comments.  See, behind the comment is an internal link and email address, and adding links that point to the spammer’s web site artificially increases the site’s search engine ranking.  This type of spam originally appeared in Internet guestbooks, where spammers repeatedly filled a guestbook with links to their own site and no relevant comment, to increase search engine rankings.  If an actual comment is given it is often just “cool page”, “nice website”, or keywords of the spammed link.

In the typical spam warfare that occurs, the spammers try to develop better tools to make their spam look more like real comments, while at the same time mixing it up a little so that they cannot be spotted and banned because they are posting the exact same comment on multiple sites.  Sometimes I have to ponder whether a comment is real, but the email and link usually give away the spammer.  Still, the comments created by the automated system are sometimes humorous.  Here are some that I received today:

“Please, can you PM me and tell me few more thinks about this, I am really fan of your blog…gets solved properly asap.”

Why thank you.  I always strive to solve properly asap.

“Hi, Not sure that this is true:), but thanks for a post.  Have a nice day.”

So what part has you uncertain?  Is it that I visited the 8Eightyeight lounge, or that I drank tequila?  Really, both happened.  Nice day to you as well.

“Welcome, I am able to entertain you in my Kiev apartment in the center or visit you anywhere in Kiev.”

Yeah, we cigar bloggers are real chick magnets.  Wait . . . you are a girl, aren’t you?

“Reviews, News and Views is going to father a bunch of interest simply due to the fact it can be riveting understanding.”

Crazy riveting understanding, if you ask me.

“The best information I have found.  Keep going.  Thank you!”

Now see, my ego is big enough to think that might be a real comment, except that the same comment came from five different email addresses.  Still, it could be that five people all concluded that I presented the best information.  It could happen.

“Who’s the blonde in the cowboy hat? I loved the Anejo … what little I was able to taste.”

Oh, wait, that was a real comment.

Posted on June 26th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Wednesday was another great night at the 8Eightyeight Diamond Crown Lounge in Fullerton, California.  Tonight featured a tasting of Cabo Wabo Tequila and, as you can see from the photo, the fine people at Cabo Wabo were nice enough to bring along some spokes-models.

My only complaint is the size of the samples offered.  No, it’s not just because I wanted more tequila; the samples were so small that I couldn’t really do a fair review.  I can say that the Reposado was my favorite of the three (the other two being Blanco and Anejo) - a smooth, sipping tequila - but I can’t offer much more information.  Still, the beer was it’s usual Arctic cold and I thoroughly enjoyed a Cu-avana Intenso.

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Cigar Lounge, Reviews | 1 Comment »

I have never experienced such a perfect convergence of cigar smoke, beer, music and weather. Allow me to set the scene.

It’s a gorgeous Friday evening in Southern California. The kids are off somewhere with the wife, and I exit my convertible in the garage and grab a beer from my beer fridge as I head into the house. I thought I wanted something light, but I haven’t restocked lately so I have only a collection of stouts. I choose the Out of Bounds Stout by the Avery Brewing Company for no reason other than it has a cool label (see photo). From the humidor I grab a God of Fire Robusto by Don Carlos. For reasons explained below, I am now embarrassed to admit that I was unaware of this particular cigar. It was given to me to review by a representative of Prometheus, a company that sells lighters and ash trays, among other things. Thanks Danny. It’s good to be a revered cigar reviewer.

I grab the brew, cigar and laptop and head out to the Lido deck. I turn on the laptop, sign onto Slacker.com radio and don my bluetooth headphones. Whether the bluetooth headphones will link is always a hit and miss proposition for some reason, but they come on just as I take my first taste of the Out of Bounds stout, and I am greeted with Damn it Rose by Don Henley, off the Inside Job album.

The perfect convergence begins.

Out of Bounds Stout

The Out of Bounds stout was outstanding. It poured very dark with a huge head of tan foam. The foam still coated the glass after the beer was gone. The nose was of roasted coffee. The taste consisted of chocolate, coffee and malt. The mouthfeel was one of the creamiest I have experienced, and the aftertaste had just a hint of sweetness. I think I have discovered my new, favorite stout, earning this great beer a 9.6 on the Morris Scale.

God of Fire Robusto by Don Carlos

If you haven’t experienced Slacker.com yet, open another browser tab right now and go there post haste. You create a free “radio station” based on your musical preferences, and as you listen you can mark songs as favorites and forever ban any you don’t like. The station becomes more personalized the more you listen to it. There are other such services, like Pandora and Yahoo’s Launchcast, but none measure up to Slacker. If you chose to buy a Slacker mp3 player, your stations are wirelessly uploaded. During this perfect convergence, not a single clinker played. Damn It Rose was followed by The Boy’s Gone (Jason Mraz), Bigger Than My Body (John Mayer), Sometimes in Winter (Blood, Sweat & Tears), Eye In The Sky (Alan Parsons) and In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel).  A great soundtrack for the flavors of the cigar and beer.  I offer the list in case you want to create a playlist called, “Music to Smoke Cigars By.”

But back to the cigar. A little background from the maker’s website: “The God of Fire cigars were first introduced in November 2004 in limited edition humidors produced by Prometheus. Since then, they have been sold through an exclusive group of authorized God of Fire dealers. Carlos Fuente, Sr. and his son, Carlito Fuente, have blended the God of Fire cigars. God of Fire by Don Carlos uses the Ecuadorian wrapper whereas God of Fire by Carlito, Cameroon.”

The overall construction was flawless; the wrapper with very small veins running through. A scent of spice and leather. Tremendous and complex spice and pepper taste, growing from medium to strong. I could not identify individual components of the complex taste, but it was great! The burn was consistent to the end, and this is one cigar that I definitely smoked to the end.

I didn’t research the God of Fire until I had experienced it, and only then did I learn that these are relatively high-priced sticks.  After smoking one I can understand why, but I’m glad I went in with no preconceived notions.  My research also revealed almost universal accolades for this great cigar, matching my own.  A solid 9.5 rating.

Life is good.

Posted on June 20th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Cigars, Reviews | 1 Comment »

Had a great workout just before retiring to the Lido deck, so I decided to skip the beer.  I didn’t want to pollute my healthy body with alcohol, so I went with just water and a cigar, which provides only carbon monoxide, nicotine, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, volatile aldehydes, benzene, aromatic amines, vinyl chloride, ethylene oxide, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, nitrosamines and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons.  Life is all about choices.

Padilla Obsidian, Belicoso (6 x 54)

A maduro wrapper surrounds a mixture of Honduran Corojo and Nicaraguan tobaccos.  The burn was a bit jagged throughout the length of the cigar, but nothing horrendous.  The taste was of spice and pepper, with no other distinguishing tastes.  The arsenic was a little bitter, but the polynuclear hydrocarbons were especially aromatic.  The taste was good enough to give me hope for Padillas in general, but not so good that I would buy another.  A 7.9 on the Morris Scale.

Arrowhead Spring Water

Cold and refreshing, but it’s origin seems more tap than mountain spring.  Fiji water remains my favorite.

Posted on June 14th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Cigar Facts, Cigars, Reviews | 2 Comments »

Last night’s tasting was sponsored by the fine people that make Oliva (oh-lee-va) cigars.  A bunch of door prizes were given out, but I didn’t win a thing.  I think the fix was in.

I love the draft beer at this place.  I generally switch between the Stella Artois and the Alaskan Amber.  Full size pints filled to the brim and served so cold you’ll wonder how it is possible that it’s not frozen.  I’m not kidding here.  While hiking on a glacier, I drank water directly from the glacial stream (that’s the glacier in the photo), and it wasn’t as cold and refreshing as the beer at the 8eightyeight Diamond Crown Lounge.  I could have saved myself a trip to the Arctic Circle.  Sure, it was a moving experience at the time, knowing you are drinking water from ice that may have been frozen for thousands of years, but now, if I ever repeat the experience, I’m sure I’ll say, “eh, the beer at the Diamond Crown Lounge is more refreshing.”

The cigars provided were the Oliva “V” and “O”.  The Serie O is a Nicaraguan Puro, “made in the original Cuban tradition of growing the same Habano seed in diverse regions of the country to produce a distinct blend.”  Sadly, I couldn’t enjoy the O because the draw was too distracting.  Very loose; like smoking a soda straw.  I’ll withhold judgment on the O because it may have simply been the victim of improper storage.

The “V” on the other hand was a real treat.  It is “a complex blend of Nicaraguan long filler tobaccos.  Blended with specially fermented Jalapa Valley ligero, and finished with a high priming Habano Sun Grown Wrapper.”  OK, if you say so.  I just know that it was nicely complex with tastes of spice and chocolate.  Admittedly, it is sometimes difficult to pick up the nuances of a cigar at these 8eightyeight tastings because the lounge becomes unbelievably thick with smoke, but the Oliva V was still able to impress.

Posted on June 11th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts, Cigar Facts, Cigars, Reviews, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Say what you will about Sky Net and its efforts to destroy humanity, but those machines really know how to build a sharp looking motorcycle.  I especially like the side-mounted guns.  Sorry, but I haven’t yet had the opportunity to test ride this beast, given that it’s from the future (and has no seat).

Posted on May 20th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Motorcycles, Reviews | No Comments »

The lawmakers in Oregon are an officious bunch. They’re the ones that came up with the idea that no one should be permitted to pump their own gas as a means to create more employment among gas pumpers.

But they may have gotten this one right. When I pub crawl in jolly old England, it seems like the pints are bigger than here in the U.S. Never really gave it much thought; probably assumed it was one of those Brit things, with their pints being bigger than ours.

Turns out, we’re just being ripped off. Between the thick bottom glass and the beer head, that 16 ounce pint you order may only deliver 12 ounces of beer. That apparently stuck in the craw of Oregon lawmakers. But rather than to create a new government agency to monitor beer glasses, they are proposing (it still needs to pass the Senate) a sticker system. If the establishment pours a true 16-ounce pint, they get to put the special stickers on their glasses certifying that fact.

Yes, it’s a little silly, and I can’t picture how the stickers will hold up on the frequently washed beer glasses, but the theory is good. As it is now, I have to bring my own measuring cup and the constant arguments with the bartender about whether the head counts towards the 16 ounces is always an embarrassment to my wife.

Posted on May 10th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts | 1 Comment »

Yamaha TMAX

If you want the fun and fuel economy of a motorcycle, but aren’t quite ready to go the Hog route, Yamaha has released a scotter that comes with a little street cred. 

The TMAX’s fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, four-valve-per-cylinder engine boasts forged pistons, carburized connecting rods, and ceramic-composite plated cylinders.  It’s a horizontally positioned 499cc parallel twin, with reciprocating balancer, offering plenty of smooth power; enough for two-up touring at highway speeds.  Around $6,500.

Posted on April 23rd, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Motorcycles, Reviews | No Comments »