“Carlito, dez a worm in me mezcal”

My friend Abby sent me a cool New York Times slideshow link recently, about how mezcal is produced. Ol skool laborious shit man. It’s d hill-billy, kampung version of tequila, and not easily available.

Both are made from the agave plant – for tequila they’re steamed, for mezcal they’re roasted, givin it a smoky flava. The minimum amount of agave for tequila is 51%, mezcal is 80%.

Si, me is gonna climb them Aztec steps sooon

Si, me iz gonna climb them Aztec steps sooonn

Didn’t know too much about it, but i got a bottle of 100% agave mezcal in my room, worm n all. It’s by a producer called Oaxaca, which is also d region mezcal comes from. Besides the worm, there’s a sachet of what looks like hot chili powder around d bottle’s neck. Looks like Brown-Brown. (If u watched Lord of War.)  Assume it’s to add to d drink. Niiice.

Sombrero-heads thought of everything eh?

Gunpowder supplied. Just add mezcal

Gunpowder supplied. Just add mezcal

The words on d bottle are all Mehican (well Spanish actually). Got in the duty-free island of Labuan (Sabah) years ago. The pickled worm is actually pretty big. It’s the larva of a moth that lives in the agave plant, and is regularly roasted to makan as bites with booze.

His name's Carlos

Ese's name iz Carlos. And iz miiine, aaalll miine

Mehican law don’t allow worms n other shit in tequila tho. So if u see a worm in your drink, it ain’t tequila, it’s mezcal. Or some puta spiking your drink with some crap. Like a caterpillar.

Abby - got me thinkin bout mezcal

Abby - got me thinkin bout mezcal, among other norty stuff

Will see if any local distributor stocks mezcal and announce its availability.

Tequila-shooting is among my Top 5 fave drinks. Can’t wait to try mezcal now! (Need to check what else i have in my bar!) Salud Abby!

U learn sumtin new everyday!

Brain damage: To be updated, after Senor Carlos is digested

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Chillin by Chiling

Yea, the river is called Chiling.

And it’s my fave spot in da world.

The frontyard of d pad

The frontyard of d pad

Had a bbq n drinks weekend at the house by d river, Maycliff. Awesome spot. Highlights were Blavod & the amazing Beer Lao, which unfortunately is not available in Malaysia.

Sis brought d twins, Mo & Trish.

And we brought da dawg.

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Homey rides shotgun

He doesn’t accept d backseat.

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Aw, is d river cold? Trish n Mo

I think i’ll let d pictures do da talkin.

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Some of d weekend’s weapons

Homey goin for it

Homey goin for it

Souvenir we brought back from Laos. Yea d beer too

Souvenirs we brought back from Laos. Yea d beer too. It’s awesome

Mo attempts a snatch. Sorry kid, wait a coupla years

Mo attempts a snatch. Sorry kid, wait a coupla years

There were some other dawgs there

There were some other dawgs there

There's sumtin bout dis kid n alcohol. Hmm. Maybe he can takeover this blog soon

There’s sumtin bout dis kid n alcohol. Hmm. Maybe he can takeover this blog soon

See?

See?

Blavod, d black vodka

Blavod, d black vodka

Khabir n my bro Anil chillin

Khabir n my bro Anil chillin

What u'll get when u mix Blavod & orange - Green Shit

What u’ll get when u mix Blavod & orange – Greenshit

For some reason the embers seem purple

For some reason the embers seem purple

While we were in d river with d kids, some dudes across d river shouted at us. “KELUAR!!! KELUAR!!! CEPAT!!!! KELUAARRR!!” I didn’t stand around to ask “Hah? Kenapa ni?? Rilek laa…”

I knew what it was. A flash flood. We grabbed d kids n got out.

It’s amazing how sumtin so fun has d possibility of turning tragic in a blink.

It rained earlier. And it stopped. Everything was fine. Then the water level rose several feet, turned brown and d flow was crazily swift, with all sort of debris in it. And it roared real loud. All within 30 seconds. The kids were playin in d water at that time. The campers’ warning saved their butts, cos they would have been swept in a blink.

This river has taken many lives, in a variety of ways.

Been there many times, but it’s d first time i’ve seen this.

Mess

Mess

Tea anyone? Bastards must be logging upriver

Tea anyone? This is d same spot as d following picture. Bastards must be logging upriver

See?

This is what it looked like a minute earlier

The river is just a short walk down d stairs from d garden of d house. Great spot.

Especially with a great bbq, friends and booze. Eddy, Henry & Khang showed up at 2am, cos they had a gig in KL. Semangat!

A super weekend in KKB.

Brain damage rating: 7/10

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Come n get it!

The absinthes featured here recently are now available at retail!

Head down to TWE Retail (also known as Tong Woh) in PJ, in that square where the MBPJ Tower is.

Prices:

La Clandestine – $198

Angelique – $230

Address:

No. 19, 21 & 23
Jalan 52/1, PJ New Town

They can be reached at 7956-9300

Knock yourself out!

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Absinthe lands in KL!

Swim with me baby!

Swim with me baby!

Move over toyol! The green fairy’s in da hood.

Those of u who’ve been like, smuggling the stuff from abroad, don’t need to feel like criminals anymore. A couple of good absinthes – from the actual village where the fuel was created – were launched at Werner’s recently.

Meet Swiss chicks Angelique and La Clandestine. The former is 68% alcohol by volume (ABV) while the latter is 53% ABV.

Come to La La Land

Come to La La Land

There were quite a few excited guests there that evening. Me, my bro and Lili were eager-nigaz at 7pm sharp. Went straight upstairs, and absinthe cocktails were being served. Efficient.

This was actually the first of a series of cocktails for d nite. How nice.

Local superstar bartender Ben Ng (who will be interviewed in this blog soon) fixed us our first round, it was called Jaded. Yummy stuff, a little like a real good and slightly fruity-herbal-ish Long Island, but not as strong.

Ben fixes me up

Hook me up Ben

So, why u so Jaded, hmm? Was it all the alcohol?

So, why u so Jaded, hmm? Was it all the alcohol?

This cocktail shit was new to me. I’ve had absinthe on many occasions – rock n roll style. Pour a shot into a glass over a cube of sugar that’s on a spoon, light up the cube, let it burn, stir it in (the whole dam glass is on fire by now, tabletop too), blow it out, “Salud!”, down it! Slam the glass down.

And go brrrehhhaaaaaaarghhhhh…!!

Then hwwwbbehhbbbehhbbbbehhhh!!

Or leggo some profanities.

Hey it works. This is a lil similar to the “French style”, but we do it Malaysian Style, coz there’s fire. Coz we like fire.

The second round of cocktails were called… hmmm…….. don’t remember.

Gosh, instant brain damage.

It was green. A nice green.

It's not radioactive champagne

Unfortunately it ain't radioactive champagne

There were three cocktails in total. Then i got involved in an exhibition lesson with Ben on how to make it, French style: Pour a shot, place a sugar cube on an absinthe spoon, pour cold water through the sugar, stir and drink.

Huh? Where’s the fireworks??

“Don’t i light it up?” I asked, looking disappointed.

“U can if u want, but it’s not necessary,” Ben says to me & the crowd.

Dam. I downed it anyway. It’s pretty good with cold water.

Will post more recipes soon.

Bartender Keith sparks one up for me

Bartender Keith sparks one up for me

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Absinthe was banned in most countries until recently. Typical government paranoia. It was never banned here I think, maybe coz d dam Customs officers probably never even knew watdefuck it was. “Ah?? Nenek punya ubat batuk?? Ok la, jalan.”

It’s extremely herbal (like Hacks & Sambuca) and contains wormwood. Thujone is a chemical in the wormwood plant that is a hallucinogenic.

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If u think absinthe is gonna make u hallucinate, stop thinking. There isn’t enough thujone in the drink to cause that. (Awwww……… disappointed? Well, u could always try shrooms.)

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So absinthe is not some God-sent alco-drug combo meal. It’s alcohol. With plant extracts. Good for tummy aches.

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What do I like about it? The fact that I feel sumtin in my head after ONE shot. Try six. I’ve had 80% ABV absinthe and that shit’s lethal.

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As well as the fiery ritual that goes with it. There’re very few ritualistic drinks around actually. (If u wanna do sum caveman chant while drinking it, oso can.)

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Where's that dam fire extinguisher?

Where'd I keep that goddam fire extinguisher?

Wanna know more about absinthe and these two brands? There’s a fascinating story: *click!*. This sure is the original thing from the birthplace of absinthe in Switzerland. Some hillbilly kampung.

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And, here’s where u can get it at in Malaysia:

Quattro @ Avenue K

Gypsy @ Changkat BB

Werner’s @ Changkat

My place. Haha

El Cerdo @ Changkat

21 @ Changkat

Blanc le Club @ Heritage Row

Red Square @ Cap Square

Metropol

Shalome, Wabisabi, Tao, Bamboo 9, HQ9 @ TTDI

The Social @ Bangsar

Hush

Shuraku @ Solaris

La Bodega @ BSC

Bubba Gump (watdefuck!) @ The Curve & Pyramid

Cafe Chulo@ Jaya 1

Two Monkeys @ Jaya 1

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It’s imported by TWE (Tong Woh). Will check and revert if u can buy it at any liquor store, especially if u’d rather take it home and start an arson party. Trust me it’s fun. Best done just before u go out to party.

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U heard it here first. Salud!

She's had too much absinthe

Green Fairy had too much absinthe

Brain damage rating: 8/10 (takin into account previous experiences with absinthe!)
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