FoodieBuddha.com

Though slightly off-topic, we here at Foodie Buddha do recognize the symbiotic relationship between drink and morsel.  Hence, this post! 

We all know the feeling.  You’ve had a few too many, you’re either completely elated or totally depressed, and all you want to do is call that person.  Perhaps it’s your wife and you want to tell your you love her (don’t – you’ll sound like an ass), perhaps it’s your significant other (don’t – you’ll sound clingy), or perhaps it’s the one that got away (DEFINITELY don’t – you’ll sound like a dwebe because you are one).

So while we all know these are things we shouldn’t do … we end up knee deep in the shit.  Thankfully, technology is here to help.  Enter The Bad Decision Blocker (website).

So yes, this little phone app is here to prevent you from drunk dialing.  Sadly, it is only available on the evil empires platform…but rest assured, it will probably end up on a phone near you sometime soon.

I love learning … and I love it when there are lots of pictures to make the reading more enjoyable.  Thanks to some very crafty folk over at the Oatmeal, we now have a picture-book-like lesson on all things beer! It’s really one big long comic, so keep on clicking to see it!

Continue reading…

Wine ratings are highly controversial to say the least.  At their core, the ratz seem like a great idea.  They take something that isn’t standardized and provide people with a measurable way of differentiating it from one and other.  Formed as a consumer protection utility in the early 70s, the shortcomings of the system have been bemoaned while the virtues of the scale have been defended with fervor.

What was once a way to protect customers has turned into a marketing tool of epic proportions for grape smashers all over the world.  Recently, the Journal of Wine Economics (no really … it’s a thang!), published two articles that attempt to further discredit the system.  The articles were penned by Robert Hodgson, a retired statistics professor.  While these tests are often dismissed by winos, this one seems to have a bit more teeth. A few days ago, The Wall Street Journal published an excellent summary piece on Hodgson’s findings.  It’s definitely worth the read.

When you are done with that, you should definitely head over to The 89 Project blog.  A popular site in its own right, it is definitely one of my favorite wine blogs.  If the name doesn’t already give it away, the purpose of the site is to dispel the notion that 89 point wines deserve to be in the bargain bin.  Unfortunately, the posting over there isn’t as rampant as I’d like it to be.  Still, definitely worth the check out.

If you know me, you know I love tea … particularly Rooibos (pronounced ROY-Boss), keep that in mind as you progress through this rant.  Last night, over a very kick ass glass of Earl Grey at Octane Coffee, a good friend was kind enough to give my life a whole new meaning.  She is as well traveled as they come and our topic of choice turned to her time in China.  Turns out, there is this thing called the Pee-Pee Boy.  It is perhaps the greatest completely useless but totally cool invention known to mankind… AND IT GOES WITH TEA!!!!  In reality, the Pee-Pee Boy is this mythically important part of Chinese culture (okay – not really) and it is used to tell you when your tea water is appropriately hot.

Okay, so here’s the deal: You take these little dolls and submerge them into cold water.  The instructions tell me that you have to leave it there for 30-minutes.  After that, you pour your tea water over the doll and watch it go to work.  The hotter the water, the farther the … uh … stream.

Being the obsessively curious person that I am, I just had to see if I could locate one of these gems.  Though I was sure I would have to pay at least $20 for a little bundle of joy, and perhaps a hefty shipping tag, I received quite a nice surprise.  An intense internet search led me to the Bird Pick Tea & Herb and their quaint little website.  Turns out, they sell not one, but two of these joyous little cherubs.  Feast your eyes on the Yixing Pee-Pee Boy (linky) and the Yixing Pee-Pee Pig (linky):

Coming in at $3.00 a pop, you can bet yourself a pretty penny that I ordered these ASAP.  In honor of her contributions to the bettering of all mankind, HK is most certainly getting one of these!!!!  Hopefully, Bird Pick is legitimate.  If so, I’ll be sure to post a video of these things to my newly available YouTube channel just as soon as I get my grubby little hands on them.

Though you may not know it, Atlanta is home to more than one blog that focuses on wine.  With all the love being doled out over my good buddy HW, I thought it might be a good time to point ya’ll in another direction.  After all, we’ve lost the aforementioned for at least the next six-months.  Enter Ed Thralls, the grape taster behind Wine Tonite.

Launched just about a year ago, WineTonite.com exists to “educate each other in the basic characteristics and styles of wine as well as the social aspect (i.e. tastings, dinners, visiting wineries, wine clubs, etc.) of wine by sharing stories and knowledge as average, everyday wine drinkers like you.”  I particularly find Thralls’ focus on value wines to be a big plus.  After all, the idea that you have to spend over $20 on a bottle just to find something tasty has always bothered me.

While his style is a bit more restrained than Wallace’s, it doesn’t mean Thralls opinion is any less valuable.  So head on over and spend some time reading up.  If you are a facebooker, you may want to check out the Wine Tonite Facebook page.

Congratulations to the one, the only Hardy Wallace.  Hardy, the sommelier over at Dirty South Wine, recently entered the Murphy-Goode Winery dream job.  The competition has been fierce, and after laying the smack down on roughly 2,000 other candidates, Sir Wallace of Dirty has earned a spot in the Top 10.  Here’s to you Hardy, good luck and I hope you get the job!  For those of you who didn’t see it – here’s his application:

Thank you Mr. Harion.  Tony (aka Mauricio) has just put together the best drinking game in the history of drinking games.  Take one part childhood memories and mix it with one part adult debauchery … what do we get?  That’s right … Battleship the bar game.  Coolness!!!!!

More pics are available on the website.

[Via coroflot]

So this just in, apparently – it’s a good thing to drink beer after you exercise.  Yeah, sounds screwy … I know.  According to researchers at Granada University (that’s in Spain ya’ll), a pint of beer post-exercise is better at rehydrating you than a glass of water!  Apparently, they attribute this to the high sugar and salt content in beer.  My question to the folks at GU, who the hell authorized this study?  Okay, so yeah this is serious content – but I still find it funny.

[via Cleveland Leader]

In the last 24-hours, Hardy Wallace [of Dirty South Wine and Goode To Be First fame] has pulled an Inspector Gadget and surged into first place in the quest for his dream job.  Some 25 points off the lead going into last night, Hardy now sits over 30 votes ahead.  Still, anything can happen with eight days left in the voting … so keep it going!

If you don’t know what all this hub-bub is about – just click on the link over on the right or read this post from a few weeks back.  You can also watch his submission video here:

Greg Best just made Playboy.  Don’t worry folks, Greg doesn’t appear in his skimpies.  No, in this case, Mr. Best was just named one of Playboy’s 10-best mixologists.  A co-owner of my favorite watering hole, Best is a certifiable drink geek!  He’s friendly as hell and awesome at what he does … two things that make him a winner in my book.

Backed by his kick ass McIntosh amps (yeah – I’ve said that before), Best makes a seriously killer cocktail … or two … or three … or … you get the idea.  I can’t tell you how many times he’s whipped something up full of ingredients I’ve never heard of.  If you haven’t been already, go grab yourself some pretty solid food while you punch yourself in the rye.  There’s a decent chance we’ll cross paths … I visit often.

UPDATE: I always wanted to know what it was like to be a Playboy photographer.  Okay, no … not really.  But apparently, I now know one … though I didn’t realize it at the time of this post … that picture of Greg came courtesy of one Broderick Smylie.  The guy, who has a serious case of the smiles, snaps many a good photos.  Check him out via the linky belowy

[Via Savory Exposure]