Category: Lifestyle (Page 88 of 274)

Bag a Stone: Keystone Light’s “Hunt for the Great White Stone” with Chuck Testa

December 10, 2015 / Paul Eide

To us, no beer pitchman was ever as cool as Keith Stone, patron saint of Keystone Light and role model to many. “Always smooth,” Mr. Stone was never harried in his approach to the ladies, and always had an answer for everything, predicated on smoothness, just like Keystone Light.

How could you not love Keith Stone’s “Smooth Musings?” It still makes me long for the taste of a cool, freshly-cracked, crisp, spot-hitting, proprietary blend of awesome that Mr. Stone has been peddling for years, right now, here in the office.

This winter, Keystone Light has come up with the coolest reason to slam light beer that you’ve never thought of – The Hunt for the Great White Stone. Here’s how it works:

You buy an orange 30-pack of Keystone Light. Each one contains three styles of cans:

1) Standard orange hunting cans
2) Cans featuring white antlers
3) The Great White Stone

What is the Great White Stone? The Great White Stone is an elusive white can with the head of a deer buck on it that’s hiding in select orange packs of Keystone Light.

After you bag a Great White Stone, you can artfully mix your orange hunting cans and cans with white antlers to create your own legendary mount that even Keith Stone would be proud of.

Beer, Lifestyle

Chuck Testa Keith Stone Keith Stone video Keystone Light

Sex in the Complication-Free Zone: Simple Guidelines for Being Real Friends with Benefits

December 6, 2015 / Bullz-Eye Staff

Relationships can be complicated but they don’t have to be. For a select number of people, who decide to be friends (but with benefits) relationships are pretty simple. However, the friends with benefits situation is not for all, especially those who don’t understand how to abide by the oft unspoken yet very important rules.

Lifestyle

Friends with Benefits

Texting Trouble: Celebrity Phone Scandals and Stories

December 6, 2015 / Bullz-Eye Staff

Have you ever sent a text message and then regretted it later? Do you wish you had not sent a certain someone a certain picture? It’s happened to a lot of us at one time or another. For everyday people, an ill-considered text message can be mighty embarrassing, but the general public doesn’t usually find out about it. When celebrities’ imprudent texts and sexts are revealed, the whole world finds out in a hurry.

Entertainment, Lifestyle

celebrity gossip

Drink of the Week: The Perfect Cocktail

December 4, 2015 / Bob Westal

Let’s get this out of the way: the Perfect Cocktail is not the perfect cocktail, but you already knew that. It is, however, not one bit bad.

My guess would be that this little known selection from Harry Craddock’s 1930 “The Savoy Cocktail Book,” such as it is, is either named after the Perfect Manhattan or I suppose it could be a precursor. What they both have in common is a combination of sweet and dry vermouth combined with a spirit…though the proportion of hard liquor is less than it would be if were something closer to a sweet or dry martini. It’s a fairly tasty concoction if you use the right ingredients and it’s not too terribly strong, which is sometimes a very good thing. Also, the simple symmetry of its ingredients is, if not actually perfect, pretty snazzy.

The Perfect Cocktail

1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce dry vermouth
1 ounce gin

Combine the liquids in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If you insist, it is also okay to stir this in a shaker or mixing glass and then strain the slightly prettier, but less icy, liquid into that same chilled glass.

*****

In preparation for the Perfect Cocktail, I made sure I was well stocked with various types of vermouths — all purchased in small bottles to maximize freshness. (Yes, I’m going to remind you, yet again, to always refrigerate your opened vermouth bottles and to try and use them up within a month or two, if possible.) Since the vermouths actually predominate in this drink, they’re obviously the most important ingredients.

I used Martini and Dolin for my dry vermouths; Martini, Vya, and Carpano Antica were my sweet choices. Overall, the more expensive options seemed to work notably better, with the possible exception of Vya. Martini Extra Dry seemed to pose a special issue, as the Perfect Cocktail seemed to accentuate some of its more imperfect bitter flavors.

My gins this time around were Bombay Dry, Gordon’s, and Plymouth. A slight edge went to the latter. Using Dolin, Plymouth (slightly less dry than you standard dry gin), and Carpano seemed to yield the best result, with the most piquant combination of sweet, floral and more mouth-friendly bitter flavors.

Though I usually suggest stirring gin-centric beverages, I liked this a lot better shaken. That’s probably because it’s really the vermouths that are the star of the show, with the sweet vermouth being the most dominant. It might be worth trying this drink even if you’re out of gin but have some vodka on hand.

I also experimented with using a cocktail cherry. I can’t say it helped noticeably, but neither did it hurt. So, if you’re looking for an excuse to use a cocktail cherry — and some of them are better than you might think — you might as well use it for the Perfect Cocktail.

Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Vices

Bombay Dry Gin Carpano Antica cocktails Dolin Dry Vermouth Drink of the Week Happy Hour martini

2015 Holiday Gift Guide: Booze

December 3, 2015 / Bullz-Eye Staff

Walk into any liquor store and you’ll see hundreds of options. You can zero in on someone’s favorite drink when picking a gift, or you can get creative and choose something they wouldn’t buy for themselves. Also, remember that you don’t want to come to a party empty-handed, so get in the habit of at least bringing a bottle.

And for more gift ideas, check out the other categories in our Holiday Gift Guide.

BACARDÍ Gran Reserva Maestro de Ron

If you’re looking for a simple way to class up your bar without breaking the bank, Bacardi’s new Gran Reserva Maestro de Ron is a great addition for under $25. This newly released white rum is crafted to be a high-end mixer, adding a touch of sophistication to the classic cocktails made at home. Besides casually mentioning the “Gran Reserva” label to describe your concoction, you can further impress your guests with the knowledge that the rum has been double aged; it’s initially aged for a year and blended, then returned to white oak barrels for an additional three months. While immediately flavorful upon tasting with light and fruity notes, we found its bite to be a little strong to be sipped on its own. However, stay true to its calling as a mixer, whether in cubas libres, mojitos or daiquiris, and you can’t go wrong. The Gran Reserva was created to pay tribute to the Master Blenders at Bacardi, but everyone might think they passed on some of their distilling secrets to you as well.

Basil Hayden’s Bourbon

Master Distiller Basil Hayden Sr. experimented with the addition of rye to bourbon in 1796, believing the spicy flavor profile of the grain would strikingly complement the sweeter, corn-heavy mash bill, and more than 200 years later, we’re still celebrating his decision one drink at a time. While Basil Hayden’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the lowest proof (80 proof, 40% ABV) in Jim Beam’s Small Batch collection, it brings a near double dose of rye (27%) compared to the others. The resulting flavor profile is “blessed with rich hints of peppermint, notes of pepper, slight citrus overtones and a spicy, warming finish.” If that doesn’t sound inviting during the holidays, we’re not sure what does. We can’t get enough of this bourbon, preferring to drink it neat from a bourbon snifter to maximize its aroma and flavor. But we were also very pleased using it as a mixer in Manhattans, allowing for the rye to add an extra layer of depth to the drink. Putting this all together in a nicely packaged bottle, Basil Hayden’s is that bourbon you break out on special occasions like the holidays.

Lifestyle, Stuff to Buy, Vices, Wine

2015 holiday gift guide alcohol gifts booze gifts Gift Guides Holiday Gift Guide wine gifts