"new years" news and stories

For many Americans, the idea of Chinese beer may seem as far-out as Chinese democracy (the movement or the Guns N' Roses album). Some countries -- Ireland and Germany, for example -- we heavily associate with beer drinking, and others, like China, we do not. Even at Asian restaurants, less discriminating drinkers can be hard-pressed to determine the country of origin of different Eastern beers on the menu. Maybe I was just a "dumb American," but when I was younger, I didn't put much thought into the difference between my Sapporos and my Tsingtaos.

Well, for the record, Tsingtao is by far the most prevalent Chinese beer in the U.S., (Sapporo, of course, is from Japan) and the marketing minds down at the Tsingtao Brewery believe they've found the perfect event to help hammer that point home: Chinese New Year, which begins today.

To celebrate the "Year of the Ox," Tsingtao enlisted the help of certified Chinese Master Chef Martin Yan to create four Chinese dishes that utilize either Tsingtao Lager or Tsingtao Pure Draft as an ingredient. Personally, though, I'm more about drinking beer than cooking with it, so I was happy to see Chef Yan also took a crack at two beer cocktails.

You can see all of the recipes (as well as some additional Chinese New Year celebration tips) on Tsingtao's website here or find the mixing instructions for Chef Yan's Ginger Beer Fizz beer mixed drink after the jump...

The first Monday of 2009 is upon us: The first day reality sets in.

Was it just me or did the holidays fall in a very precarious position this year? Both Christmas and New Year's landed on Thursdays, leaving their respective Eves to precede on Wednesdays, resulting in anemic two-day work weeks barely worth thinking about, causing almost an entire 16 day period to be a wash, thus making getting back to any sort of actual life that much more difficult.

But here I am. My point: None.

However, I am building to a larger sentiment that New Year's Eve 2009 has come and passed without but a squeak from me on the beer blog -- begging the question: "How did Slashfood's resident beer snob kick off 2009 (beer-wise of course)?" Well, I'm not so proud to admit that after the requisite champagne toast, my first beer of 2009 was... drum roll please... a Budweiser!

Yikes! Equally requisite explanation: NYE09 was spent at a house party with but one keg to satisfy all beer drinkers' tastes, so I swallowed my snobbery and kicked off the new year with a Bud draft out of the barrel.

My beer expertise did come in handy though when someone was needed to tap said keg. So there: my knowledge did pay off after all.

We're now five days and one full weekend into 2009. What was your first beer of the year? Or fill me in on any interesting NYE beer drinking tales. Otherwise it's going to be a long, boring year, people!

[Photo Credit: anheuserbusch.com]

Many of us know that here in the US, it is traditionally thought to be good luck to eat beans, ham and greens around the New Year, to ensure prosperity and abundance in the year to come (check out Kat's post on Hoppin' John for more details on this auspicious combo).

This year, the blogger behind the site I'm Mad and I Eat decided to approach the traditional New Year's meal from a new angle. She cooked up a slab of Spam and made herself some Hawaiian-style Spam musubi. She served it up with a side of steamed edamame and kimchi. Beans, ham, rice and greens for a nice little New Year's meal.

Source

New Year doesn't just mark a clean page on a new calendar -- it evokes nostalgia for the times that led to that point. For many, New Year's Eve is a clash of impressions of confetti, champagne corks, standing in the freezing cold (18 degrees in Times Square this year) in hopes of jockeying for a couple of seconds of nationwide camera time. But for some, the best New Year's Eve is not on the streets but in a swank nightclub several stories above, where matrons in furs peer disdainfully at doxies in sequins, where a gentleman's black tie is correctly understood to be quite enough sartorial splendor for his role as escort, where the jewelry is platinum and the hair is marcelled, and where, although champagne is popped at midnight for an obligatory sip, the drink of the evening is the martini.

Into the world of chic, artisinal gins, enter New Amsterdam. Like the pre-code New York of its name, this gin bypasses the cheap sentiment of retro to be outright old-fashioned, without the speakeasy sting of bathtub gin. Soft citrus notes open the palate much as happens with a good sauvignon blanc, but then a strident bite of juniper marches forward, lockstepping like a Busby Berkeley kickline. As a pure sip, the juniper mid-note lingers on the palate; with vermouth or lime, a final spicy note surfaces, very lightly crowned with waft of minerality.

Confession time: what's the wine you buy on autopilot, the wine you know inside and out like a wife of many years, the one that's reliable, trustworthy, and has stood by you through thick and thin?

A recent Nielsen survey commissioned by Constellation Brands divides wine consumers into six broad categories. Fourteen percent are Satisfied Sippers, who tend to always buy the same brand, and twenty-three percent (the largest category) are Overwhelmed, staring down the endless wine aisles and not knowing what to get. It's easy to draw the next conclusion--these buyers end up getting the tried and true as well.

I don't advocate tossing the wife, but this month what about banning the house wine? (If you drink beer or cocktails or even soda, read on--you can do this, too.)

At restaurants, house wine tastes somewhere between boring and wretched. At home, house wine is good for many things--you already know you like it and can serve a bottle to unexpected guests, or just when you yourself are tired and don't have the energy to try anything new.

But January is the time for new beginnings. Instead of buying the same-old wine, fill a case with 12 wines you've never seen in your life (you'll get a 10-20 percent discount on a case, so there's even more incentive). There may be some duds in the dozen, but life is short, and wine is fun, when you're willing to branch out a bit.