Fifth Avenue Forum

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — Once again, Allegheny County has had the highest liquor sales revenue in the state, according to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s yearly report.

In fiscal year 2020-2021, Allegheny County reported $347,631,879 in total dollar sales, up 20.6% from last year’s $288,159,746. Philadelphia County, which came in second place, saw $245,055,272 in sales. Westmoreland County also landed in the top 10 at spot number nine, with $71,932,026 in sales.

Allegheny County saw the highest amount of its sales in whiskey, with a total of $73,891,609. The second highest was red table wines, which made up $53,049,772 in sales.

I loves ya, buddy, but that sounds digustipating.

Got some Volcan de mi Tierra blanco. New Years is gonna be a tequila night. Will report back later.

If you don’t like smoky liquors, Mezcal is not the spirit for you.

It's really tough, I think, to be a small distillery. A major company like Heaven Hill (Evan Willians, Elijah Craig, Larceny, Henry McKenna, etc.) distills more than a quarter million barrels of whiskey every year and has the better part of a million barrels in inventory at any given moment, spread over literally dozens of massive rickhouses. Heaven Hill may distill more whiskey in a day than a craft distillery like Wigle does all year. That volume makes it much, much easier to produce consistent products at whatever age and expression you decide to produce.

Do you guys have any spirits that give you weird dreams?

I ask because all my normal bourbons (mostly four roses and woodford) were out of stock and I grabbed a bottle of Michter's small batch bourbon. I've never had it before. I enjoyed it, but I've been having weird dreams on nights when I drink it. Typically I don't dream, or if I do, I wake up and don't remember them. After a one cocktail night with this stuff, I have dreams that are vivid and very memorable when I wake up. It's strange...

Now, it could be because I'm out of my typical routine with the holidays, it could be the stress of going back to work and my kid going back to daycare, and my wife going back to teaching with the omicron variant running wild, there are a lot of variables in my life at the moment, but the number one thing that has been consistent on the nights with weird dreams is drinking that bourbon. Nights that I don't drink it and drink something else like beer, scotch, rye, tequila, I haven't had them.

Never had that happen to be from a bourbon. I don't think there's anything especially unusual about Michter's. They're not using a different type of barrel wood than everyone else on the planet, or anything like that that I know of. Weird.

did you get covid? ive noticed ive had wild dreams ever since i had covid

If you don’t like smoky liquors, Mezcal is not the spirit for you.

Can you:

A) explain the main taste differences between tequila and mezcal (I know the "only certain agave" in tequila difference - but is the taste markedly different?), and
B) suggest some decent mezcal types (something in the at most $50 range - i.e. the Don Julio Anejo's of mezcal world))?

Thanks!!

Do you guys have any spirits that give you weird dreams?

I ask because all my normal bourbons (mostly four roses and woodford) were out of stock and I grabbed a bottle of Michter's small batch bourbon. I've never had it before. I enjoyed it, but I've been having weird dreams on nights when I drink it. Typically I don't dream, or if I do, I wake up and don't remember them. After a one cocktail night with this stuff, I have dreams that are vivid and very memorable when I wake up. It's strange...

Now, it could be because I'm out of my typical routine with the holidays, it could be the stress of going back to work and my kid going back to daycare, and my wife going back to teaching with the omicron variant running wild, there are a lot of variables in my life at the moment, but the number one thing that has been consistent on the nights with weird dreams is drinking that bourbon. Nights that I don't drink it and drink something else like beer, scotch, rye, tequila, I haven't had them.

Mrs Tif still has recurring anxiety dreams about waiting tables. She's close 30 removed from being a waitress.

If you don’t like smoky liquors, Mezcal is not the spirit for you.

Can you:

A) explain the main taste differences between tequila and mezcal (I know the "only certain agave" in tequila difference - but is the taste markedly different?), and
B) suggest some decent mezcal types (something in the at most $50 range - i.e. the Don Julio Anejo's of mezcal world))?

Thanks!!

So mezcal is a whole different beast than tequila. As you said, tequila is required to be made from Weber blue agave (and has to be made in Jalisco) whereas mezcal can be made from about 50 different agave plants in 9 different states. This has led to a rise in mezcal touting the type of agave being used. 400 Conejos for example has multiple joven mezcals that are made using different agave plants. Same process and aging but one is made with espadín and the other is made with an espadín/róbala blend and now there’s more product on the shelves that we need to taste to see which one we like more, before anything is thrown into an aging barrel. Lots more variety with mezcal.

At this point mezcal tends to be made more traditionally than tequila, mezcal has to be 100% agave, and is generally free of additives (but doesn’t have to be). This should result in a more “pure” agave flavored spirit that has profile variations based on agave variety and production methods, but in my experience the reputation of mezcal as the “smoky” tequila has caused producers to lean into the smokiness and way too many mezcals have the flavor profile of peat monster scotch.

The one mezcal I feel comfortable recommending is Del Maguey Vida. Del Maguey has a ton of mezcal varieties, all from small villages that use different agave, processes, water, climate exposure, etc to produce different flavor profiles. These can get very expensive, but Vida is the most widely available and can typically be found for less than $40. It’s fine neat, isn’t overwhelmingly smoky and is more fruity, and isn’t so expensive that you’re “ruining” it by using it in a cocktail.

If you want something that’s more of a sipper, I’d recommended working upwards in the Del Maguey line.

Mrs Tif still has recurring anxiety dreams about waiting tables. She's close 30 removed from being a waitress.

I still have dreams from 7th grade putting in my locker combo 37-1-23, getting my books and then not finding my classroom. No idea how I can remember that, but not where the dishes go when I dry them on a daily basis.

Mrs Tif still has recurring anxiety dreams about waiting tables. She's close 30 removed from being a waitress.

I still have dreams from 7th grade putting in my locker combo 37-1-23, getting my books and then not finding my classroom. No idea how I can remember that, but not where the dishes go when I dry them on a daily basis.

Cool story bro moment here,

I only knew my locker combo in HS on the first day of the year because I would slightly bend the bottom of the locker so it wouldn’t latch. One yank and the top lack would open after that.

Thanks for indulging this CSB moment

Mrs Tif still has recurring anxiety dreams about waiting tables. She's close 30 removed from being a waitress.

I still have dreams from 7th grade putting in my locker combo 37-1-23, getting my books and then not finding my classroom. No idea how I can remember that, but not where the dishes go when I dry them on a daily basis.

Cool story bro moment here,

I only knew my locker combo in HS on the first day of the year because I would slightly bend the bottom of the locker so it wouldn’t latch. One yank and the top lack would open after that.

Thanks for indulging this CSB moment

as a former high school custodial/maintenance worker, i put a hex on your teenage self. these were the hardest to fix and also if the interior floor got bent up

Mrs Tif still has recurring anxiety dreams about waiting tables. She's close 30 removed from being a waitress.