Tonight's Tipple: Basil Hayden's Two by Two Rye
And is eating bugs becoming a thing in America?
What do you get when you mix two bourbons and two ryes? In this instance, a very enjoyable drink. I first tried this 80-proof whiskey in 2019. I liked it then, and I like it now.
The bourbon-rye ratio is 20 to 80. The former add a little sweetness and a vanilla note, and the rye offers a mild white pepper spiciness. I nurse it with a single ice cube.
Basil Hayden’s Two by Two Rye is not easy to find, but there are bottles out there. and it is what I am having tonight.
A breezy summer read: Stephen King, The Colorado Kid
When I saw this title and the retro cover, I picked it up. Then I noticed the name “Stephen King,” and I felt ambivalent. He is a terrific writer, but horror and gore novels are not my first choice, and I wasn’t itching for one at the time. But after I flipped over the back cover I realized this short novel is not a tale of demons or spooky things.
Nope, it is a mystery story, and a charming one at that. It is set in Maine where a young woman is working at a tiny town newspaper as an editorial assistant. The paper is run by two old coots who have decades of local knowledge, which they share with her. Like anywhere, there are unsolved mysteries, and the case of the Colorado Kid is one of them. How did a married man from way out there end up dead on a beach in remote Maine?
Trust me, this little book is a treat. A new copy will run you $10 and will give you eight to ten hours of pleasure, which is a fine return on the investment. (Buy it.)
Eating bugs
OK, I get the concept: some humans have eaten insects for millenia and bugs are plentiful and have lots of protein. Some 2 billion people today eat bugs regularly, says the United Nations.” Axios, the buzzy news site, reports that creepy-crawlies are appearing in DC eateries. “At Amparo Fondita in Dupont Circle, diners can try mezcal-flambeed grasshopper tostadas and seasonal flying ants.” And a cocktail restaurant in the city’s downtown Penn Quarter makes an Air Bee and Bee cocktail from tequila, almond blossoms, and hay-smoked bee larva.
Again, I get the concept but doubt we will see droves of Americans surfing to Amazon to purchase chocolate-covered grasshoppers to nosh while watching Netflix. But, I could see more people purchasing a protein shake powder that is made from bugs. Why? Simple: Because such a product would not trigger an ick/gag effect. There’d be no shell, legs, wings—no bugginess. What do you think?