Flavors of Entanglement with a coked Godfather

My wife is away for a week on business to the beautiful landscapes of Europe. My buddies are pouring in taking advantage of this time. This evening was just one of them.

Roker dude came over to cook some potatoes for dinner. Helping him as much as I could, I switched the power house & played loud my latest acquisition – Alains Morisette`s new album – “Flavors of Entanglement.” To give company to Alains, I decided it would be right time to taste the much-awaited Amaretto.

First tried it the normal way of coke & ice. The taste was a bit weird. Sweet but still weird. A bit oily flavor actually. The first song on Alanis`s album started – Citizen of Planet. It begins with tabla beats giving an Asian sound & then proceeding to a heavy metal wedding depressing lyrics & Alains`s vocal. Ignoring the song Mr. B seemed to like the sweet taste. Roker dude also preferred it the sweet way.

But having tasted the conventional way, I decided to upgrade my drink to the Italian mafia style – the cocktail called “GODFATHER”. It is built on ice with equal parts of scotch and amaretto & bingo, you could sip it like the mafia. But my variation has coke in it. If you would remember, I have mentioned about this cocktail in my earlier blogs. The scotch gave bitterness to the drink. I could slowly decipher the bittersweet symphony of coked Godfather as “underneath” played & reminded me of the good old Alains of Jagged Little Pill. The next song has electro sound to the whole Alain`s typical croon singing style. Straight Jacket. Though a sad song, it will be a good dance number for a nightclub.

I lit my Marlboro lights & soaked a bit more into Godfather as the 4th song – Versions of Violence started with a heavy electronic metal intro. Instantly it reminded me of Marlyn Mansion in the album "Golden Age of Grotesque". This song gives a different flavour to the sad tone & jilted lover lyrics of Alains. I slowly realize why the album is called flavors of entanglement. The main theme running through the album is Alains Morisette`s depression, thanks to her much publicized break up with her ex fiancé Raymond Ray. That’s the entanglement part. Every song is sad but the music arrangement for each one is different & varies from disco, electro, slow piano ballad (Not as we & Torch) to regular rock (praise of vulnerable man). All of them give a feeling of different “flavor” to her sadness.

I intend to put no Moratorium on my alcohol consumption, but Alain`s song by the name explains her intention to be away from all kinds of relationship & commitment. God, how sad is she? The songs “giggling again “ & tapes have a coldplay flavor to them as per me & the last song – “incomplete” is a typical Alains Morisette style varying in between soft & heavy rhythm guitaring.

To sum up, Alains Morisette has yet again written a bunch of songs on sorrow & I quite like few of its flavors. Looks like the break up has brought out some creativity out of Alains. Apparently she knows only two emotions – Sorrow & Joy. & She can write 6 zillion songs on these two emotions. Rocker dude was correct in that the different musical arrangements & the title to the album could be a production gimmick as not all would want to keep listening to her songs of depression unless there is some variety. Trying to sell more eh! As for me, I am waiting for the day she writes about the second emotion she knows & she says in one of her interviews, that day will come when she is happily married & having 6 kids.

I thanked coked Godfather for staying with me through the album as the potatoes showed up over the dinner table & we all arranged ourselves to devour on them with some soft rock set to hear – The Verve, 4 non blones, Oasis, Dire Straits, Eagles & REM.

Say Cheers!!

Threesome with Tia

Wow! Did you click this entry because it says "Threesome"? I bet you did. Well, let see how far I live up to your expectations. I will tell you about Tia & I will tell you about the Threesome. But before that, you must know why I am writing about it now. More so because this threesome happened about more than a month ago.

Its monsoon time here in Bangalore & has been wetting the hell out of all of us. Its raining this afternoon as well. But not cats and dogs but the English way - drizzling. My favourite lunch time activity now a days is to try & write a blog entry & this rain now reminds me of that rainy afternoon about a month ago when I was pulled into the threesome. Thas why this blog.

So that Friday afternoon just when the weekend mood was settling around my desk area, Sailor Boy (SB) gave me a ring.
"Pleasant surprise", I said.
"My parents are out & Tia is here" , he said."Don`t you think this beautiful rain is the best time to get on top of Tia? We can go together or take turns. :)"
I said ,"Hell yea" & zipped over to his place, two blocks away from my office.

He opened the door & took me straight to the bar cabinet & brought out a swanky dark bottle -TIA. Guys, I am talking about "Tia Maria". Knowing me, it only has to be a fancy alcohol. :). Sorry to disappoint you. Lets talk about Tia Maria here today.

Last time SB was at our place, I showed off my Kahlua bottle & thas when he asked me if I ever tasted Tia Maria. I had not & so he invited me over. First thing I always do is look at the beauty of the bottle. Next I smell the spirit. Unfortunately I wasn`t able to recollect the smell that time but now I know that Tia Maria smelled almost like Kahlua.

Tia Maria is produced by the same company who makes Kahlua. Pernod Ricard. Tia Maria is a coffee liqueur just like Kahlua. It is dark in colour like Kahlua. I can talk about Kahlua some other time if you don`t know it. Lets stick to Tia now. The difference is that Tia is made in Jamaica using Blue Mountain Coffee Beans. Vanilla, sugar, cane spirit & coffee beans are the fermented ingredients in Tia. The alcohol percent here as in most of the liqueurs is 20%.

SB poured me a large measure of Tia over rocks in an old fashioned glass & topped it with coke. Tia touched my lips and ........ummmmmm, I could feel layers of coffee & coke with the light alcoholic tinge so clearly in my mouth. This one is so similar to the taste of other coffee & cola based cocktails like Dark Scotsman (Whiskey, Cold Black Coffee & Coke) & Vodcola (Vodka, Cold Black Coffee & Coke), except that they have more alcohol content. I think Tia can be used in B52 flaming shot also, instead of Kahlua. The rain outside called us to the balcony & we lit up a cigarette to complement the taste of Tia. The combination was perfect.

When a Tia Maria or Kahlua is available, guests don't have to choose between coffee and an after-dinner drink. Kahlua and Tia Maria-type drinks give a mellow buzz of alcohol and caffeine (when imbibed responsibly). I do not know how much a bottle of Tia Maria costs in duty free or outside , but its family member Kahlua costs around Rs. 800 for a one litre bottle in duty free & Rs.2500 for 750ml bottle outside. Incidentally , I got this recipe on the net to make Tia Maria easily at home.

4 cups water , 4 cups sugar , 2 cups Rum, 1 cup dry instant coffee, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract,1 tbsp caramel coloring, if desired. Boil the water and sugar in large pot, until sugar is completely dissolved. Stir.Remove from heat, cool for half an hour. Slowly add in the dry instant coffee, stirring continuously. Add vanilla to the rum, pour into gallon jug.Combine cooled sugar syrup and coffee mixture with the rum in gallon jug. Cover tightly, and shake every day for three weeks. Store in cool, dark place. After three weeks strain the concoction to get your Tia Maria.

SB & I decided to take on another round of Tia. It would be too bad to not turn up at my desk after lunch time, so I decided to be sober & let the taste of Tia linger in my mouth for the rest of the afternoon after that second round. That was the story of my threesome - something my wife wont be unhappy about. :)