The Coalition of the Swilling

There must be lot of this kind of thing going around. My son moved to Temecula CA and there is an enterprising local farmer there who got the bright idea to farm cactus to make tequila. Even though the product is called Temequila and is bottled in a red white and blue package with a big 'Made in USA' on it, Jose Cuervo's lawyers got freaked out and sent him a cease and desist so that the public would not be confused between Mexican tequila and American Temequila. The farmer was forced to change the name of the proiduct to the very catchy: 100% Blue Agave Spirits. Doesn't sound like half as much fun, does it?
http://www.temequila.com/pages/1/index.htm

Ah yes Laddie, I remember watchin' under the Haggis-hot sun an' seein' Babu MacMehbooba trampin' through the Gorsediwal, off to the bog with his old Peatumbara shovel to dig the finest Indian Peatlaliwal for to make a dram or two of the finest Sub-Continental Scott Whiskeyargyaya, if only the bog Tiger didn't eat him alive...

...reminds me of an early ad for Suntory Royal, a scotch-like whiskey from Japan:

"From the bonnie, bonnie banks of the Yamakazie..."

(leelu! How lovely to see you again!!)

Ah, Suntory, scourge of the orient. I laughed my tookus off at 'Lost in Translation', with Bill Murray doing the Suntory ads. I laughed after I got over my flashbacks, I mean.

Almost 2 years over there, and I never had a glass of Suntory whisky (still haven't). Why bother when there was so much good Sochu around? A Caucasian does not look more cosmopolitan with a fake whisky in his hand.

But their porter was to die for (actually I prefer all the Suntory beers to Asahi and Kirin) - but you could not find the porter above Nagoya, those Kansai bastards kept it for themselves.

Suntory was my complete swilling-out-in-the-ville favorite. I only wished it came in those big, honkin' Sapporo sized cans. And more's the pity I can't get it here, even though the range of Japanese beers available locally is pretty astounding.

As for Suntory whiskey, piTu! nasty. And there's a REASON the local barkeeps would ask you to buy them bottles of the REAL stuff from the base liquor store and were offering to pay handsomely to get it. Between being a gaijin blonde and access to American hooch, I could have come home quite wealthy if I'd any sense at all. And liked short men.

Short in multiple senses of the word? ;-)

Japanse beer in the US is not the same: none of them except Sapporo are brewed in Japan and exported to the US - both Asahi and Kirin license out to Molson (read the labels carefully - some Japanese restaurants do get the real deal) - and I can tell the difference. Have you seen Suntory here in the US? 'Cause I'll pay good money for that Kuro Nama.

Mitsuko says "no can get".

( As for short: wouldn't know. More information than I ever needed, but rumor has it...)

Do you think that this will be known as the Red Scot decision?

I guess that one's been pre-assigned to George Galloway.

Still, the use of Scotch in India is pretty much a Bollywood confection and a colonial recidivism - it's simply elite anti-nativism. Why drink that factory-stilled junk when Cashew Fenny is so pungently strong and delicious? T hey also make some really good rums, and in various locales good Arrak, not to mention the native beer-breweries that the Krauts set-up. Henninger and Kingfisher among others.

Okay, keith, I can't stand it. How do you know? John and I yak about Japan all day, so if you've got some India dish, let's hear it!

The Kirin brewed in Canada is horrid. Blech! I used to be able to find the real McCoy, er, Suzuki, but not anymore.

Born in Calcutta, missionary parents, lived about a hundred miles down the East coast on the Bay of Bemngal in the backwards state of Orissa. Dad was principal/teacher at a trade-school for orphan boys. After a few years of home-schooling we (older brother and sister) were shipped 500-miles south to boarding school where all sorts of anti-authoritarian activity emerged. Missionaries rotate out of country then back in, we stayed in the U.S. - but later I returned and finished HS there instead of at Paly - and thus the Anthro major in College. It's been a while but it never leaves you. :-)

Well, I'll be! That is cool, cool beans! We'll have to yak about In-jah more often, so you can dazzle us with your exploits, keith.

"Have you seen Suntory here in the US? 'Cause I'll pay good money for that Kuro Nama."

John: if anyone in the US can get it, it'd be the Brickskeller in DC. I've had WAY more obscure and difficult-to-find beers there, and it would surprise me if they haven't had Suntory at some point and could have it again. Their selection rotates, but it's always enormous, and while I haven't asked myself, I think they will at least try to fulfill requests.

I've managed to save up roughly $57172 in my bank account, but I'm not sure if I should buy a house or not. Do you think the market is stable or do you think that home prices will decrease by a lot?