Food & Drink

It's going to take more than a little antifreeze scandal to stop this drink

Drinkers the world over let out a collective gasp this week when Fireball Cinnamon Whisky was recalled in some European countries for containing what regulators deemed an unsafe level of propylene glycol—a chemical found in antifreeze. Was that the burn felt by college students and weekend warriors when they took shots of the liquor whose slogan promises that it “tastes like heaven, burns like hell”?

As it turns out, propylene glycol is approved for use in food processing by the FDA, which says that it “can be ingested over long periods of time and in substantial quantities (up to 5 percent of the total food intake) without causing frank toxic effects.” Europe accepts a lower level of the chemical, and certain countries balked at bottles containing more than one gram per kilogram by volume.

Nevertheless, the spicy whiskey—whose flavor has been compared to Big Red chewing gum—is unlikely to take a tumble in the U.S. based on this news. In a few short years, it has become a mainstay in the stable of shots, offering the kick of a liquor much stronger than it is (33%), with no unpleasant aftertaste. Between 2011 and 2013, Bloomberg reports, its sales at U.S. gas stations, convenience stores and supermarkets rose from $1.9 million to $61 million. Momentum like that will need more than a little antifreeze scandal to slow it down.

Big, bold flavor is not a trend that’s going away anytime soon—according to Ian Reusch, general manager at the popular D.C. beer bar ChurchKey, we’ve seen the same level of hype around similar products like Goldschlager and Jägermeister. He thinks a scary ingredient linked to antifreeze might be enough to burst the cinnamon-flavored bubble.

Yael Vengroff, Fireball aficionado and bar manager at Harvard & Stone in Los Angeles, begs to differ. She says the kind of folks who appreciate Fireball may not be the same kind of people who are easily spooked by scandal. “I feel that Fireball won’t suffer from the current recall,” she says, “because I don’t feel like its market and drinkers are in the business of playing it safe, if you will.”

For those who do fear for their innards but still crave the fiery liquor, bartenders around the country offer artisanal versions whose ingredients are less likely to offend. The drink has become a kind of ironic favorite among the kind of mixologists who would bristle at the term “mixologist,” folks who still appreciate that the experience of going to a bar should be about having a good time, not a white-glove affair.

At ChurchKey, Reusch and his staff recently began offering their own “Grandpapa Reusch Ol’ Time Fireball Style Whiskey,” made with cinnamon sticks and chili oil. The Penrose in New York City offers the “Red Hot Shot,” bourbon infused with cinnamon and jalapeño. And Vengroff makes her own barrel-aged version with Ferrand cognac at Harvard & Stone called “Firebarrel.”

Still, Vengroff says, bars that do make their own version should not get too haughty about it. Her own appreciation of the spirit “started off as a f–k you to that really precious speakeasy experience.” When those same bars make their own versions but frown on the real brand, that is not in the Fireball spirit, she says. “For so long, it was like, ‘We’re not gonna give the people what they want. We’re not gonna carry vodka or cranberry juice.’” At the end of the day, bars are still supposed to be about hospitality, and if people want to coat their esophagus in cinnamon whiskey, then bottom’s up.

If you’re still too nervous about putting propylene glycol in your body, there are plenty of easy at-home recipes for Fireball knockoffs. Try infusing a bottle of cheap whiskey with a handful of cinnamon sticks and two shots of simple syrup for a few days, adding a few dried red chili peppers then steeping for a few days more before straining. Alternatively, just add cinnamon and jalapeno syrups to your whiskey of choice. Whatever you do, take a hint from the guests at this wedding and be sure to share the drink far and wide—you’ll be everyone’s favorite party guest.

NatureBox is thinking about delivery methods for its healthy snacks beyond the usual subscription service

NatureBox is refusing to be boxed in as just another e-commerce company.

This Saturday, the subscription snack box provider will begin to stock snacks that will be offered to passengers on American Airlines international flights to and from Latin America and Europe. The company’s snacks will be included in a breakfast box that’s offered to all passengers flying economy class for those American Airlines flights, so the pact is a reoccurring revenue stream for the year-long deal that could have an even longer runway if successful.

NatureBox co-founder and Chief Executive Gautam Gupta told Fortune the pact was important for the NatureBox to prove its brand can live “online as well as offline.”

“We see this as the first of many [partnerships] over the next several years,” Gupta said.

NatureBox’s core business is a subscription service, which sends five snack packs to an individual customer per month. But the company is thinking about delivery methods beyond the subscription service. Earlier this year, it started selling its snacks to corporate clients and has landed more than 200 customers, including Twitter and Square. The corporate business has resulted in 20%-30% growth month-over-month since it debuted, so NatureBox is encouraged by its early efforts to go beyond direct-to-consumer delivery.

NatureBox says it is seeing strong interest from retailers that could one day stock its products. The company, which sells jalapeño cashers, wholewheat blueberry fig bars and other healthy goodies that have fewer than 200 calories per serving, stays on top of food trends by leveraging data it gathers from the subscription service via customer feedback. It can quickly determine when a new flavor is a hit, or perhaps needs to be reworked if it doesn’t take off. The data can be helpful as NatureBox mulls opportunities to sell its brand outside the delivery business.

Still, the direct-to-consumer business model is a key to NatureBox’s success. NatureBox is expecting to ship 3 million of its snack packages this year, up from 1 million in 2013.

Gupta said the American Airlines pact puts NatureBox “in the hands of consumers that haven’t heard about us and gives them an opportunity to try our product.” He said NatureBox is just beginning to make a name for itself in the snacks aisle.

And there is a lot of room for the startup to grow. U.S. consumers — in particular Generation X, Millennials, and today’s teens and kids — are snacking more between and even at traditional meal time. Research firm NPD Group believes snack foods eaten at main meals will grow about 5% to 86.4 billion earnings in 2018.

NatureBox isn’t the only direct-to-consumer e-commerce company that is refusing to rely solely on a subscription business. Kiwi Crate, a company that sends monthly do-it-yourself kits meant for kids, is now stocking its items in over 1,700 Target stores. And like NatureBox’s Gupta, Kiwi Crate CEO Sandra Oh Lin has said she’s thinking about how she can expand her company’s brand to the retail channel.

“One of our challenges is getting Kiwi Crate into more hands and allowing the product to market itself,” Oh Lin said. “The retail channel helps address this.”

This article originally appeared on Fortune.com

It even helped the establishment of democracy

This post is in partnership with the History News Network, the website that puts the news into historical perspective. The article below was originally published at HNN.

1. People became more attentive and sharp

Before coffee became prevalent in the late seventeenth century, nearly all members of society indulged in different alcoholic beverages, varying based on social status. This meant that for most of history, it could be assumed that people were always somewhat drunk. In a 1674 advertisement for coffee, alcohol is described as “drowning…reasons and souls.” When coffee was introduced, it was immediately noted that coffee was more wholesome, and was desirable for businessmen who relied on acumen and sobriety. When it became clear that the effects of coffee led to productivity and successful negotiation, the coffeehouse became a common locale for business transactions. Coffee was a mental stimulant, which provided a stark contrast to the drunken stupor that hobbled so many. It allowed for increased efficiency and productivity, and came to be nearly synonymous with the successful, hardworking man.

2. Different social classes came together

While alcohol divided the classes, coffee united them. Coffee was substantially more affordable than most alcohols, and underprivileged citizens were able to take part in this growing industry. Anyone who could afford a cup of coffee was considered an equal in the shop. Coffeehouses were able to become a population center, rather than a place for the elite. The coffeehouse differed from the institutions of the time, as it did not differentiate based on birth or social status. No man was given preference on account of wealth or stature, and seats were not organized according to hierarchy, which was common in sixteenth century England.

3. Public discourse was improved

Often, it cost a penny to enter a coffee shop. They were often referred to as “Penny Universities” because of the plethora of worldly information offered for the price of a penny. Different people discussed different subjects throughout the day, and the diverse groups offered various opinions on a multitude of issues. Often, higher-up members of society would read the newspapers aloud for the benefit of the ragged illiterate. At that time, people depended on oral communication for their news, and so most news was spread by word of mouth. In the coffeehouse, different people were able to bring different points of view on a wide variety of news topics, which encouraged public awareness. Eventually, journalists themselves began heading to the coffeehouse to gather news.

4. Coffeehouses expanded the public sphere

The coffeehouse was able to emerge as a leading contributor to the development of the public sphere because it allowed for intellectual and politically charged conversation to take place among the general population, rather than the select elite. Quarrels were frequent among coffeehouse regulars, which perpetuated the developing notion that everybody (at least men) had the ability and the authority to passionately debate public affairs, policy, and news of the time. Moreover, it enabled the layman to develop his own political opinion, and understand it as relevant to their personal lives.

5. Coffeehouses contributed to democracy

None were excluded from the coffeehouse. For the first time in English history, politics were being discussed by a more representative group. (Before, politics was often confined to the elite.) New political theories and policy ideas were conceived in the coffeehouse, and debated by both experienced politicians and laymen in order to achieve a well-rounded, solidified, developed idea. These coffeehouses thus became mediums for social mobility and democratization.

This marked the creation of the public sphere, and was arguable the first step in the development of liberal democracy.

It is for precisely these reasons that King Charles II was leery of of coffeehouses. In December 1675 he issued a proclamation to suppress them on the grounds that in coffeehouses “diverse, false, [and] scandalous reports are devised and spread abroad to the defamation of His Majesty’s Government.” As news of the King’s proclamation spread, riots erupted all over England. The opposition to this decree was so violent and widespread, that it soon became a serious threat to the actual monarchy itself. The unanimity displayed over the proclamation was astounding. People of both sides of the political spectrum were in agreement concerning the establishment of coffeehouses. They had proven to be a forum for civility and the sharpening of reasoning, providing a locale for public debate and critics.

Sources

A History of Coffee: 1400-1800.” University of California, Sata Cruz, Center for World History. Accessed April 28, 2014. http://cwh.ucsc.edu/brooks/coffee-site/index.html.

“A ‘Sober and Wholesome Drink': A Brief Description of the Excellent Vertues of That Sober and Wholesome Drink Called Coffee.” In Sources of the making of the Eest: Peoples and Cultures. ed. Katharine J. Lualdi, 78-82. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012.

Ellis, Aytoun. The Penny Universities: A History of the Coffee-Houses. London: Secker and Warburg, 1956.

Ellis, Markman. The Coffee House: A Cultural History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004.

Pincus, Steve. “’Coffee Politicians Does Create’: Coffeehouses and Restoration Political Culture. The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 67, No. 4 (December 1995): 807-834. JSTOR (2124756)

Here are the best places in the NHL to pound on the glass and have a bite to eat

This article originally appeared on Food & Wine.

It’s hockey season. Oh you didn’t know? That’s because hockey is usually degraded as the least major of the major American sports. Heck, at this point Nascar and professional wrestling get more love than hockey. But we find that exceedingly unfair. Hockey is faster than football, takes as much skill as baseball and has at least as many missing teeth as professional wrestling. NHL arenas also offer some great food for hungry fans. Here are the best places in the NHL to pound on the glass and have a bite to eat.

1. Bridgestone Arena, Home of the Nashville Predators

There’s not much in the way of actual ice and snow in Nashville, but the city still scored a hockey team in 1998. Predators’ fans can eat what is most likely the best if not the only chicken-and-waffles in all of professional sports. And the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich is another local pick that’s worth the wait.

2. Rogers Arena, Home of the Vancouver Canucks

This year the Canucks have introduced lobster rolls and a dozen variations on stadium tube steaks, including a “perogy dog” topped with cheese and potato perogies and sauerkraut and a croque monsieur dog topped with ham and gruyere. They’ll also pour you a Negroni right from a concession stand. Not a bad way alternative to the $8 swill beer most arenas offer.

3. The Staples Center, Home of the L.A. Kings

Nachos and hot dogs are available, but a lot of the menu options at the home of the defending Stanley Cup champions read fit L.A.’s health conscious stereotype: roasted beet salad, sesame-crusted tuna, even gluten-free beer. The big winner here though is the sushi that’s made fresh at every game.

4. Nationwide Arena, Home of the Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus, Ohio is on this list for one reason and it ain’t fancy. The arena here serves the ultimate “drunk at the stadium” food. The Dancing Kevin sandwich is named after this guy, Dancing Kevin. And like him it is a fantastically oversized piece of work. A pork bomb on a pretzel bun, the sandwich features ham, pulled pork and bacon topped with mozzarella sticks.

5. Bell Centre, Home of the Montreal Canadians;

Montreal takes a few things very seriously: French, food and hockey. The latter two are on display at the Bell Centre, which sells smoked meat sandwiches from Lesters Deli, which has been cranking out delicious, fatty sandwiches in Montreal for over 60 years. And because this is Canada, expect mountains of poutine.

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Toast your next vacation with craft cocktails or a tasting flight at one of these top whiskey bars

Mark Twain once observed, “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough”—a philosophy Americans are increasingly taking to heart. In 2013, sales of the heavenly brown liquid outpaced all other spirits, and specialty bars are popping up at an overwhelming rate.

“Five years ago, you could count the good whiskey bars on two hands,” says Lew Bryson, managing editor of Whisky Advocate. “Now it’s impossible to keep up.”

So what makes a whiskey bar stand out from the crowd? A solid selection (at least 50 bottles) is imperative, according to Bryson, as is staff knowledge and enthusiasm. “I want servers who actually drink the stuff,” he says. It’s also promising if a bar hosts a whiskey tasting club, as does L.A.’s Seven Grand.

Some whiskey fans seek out bars stocking an encyclopedic variety, from American small-batch rarities to Japanese single malts. At Seattle’s whiskey emporium Canon, you’re spoiled for choice between a menu that runs more than 100 pages, a selection of tasting flights, and craft cocktails like the Skull and Blackberries (Canon select double rye, dark rum, Rossbacher, blackberry, blueberry smoke).

For others, bourbon is king. And the seat of that kingdom is Kentucky, where the Bluegrass Saloon serves bourbon from nine regional distilleries, including every variety imaginable from companies like Bulleit and Wild Roses.

Bourbon, rye, Scotch—all these types of whiskey are distilled from fermented grain. Yet the flavor can be infinitely affected by variables like type of grain (bourbon legally has to be 51 percent corn, for instance) and the barrel in which it’s aged.

To get the most out of each whiskey’s flavor, Moiz Ali—cofounder of Caskers, a crafts spirits club with hundreds of thousands of members—recommends tasting it neat first. “For high-proof whiskey, I might add a few drops of water or a cube of ice,” he adds. “This helps open up the whiskey’s aromas and flavors, which can be masked behind the high alcohol content.”

As a first pour, we’ve rounded up 16 notable whiskey bars across the nation. While fans will have their own favorites, we can all get behind the meaning of the word whiskey: “water of life” in Gaelic.

Jack Rose Dining Saloon, Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., is our nation’s capital, and a visit to Jack Rose may convince you it’s also the center of the whiskey universe. The Adams Morgan saloon serves whiskey on tap and stocks an incredible 1,800 bottles of the golden stuff. Consider a spirit like the 15-year-old Jefferson’s Reserve from the Rare Bottlings collection. You can savor it in the cozy, wood-paneled whiskey cellar, on the open-air terrace, or in the dining saloon itself, where cigars are also on the menu.

The 404 Kitchen, Nashville

Nashville has recently attracted national attention for its food and drink scene. Credit goes to innovators like the 404 Kitchen, located within a 40-foot former shipping container adjacent to the 404 Hotel. Here, whiskey aficionados will find more than 150 varieties, including super-rare spirits from Ireland to Utah—and a sizable collection of Japanese “juice.” Hungry? You’ve come to the right place: 404 is a James Beard Award semifinalist, known for locally sourced Italian-style dishes like delicata squash soup and cornmeal-crusted fluke.

Bluegrass Tavern, Lexington, KY

Since 2009, 2.5 million tourists have traveled the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to tour its nine historic distilleries, including Bulleit and Woodford Reserve. So a Lexington bar better be legit: patrons are guaranteed to know their stuff and expect to be impressed. Bluegrass Tavern comes through with 230 kinds of bourbon, including scarce vintages like Four Roses Limited Single Barrel.

Canon, Seattle

Seattle may be famous for its coffee, but not to the detriment of other vices. Canon, the rainy city’s very own whiskey library, offers the largest selection of American whiskey in the Western Hemisphere. Stacks upon stacks of bottles are piled high to the pressed-tin ceiling, and Canon’s booze book dedicates nine to rare batches alone. Guests can browse old-school bartending books while they wait for a craft cocktail and helping of Angostura-bourbon nuts from the ever-changing menu.

Flatiron Room, New York City

Manhattan’s premiere whiskey destinationcharms patrons with nearly 500 varieties—some accessible only by ladder—as well as highly informed whiskey guides, live jazz music, a swanky setting (plush banquettes, cabaret-style tables, chandeliers), and A-list people-watching. You can even get schooled during one-day classes in its private upstairs room. Just be sure to make your reservation ahead of time. As Flatiron’s website states: “We love our guests. So much so that we are willing to turn some away so the ones inside can best enjoy their experience.”

Read the full list HERE.

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This article originally appeared on Food & Wine.

Here’s a fun trick you can play on attendees’ coronary health at your upcoming Halloween party: Give ‘em deep-friend candy corn.

The recipe comes from one of our favorite fryers of things, Amy over at the blog Oh Bite It and the concoction is surprisingly simple. You can whip up these little sugar bombs with nothing more than candy corn, a roll of Pillsbury Seamless Crescent Dough and a little touch of powdered sugar “for dusting.”

Plus, you know, a giant pan full of artery clogging frying oil.

If any candy could use some help, it’s candy corn and frying it is definitely the way to go. As Amy points out on the site, each one contains a “warm, sweet and slightly chewy colorful Nougat that has transformed into just a shadow of that seasonal, sad, tooth-buster of a treat it used to be!”

Plus, they certainly beat the Necco Wafer crusted pumpkin seeds I was going to serve at my party.

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At these historic bars, spirits aren’t just on the drink menu—they’re making noises in dark corners and downing patrons’ glasses

Here’s one way to ensure a bar will be haunted: open it in a former morgue. That’s the case with Captain Tony’s Saloon in Key West, FL, also a former speakeasy, where you may find yourself sipping gin and tonic next to a grave—or a ghost.

“Ghosts tend to go to places they frequented when they were alive,” says California-based Loyd Auerbach, author of A Paranormal Casebook: Ghost Hunting in the New Millennium. “Consequently, places like bars, where people gather for social reasons or for other personal reasons, are often the target sites for the disembodied.”

Every city seems to have a haunted bar and an intriguing story behind it. The ghostly presence can often be traced back to an erstwhile love affair or, sadly, the result of a grizzly murder. In Austin, TX, the victim of a bar fight has been causing mischief at The Tavern for decades, changing the TV channels or banging dishes in the kitchen. And outside of Las Vegas, a gambler killed when caught cheating still roams the poker tables at Pioneer Saloon.

Still, some ghost tales are taller than others. Jim Fassbinder, who leads ghost tours in San Francisco, says: “There’s a bunch of haunted bar stories out there mostly promoted by barkeeps who know a well-told ghost story keeps ’em drinkin’ and gets the barkeep a tip.”

Not so at Stone’s Public House in Massachusetts, where paranormal experts confirmed eerie happenings the owner had noticed. It’s one of our picks for the most haunted bars in the nation—and you might want to consider a nice tip, after all, if you want to keep the resident spirits happy.

The Ear Inn, New York City

The charmingly ramshackle interior of this old sailors’ drinking spot in SoHo is still the preferred haunt of at least one sailor, Mickey. He likes the ladies, as female patrons and employees have complained of being goosed by Mickey. And he also likes his drink; regulars have been perplexed to find pint glasses suddenly empty. In September 2014, there was a ghost sighting by a waitress’s boyfriend. They were sleeping in an upstairs room (the space used to double as an inn), and she woke up in the middle of the night to find him transfixed. When she asked what her boyfriend was doing, he said, “I’m just saying hello to the strange man standing in the corner.”

Captain Tony’s Saloon, Key West, FL

As the site of a former morgue, Captain Tony’s Saloon happens to be one of the few spots you can sip a gin and tonic next to an actual grave. There are, in fact, two here. Oh yeah, there’s also an old tree growing through the roof of the bar; according to legend, it was used to hang criminals. So it’s no wonder that bathroom doors become mysteriously locked on their own or that people regularly feel strange sensations while having a drink here.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, New Orleans

The 18^th-century building that houses this Bourbon Street bar is brimming with ghostly intrigue. There’s E.J., who apparently sits at the bar. There’s the woman who sometimes appears in the mirror. And then there’s Jean Lafitte himself, a former pirate who ran a smuggling business here in the 18^th century—and who may have used this bar to hide his stolen loot. Patrons have apparently seen his apparition standing in a corner scowling and smelled a trace of his tobacco.

The Jury Room, Columbus, OH

It’s a bold move to build on a former Native American burial ground. Yet that’s where the Jury Room sits. Since 1831, this spot has been popular with drinkers, including the spectral kind. Regulars and employees have talked of seeing a tall shadowy man roaming the premises. Workers claim that objects regularly fly off of shelves, and one person even saw a pitcher of beer being poured by itself.

The Brass Rail, Hoboken, NJ

When a bride-to-be tripped at the top of the steps and died after breaking her neck, she ushered in a ghostly era for this Hoboken bar. Since the incident in 1904, employees have regularly seen a lady in white hovering near the steps. Note to any betrothed couples: don’t get married here.

Read the full list HERE.

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Little did you know you were living an unfulfilled life