Odesnik Watch Day 5

The trivia question asked in my post earlier has an answer below. The question again was, how many times have both Williams sisters lost on the same day at a Grand Slam?
As was posited yesterday, erstwhile American grinder Wayne Odesnik is out of the French Open, after getting crunched by Novak Djokovic. Not to worry, though, as Wayne Odesnik's name will hopefully pop again on your radar either at a tennis tournament or in a game of JUMBLE (I can get YON KIDS WEAN. I guess children in the distance are no longer suckling. Anyway, if you look at the time that this post goes up, you'll see why things are a bit strange)
Other French bits 'n pieces:
-4 Frenchmen advance
-Andy Murray is out (thank goodness, he's a pain)
-Bethanie Mattek learned how to dress, and got a set off Maria Sharapova
-Rafael Nadal is just killing everyone in his path
-Alize Cornet lost, but still looks like Cleopatra

Trivia answer: zero (I'm pretty sure)

Brachetto, Nice To Meet You!

So last night was dinner out, and did we hit the jackpot at a place called Whisknladle. I'll leave the food to your imagination and your ability to read menus, but since cocktails and mixology are part of the passions driving this blog, there are beverages to discuss.
First was the opening cocktail for each of us: Jess, being a fan of all things lavender, was all over the lavender cosmo. A beautiful presentation, with the infused vodka, cassis, and white cranberry juice all together in a fluted glass. To finish, a small measure of Chambord, which, being more dense than the other ingredients, sank to the bottom, leaving a faint purple comet trail through the drink.
The flavors mixed well, the vodka nicely showing through the other ingredients. There was quite a bit of sweetness, but stayed just inside of being cloying. Served ice-cold, this was really delicious, and absolutely gorgeous.
I went with the passionfruit sangria. So we're talking white wine sangria, passionfruit juice, ice. Should be all perfect, right? Probably, but the absolute genius of this drink was the addition of Maker's Mark bourbon. Over the top!
As I've come along in the cocktail world, it's been during the reign of clear spirits; gin and vodka primarily. These have been the alcohol base for many drinks that have been staples in college and beyond. In the midst of this KetelTanquerayBelvedereAbsolute craze, we've been neglecting bourbon, and whisky in general, and this is to our detriment.
Of course these spirits have a much more robust flavor profile than vodka and most gins, but that does not mean that they lack for versatility. Maker's Mark, for example (which happens to the choice of The Tipsy Historian) is a brilliant blend of sweet, smoke, and caramel that can accent or be the foundation of just about any drink.
Including sangria! Oh my, was that drink ever delicious!
Here's another fun drink, especially now that we're into summer
The Major Sunrise
1 and 1/2 oz Jack Daniels
1/2 oz grenadine
3 oz orange juice (fresh squeezed is ideal)
ice
lime
Pour Jack Daniels into highball, fill glass 2/3 with ice. Add orange juice and give quick stir. As drink is spinning, pour in grenadine. Spend a few seconds reflecting on how beautiful the bright red grenadine looks as it cascades through the whirling juice/Jack combo
Garnish with lime and enjoy.
Anyway, moving onto the rest of our beverages, Jess ordered the coconut margarita. I'm not a huge coconut fan, nor a fan of the salted rim, but this drink was just perfect. The coconut milk smoothed out the tequila perfected, and the salt was a unique spicy blend.
The highlight of our escapade, however, was what came after dessert. First off, it came compliments of the house, which was a very nice touch after a wonderful, long menu. Secondly, and best of all, it was a totally unique experience.
Friends, may I introduce you to Brachetto! Made from grapes from the Piedmont region of Italy, this digestif comes out of the bottle scarlet-red, ice cold, slightly frizzante (sparkling), and absolutely breathtaking! Apple, cherry, and berry, mixed with the fizzy texture. Unbelievably refreshing after a long meal and lovely to sip, especially because of its low alcohol content, this drink will definitely be a part of our bar, especially since it's on the shelves at Bevmo. This one is highly recommended, so try it out for yourself.

Breaking French Open News

OK, so if this post was on TV right now, you have to imagine intense bass-centric music, colorful graphics moving and twirling around your screen, and a severe-looking announcer telling you "We have breaking news..." because The Tipsy Historian has BREAKING NEWS!
Today at the French Open, Serena Williams lost her third round match to Katerina Srebotnik 6-4, 6-4. Williams had been many pundit's choice to win this Justine Henin-free event.
"So what, Tipsy Historian" you might be saying. "I already saw that news on ESPN.com"
Yeah, well, here's the (cue music, lights, and graphics) BREAKING NEWS! Venus Williams just lost as well, 7-5, 6-3. This news is so fresh, I don't even know the first name of the woman who beat her, so for now it's F. Panetta of Italy. This news is so brand-spanking new, Venus has barely made her way off the court. So hot I can barely touch my keyboard!
Stay tuned here for further bulletins, and talking heads discussing the potential names for the woman who beat Venus, because if it's Frank, Fred, or Fabricio (thanks, Jess), we've got a scandal on our hands!
Also, anyone know the last time both Williams sisters lost on the same day at a Grand Slam?

Odesnik Watch, Day 4

So this Grand Slam, because so many names are moving right through the draw and so many Americans are washing out in the standard fashion (nice work today James Blake, you lost to the 80th ranked player in the world), we're going to take at least this first week to follow players who go largely unsung.
On the men's side, it's Wayne Odesnik, he of the 4 hour three set first round match. He didn't have to wait long to play his second round match, and didn't have to play too long before he dispatched Taiwan's Hyung Taik-Lee to advance to the second round.
I'm not sure how much we'll have to say about him after tomorrow, except maybe some thoughts about getting to the airport on time, because he faces #3 seed Novak Djokovic. That's a tough road, but also the opportunity of a lifetime. Here's to The Big O pulling of the upset of the year tomorrow!
For the ladies, we must focus on Alize Cornet, who is the tournament's 19th seed and has a nose that is, well, Cleopatra-esque. Best of all, she's French, and any Gallic hope in the home tourney is a big deal. The whole country went ballistic when Yannick Noah won in 1983, so here's to a Frenchwoman pulling off the same feat 25 years later. She'll be in action tomorrow.

Free French Open Viewing Online

Sorry, forgot to post this link...
The Tennis Channel is offering free live streaming coverage online of the French Open. Just go to tennischannel.com and follow the link on the homepage.

Three Days on Clay...

...and very little to show for it. As is becoming an annoying feature of the two Grand Slams played on "the Continent", the early summer rain is the lead theme of the French Open thus far.
After three days of play, the 1st round is just over 1/2 completed. Tomorrow was supposed to kick off the 2nd round action, but instead, matches scheduled for yesterday with either be finished, or, in a few cases, begun.
Ugh!
These weather delays do two things that are profoundly detrimental to the tourney:
1. all the energy and momentum that comes with a Grand Slam kicking off gets sapped away. It's really annoying to sit down to a day of action and find matches being replayed or commentators babbling away.
2. the back-log of matches causes a terrific rush to get everything back on schedule. Unless bad weather persists, which it very well might, the tournament end-date remains the same. This means that matches get crammed together on back-to-back days. Everyone that followed Wimbledon last year remembers the crushing schedule to get the tourney finished on time. The Nadal-Djokovic semifinal ended with Djokovic defaulting in the 3rd set, and the next day in the final (which proved to be a classic), every commentator and writer espoused the view that playing on consecutive days may have cost Nadal the championship. The French is in a similar situation, and with matches lasting longer and taking a greater physical toll on players, this is shaping up to be a battle of attrition.
So what to do? Well, Wimbledon is putting a retractable roof over Centre Court, but it doesn't seem like Roland Garros has any such plans. So we're left with a two week tournament collapsing into 10 days, perhaps less.
There have been some interesting results, none better than American Wayne Odesnik's three set, 4 hour tie-breakerathon win over 29th seed Guillermo Canas. Odesnik only got into the tourney through the USTA's exchange program with the French equivalent, but took advantage of the opportunity. Not only did he take out a seeded, clay-court specialist, but did it in three tiebreakers. Best of all, he broke through a serious mental block that had been plaguing him in big matches. Just last month, he had multiple match points in Houston to advance to his first ATP tournament final, but coughed them up and lost in three sets. Not so against Canas, and the 23 year old got through with probably the biggest victory of his career.
His second round match against Taiwan's Hyung Taik Lee will, at the rate things are going, get started sometime in June.

Coffee Happenings (and Mishappenings)

In my first few months of roasting coffee, I was keeping the beans in the roaster for longer periods of time, getting well past 1st crack, the Maillard Reaction, and into (sometimes beyond) 2nd crack. This made for a lovely, dark roasted bean, but I began to find that the flavor profiles were quite similar: bold sweetness, minimal acidity, caramel/toffee flavors. While remarkable to drink, it was clear that I was tasting the features of a dark roast, and because the roast had gone for so long and much of the sugar had burned off, much of the innate uniqueness of the beans themselves had been roasted away.
Not to worry, because with the versatility provided by my roaster, and the ability to watch the roast process proceed second by second, sound by sound, and smell by smell, I've tried to shorten my subsequent roasts to stay more in the City Plus to Full City range, with a focus (using sense of hearing) on staying well away from 2nd crack.
Definitely now, as I've slurped through cups of Sulawesi Enrekang "Mount Alla" and Ethiopia Organic Dry-Process Golocha, the fantastic taste profiles unique to each selection come through. I can see how a wine taster trains their palate, because these coffees are incredibly variegated. There's chocolate and pepper in the Sulawesi, with a clean, short finish, and a fruity, acidic opening in the Ethiopia, and a long creamy finish.
Today's cup, roasted two days ago by my beloved Jess (in her first-ever roasting effort) was a true sparkler. She prepared a City Plus roast of Guatemala Antigua-Finca Retana Yellow Bourbon beans, and it's one of the nicest we've tried so far. Fruit up front, then brown caramel, then a long finish reminiscent of, as the name implies, bourbon. Just a triumph!
In the midst of all this deliciousness, I pulled off a fabulous blunder in the process of grinding my beans. So, as everyone knows, the beans go in the receptacle, then through the HOLE into the blades, then into the collector, then to the filter. So I put some beans into the receptacle and realized there wasn't enough. I didn't want a blend of beans, so I took off the receptacle to trade them out.
And forgot about the HOLE!
With a playful clattering, the beans tumbled out and proceeded to leap and bounce all over the kitchen. Seriously, all over the kitchen. After picking them up on an individual basis, I write this with a sore back and a clear reminder that coffee beans, like everything else in this world, are answerable to gravity.