a terrific life

11/20/09

Winter Beers: Samuel Adams and Smuttynose

I love craft beer. I love New England. One of the features of both of these things is that they have distinct seasons. Although traditions and similarities prevail year round, I look forward to the unique characteristics of each season.

Samuel Adams Winter Lager
Bock 5.80% ABV

I have been working on a 12 pack of this for the past week or so

Dark pour, decent lacing, small quickly dispersing head
Nice “winter spices” in the aroma
Taste is very malty, cinnamon and other spices as well, not much hop presence
Not as drinkable as the Smuttynose, won’t buy much more of it this season, it is just that in my region, which is Sam Adam’s home base, 12 packs can be had for the reasonable price of 11.99+deposit.

B-

Smuttynose Winter Ale

Dubbel 4.80% ABV

Pours very dark, not much head that disperses quickly, little lacing
Malty smell and taste, dry finish, some spices in there, sweet with some very light fruit notes
Light and drinkable, subtle, but complex flavor that I think is well executed

B+

Whole Foods Buffalo Chicken Bites
$2.50

Great deal for the price. I added some Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce for good measure. The package included a “fresh ranch dressing” which I made use of. Plenty of chicken for under $3.00, good company to winter beers.

11/17/09

Guest Post: Jon Mardani Fall Outfit

Jon is basically family, we go back a bit, but he's from Montreal, a litttttle bit colder than down here in Boston. I asked him to put together a look that he would rock for my blog, and he came through in spades. This is not exactly what I would wear, but I feel that it's definitely on point, and as he said he'd "love to wear this."

J.Crew - Cashmere Hat
J.Crew - Cashmere lined gloves
Nom de Guerre - Standard Issue Scarf
Barbour - Hardy Pea Coat
A.P.C. - Narrow Button Down Shirt
Nom de Guerre - Shawl Collar Cardigan
45RPM - Tweed Denim Pants
Grenson - Balmoral Boot

11/12/09

J.Crew has G.H. Bass & Company Goodwick Weejuns!

Wow that's an interesting turn of events, a nice trad staple at J.Crew, a relatively trendy mall retailer. These are probably only available at the same J.Crews where the other good stuff (Sperry, Barbour, etc.) are available, but I am definitely going to grab a pair in dark burgundy (with the key 15% student discount) for Thanksgiving!

11/8/09

Trad Shopping List

I guess my style can be somewhat "trad" at times, but even if I am not full-time blue blooded trad, I borrow from the style and am influenced by the styling and details tremendously. With that said, I have put together a list of trad items that are on my long term wants list. All of these items are high-quality and intended to last many years and are somewhat "fancy" to the uninitiated, which lines up quite nicely with my personal philosophy of only buying quality items and not caring what the general populace thinks. So without further ado I present my Trad Shopping List.

1) Alden or Allen Edmonds (MacNeil) or Florsheim Imperial (Kenmoor) Longwing Bluchers (referred to by trads as LWBs) respectively

2) Southwick Douglas, available either off the rack (OTR) or made to measure, (MTM) is a three button sack center vented with flap pocket coat, like the rest of this list, a classic.

3) Smathers and Branson Needlepoint Belt, these belts are so detailed, its amazing. Pictured here are two possibilities for me, the "Dark and Stormy" and "Beers on Black." These are available through O'Connell's of Buffalo, which happens to stock a number of other trad items as well if anyone is interested.

4) More oxford cloth button downs, If there was one item that defined the trad look it could very well be the OCBD. Two choices are the J.Press model, which can be had with button down pockets as well or O'Connell's delivers again with their Heavyweight OCBD.

5) Bill's Khakis go with your navy sack blazer, madras jacket or tweed jacket. I will go with the flat front variety as I avoid pleats on principle, the model is M1 which is based on World War 2 original chinos, always go with the classics when it comes to trad.

Of course a true trad wardrobe includes tweeds, a number of suits, repp stripe and regimental and knit ties, bowties, plaids, tattersalls, Bass Weejuns, Lacoste Polos and a million more things, these are just five pieces that I would like to borrow from "trad-dom" for my wardrobe, by no means an exhaustive list!