Piyakkar - for the spirit of life

Samarkand Bar, Noida - Quick Review

Johnny Walker — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:54:19 +0000

In the old Noida, with mushrooming new sectors like 93A, 62, 61, 63 and what not, somehow sector 25,26,29,37 are now the ‘Old Noida’, there is a this bar called ‘Samarkand’. In old days, Sector 29 used to the 2nd point in terms of action after the legendary sector 18. I would have visited ‘Samarkand’ before but I went there recently and thought that would write a small review.

Location - Very well located. Right in the heart of Noida in sector 29, Ganga Shopping Complex.

Ambience - Mixed. There are two sections. They have tried to give this warm feel by using lot of wood but somehow it seems to have lived its life. The look is very much a yesteryear red-maroon kinds so it doesn’t look fresh nor modern.

Quality of Food/Drinks - Its a good place for non-cocktail crowd. Its difficult to ruin a old monk or a Kingfisher. Food was pretty good but they offer Mughlai and Indian-chinese kind of stuff so no special variety.

Pricing - High. A beer costs Rs 175, a 30 ml Smrinoff is at Rs 225 and a Chilli Chicken is at Rs 225. Their happy hours go till 8.30 PM and its at 40 % off. Considering that its Noida, prices are not too steep but for the kind of service and overall infrastructure, they can do well with either giving more discount during ‘Happy Hours’ or to increase the potion.

What to do - I wont not recommend this place so if you find yourself there, try to grab a seat in the open-terrace, you get some fresh air and you can smoke without leaving your table.

Overall, ok place for couple of drinks.

Moets, Defence Colony, Delhi - Review

Johnny Walker — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:25:43 +0000

Couple of weeks back I was at Moets, Defence Colony and I thought that I would write a small note on what we experienced there. Moets is one of those old, very popular hang-out zones which are still doing very good in terms of overall business. On any evening, though its not very hard to find a place but usually the place is full.

We were a large group and we did a long lunch there at the basement of main Moets, which serves Mughlai line of food along with drinks. There is another Moet, just across the road, called ‘Moet Sizzlers’. Most of us had a drink there, all sorts, some snacks and the regular lunch.

Location - Very well located, in a plush neighborhood market. Well connected since it can be access from the ring road. The address is “50, Main Market, Defence Colony, Delhi”

Decor - We were in the basement. Different kind of furniture and decor. They have tried to put together an ensemble of wooden top tables, chairs, thrown in a couple of sofas and a tall chair. With dim lights, it might appear from dingy-to-very cosy depending upon the weather and your taste. Its clean but cramped.

Service - Pretty nice. Not spectacular but good.

Food - Very good overall. An interesting item there is called “Bhunay hua phaloon ki chaat” (Chaat of fried fruits) and that is so hot that even the strong hearted had to scurry for water. Not a well done thing.

Drinks - Good. Since it was a lunch, we didn’t try too many concoctions. I had a JD cocktail which had lot of sauce and ended up tasting very sweety-tangy but I would not blame the bartender too much for this. The prices were not very encouraging, more so since there is no happy hour.

Price - High. There was no happy hours and for the kind of food, service, decor, overall ambience, the price did seem to be on right side. Its definitely not a value for money joint. I am more critical on price since we were having the typical Mughlai food which any mom can cook in this city. It was not really any special food which needed special ingredients or skills.

Overall, not a highly recommended place. Also this review is just for the Mughlai section and not the curry-leaf (or something like that) and Sizzlers.

What is ‘Cask Strength’ or ‘Barrel Proof’ of a Whiskey ?

Johnny Walker — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:06:51 +0000

‘Cask strength’ or ‘barrel proof’ is the strength of whisky while its maturing in the cask. As we all know that when Whisky is taken out of Cask, its diluted with Water, typically spring water. The dilution is not necessarily done to decrease the strength but also to bring out the flavor.

Bottled Whiskey is usually at 40% Alcohol-By-Volume so you can imagine that the strength of Alcohol while its in the Cask is more than that. Its not very common to find bottles which are directly from Cask but sometime you do get one, for a very niche segment. But this is not very common, for variety of reasons. Probably one of the reasons is around the laws where you would need to mention the exact % of Alcohol and you would not want to print a new set of labels for every cask.

Also as the Whiskey ages in a Cask, its strength decreases and it may make more sense to not dilute it further if the strength has already gone down.

I could find this link - http://www.maltwhiskydistilleries.com/Distilleries/CaskStrengthEditions/tabid/99/Default.aspx, which has a mention of some of the popular ‘Cask Strength’ Whiskeys which have been released in market. By the way, I do not how much aged the above link is.

Enjoy your drink and have a good day.

What is Chopin ?

Johnny Walker — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:49:01 +0000

Chopin is a new bloke in the world of Vodka. Named after Frédéric Chopin, the famous Polish Romantic composer, Chopin was introduced in North America in 1997. Unlike most of the other Vodka where typically multilple grains are used, here a single ingredient is used and that is potato.

I have written before on how Vodka is made. In case of Chopin, its said that potatoes are sourced from Podlasie, a region in Poland and then its distilled as many as 4 times. It is produced by Siedlce-based Podlaska Wytwórnia Wódek Polmos company.

For each bottle, typically seven pounds of potatoes are used. The official website is here. Its a premium Vodka which is 80 proof. Its not available locally here but I read that it has a little sweet taste with the traditional burn of Vodka. If you try it then let us know how it plays.

What is Krolewska ?

Johnny Walker — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:04:37 +0000

Krolewska is a Vodka from Poland which is grain based. Poland and Vodka are linked and the association probably goes as back as 8th century. It is believed that initially Vodka was used as a form of medicine. Krolewska is a very premium Vodka and it comes in a stained glass bottle which is tall and slender.

It is pronounced as Crow-Loo-Ska. Its said that first the grains are collected, from one of the cleanest areas in Poland, and it goes through multi-stage filtration before its poured in the bottles.
Vodka Krolewska was produced in the Polmos Distillery in Zielona Gora in 1994 for the first time.

Its 80 proof and high on ‘burn’. Its available in leading bars here.

Jewel of Russia - Classic : The Royal Vodka

Johnny Walker — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:51:00 +0000

Russia and Vodka are synonymous with each other and when you bring in something which is as old as 300 then its has to be really big. ‘Jewel of Russia’ is truly a jewel vodka from this land and for apt reasons its called ‘The drink of the czars’.

Jewel of Russia - Classic

The product line has Classic, Ultra and ‘Berry Infusion’ and its said that the design of the bottle is 300 year old. Also there is this unique silk cord which adds to the overall richness of the red wax emblem and seal. Infact if you look at the website you would find that some of the bottles are hand-painted (”Ultra” Limited Edition).

Its difficult to find it in wine shops but you can get a drink in good bars. Do try.

What is Ciroc ?

Johnny Walker — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:35:19 +0000

First thing about Ciroc is that its a Vodka and the next thing is that its not done out of rye or potatoes or wheat but rather from grapes. And its not a wine. Well, that makes its very confusing but I have heard good things about it. I read a review here, just a while back and one in a magazine and I thought that I would share this with fellow readers.

How Ciroc is made ?
There are two main ingredients viz. two varieties of grapes i.e. Mauza Blanc and Ugni Blanc. These are grown in the vineyards of the Gaillac and Cognac regions of France. The process is a little complex.

First you take the juice of these two grapes and ferment them. Each is separately distilled four times and then you mix the two. And distill one more time before packing it in that purplish bottle. Its not very dry and has little burn. At 80 proof (40 percent) it works well with a little tonic or ice. As per one of the reviewers which I linked about, it works great with Vodka as well.

Try it and share your feedback.

Cachaca - is it a Rum ?

Johnny Walker — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:55:48 +0000

Cachaca is pronounced as Ka-Sha-Sa and is the most popular alcoholic beverage in Brazil. Even though it has similarities with Rum but its not really rum. Cachaça is the product of the distillation of fermented sugarcane juice, with its alcohol strength between 38% and 48% by volume. Cachaça differs from rum in that it is made from sugarcane juice while rum is made from either molasses or sugarcane juice then aged in oak barrels.

Some of the popular brands are Ceara, Perbnambuca and Minas Gerais.

Cachaca is popularly taken as a cock-tail which is called ‘Caipirinha’. A cold cocktail made of cachaça, limes, and sugar. It is the most popular Brazilian cocktail, both in Brazil and in the rest of the World. The combination of sour (lime) and sweet (sugar) flavors with the strong taste of cachaça makes its character.

You can also have it straight with ice, sip slowly.

Pisco from Peru or Pisco from Chile

Johnny Walker — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:35:55 +0000

Pisco which is pronounced as Pee-so has two owners viz. Peru and Chile. Both the countries claim this drink and its a ‘national’ alcoholic drink for both of them.

But anyway, who cares as long as you can have them. Its a little more viscous then Vodka and is of pale yellow color. Its pretty strong and the alcohol content is in the range of 30-50 %. Its distilled from grapes and has a very clear fruity taste. As the name, the story goes that in Peru, there is a kind of bird called ‘pisqu’ which is mostly seen. Since having this drink gives them high, it was named Pisco.

There is a Pisco drink and its not something very common here but if you manage to find it then its usually served as a concoction of egg while, sugar cane juice, lemon which are mixed and then stirred vigorously. You should probably have it quickly.

Popular brands are Biondi and La Botija from Peru and Pisco Control and Rute Morte from Chile. After Machu-Pichu, Peru is now on international travel circuit so if you go to Peru, have some of Pisco.

Sambuca or Raki or Ouzo - Whats common

Johnny Walker — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:52:45 +0000

When you go to Italy, you find Sambuca. In Greece there is Ouzo and any visitor to Turkey must have Raki. Even though these three sound different they are all same since all of them are made from an anise essence, a flowering plant. Though all of them do use alcohol which is distilled from another base, the most common being grapes.

Anise Flowers

Anise is a native of Mediterranean Europe and there are other variants of alcohol from this plant which you can find in some of the balkan states.

Not sure how much of this info is useful but if you are find a bottle or Raki then probably this info might be useful for you. The worse which can happen to any good drink is that it doesn’t get bought because the buyer thinks to be some local exotic drink. So Raki is not be ignored.

Now some of the popular brands , at least a one for each. Look for Yeni Raki, Ouzo Barbayanni and Luxardo Sambuca. Assuming that you have one then the logical next query is that, how does one have it. Well, lets go and find out that how its taken in its native countries.

Sambuca

First, Sambuca. Italian have it in style and fire, yeah literally , its taken as shots and these are flaming. You should be able to find ‘Flaming Sambucas’ and the fire is put out by closing the mouth. It doesn’t hurt so try it.

Ouzo

Ouzo is the national drink of Greece and they have it straight up. They love it have lots of it.

Raki

Raki probably is like household thing, its locally known as ‘Lion’s Milk’ and you have it slowly just like whiskey. I recently read a book by William Dalrymple called ‘In Xanadu’ and when he was traveling through Turkey, he had a lot of Raki at some Turkey station, the train was delayed by almost 24 hours while William had Raki with some of the railway employees over a game of cards.

So that was a short note on Sambuca, Raki and Ouzo.