GAYLETTER

Rare will you find our office working without a fully stocked bar. There is always the occasional beer floating around if you’re feeling on edge, and we’ve got plenty of half-empty bottles just dying to be mixed.

When we get emails about alcohol, we always open and read. If it’s new, we always ask to try it, since at the office we work better under the influence. After all, this is a creative environment!

On a relatively slow Friday at the office, three of us took to sampling the latest beverage that delivered to our mailbox.

QUEEN A

The Shmaltz Brewing Company Pastrami Pilsner’s label is a little busy. I see that they’re trying to get the point across to let you know that they’re an artisanal brew, which I think it’s fine because beer design bottles are lately more extra. I smelled Pastrami at first, then it went away. An iceberg-lettuce taste came through, and that gave it a touch of freshness. As I’m drinking, it’s growing on me. I can see myself on a rooftop drinking this beer; she’s starting to taste like a meal: a cheap deli-meat sandwich made with a bit of mustard. She’s 5.5% Alc — I am not mad at that. I’ll be right back… So, I walked away for a minute, had a puff-puff-pass with Queen B to see how it mixes with it. (Let’s be honest, if I am considering this beer for my next Spring/Summer, I need to picture myself in the proper situation.) …

The Tom of Finland Foundation was created in the mid 1980s by its namesake artist Tom of Finland — aka Touko Laaksonen (1920-91) — and his friend Durk Dehner, who we interviewed for GAYLETTER Issue 6. Their goal in founding the foundation was to promote universal human rights and sexual expression. Today, the foundation still accomplishes that, with Tom of Finland now an international brand in and of itself.

It should come as no surprise that at GAYLETTER, we appreciate a drink now and then. Red wine has been the fashionable beverage of choice while we’ve been wrapping up Issue 8. (We have been calling wine at the office —  ‘a working wine’). So when Tom of Finland sent us a bottle of their “OUTstanding Red,” we gagged twice. First, we gagged for the fact that she exists. Then we gagged for the flavor and quality of the wine herself.

An artful 2015 California blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Sirah, this wine is delicious. She’s smooth and finds just the right balance between sweet and dry. I’m definitely more of a white wine queen, but I was genuinely into this red. She’s also cellared and bottled by Tom of Finland and a portion of the wine’s proceeds go back to benefit the Tom of Finland Foundation and its mission.

You can buy a bottle of this gorgeous red here.

Enjoying a bottle of TOF red at our office… Photographed by Connor Atkins. …

If you haven’t heard yet, this coming Monday marks a total solar eclipse: the moon will pass directly in front of the sun, putting anyone in the path of totality in the dark (yes, during the day, it’s groundbreaking). I don’t know a lot about the stars and space, but I do know that I’m a Leo and that I love a drink — especially if it involves tequila.

To help us celebrate this very special celestial occasion, Jose Cuervo sent over a recipe we thought sounded too delicious, and, with only four ingredients, too easy not to try.

The recipe for “Dark Side of the Sun” is as follows:

2 oz. Jose Cuervo Especial
¾ oz. lime juice
¾ oz. 1:1 simple syrup
½ oz. Crème de Cassis

We substituted agave nectar for the simple syrup because we aren’t simple, and we recommend Lejay Crème de Cassis for your black currant liqueur needs. (It’s only $16!)

Shake tequila, lime, and sweetening syrup and pour into a rocks glass over ice. Top ice with Crème de Cassis and garnish with mint if you actually remember to buy it on your Whole Foods run and a lime wedge because duh.

My favorite part of this cocktail is that you can make your own twist on it and still be (kinda) sure it’ll taste good. The color of our masterpieces turned out on the light ombre pink side, ultimately very gay for our very gay office. …

You may have heard that matcha is currently all the rage. I’m not sure how on board I am, but it’s very much in fashion. The way these food trends start are so foreign to me. My assumption is that Facebook or Tasty must have played some role in launching the current craze over this southeast Asian specialty. “Matcha madness has officially taken over – it’s being experimented with in a variety of delicious culinary applications across the five boroughs and beyond.” When I first tried matcha, I was 16 and with my very best friend whose Indian household had, and still does have, the sickest tea collection. She whipped us up some lattés (under her mom’s supervision) and we were lit. This was the cusp of Instagram’s popularity and we all had DSLR cameras, so we were hyped to be taking really poorly composed photos of this aesthetically pleasing cup of green.

Now you can get it at your local pour-over coffee shop and they’ll make sure one of those stylish leaves are milked into it. Ah, sweet commodification. Ceci Cela, which is around the corner from the GAYLETTER office, does a frozen version that will turn you out when you’re hungover or just bored. This is about as far as I’ve ventured into “matcha madness.” If you’re unfamiliar with the drink or just looking to jump on the band-wagon, Baba Cool is hosting an event that will incorporate a traditional matcha ceremony (not sure what this entails to be honest) with what they call the “modern Brooklyn influences (read: hip hop dancers and other local flourishes).” …