Trio Grill, Merrifield
The wife had a particularly good day at work, so we decided to celebrate at Trio Grill. I ordered a sunset in Brazil cocktail. It was pretty dang good. I don’t think I’ve ever had a cocktail that wasn’t excellent at Trio.
I ordered the rack of lamb. Its cooked Sous-vide to your liking, and then finished on the grill. I wouldn’t say this is my favorite meal, but its pretty far up there. I’ve had it at least four times now. Each time I go to Trio, I try to branch out, but then I starting thinking about how good the lamb is… The fried brussels sprouts are an excellent compliment. My wife opted for the waygu flat iron topped with foraged mushrooms. Also amazing.
Trio also has an outdoor cigar lounge, but it was a little humid out this evening. When I went for the opening, I did enjoy a nice stick and a few drinks, so I can definitely recommend Trio as one of the few places in the area to enjoy a stogie.
If you’re in the Merrifield area, give Trio a try.
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It’s a Girl!!! McLean Cigars, Paul Garmirian Artisan’s Selection
I need some cigars for a baby gender reveal party, so I went to McLean Cigars to grab some P.G.’s. Since there would be a broad range of tastes/experience with cigars, I went with the Artisan’s Selection line. Paul, the man himself, talked me into getting a range of different vitolas, so guests could pick the one right for them. Once I had the sticks selected, we picked a box that would fix them all, and then Paul even signed it for me. I was there at about 3pm, and Paul and Kevork were busy with administrative issues, but they both took a generous amount of time to make sure I had what I needed.
After I got home, I put an, It’s a girl, band on each cigar for the party. I couldn’t wait, and lit one up. Lets call it quality control. I got lots of spicy white pepper and buttered toast. As long as you smoke one slowly, you’ll avoid any bitterness at the end. I also included a picture of my receipt. Most of my friends love P.G., but a I’ve heard a few say that P.G. cigars are too expensive. I bought twenty for under $140 (tax inclusive). They do sell some pricey cigars at P.G., but they also have some excellent value-focused sticks. I think the cigars I bought for the party will have some wow factor, and appeal just to about everybody. Its not the first time I’ve used P.G cigars for an event, and it won’t be the last.
Thanks again to Emile, Paul, and Kevork at McLean Cigars!
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Save Cigar City, J.C. Newman Cigar Company
More info here:
Here is a review I did of a J.C. Newman product:
If you like what you see, click on the cigar category on the left to see my other cigar posts!
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4th of July, Frat Party, Bdays
‘Merican beers, shit on a shingle. Thats how you start the 4th off right.
Crack beer, add pool, repeat.
Good food, good friends.
Maxin and relaxin.
Then we went to Bolt’s 30th Bday/a time machine to 10 years ago:
Bolt and his spirit fish.
HB was shock, Ashley was proud.
They didn’t win, but they survived. The birthday boy had a great time.
1000 yard stare. You weren’t there man.
Afterwards, we hit Plaza on the way back. Very pleasant time in corridge after very corridge party.
The next morning we had another amazing breakfast.
Then HB and Pam were fixin to do some fishin.
After a delicious lunch, we enjoyed a pleasant drive home through the country. Then after trying to shock our systems with some healthy food, it was time for my Mom’s bday party.
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USA v. Portugal, kebabs, hot tub, cigars, white port and tonic, Madeira
I invited some friends over to my parents place for the USA v. Portugal match. I bought the fixins for some drinks, and some kebabs, and tivo’d the matches just to be safe.
We decided to start with a glass of Madiera, light up a cigar, and retire to the hot tub.
It was a beautiful day, and not overly hot. I grabbed a grilling beer from the World Cooler, and got the grill hot.
The food turned out great. Then it was time to watch the game. I fixed up some white port and tonic, cut a few lemons, and we turned on the projector. It was an awesome game, and despite the group’s small size, but perhaps because of the group’s predilection for booze, it was a very enthusiastic viewing. We all went pretty bananas for the US goals.
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More catch up, more ballin with reckless abandon
I’ve been busy enjoying the weather, and the lead up to the World Cup. The other day, my boy RyRy told me about instacart, and how they just teamed up with Magruders (Magrubers for Ry). I can now get home delivery of booze from the best liquor store in DC, which is a game changer (and very dangerous for my wallet and health). I gave it a try the day I found out about it, and was sipping the best gin and tonic I’ve ever had just a few short hours later.
We watched my home video footage of Cuba the other night, and enjoyed some Cuban-ish sandwiches, mojitos, and cuba libres.
I also had steak, stogie, and sauce night over at RyRy’s. For the uninitiated (which is everyone who is not in my inner circle as we invented it), S^3 is when you get the guys (and sometimes gals) together to grill out and enjoy life. Ryan hosted, and made some killer pork chops. I fashioned some extra julep straws, and brought the julep fixings. The mason jar has some mixed berry moonshine. Now call up your buds and have your own S^3.
We also went to another Nats game. Go Nats!
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Weekend Update, Tobacco farming, grad party, fried chicken and soccer
I got this year’s tobacco in the ground. The last pot pictured is a half barrel from Jim Beam that I bought at Home Depot. The other half has kentucky colonel mint growing in it.
Then I tried to get some of my previous crop fermented. I took a handful of old tobacco, added some moisture, and put it out in the sun in some banana leaves. A Cuban tobacco farmer told me about this method.
I also went to a fraternity brother’s graduation party. We had crabs, shucked oysters, had pie. There was even chick-fil-a nuggets. Quite a spread. The cornhole pic makes me feel like it was ’06 again.
Sunday we watched the US Men’s soccer team play Turkey. We wanted some American food, but were lazy, so we went to Teeter and bought chicken, canned collards, and premade biscuits. We opened some very local honey, and enjoyed the game. The key lime pie, and the US win were pretty sweet.
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Clinching, steak without a grill (directly on the coals), the most paleo of all grilling methods (though I’m no expert)
A couple years ago, a friend of mine got a book about grilling. In it (link at the bottom), it suggested putting meat directly on the coals as a very (very) old school way of grilling steak. We tried it, and the steaks came out great. I don’t do it often, but my gas grill has a leak that I have yet to address, and I had some all natural charcoal left over from smoking, so I decided to clinch some steaks. I assume the term clinching comes from the fact that the coals stick (clinch) to the steak, even when turned. This is a great method for when your grill is broken, but its also great for camping, or even cooking in your fireplace.
I was at whole foods, so I got some dry aged beef. My wife is pregnant, so I started hers in the oven to ensure it was at least medium (doctor’s orders), while I threw my on raw, hoping for medium rare (or rarer).
When you clinch, you always get a good charred crust on the outside, even if the steak is still rare on the inside. This time, I ended up with medium rare in the center, more like medium on the ends, but it was good none the less. I also threw the lettuce directly on the coals for about 15 seconds per side, in order to get a little char on them as well.
I enjoyed a nice bottle of wine, and a custom rolled cigar from Cigar World in McLean. The weather was great, and the meal was delicious.
Edit:
Found a video, and the original book here. Don’t bother with all that hair dryer business. Keep it simple like I did.
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Cuba, A&K P2P, Post #9
We had an afternoon flight, so after a great breakfast, I hit the sauce and the stogies.
I was able to get my mom to try a puff of the Behike.
I started with another Mag 50, and read a little Hemingway. After I smoked it down to about the size of the Behike, I did a side by side comparison. I like both, but the draw and flavor of the Behike were significantly better than the H Upmann. I took the HU to about the band, and then hit the beach with the Behike and the HC 7.
With one R&J cigar left and two half-full bottles of rum, I ran out of time. I gave the bottles to our driver for the week, Havi, as well as a few cigars I had leftover (mostly Guantanameras from the Tropicana show). Then we headed to the Jose Marti Airport for the flight home.
I enjoyed one last cigar in the VIP lounge, and one last Cuba Libre. I reflected on the amazing time we had in Cuba, and hoped I’d be back soon. We said goodbye to the friends we’d made, and got on the plane.
Back at the Hilton in Miami, I found these at the gift shop. Its like they were adding insult to injury. However, our vacation was not yet over. My family has missed many international connections though Miami over the years, so we decided to spend a night in Miami to make sure we made our flight. After checking in, we took a taxi to Little Havana, and to a restaurant recommended by our first P2P speaker back on the first night in Miami.
A lot of other P2P trips do an excursion in Little Havana. Its too bad a lot of people on our trip didn’t get the opportunity, but we made the most of ours. After what my dad said was the best sandwich he’d ever had, he asked the owner of the restaurant about Cuba. The owner was Cuban-American, and had a candid talk with us about his thoughts. After dinner, we took a walk down Calle Ocho.
After our walk, we had some ice cream, and went back to the hotel to get some sleep.
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Cuba, A&K P2P, Post #8
On the morning of day 8, we took a guided walk through the Colon Cemetery. We got to see the graves of some famous and important people, and we saw some Santería rituals. At one grave, people come to pray, some daily, leave an offering, and the back away from the gravesite, not turning their back on the dead.
Then we had a quick stop for pictures at the Plaza de la Revolución. There were some really cool cars parked nearby.
Then we visited the Callejon de Hamel, an alley that has become an art installation, created by Salvador Gonzalez. We learned a lot about Afro-Cuban religions, and toured Gonzalez’s residence.
Next we went to Almacenes de San José, a market where we did some shopping. I’m not usually a big shopper on vacation, but this was not your typical Chinese-made tchotkes emporium. It was mostly art and handicrafts, but with some junk mixed in. Our guide led us to a stand where they sell handmade humidors. These were super high quality cedar humidors with hydrometers and pinned joints, perfect alignment and fit. I bought myself one, and we got one for my uncle. I also bought a painting for my parents, and one for my office. I really wish we’d had more time here, as the value of these items was incredible, and the quality was outstanding. Notice in the second picture below, there was a red bull high dive competition going on nearby.
While we shopped and negotiated fair prices, I enjoyed an H Upmann Mag 50. It was a great cigar, but as for the particulars, I couldn’t really say. Having such a great cigar, in such a cool place was an overwhelming experience. I was also on a high after getting such a great humidor at such a reasonable price. Its something I’ll cherish forever. After shopping, we ate at Sloppy Joe’s. Earlier in the week when I was talking to my Canadian friends at LCDH, they recommended Sloppy Joe’s. Then they proceeded to describe what a sloppy joe actuallly is. When I told them that I had them as part of my school lunch program growing up, they made some cute quip about thats whats wrong with America. I diplomatically held my tongue.
After lunch, I asked for directions to the Bacardi building, and we walked over. Afterwards, we had some time to wander around Havana on our own. It was nice to get a little lost and take our time for once.
The Conde Villanueva is a hotel with a LCDH that was featured in the Cuban documentary by James Suckling that I watched before the trip. I got a few sticks there. We mostly just strolled around and took in the city. After a quick break at the hotel, we went back out for the night. We knew that something special was planned since it was our last full day in Cuba.
The yank tank ride from our hotel to the hotel Nacional was one of the best parts of the trip. I took a lot of video, and while posing for multiple pictures, ended up drinking a lot more of that Havana Club (the bottle was from the Tropicana show) than I sat out to consume. Our car had a keypad that played different notes on the horn. What an experience. After the ride, we got a tour of the historic Hotel Nacional.
The hotel was beautiful. One of the most interesting part of the tour was the response to a question about why we didn’t stay at the Hotel Nacional. Our guide told us that the Hotel Nacional has issues with power outtages, hot water, and the rooms are very small. Its very telling about our current culture that rooms used to be small, and public spaces grand, but now its the opposite. People are more private, and less social. While thats pretty much true of me, its sad, and I hope to change that about myself after thinking on it. Its also one of the cool parts about the A&K trip. Generally, one travels with family, and doesn’t meet many others. With A&K, you meet a lot of different people, but they’re all well traveled and interesting. You end up spending a lot of time with your fellow travelers. I really like that about our trip. Its something I usually don’t get to experience when I travel. After the tour, we were treated to a private concert.
The appetizers, mojitos, cigar, and music was incredible. I’m generally not a superlative person, but on this trip you really just couldn’t imagine how the next musicians could be better, but they were. My dad got up and danced with the performer who was visibly impressed by his dancing. I have a lot of video from this part of the trip I hope to put up soon. After a great time at the Hotel Nacional, we went to our farewell dinner.
We had another amazing dinner. After dinner, they brought out a box of cigars that looked to be someone’s personal collection. There was a huge variety. I went with a limited edition Punch. After dinner we went back to La Zorra Y el Cuervo, since we did not want the evening, or the trip to end. After we enjoyed both drinks included in our two drink minimum and I had smoked my cigar, we found a cab. After a quick negotiation, and about 10 minutes of mechanical tinkering, we were on the road headed back to the hotel.
Behike, Cuba Libre, Jazz. What a combo. There was a really good trumpeter at the club that night (which is why we didn’t check out the other popular jazz club). We were exhausted, but I’m so glad we went out. If you could only have one experience in Cuba to get the gist of what Cuba is all about, this would be it. An amazing cigar, a good rum drink, and some of the best musicians in the world jamming out. Another giant of a day, and one I’ll never forget. We headed home late, and I wondered how I’d ever have an experience like this again, and how I was going to drink all the rum and smoke all the cigars I still had with just a morning in Cuba left.
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