(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

The world says: "The best beer ever, anywhere ever, ever." We say: "Possibly, as long as you love hops."

Frankly, the only ones who would claim Pliny the Elder to be "overrated" would be contrarians. This is an expertly brewed beer, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Team SpoCOOL does prefer other styles of beer over the Double IPA, but it's impossible not to have mad respect for what Russian River has produced here.

It pours a clear copper color, almost shimmering, with a thick foamy head. Looks great, smells even better, with hops front and center, flanked by citric and fruity tones. A kind of unexpected hit of malts shows up toward the end.

And this is where Pliny the Elder shines. Double IPAs tend to be hop bombs, where some of the better ones generously add a bit of fruitiness toward the back. There's more to Pliny the Elder. This is probably the most balanced IPA I can remember trying, where the malts compliment the hops perfectly. It's not often I'd classify an IPA as being "malty", but Pliny the Elder is just that. Hoppy and malty.

It's a strange sensation: The hops hit hard, but within seconds the malts show up, dancing a Charleston over the tongue. As they swirl around, they toss off orange, pineapple, grapefruit... All the flavors work together in a sweet harmony, with a creamy mouthfeel.

Now, if you're not a hop fan you probably won't love this. But you will at least like it and respect it. It is impossible not to.

Sadly I've rarely seen this beer in our area -- it has been about two years since I saw it in a Spokane store (I believe it was JB's) -- and found this bottle in Seattle. Pick one up if you can, it is more than well worth it.

We've kept our mouths shut about I-1183, largely because we have -- in the immortal words of the Stones -- mixed emotions about the whole thing. Deregulating liquor sales is in and of itself fine, but the ten thousand square feet restriction seems incredibly arbitrary to us. Wonderful as it is for Shell only to be able to provide Bud, but not vodka, to bums and sixteen year olds, we can't help but think boutique liquor stores would benefit us more than liquor superstores.

Of course, we can shout and complain about it as much as we like, but the superstores are coming according to a Spokesman article. Total Wine is first in line, looking at opening two stores in north Spokane and the Valley. I'll leave the snarky stereotyping up to you.

Meanwhile, a look at the Liquor License Stalker will reveal that every grocery store ever (of a certain size) is intending to sell spirits.

Our take on the whole thing: With liquor superstores you'll probably see somewhat of a price reduction on ordinary brands of liquor. However, if these types of stores in other states are anything to go by, the selection of the actual good stuff tends to be minimal, and shelf space is reserved for a multitude of replaceable middle-of-the-road style brands. BevMo! is doing good business following that model.

That would be all well and good, of course, if we had the opportunity to shop at, you know, specialized stores, It's still a big unknown if a place like Huckleberry's will have the want or the knowledge to step up and truly embrace this as an opportunity.

The future for liquor sales, then, seems to be a bit up in the air. We have our doubts 1183 will do much as far as an improvement on quality selection goes. But hey, $5 off Absolut...

Have any input on the whole 1183 thing? We're (as always) genuinely curious about thoughts and opinions, so tweet us @SpoCOOL if you'd like.

First, yes, SpoTOAST now has an official name: SpoAP! This for a number of reasons, a main one being that it makes more sense.

More importantly, we have a time and a place for our highly not-so-serious AeroPress contest! SpoAP will take place at Madeleine's, downtown Spokane, Sunday, February 26th, sometime after the cafe's closing time. Probably around 4 PM. Want to sign up to compete? Amateurs and baristi should do so right now! We have a limited number of spaces available, so reserve your spot!

Afraid you just aren't much of an AeroPresser? Don't be! This contest is aimed at people of every skill level, and our goal is to spread some good-coffee awareness more than anything. Plus, you have a month to find your favorite beans and get in some practice. Despite what we have speculated on earlier: Kenyan beans are not required, but they are recommended, as they're used in the official World AeroPress Championship for a reason.

That's pretty much it. Expect more to be revealed soon, including a couple of surprises. For now, though, sign up!

Over the last month Team SpoCOOL & Friends™ has been partaking in a project called "Whole30". This is, as the name suggests, a thirty day challenge where you eat strict paleo. We're talking really strict, too, not just the sissy normal paleo stuff. In a nutshell it goes like this:

For thirty days you may eat: Whole, unmodified meats, fish, eggs, vegetables, some fruit, and good fats.

For thirty days you may not eat: Sugar or sugar substitutes, processed foods, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, white potatoes, or anything you probably would find fun. Yeah.

More details are available on the Whole30 website.

As a challenge goes, this one is obviously harder for those who don't usually eat a lot of meat. If you can get past that, the results after a month are pretty impressive. Those who participated all shed pounds faster than what you'd expect from any regular diet. (Around 60 lbs between four people, twenty-four days in.)  Energy levels, meanwhile, increased.

That's not to say this wasn't a challenge. It was, and you soon learn to look at the ingredients list while shopping, even when you wouldn't expect there to be any ingredients listed. Take turkey bacon, for example. Should you go into your regular grocery store, you'd think you could just pick up a package easily, but uh-uh. Compare two seemingly identical packages, and you'll find one to simply contains meat, while another is drenched in sugars and fake smoke flavorings. 

In that sense we got a good reminder not just to start checking out ingredients, but to buy meat from a butcher. Common sense? Probably, but it's easy to be lazy.

You're not supposed to "paleo-fy" less than healthy recipes -- "paleo pizza" is out, for example -- but when having a craving for cheese, we did find there were some dips that actually filled the hole without trying to be a substitute like "vegan cheese" or whatever. Have it with a coconut bread, and things all of a sudden looked kinda good. One could argue that to be "paleo-fying", I suppose, but hey, whatever gets one through the day.

Coffee is also a savior. Drink it black or add some coconut milk, and you'll be good.

Like the Whole30 site mentions, while thirty day of ultra-strict paleo might sound hard, it's not exactly like quitting heroin. It's a challenge, but in the end it made a positive change, and there were surprisingly few cravings. We plan on keeping on a paleo track, albeit one not as strict as the Whole30. We're not going to give up Veraci or anything else as foolish as that. There are rumblings about a mac & cheese at Latah Bistro after all.

Thus we recommend anyone looking to do a bit of a reboot to check out Whole30. A few links to help you:

• Whole9
• Robb Wolf
• Everyday Paleo