Spec’sology Blog

May the fourth be with you…on May 4th - the unofficially official Star Wars holiday! This year it falls on Midichlorian Monday, so plan accordingly, young Jedi. So, in order to get your Mos Eisley Cantina hopping, you’re going to need some cocktails. While we can’t travel the system collecting the ingredients required for a Red Dwarf (found on the Mos Eisley secret smugglers menu) and consisting of Polanis Red & Mandallian Narcolethe mixed with Recirculated Fizzwater - we can offer up a fun list of Star Wars themed cocktails even the lowliest nerf herder can whip up! BB-8 Dark

The days of judging a wine by its container are long gone. With that in mind, let’s focus on rosé and the myriad ways one can enjoy this delicious beverage! A glass bottle may not always be welcome at certain places like the beach, the pool, the river, etc. But a can allows you to bless any place with rosé grace! But even cans have their limits as you well know if you enjoy tubing Texas rivers, and that’s just one of the many reasons for rosé to come in a box! A box of rosé is also perfect for

It’s officially springtime! And more importantly, winter is done trapping us inside! We are also moving away from winter’s dark, thick beers that kept us full and warm during the cold season. Lighter spring beers are here to refresh your hibernating palate! Check out our list of spring beers to enjoy starting ASAP! Best Spring Beers Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing Sierra Nevada chills their fermenters at slightly higher temperatures than normal so the haze doesn’t fade, then they skip the filter to package all the hazy flavor in its prime. Juicy hops and silky malt meet in a Hazy

It’s a fact: cheese is the ultimate comfort food. You can make any dish substantially better by just sprinkling some cheese on it! Heck, putting cheese on cheese is like doubling up on amazing! And when cheese is the main ingredient, you’ve got yourself a winner! No dish does more for cheese than fondue. Fondue became popular centuries ago in Switzerland, where Gruyère, Emmental and Raclette cheeses were mixed with Kirsch (a kind of brandy distilled from the fermented juice of cherries), and bread dipped into the creamy concoction made for a cozy and communal meal. In fact, the first

Coming up with things to keep the kids entertained during Easter has never been a problem, but what about activities for adults? Many of the things that work for kids can be easily adapted for adults. And, let’s be honest, after all the food prep and decorating, you deserve to have some fun as well! Check out some of our favorite Easter games you can play with adults of all ages! Mini Wine Bottle Easter Egg Hunt Single serving wine bottles make for the perfect treasure hidden inside your 21+ Easter eggs. You’ll need larger Easter eggs which you can

When most people think of Spanish wine they inevitably think of sangria, but Spain has a lot more to offer when it comes to wine! The origin of wine in Spain is old enough to have been lost to time as no one really knows who first brought vines to the area. By the time the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded what are now the cities of Cadiz and Jerez, viticulture was well established, and Spanish wines became widely traded throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. In the 19th century the devastating vine louse phylloxera was destroying

When you think whiskey, you typically think of countries like Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and the U.S., but there are actually over 25 whiskey-producing nations around the world. These different regions of the world have different spellings – whiskey or whisky, and neither is technically wrong. Whiskey is generally used in the US and Ireland, while whisky is used in Scotland, Canada, and Japan. Whiskey is made by distilling fermented grains and evidence of this process can be traced as far back as ancient Mesopotamia. This style of creating alcohol eventually found its way into European monasteries. It arrived in Scotland

When Irish eyes start smiling, knowing the proper libation to serve will help keep them that way. That being said we’ve put together a list of the top, and some obscure, Irish potations for you to keep on hand this St. Patrick’s Day. Bunratty Irish Honey Mead Created from an old Irish recipe this mead is made of honey, white wine, and herbs and produces a fairly sweet mead well-suited for a variety of occasions. Served cold or slightly warmed, it pairs well with chicken or turkey, and is the perfect finish to a St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned

The largest non-official work holiday is almost here! Non-official work holiday? By this we’re referring to the last few weeks of March where you keep one eye on keeping up appearances and the other firmly planted on some sort of visual display showing college basketball. It’s March Madness! And while American companies reportedly lose at least $1.2 billion per every hour of unproductivity during the first week of the NCAA tournament, you can certainly raise the bar on your watch parties with some delicious cocktails. So, before the whistle blows be sure to have your cocktails ready to roll with

St. Patrick’s Day typically conjures images of green beer, tacky t-shirts, and terrible Irish accents. And while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, if you give us a minute, you’ll be the historically savvy fella spreading a smidge of knowledge about the man behind this gloriously green holiday! Patrick, “the patron saint of Ireland”, was actually born in Roman Britain, not Ireland. His birth name wasn’t Patrick either – it was Maewyn Succat, but he chose to go by Patricius. While his father was a deacon in the early Christian church, Patrick wasn’t much of a believer until he was

The rise in Chilean wines may seem new to the wine world, but Chile has been planting grapevines since the 1500’s. The recent surge in Chilean wine exports has finally brought the recognition these vintners deserve; prior to the 1990’s almost all of Chilean wines were consumed by its residents. This slender strip of land produces festive sparklers, crisp and refreshing whites, and bold, world-class reds, plus every style in between. Chile’s topography creates islands of isolation for the vineyards protecting them from the elements. Bordered by the cool Pacific Ocean to the west and the snow-capped Andes to the

Australia is one of the most prolific wine-producing countries in the world and not many people in the U.S. are aware of it. History of Australian Wine The birth of Australian wine making first started when vine cuttings from the Cape of Good Hope were brought to the penal colony of New South Wales in 1788. Although these first vines failed, eventually other settlers managed to successfully cultivate vines for winemaking, and Australian made wine was available for sale domestically by the 1820s. Currently, wine is produced in every state, with more than 60 designated wine regions totaling around 160,000