Two terms emerged:
The “Angels’ Share” is a term for the portion (share) of a wine or distilled spirit’s volume that is lost to evaporation during aging in oak barrels. The barrels are typically French or American oak.(1)

The “Devil’s Cut” is a term for the portion of the spirit that is lost, because it has actually soaked into the oak barrel itself.

Believe it or not this “devils cut” has historically been extremely important to the distilling industry as these used bourbon soaked barrels give several other spirits (notably rum, brandy and Scotch) their underlying smokey flavors.

I guess Jim Beam had enough of that nonsense and has somehow figured out a way to extract this “Devil’s Share” of the bourbon back out of the barrel walls to infuse and reuse it in their own bourbon. Reclaiming the share from the Devil and giving us an incense-smoke, vanilla flavored bourbon. (all bullshit aside, quite a trick)

“To create Jim Beam® Devil’s Cut™, an extraordinary new bourbon experience, we developed a proprietary process that actually pulls the rich whiskey trapped inside the barrels’ wood after they’re emptied. We hold this barrel-treated extract until it develops the proper balance of bourbon notes, then blend it with 6 year old bourbon and bottle at 90 proof. The result: a robust, premium bourbon with deep color, aroma and character.”

I love the Angels’ Share and Devil’s Cut terms and I often use them as a test of sorts when speaking to those who profess to be whiskey connoisseurs. If you don’t know about the angels/devils share …forget it. In my opinion Jim Beam hit the ball out of the park with the name of this Bourbon alone. Fresh off the commercial success of their Honey Whiskey initiative someone must be feeling downright sassy over at Jim Beam.

This has been a long winded way to say that the name of this product piqued my interest in a big way.   But how does it stack up to say a Bulliet, Buffalo Trace, or Woodford Reserve Bourbon?

Well…it was interesting and not exactly what I had hoped for. I was ready for the smoke and vanilla flavors that I had read so much about and the almost cinnamon’y after taste. But let’s put it this way: this is not sipping whiskey or sipping Bourbon.  Drinking it ‘neat’ left a raw hint of the char and while slight flavors of vanilla may have been present, the unique, bitter, almost cinnamon’esque after taste left something to be desired.  Mellow this baby ain’t. The first taste on ones pallet when sipping was high octane followed by a smokey caramel flavor followed by cinnamon-char that really lingered on and on. I know many folks find this a welcome change to the sweetness of most bourbons, but I was a little caught off guard.

Now as a mixing bourbon (i.e. with Coke on the rocks) it was actually rather enjoyable.   The Devil’s Cut is a spicier take on a Beam and Coke.  True blue Bourbon drinkers ought to give it a try, but know that I totally fell for the marketing hype on this one.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel
(2) http://www.kentuckybarrels.com/KentuckyBourbon.html

From the Taco Bell website:

A Taco Supreme® made with premium seasoned beef, crisp lettuce, diced juicy red ripe tomatoes, real cheddar cheese, topped with cool reduced-fat sour cream, in a shell made from Nacho Cheese Doritos® Chips.

Yes, this is for real. The countdown for the arrival of the Taco Bell Doritos® Locos Tacos has begun. Try not to stare at the clock–time will pass quicker that way.

Now I just have to figure out if Taco Bell makes a vegetarian taco….( I still have six months left on my journey to veggie living… might need to make a pit stop tho’!)

Oscar winning film maker Errol Morris thought enough of him to make a full length feature of him. Finally an american hero that we at Shandeh can really get behind. From The New York Times:

El Wingador is a man truly committed to a certain kind of excellence — or at least, a certain kind of excess.  Sure, I could have picked a different eating champion, but I guess I have an affinity for chicken. It is evident that chicken is his favorite competition food — particularly chicken wings.  I asked him, “Why not hot dogs?”  The simple and compelling answer: “Hey, my name is ‘El Wingador,’ not ‘El Hotdogador.’ ”  A New Jersey native, he is the five-time champion of the Wing Bowl and has come out of retirement to compete once again this year. I hope we will all be watching his attempt to recapture the throne on Friday.

For all of you out there that think our little fixation on chicken wings is a bit mishuga … the Wingador also clocks a little humor for you.

First, some quick background information about Buffalo Wings. At their most basic, Buffalo Wings are deep fried chicken wings,  tossed in butter, vinegar and cayenne pepper. From there, restaurants can add spicier peppers, honey or other ingredients to differentiate their wings from the guy’s next door.

Now, let’s get down to business. Who has the Best Buffalo Wings in Boston? Sadly, we at Shandeh.com have spent more time in more bars eating more Buffalo Wings than is probably healthy. The good news is that you can use our artery-clogging gluttony as your guide to The Best Buffalo Wings in Boston!

Click on your favorite bar/restaurant below to see a definitive evaluation of their Buffalo Wings. We use the same judging criteria at each restaurant and go into the reviews with an open mind even if we’ve dined there before (which we invariably have). As time goes on we plan to grow the list of reviews until we either sample wings from every major bar and restaurant in Boston or, more likely, Sasso’s doctor gives him an ultimatum regarding his arteries. If you have any recommendations for us to check out, please let us know. If you disagree with any of the reviews, you’re wrong, but let us know anyway. We’re more than happy to defend our reviews.

• Whiskey’s Smokehouse
• The Good Life
• Dick’s Last Resort
• Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill
• Champions Sports Bar
• The Whiskey Priest
• Lucky’s Lounge
• The Cactus Club
• Crossroads Irish Pub
• Sunset Grill & Tap
• The Texas Roadhouse
• Emmets Irish Pub
• Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
• Buff’s Pub
• King of the Wing Competition
• Redbones BBQ
• Hooters
• Silvertone Bar & Grill
• Whatta Wing
• Flash’s Cocktails
• Boston Beer Works
• The Four’s
• The Kinsale
• Ole Scollay Square’s Red Hat
• Jacob Wirth
• Clerys

Dan and Sasso’s Top 3  Boston Wings

El Wingdor The Movie

If you would like to take part in The Wing in Review. Simply download the Chicken Wing Evaluation Form and email your results back to info@shandeh.com . If you have keen insight into the world of wings and information the public needs to know, we will post your guest review here on www.shandeh.com.

The other little tidbit that my wife failed to mention was that the entire reason she rented this movie is because it contained the one, the only, Ryan Gosling. If you are not familiar with Ryan Gosling you must be currently serving in Afghanistan or some other far flung movie-less, testosterone-filled wasteland because he is everywhere and is completely unavoidable.

Ryan Gosling is actually a great actor but It seems my wife and every other woman in the 20-40 age range is currently smitten with him. He has officially been dubbed a “Lady Boner” on Reddit and if you can find me a woman who doesn’t think he is “grrrreat” I will give you handfulls of  gold bullion.

In fact, there are several meme websites out there such as “Hey Girl“  that take pictures from Ryan Goslings movies and repositions them to have him say funny and witty things … just for you. Or Apocalyptic Ryan Gosling,  or my personal favorite Feminist Ryan Gosling that puts positive feminist statements over pictures of Ryan Gosling.  (Which BTW, for those of you out there who sit around and wonder “What do women really want …?” I think this may be it !)

But I digress what is Crazy Stupid Love actually about? (Warning Contains Spoliers)

In nutshell CSL follows Steve Carell as Cal Weaver a mild-mannered middle-aged nice guy who’s life is pleasant, albeit in something of a rut, who is shocked when his  wife announces seemingly out of the blue that she has  cheated on him and wants a divorce.  This causes Cal to slip deeper into his middle-aged fugue, falling low enough to hit rock bottom, realizing the error of his ways cleaning himself up.   He then spends the rest of the movie fighting to win his wife back because, “She is the love of his life and always has been.”

If this sounds kinda familiar it’s because it is essentially the same role Steve Carrel plays in every movie you have ever seen him in (particularly true of his Dan from Dan in Real Life).   So, how does Mr. Gosling fit into this plot?  Well, after Cal finds out his wife is cheating he moves out and finds himself drinking in a bar where he nightly makes an ass out of himself.  Gosling is the resident bar lothario, Jacob Palmer, who has almost magical abilities to get women out of their panties; decides to take Cal under his wing and teach him the ways of picking up women. He cleans Cal up (gets him a good haircut, a suit that actually fits, and shows him the art of seduction through conversation) and eventually it works.  Cal starts picking up women right and left. Here is where the hilarity ensues.  Cal ends up sowing his oats with 9+ women including, unbeknownst-to-him, his son’s English teacher; and is on his way to becoming something of peer to Jacob, when he realizes he has forgiven his wife and is really still in love with her.

Overall the movie is “feh-to-meh-schmeh”.  The main selling point of this movie to women everywhere appears to be a shirtless airbrushed Ryan Gosling playing a bad boy where normally he is something of a misunderstood dreamer.  It’s like Ken Barbie is wearing a new outfit…a motorcycle outfit: it’s still Ken, but he is baaaaad!

I have to admit I did have one knee-slapping laugh when Palmer explains to his love interest (who happens to be be Cal’s previously unseen grown daughter Hannah (Emma Stone) …. What are the odds? 0.0.0) what his best “Romantic Move” is; his deal-clincher if-you-will.  That move?  Is brilliant!   He manages to persuade women to come back to his GQ apartment and then casually mentions the movie Dirty Dancing.  This results in him turning on the film’s soundtrack and recreating the dance move whereby “Baby” does a ballet swan dive into Patrick Swazey’s sculpted and capable arms, then lowers her tenderly into a kiss. This is in fact what every woman who was 11 years of age+ in the 80′s has always wanted.  It’s genius made me laugh my ass off!   So big props to the writer who snuck that in.  In the end Cal wins back his wife by helping out his maladjusted lovelorn son.    It works out smurfingly with Palmer finding true love with Cal’s daughter Hannah and Cal and his wife walking off into continued bliss.   Lovely.

Back to Movies My Wife Make Me Watch

Movie night is an extension of this. Thanks to 40+ inch HD TVs and both NetFlix and OnDemand, I am spared the embarrassment of asking a stranger in a ticket booth for two tickets to “Like Water for Chocolate” or anything starring Hugh Grant. That doesn’t mean that I get out of watching such movies, it simply allows me to do so in the comfort of my living room with beverages that they don’t generally sell at movie theaters.

Movies My Wife Makes Me Watch examines my wife’s movie-night selections and how I made it through them. They aren’t all dramas. She has wide array of cinematic interests including documentaries, independent, foreign, and classical films. Be warned that all posts will likely contain plot spoilers. If you plan on watching “P.S. I Love You,” and see that my wife has already made me watch it (thank cheebus she hasn’t yet) you may want to avoid that post. But if you’re looking for an excuse not to watch a certain movie (I read a review on that…not so good), or just a laugh, check out the Movies My Wife Makes Me Watch.

• When in Rome
• Up
• The End of the Line
• Blindsight
• 500 Days of Summer
• The Social Network
• Get Him To the Greek
• Bridesmaids
• 50/50
• Crazy Stupid Love

Hopefully we can save you from such disgrace by educating you about the steaks that you will find in top steakhouses as well as how to order them. Your friends at Shandeh have scoured top steakhouses and mail order suppliers, interviewed actual butchers and sampled artery-clogging amounts of beef to bring you Beefology 101: Bullshitting Your Way Through Steaks!

Let’s start with one of my favorites, the tenderloin of beef, better known as filet mignon. Filets are circular steaks that stand one to three or more inches tall. They have relatively little fat which means that they take on the flavor of their seasoning. Filet seasonings range from a simple salt and spice mixture or bacon wrapping, to a topping of intricate lobster or crab béarnaise sauce. Filets are known for their tenderness so you should be able to cut them with your butter knife. Don’t do it…just know that you can. It should be noted that the filet is considered a lady’s steak, especially the petit filet.

The sirloin steak, also known as the New York Strip, comes in several varieties from top sirloin to butt steak – though you won’t likely see butt steak on very many menus. Sirloins also have very little fat but are less tender than filets. Sirloin steaks are generally cut pretty thin (an inch or less) though some restaurants offer “double cut”  sirloins which are cut…wait for it…wait for it…twice as thick. This is a lower-brow steak that usually comes with French fries, which steakhouses try to class up by using their French moniker; pomme frites. Although the sirloin is a tasty steak, I think that cut is better left to steak tips and burgers.

If you have a solid appetite and can’t choose between a filet and a sirloin strip, then the porterhouse is the answer. Like the yin and the yang, the porterhouse is the perfect balance of tenderloin and sirloin in one steak. In fact, the silhouette of steaks in cartoons and dog toys is that of the porterhouse. These steaks are large and thick, much like the people who eat them. This is a serious steak.

A smaller alternative to the porterhouse is the T-bone steak. Both steaks come from the short loin but the T-bone contains more bone and less tenderloin. In my opinion, T-Bones are like a poor man’s porterhouse.

If the 6-10 ounce filet is the queen of steaks (petit, trim and clean) then the ribeye is the king. Weighing in at a heart stopping 20 to 26+ ounces, ribeyes, or prime ribs are about as big and fatty as they come. A good ribeye will have a “ribbon” of fat winding through the middle called a flavor kernel. This fat ribbon, combined with more fat marbled throughout the steak, and sometimes a big bone through the middle, give ribeye steaks a rich meaty flavor that some steak enthusiasts love. Not this steak enthusiast though. While I respect the ribeye, I don’t have the patience to cut around that much fat and grizzle. By the time I am done with a ribeye, there are more scraps left on the plate than beef I actually ate.

If one of the aforementioned steaks make your mouth water, the next question is how to cook it; rare, medium, well done, or somewhere in between. Cooking time is a matter of taste, so don’t bother asking your server what he or she recommends. Here are some guidelines:

Rare

Steaks should be light grey on the outside while remaining dark red and only slightly warm on the inside. Each cut should release bloody juices that will soon envelop everything on your plate. Meat cooked rare should be reserved for vampires only. If rare is your thing, make sure you are eating high quality meat or be prepared for some intestinal hijinks.

Medium

Steak should be grayish brown on the outside with some charring around the edges. The middle of the steak should be light red which fades to grey as it gets closer to the outside. Medium is great for adventurous beginners as it contains a hint of rawness but is mostly cooked. Medium steaks should be tender and juicy but not bloody like those cooked rare.

Well Done

Steaks should be charred on the outside and a uniform grayish brown color throughout the inside. Due to their longer cooking time, well done steaks are the tougher than medium or rare steaks. They also lose most of their juiciness and are therefore less flavorful. Unless chewy meat or crispy fat are your things, I suggest leaving well done to chicken and pork.

Medium rare and medium well are also standard orders. Nicer steakhouses might also have plus options such as medium plus which is cooked longer than medium but less than medium well. I personally order all of my steaks medium rare. I think that medium rare produces the most tender and juicy steak without being a bloody raw mess.

Whether you are at a fancy steakhouse or your neighbor’s backyard barbecue, knowing your steaks puts you in charge. Combine this with your knowledge of single malt scotch and you will own the room. So now that you know your porterhouse from your elbow, take your new found knowledge to the nearest steakhouse and order with confidence.

- Dan

Editor’s note:
My condolences to Sasso who recently lost his battle with beef and has surrendered to vegetarianism. I can’t imagine having to read about such juicy deliciousness, only to go home to tofurkey and….whatever else vegetarians eat these days. Portobello lasagna, really? Good luck with that!

Although no one likes a know-it-all, it is definitely cool to be able to talk intelligently about some of the finer things in life. Your friends at Shandeh are here to educate you about such luxuries. Since you cannot possibly be an expert on everything, we will show you how to bullshit your way through them. Presenting Bullshitting your way though…

• Scotch
• Martinis
• Wine
• Oysters
• Luxury Watches
• Steaks