The Bear Hunt

As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.

I am a trapper at heart and am fascinated with lures. For some reason the Germans create things like gun cleaning formulas you can eat and bear lures you can drink.

Yes that is the legend of the honey bourbon of Bärenjäger.

There’s a reason why so many companies are mixing honey with whiskey – the two go together extremely well.  The entry is thick and sweet with the whiskey notes very present in the entry. The balance between the honey and bourbon definitely favors the honey, but not so heavily as to overwhelm the whiskey notes, and it’s not as sweet as the traditional Barenjager. The cinnamon and oak spice ramp up in the mid palate where the balance becomes more equal. As with the original Barenjager, the finish cleans things up a bit, this time with more spice from the whiskey.

After or initial Red Eye Wedding Schnapps fantastic vocation which tastes like toasted marshmellow, followed by Cherry Girl Schnapps, that I am thinking about creating an entire empire out of getting Russian Germans in North Dakota drunk on the stuff for immense profits, providing I could find a Mettis Cart to ship thousands of gallons there.

I digress.

It seems that Bärenjäger is ......pronounced BEER en yae ghur, is a sort of bear lure not as nasty as Jaegermeister which TL says is pure torture to drink with 56 spices and tastes like molasses or has syrup like it...........but I digress again, as it seems if you put charred oak with whiskey you get bourbon, add some cinnamon and honey and you get a bear lure.
I can see why German huntsmen started drinking the stuff, as there are not allot of bear in Germany. Most are in the Polish Carpathian Mountains, so you just had the Mastiff running things, and what was left was the bear lure.

I have not attempted this concoction yet. Probably will give it a go around Christmas which will have passed by the time you have read this. I know it seems  like I am drinking allot, but it is not allot, it is just often. No am not an alcoholic, but a 10 o'clock moon raiser. That would be the Afrikaaner opposite of the sundowner. What I have been concocting is sweet syrupy liqueur things, like a Blackberry Brandy which is making my fingers float above this keyboard and my head telling me a warm bed will be a pleasant interlude until morning.

Odd thing is my dad was a drunk, but my Grampa and beloved Uncle were just passive drinkers who liked schnapps type things. I can go years without drinking and then get started and sponge it all up. My weakness now is I enjoy sharing a sip with TL, after we have cookies, proceeded usually by Colby cheese. I like Colby a great deal as it is the best next to American cheese. I like dill pickles too with beer, but I am not drinking beer as beer sucks in below freezing weather, again I share a beer with TL if we go for a drive at sundown

This though is about cinnamon honey booze. I don't know if I like that, but then I like nutmeg with hot brandies, which is coming up or going away as you read this as is my tradition on Christmas eve to have apple jelly flavored, ice cream, hot brandies.

I am wondering if I could make a horehound flavored Vicks Formula 44 liqueur. That would be hell to get sick on, but it would not catch bear. Might be attractive to beaver though as there is some licorice or something in those black beaver lures. Don't think I will be drinking beaver lure though as it is like 5 bucks an ounce.

See all of this came about in all I was looking for was an aperitif glass, appetizer glass. I had one served to me once and it was embarrassing in drinking from it in public, but in private they are petite and lovely. Of course I can not find anything like that or Colonel Klink schnapps  glasses. This hatred of Germans and love of their spiced beer sludge must stop. What I wanted is to sip from our klinking glasses over Christmas and I fear this is denied me, as I do not think I will be going to a bar and stealing a set as that would not be pleasing to Baby Jesus.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1-inch piece of orange zest, pith removed (optional)
• 1 stick cinnamon (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups vodka

Directions

1. 1.
   Cook the honey, water, orange zest, and cinnamon over medium heat stirring frequently, until it is integrated into a syrup, about 5 minutes. Let cool, with the orange zest and cinnamon still in the pot. Scrape off any white foam.
   
2. 2.
   Once the syrup has cooled, remove the zest and cinnamon. Then combine the honey syrup and vodka in a sealable glass jar, seal, and shake. Serve immediately, or for better flavor, allow to rest for a minimum of 12 hours. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Pussy Russians drink vodka, real bear hunters drink Everclear.  Surprisingly Everclear though deadly is more mellow than vodka by the drops I lick from my finger. Please do not visualize that and become enamored of as I am a bear hunter and can only be idolized for that.


I know though I don't want no foamy booze. I will drink Hamms if I want that natural froth and it took me an my neighbor over a year to get rid of that case I got him for feeding cattle. Hamms is a sure cure for alcoholism.

Anyway now I have ushered you into the world of trapping. Now that I have the lure, I need the Draathaur, a bear and I really want an Osa Martin 9.3 Mauser to shoot large animals with as I am in covetousness of her guns.........yes lederhosen too, not that she wore that in Africa, and not that I covet German socks, it is just I would like to be a German bear hunter a few times, with a roaring fire, eating roast beast steaks, having crisp pickles, good cheese, fine buns and beer with bear lure to top it all off, as our puppy, Bärenmörder, lays her head on my lap and says, "More steak please".

Oh who could not fall asleep for all night with a wonderful experience like that.



 


Nuff Said


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Aperitif

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