In the 14th Century, the world was hit by the outbreak of a new form of disease that swept through Aisa and Europe, killing a terrifying number of people. It is estimated that 75 million people succumbed to the Bubonic Plague, or “Black Plague” from the 14th Century to the 18th Century. All told, between a third and two thirds of Europe’s population died of the disease. In the early parts of the 20th century, a Spanish Flu pandemic swept the world, killing upwards of a hundred million people. In 2014, Pink Eye took Bob Costas from us. No, he’s…
Author: Bill
Bill
Bill is the Co-Founder, Editor-in Chief, and official Bourbon-o-Phile for ModernThirst.com, and Founder and Chief Blending Officer for Four Gate Whiskey Company. He is a native of Louisville, KY in the heart of Bourbon Country. He attended the University of Kentucky in the mid to late 1990s. He has also been published on Liquor.com. He has conducted various bourbon and whiskey tastings in cities across the country, and consulted for multiple national labels. He is married with two daughters, and lives in east Louisville. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter @BillStraub and email him at [email protected].
American Figure Skater Ashley Wagner completed her performance Sunday at the Sochi Olympics and was elated with her performance before she stepped off the ice. When she saw her low scores from the judges, she became an instant internet celebrity. She clearly mouthed the words “That’s Bull—-!” It’s possible, I guess, she was just reacting to Bob Costas’s gooey eye infection (For the love of God, someone get that man some Visine!), but more realistically, she expected a higher score and disagreed with the judges’ take…vehemently. Her expression changed instantly from bizarre artificial joy that can only be found on…
So a bourbon question I’ve heard quite a bit lately is ‘How do you drink your bourbon?’ I usually sip it neat, or on the rocks. Why on the rocks? Simple: I like cold drinks, and I prefer high proof bourbons. That makes things like the large ice spheres the perfect way to drink them. The ice chills the bourbon and as it slowly melts it opens up the flavors of the higher proof whiskey. There are plenty of other ways to drink it, obviously. I recently watched a YouTube video where Julian Van Winkle of Rip Van Winkle Bourbon explained…
So the Winter Olympics kicked off last night in Sochi, Russia. By now, most everyone has heard of the laughably poor conditions many reporters and athletes are facing at the games. The problems are primarily centered around the fact that the hotels being constructed simply aren’t finished, and supplies of common items are low. The issues run the gamut from exposed electrical wires in showers at hotels, to city officials confiscating pillows from the Olympics staff members for the use of foreign athletes due to a pillow shortage. Seriously. A pillow shortage. One flyer read: “ATTENTION, DEAR COLLEAGUES! Due to…
We’ve spoken often about the recent “Bourbon Boom,” but CNN Money really puts it into perspective in their article this morning featuring Fred Noe, the master distiller of Jim Beam brands. http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/06/news/companies/bourbon-boom.pr.fortune/index.html It’s a great read into the bourbon industry and its recent surge in sales and popularity both overseas and here in the United States. Check it out!
We already have five inches of snow here at the Modern Thirst compound, and we are getting another couple inches plus ice tonight. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a warm fire and a Kentucky Bourbon! What are you keeping warm with tonight?
“I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride, but something touched me deep inside The day the music died.” -Don McClean, American Pie On this day in 1959, a chartered Beechcraft Bonanza crashed in an Iowa Cornfield killing its pilot and three passengers. The passengers were Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P “The Big bopper” Richardson. The three were considered, along with acts such as Elvis Presley, to be the rising stars of the burgeoning U.S. Rock and Roll scene. The genre of music was in its infancy, and Buddy Holly was well on his…
ModernThirst.com Reviews one of the older bourbons to hit the market in recent years. Is 25 year too much time in the barrel for an American Whiskey? Red our full review to find out!
On this day in 1948, Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” Ghandi was assassinated New Delhi. Ghandi was born in India, educated in London, and lived for a time in South Africa, where he witnessed first-hand the horrors of apartheid and racism. He took those lessons home with him to India, where he became a leader of the Indian people in their drive for independence from Great Britain. He was an early proponent of non-violent resistance in the political arena, using his beliefs as a catalyst to fight poverty, end religious and political violence in India, and press for women’s rights. He was…
Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious options to which to raise a glass… Raise a glass today to Edgar Allen Poe’s masterpiece of horror and poetry, The Raven, published for the first time this day in 1845. The poem, made up of 18 stanzas of 6 lines of trochaic octameter verse, is one of the most read and recognized pieces of American poetry ever written. The opening line, “Once upon a midnight dreary,” instantly calls to mind the late night setting in which the protagonist pleads with a dark…