Category: Uncategorized

Making a Return

On 01/05/2022

In Life, Personal, Thoughts, Uncategorized

Making a return? Well, in a sense, yes.

Me in a nutshell: passionate one moment and abandonment the next. That’s how I felt about this blog. What initially started as a personal project of mine, I wrote eagerly and it quickly consumed me. I have to admit that it is my trait that I tend to yo-yo. I felt the rush of a self imposed weekly deadline (however ridiculous that sounds) for no logical explanation. Where I last left off was 2020, almost a lifetime ago if I wanted to be dramatic. Although in the digital world, it really would be many lifetimes ago. I had originally decided to take a break, a pause, in posting content (such an unflattering word along with influencer). A month turned into two, then oozed into a leisurely 17 months. I vowed I would return soon but it became easier to neglect this online space I started.

Deadlines I self imposed was mainly why I felt that way. The blog masqueraded itself as a job. I was playing the amateur journalist who one day hopes to be published with a few bestsellers under his belt. I’m none of those things and I’m not trying to be. I’m not writing for a newspaper or a publication so, why did it matter?

In short, it doesn’t. I’m not a professional content creator, influencer or spokesperson. It doesn’t matter if I disappeared, frankly no one would care (I promise it is not a cry for help). What I mean is that this is still just a diary of my thoughts whether I post weekly or erratically.

I was essentially stuck for words

Stuck for words would fall under and being stuck in a rut which in itself is a well documented phenomenon. Research papers, health line organisations and even publications like Forbes have covered this. Ironically, I even contemplated on writing about being stuck but what value was that going to add? None.

So I’m making a return back to writing as I do enjoy the lengthy process of putting thought to words.

Words connect the author to the reader. Certainly particular styles of writing resonate differently with others. It’s true that I’m no author nor have many readers, but I seemed to have also reconnected with people I had not spoken with for a very very long time. I’m sure by no means an accident they came across my little patch of internet, but still, I’m grateful for it.

Writing, in the traditional sense, is a form of lost art. Writing is a skill after all. I remember fondly the giddy anticipation and joy of reading long emails when I first travelled in order to get updates from my friend back home. I would read and re-read them knowing it could be days or weeks before I would get another email after I replied. Writing is so pared down now. As I’m typing this sentence, I’ve had to stop and dig into settings to turn off predictive typing, auto correction and word suggestions. With everything so ‘smart’ and instant, sending a quick message requires no deliberation or careful choice of words.

I must have said before that when I was much younger, I wanted to be a writer (back in my studious and possibly much more passionate phase). Whether an 11 year old should be trusted on correctly identifying and subsequently committing to a career choice is a completely separate issue. Maybe one day this may blossom into my meant-to-be profession. After all, stranger things have happened. All that was to say this space hasn’t flatlined and I’m making a return to posting my ramblings.

Virtual Gin Tasting

By Chris C

On 03/10/2020

In Food, Fun, Uncategorized

Where social distancing is now a thing, meeting up needs to get creative. You can’t just spontaneously take a trip to somewhere, anywhere really. So how to spice up a social event? None other than a virtual gin tasting of course. I first heard about this during a video catch up on a Saturday night. Two drinks in and everything seemed like a good idea.

Now I’m partial to a good gin. Something about the botanical, herbal smells is both vibrant and reassuring. There seem to be many gins, brands and distilleries popping up so I must be on something trendy. Not being able to set foot in a distillery meant no opportunity to soak in the atmosphere and wake the senses. Oh well, you have to take what you can get these days.

So I parted with $50 and through the magic of AusPost and 110 kilometres, my package arrived 3 weeks later. It took immense strength to not open the little vials of gin and taste them right then and there. We found this virtual tasting as an ‘experience’ sold through Red Balloon.

Tiny Bears Distillery supplied 4 vials of varying gins, a vial of coffee liqueur, two bottles of tonic and garnishes. All I needed was the ice and glasses. Tiny Bears is a gin distillery founded in 2017 and set up in Melbourne.

Tasting night came. We were guided through each gin, its profile and the backstory of how the gin is produced at the distillery. We had the videos up and watched them at the same time. Of course it can’t replace an in person gin tasting but technology allowed each of us follow along in real time and voice our comments as we went along.

So in order of the tasting:

The Doctor 42% ABV
The Gypsy 42% ABV
Barrel Aged Gypsy 46% ABV
The Sailor 58% ABV
Brew Coffee Liqueur 22% ABV

After the tour there were cocktail making tutorials which we also followed for a dry martini. Of course I had vermouth on hand. Of course.

The Doctor was my personal favourite of the bunch. It had a gutsy herbaceous hit that wasn’t too warm or sweet. However, The Sailor came a close second with its pale blue tint, glossy appearance and slight oily mouth feel. The former would be more of my ‘everyday’ gin and the latter being a special gin. While I would never consider drinking them straight unless for the purposes of a tasting, all of them were in fact palatable in their pure state.

Let’s just say I was pretty done after the tastings and retired for the evening. Overall it was good fun and a relaxing way to spend a few hours with friends. The package was quite reasonable in terms of the number of gins and the sizes. As a previous sceptic of an online tasting tour, I was quite impressed. But having gone through it, I would definitely recommend as a present or a gin enthusiast. More distilleries or even wine makers should consider doing these mini tasting packs for the masses.