Month: December 2020

When you think “winter spirits” bourbon, scotch, Irish, and even American whiskeys are probably all front of mind. But look past rum at the peril of your tastebuds. Do you like bourbon’s famed vanilla notes? Rum has those. Enjoy the floral flourishes of Irish whiskey? They’re common in rum, too. Want the oaky flavors imparted by time-in-barrel? Guess what rum gets aged in?

True rum aficionados get all of this. They won’t be surprised by rum-centric gifts, no matter how cold the weather is.

The rum-adjacent presents below are focused on actual bottles of rum, beautiful bar essentials, cool design pieces, and a few rum-infused favorites. Some of these offerings are budget-friendly, others are a bit spendier (but worth the splurge). If you’re feeling especially generous, pair one of our recommended rums with a rum-adjacent accessory. And if the rum lover in your life is you, feel free to forward this guide to the people who love you best.

Coconut Cartel Special Rum

Price: $34.49

If your giftee is a sucker for pretty bottles holding quality rum, then this one’s for you!

This premium aged Guatemalan rum is distilled with sugarcane molasses before being barreled and aged for up to 12 years in new, charred American white oak barrels. Using fresh, locally sourced coconut water, they then proof the rum blend from cask strength down to 40% ABV bottle strength. While you can enjoy this in a spirit-forward cocktail, it’s best sipped neat.

Buy it here.

Rum Curious: The Indispensable Tasting Guide to the World’s Spirit

Price: $25

World-renowned spirits author Fred Minnick knows his stuff when it comes to booze. In this book, he breaks down the origins of rum, how to properly taste it like a pro, and guides you in building your appreciation for the spirit’s wide variety of styles. The final section of the book includes distinctive rum-based cocktail recipes that go beyond the usual mojito or pina colada.

Give Rum Curious to the person who values a good book and an equally good rum.

Buy it here.

Rum ‘N’ Cookie Pudding Shot

Price: $30

Spoonable Spirits, the name behind this booze-infused pudding shot, was launched in 2017 by Kelli Lipson. She was inspired to start the company based on her nostalgic college memories of Jell-O shots. The puddings are all made fresh to order out of Long Island City with tequila, vodka, whiskey, and rum, depending on the flavor.

Though the Rum ‘N’ Cookie is rich, it comes in the perfect 2oz. serving so you don’t feel overstuffed after all those Zoom dinner parties this season.

Buy it here.

Godinger Silver Art Co. Ship in a Bottle 4 Piece Beverage Dispenser Set

Price: $69.95

Decanting and aerating rum opens up its aromas, resulting in a more enjoyable tasting experience. That’s where this beautiful cylindrical decanter comes in. It even has an antique ship on the inside, conjuring the seafaring history of the spirit.

Buy it here.

Humboldt Organic Spiced Rum

Price: $21.99

We’re suckers for spiced anything during the cold months. Rum is no exception. This rum is distilled from organic sugarcane, then infused with whole organic spices for a spicy and warming palate, made perfect with hints of vanilla and allspice. The added perk is there are no artificial flavors or ingredients and it’s USDA certified organic, so you’re getting a high-quality product at an incredibly reasonable price.

This expression is bottled at full 80 proof, so there’s a nice bit of kick for that hot buttered rum cocktail.

Buy it here.

Rum Lover Cocktail Kit

Price: $74.95

This literally has “rum lover” in the product title, so this takes any challenging guesswork out of the equation. The kit includes citrus, mint, and cinnamon flavor blends, alongside a glass infusion bottle and a stainless-steel tasting straw. All the recipient needs to do is add rum and voila! They’ll have their very own bespoke rum infusions, made to order.

Buy it here.

Rolling Fork Rum

Price: $85

Rolling Fork is the perfect rum for those who typically opt for whiskey. The Kentucky Cask Series takes rum distilled in El Salvador and ages it in former Kentucky bourbon barrels, rye whiskey barrels, and sherry and port French oak casks. The result is a complex and well-balanced rum with subtle sweet notes of caramel and vanilla, plus baking spices.

You’ll definitely want to snag a bottle for yourself as well.

Buy it here.

1937 Mount Gay Eclipse Rum Vintage Look Metal Sign

Price: $18.95

Everyone has that relative or friend with a cool house. You know, the one with the epic taste in design and furnishings? Add some vintage-inspired flair to their abode with this aluminum metal handmade Mount Gay Rum sign. It’s chic inside a home office and durable enough to withstand the weather if it’s best suited for the patio.

Buy it here.

Malin+Goetz Rum Body Lotion

Price: $35

What’s better than an actual glass of rum? Nothing. However, if we had to choose our pick of the next best thing, rum-scented body lotion seems like a pretty solid call. It’s lightweight yet hydrating… also: smelling like rum is cool.

Buy it here.

Tortuga Florida Coconut Rum Cake

Price: $24.95

We know Tortuga has been around since the beginning of time (okay, since 1984), but hear us out. Their desserts cross over from delicious to divine, especially the coconut rum cake. Cake and rum are a match made in heaven. Each rum cake is hand glazed with oak barrel five-year-old aged Tortuga Gold Rum. It’s a boozy treat you can eat while slow-sipping your favorite dark rum.

Buy it here.

EDITOR’S PICK: Cutwater Bali Hai — Dark Rum

Price: $32.00

I have tasted a lot of rum in my time. It’s my spirit of choice and I’ve often led rum tastings at industry events. In all that time, I’ve never tasted a rum that tastes so clearly of rich butter, vanilla, and maple. Seriously, this is a decadent breakfast in a single sip. It’s basically syrup.

This season, I’ve been using Cutwater’s dark rum for rum cakes, caramels, sticky pudding, and, of course, as an after-dinner sipper. Cutwater claims that the butter-nature comes from cutting the dark rum with white rum and while I’m not quite sure I track how that works on a scientifically level, I’ll take their word that there are no synthetic additives.

If you or someone you love enjoys their rums tasting like filtered French Toast, this is the bottle to buy.

Buy it here.

It’s been nearly a month since the 2020 presidential race was called for Joe Biden, which is to say it’s been nearly a month since his predecessor, Donald J. Trump, has refused to concede. For weeks, the outgoing commander-in-chief has brayed unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, though he and his Keystone Kops legal team have yet to produce a shred of evidence to back their claims. And just this afternoon Trump’s own attorney general, Bill Barr, announced that after several investigations, the Justice Department has found no evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

There’s been fear that the Trump gang’s baseless accusations could erode democracy or inspire violence. And after a young voting machine worker in Georgia was sent death threats, a high-ranking election official has said enough is enough.

As per The New York Times, Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation manager, held a press conference after a contractor for Dominion, the voting machine company that has been the subject of debunked conspiracy theories floated by Trump and his legal team, was sent a noose, plus a note saying he should be hanged for treason. The contractor was transporting a report for batches in Gwinnett County. The news made Sterling livid.

“It’s all. Gone. Too. Far,” Sterling told reporters. “Mr. President, you have not condemned this language or these actions. This has to stop. We need you to step up, and if you’re going to take a position of leadership, show some.”

Sterling’s words come the day after one of Trump’s lawyers, Joe DiGenova, called for violence against former White House cybersecurity official Chris Krebs, who was fired by Trump after calling the election the safest in history. DiGenova said he should be “drawn and quartered” and taken out at dawn and shot.”

As threats of violence by Trump allies and supporters have rose, Republican lawmakers have largely been quiet as Trump has made called the election “rigged” and challenged courts in multiple states to overturn Biden ballots. All but one of those has resulted in defeat.

Sterling called for an end to all this. He’s Republican, like Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, who has been singled out for attack by Trump and his allies. But that didn’t stop him from saying he should stop the madness and let America move forward without him.

“Mr. President. It looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia,” Sterling said. “We’re investigating. There’s always a possibility. I get it. And you have the rights to go through the course. What you don’t have the ability to do — and you need to step up and say this — is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. ”

Someone is going to get hurt,” he added. “Someone is going to get shot. Someone’s going to get killed. And it’s not right. It’s not right.”

Sterling continued:

“Mr. President, as the secretary said yesterday, people aren’t giving you the best advice what’s actually going on on the ground. It’s time to look forward. If you want to run for re-election in four years, fine, do it. But everything we’re seeing right now, there’s not a path. Be the bigger man here. And stop. Step in. Tell your supporters: don’t be violent. Don’t intimidate. All that’s wrong. It’s un-American.”

Of course, we all know how pleas of decency go over with Trump and his minions.

(Via The New York Times)

JaMychal Green leaving the Los Angeles Clippers to join the Denver Nuggets wasn’t exactly one of the biggest moves anyone made in free agency this year. His absence hurts the Clippers a little and he brings value to the Nuggets, but while he’s a good player, his move didn’t make waves during a frenzied free agent period.

Still, Green did make some waves on Tuesday afternoon during his introductory press conference in Denver. As basketball fans recall, the Nuggets rallied back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Clippers in the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals, a shocking result in which Denver just kept fighting en route to a major series upset. Green brought this up in his presser, saying that he was so impressed by what he saw in that series that he was inspired to make the jump.

This is obviously a way for people to clown on the Clippers and a major source of pride in Denver, but it’s also interesting to see how this narrative hangs over L.A. The team was expected to, at the very least, make the conference finals for the first time in franchise history, and despite having one foot in the door, they were unable to make it there. This narrative will — rightly, to be clear — hang over them for some time. There’s only one way to shake it, and we’ll bet they wouldn’t mind having to beat the Nuggets to make that happen.

After the NBA made it all the way through the seeding games and the playoffs in Orlando without a single positive test inside the Bubble, the league made the decision that the 2020-2021 season would not resume in a similar isolated environment, but rather return to some semblance of normal with teams playing in arenas.

But given the surge in cases in recent weeks, the prospect of safely allowing fans inside the arenas remains in question. Some teams, like the Lakers, have announced that they won’t permit fans at Staples Center to start the season, while the Warriors have submitted a bold plan that would allow them return to 50 percent capacity at Chase Center, but has to this point been rebuffed by local officials.

With the vastly reduced offseason and the December 22 start date is fast approaching, teams have begun preparations to start training camps with players returning to their home markets and starting individual work on Tuesday, but they are already hitting some snags relate to the pandemic. On Tuesday, the Warriors announced that they were postponing their team-wide first practice after two players reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.

Warriors GM Bob Myers just announced that Golden State’s first practice will be delayed one day from Sunday to Monday after two Warriors players tested positive for COVID-19

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 1, 2020

The report did not specify which players tested positive, and likely most teams will not for positive tests prior to the season beginning, but we’ll continue to update the story as new information becomes available. The Warriors will certainly not be alone in dealing with positive tests, particularly early in camp, and everyone is still learning to work and adjust to new procedures for what happens when there’s a positive test.

NBC’s Peacock has edited out controversial jokes about Selena Gomez from its new Saved by the Bell reboot that launched over Thanksgiving week. During a recent episode, the show made multiple references to Gomez (who has lupus, an autoimmune disease) receiving a kidney transplant, which sparked intense backlash from her fans. While Peacock initially apologized on Sunday for the ill-advised attempts at humor, the streaming service has now taken the extra step of scrapping the scenes completely. An edited version of the episode is now streaming. Via Vulture:

Peacock responded to the controversy, saying in a statement, “We apologize. It was never our intention to make light of Selena’s health. We have been in touch with her team and will be making a donation to her charity, the Selena Gomez Fund for Lupus Research at USC.” Gomez herself has not yet responded to the situation.

One of the questions raised during the outrage is how the jokes made it onto Saved by the Bell to begin with, and more than once. The controversial episode contained a scene where the words “Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?” are spray painted on a wall, which was then followed by the characters speculating whether Justin Bieber’s mom or Demi Lovato donated a kidney to Gomez. To make matters more uncomfortable, Gomez been candid about her struggles with being self-conscious with her surgery scars.

“When I got my kidney transplant, I remember it being very difficult at first showing my scar,” Gomez wrote on Instagram. “Now, more than ever, I feel confident in who I am and what I went through… and I’m proud of that.”

(Via Vulture)

User-generated stock photography platform Unsplash has just unveiled the winners of their fourth annual Unsplash Awards. The Unsplash Awards are a celebration of the open photography movement and give aspiring photographers a space to flex their skills for a large audience while vying to impress a group of judges made up of editors, designers, and creative directors from places like Vogue, GQ, Nike, and Polaroid.

Since October, Unsplash has been receiving photos from all around the world across 10 categories from architecture to current events to experimental shoots, including a final category judged by a super panel of 10 judges to find the year’s most impactful photo. Now the winners have officially been announced and it’s time to give the first place finishers their flowers.

This year’s most impactful photo was shot by Patrick Perkins, who captured the surreal Blade Runner-esque landscapes of San Francisco during California’s summer wildfires. Perkin’s blood-red California sky truly embodies this unprecedented year we’ve been living through.

Check out the #1 photo along with the 10 other category-based winners below.

Current Events: Nengi Nelson — Lagos, Nigeria, Canon EOS M50

Street Photography: Benjamin Super — Chicago, IL, Sony ILCE-7RM2

Experimental: Dynamic Wang — Beijing China

Fashion: Raphael Lovaski — Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, Canon EOS REBEL T7i

Architecture: Daniel Olah — Hungary, Nikon D800

Health & Wellness: Leo Manjarrez — Mexico City, Mexico, Canon EOS 70D

Film: Jean Carlo Emer — Amsterdam, Netherlands

Nature: Tommy Boudreau — Boston, MA, Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Interiors: Italic — Earth

People: Megan Bagshaw — Derby, UK, Canon EOS 800D

Community Photo of the Year: Patrick Perkins — San Francisco, CA, Nikon D3400

Clubhouse, the voice-based hot new social media app, only launched a few months ago and is still in its closed-beta testing phase but it’s already stirring up the sort of quick-twitch trouble a poorly-worded tweet can in even less time. Case in point, Mulatto, the Atlanta-based rapper who dropped her debut album this summer, is in hot water (again) for comments she reportedly made on the app.

According to fans who were participating in a chat room on the app with the burgeoning rap star — which, grain of salt here — Mulatto claimed that colorism doesn’t exist, drawing the ire of users on Twitter, who immediately berated her for a perceived lack of self-awareness. You may recall that Mulatto has already spent much of the year fending off accusations of colorism herself due to her controversial moniker — accusations that reportedly have her considering a permanent rebrand.

Of course, considering similar situations throughout the few months with rappers like Doja Cat, it’s probably healthy to be at least a little skeptical of the reports on Twitter. For one thing, Clubhouse doesn’t have a recording function, so it’s pretty much a game of Telephone once the conversation migrates back to Twitter, with users on the latter able to claim whatever they want and no way to confirm their accuracy.

For another, artists’ comments are consistently taken out of context by fans in order to make jokes or troll them. In the instance of the Doja Cat controversy earlier this year, fans upset with her for not following through on her raunchy promise when “Say So” reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 were the likely culprits for starting the rumor that led to Doja being accused of hanging out in racist chat rooms. For her part, Mulatto denied saying colorism doesn’t exist.

Judging from Mulatto’s current predicament, it’s probable that even more controversies will spawn on Clubhouse in the future, as the nature of the app makes it even easier for them to slip up and harder than ever to control the narrative once they do. In this case, Mulatto’s best bet might just be to follow through on that name change as soon as possible and follow Doja’s example by dropping a string of unimpeachable performances. Nothing makes folks forget your faux pas like a catchy hit song.

The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Best Picture winner The Return of the King) and The Hobbit trilogies (An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies) both received fancy 4K remasters (out now!) that look incredible. Which is saying something, because the six movies looked incredible as is. But to director Peter Jackson, they were inconsistent.

“It was interesting going back and revisiting these films, because I realized how inconsistent they were, and that’s really due to the way in which The Lord of the Rings trilogy was shot first about 20 years,” he said in a behind-the-feature included on the box sets. The Lord of the Rings was shot on 35mm, the color timing was done in an old-fashioned in a photo mechanical way for the first Lord of the Rings movie, then we switched to digital color timing for the 35mm for the next two.” Jackson and his crew meticulously “tweaked” the colors of all six movies, so that both trilogies looked similar, despite The Hobbit movies being shot 10 years later on “digital cameras at 4k.”

All is know is, Gollum smacking that fish is going to look goooood.

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (New Line Cinema films streaming on Hulu) — For one month only (plan your binging accordingly, my precious), you can watch Peter Jackson’s beloved adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic book series. It’s a perfect time to catch up on all the Middle-earth business before the Amazon Prime TV series, which will land at some point, assuming that the weird casting call went smoothly. If you’re not familiar, you still probably know to expect plenty of wizardry and elves, and Elijah Wood stars as Frodo Baggins, a young hobbit who must obliterate the ring of Sauron.

Angela’s Christmas Wish (Netflix film) — Based upon Frank McCourt’s characters, this followup to the 2017 Christmas short film from Ireland follows a young girl who wishes for a Christmas family reunion. The story emphasizes family and togetherness, all engineered by one determined young child.

Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (Netflix documentary film) — Shondaland brings us this career spotlight for trailblazer Debbie Allen (Fame), who reimagines the classic ballet guiding a group of stellar young dancers as they gear up to launch Allen’s yearly “Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” production. This film looks like a blast and includes not only fantastic choreography and behind-the-scenes glimpses at the grueling process but also intimate interviews with Allen and all involved.

Even more holiday cheer from Netflix:

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (Netflix film) — Everyone loves Dolly, so at least there’s one thing that you won’t be arguing about with your relatives this season. Featuring an album full of original Dolly music, this film (which co-stars Christine Baranski) revolves around how the coldest of hearts can melt in the face of family, love, and the enduring Christmas spirit of a small town.

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (Netflix film) — Kurt Russell’s hot Santa returns two years after Kate and Teddy saved Christmas. Kate’s now a cynical teenager with family drama, and for some reason, she’s not thrilled to spend Christmas in Cancun. The trouble truly begins when a mysterious toublemaker, Belsnickel, plots to destroy Christmas and make a ground zero out of the North Pole. Russell’s here to help save the day, and yes, Goldie Hawn’s along for the ride.

Here are the rest of tonight’s programming highlights.

Swamp Thing (CW, 8:00pm EST) — Alec and Abby’s trip to a degraded part of the swamp ends with an infection and a trip to the lab. Oh boy.

Tell Me A Story (CW, 9:00pm EST) — Ashley’s attacker’s the subject of a Beau hunt while Tucker’s cluing in on Olivia and Jackson has a chat with Veronica.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Bryan Cranston, Congresswoman-Elect Cori Bush

Jimmy Kimmel Live — John Mulaney, Rita Wilson, Devon Gilfillian

Bill Walton doesn’t really call games, in the traditional sense. What he does when he’s on-air during sporting events is better described as a sort of one-man avante-garde tour-de-force. You never really know what to expect when Walton gets into the booth, but one thing’s for certain: there is rarely a dull moment.

Whether he’s marveling at a baseball player’s bunting skills or spinning tall tales about this days following the Grateful Dead, Walton creates an atmosphere in which the conversational flow moves freely and erratically, untethered by the normal confines of relevance, accuracy, or even general listener interest.

He was at it again this week during an NCAA game between Indiana and Texas. Ever the proponent of the non-sequitur, Walton started to tell an anecdote about celebrating his dog Potter’s birthday, which quickly devolved into him just making barking sounds.

Here is Bill Walton making various dog sounds if you’re into that pic.twitter.com/p29r3VV73s

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 1, 2020

Once or twice a year, ESPN does a crossover broadcast in which they switch NBA and college basketball announcers, and it’s always a joy to hear Walton’s signature nonsensical musings applied to the NBA for a change. Until then, rest easy in the knowledge that Walton is the type of person who celebrates his dog’s birthday without a hint of irony.