Chloe Cherry, who had a breakout role as Faye on season 2 of Euphoria,has been open about her past as a porn star, she even starred in a porn parody of the show before being cast in it, and now she is sharing some more details about her iconic lifestyle.
“I used to have a bunch of them,” the actress said. “Having a sugar daddy is kind of like dating except you’re dating for different reasons because they are providing something for you, so you’re dating based off of what they’re providing for you.” She confirmed that she doesn’t have sugar daddies anymore, though she does stay in touch with some as friends.
Cherry also explained that she is single, though dating around. “I will never again accept a guy that doesn’t want to at least try to take care of me in some way or be chivalrous in some way,” she added. “Why would I accept that when I know it is out there? I know there are people out there that want to treat me really well.”
The pornstar-turned-actress also expressed how hard it was to get into the industry, and how she was often discouraged. “It is so hard to make it in adult film. All the people I worked with and started with, they worked so hard to make a name for themselves.” She also said that her parents didn’t understand her job until she began making money. “You think society is mean to sex workers, sometimes their own family is worse.”
Finally, Cherry told the story of how she got her big break being cast on Euphoria: through an Instagram DM. “First [Sam Levninson] followed me, then he had a casting director DM me. I was like, ‘this is unreal.’ You know how there are so many phishing scams! At first, I turned out down. I was like, ‘I don’t believe this,’” she explained. Eventually, they convinced her to audition, and the rest, including her sugar daddies, was history.
One of the most exciting aspects of the mixology world is the creativity and innovation from bartenders all over the country (and the world). And we’re most definitely in a booming era for cocktails. It’s obvious that, when crafting a drink, most often bartenders reach for whisk(e)y, rum, tequila, vodka, gin, and other spirits as the base. But while it’s more common to mix with spirits, some bartenders shake things up by using beer.
Whether it’s a simple shandy, michelada, beer-based bloody Mary, or something more elaborate, picking the right beer for mixing is extremely important. There are countless different beer styles and not all are easy to mix with. To find the best, we asked a handful of bartenders for help. They were kind enough to offer up their picks for the best beers to mix with.
Keep scrolling to see all of their choices. Maybe it will spur some creativity in you and you’ll grab a sixer of one of these beers and mix up a cocktail yourself.
Guinness Stout
Guinness
Andrew Guerin, bartender at Bourbon O Bar in New Orleans
When it comes to mixing with beer, give me Guinness all day long. The complex malted flavors, the coffee, and subtle dark chocolate notes, the roasted profile all make it so easy to interchange. It’s a great accompaniment to dessert cocktails ingredients.
If it’s not a Michelada, then my go-to is always Miller High life. Dating all the way back to 1903, this American lager, popularly known as “the champagne of beers,” is a beautiful combination of light and crisp with a subtle note of toffee. My favorite way to spruce up this effervescent delight is to add a touch of Aperol and lemon juice for the ever-charming Spaghett.
My Favorite beer to mix with is Space Dust IPA made by Elysian Brewing Company. I love to use this in a New York sour. Instead of using red wine as the floater, I like using this fine IPA. It adds a hint of bitterness to this cocktail that I truly enjoy.
I love bitter cocktails. Especially fruity and bitter. My favorite beer to mix into cocktails is Le Freak by Green Flash Brewing Co. It is a Belgian Trippel & American Imperial IPA hybrid with a bracing 101 IBU rating which they do an excellent job balancing with the bready malts and fruity and citrus flavors. I typically like to use it as a float or a substitute for carbonation in smaller quantities to not overpower the rest of the cocktail with its big flavor.
Corona Extra
Corona
Lily Van Duyn, food and beverage manager at The Vinoy Renaissance in St. Petersburg, Florida
There’s nothing better than a loaded Corona by adding a shot of tequila to the bottle and topping with a lime. One sip will instantly make you feel like you’re relaxing on the beach in the summer. The crisp, refreshing, slightly sweet flavor of the Corona is only heightened by the addition of vegetal, vanilla, and caramel flavors of the tequila.
Black Hammer Hella Sexy
Black Hammer
Mariza Sabino, general manager at Dirty Habit in San Francisco
ABV: 5% Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
Right now, the favorite is Black Hammer Brewing’s Hella Sexy Munich Helles. It’s a fun, underrated style that makes a great citrus shandy. Cara Cara oranges are in season right now, and they’re great with the Helles. Black Hammer’s Helles is crisp, light, and a great complement to citrus. It’s a perfect breakfast shandy.
Modelo Especial
Modelo
Stephen O’halloran, bar manager at Camino Riviera in San Diego
My favorite beer to mix with is the Modelo Especial because when you have an excellent recipe for a Michelada, there is nothing better on a hot day. Modelo on its own is light, crisp, and thirst-quenching. When you mix in the spicy flavors of the Michelada, it’s cranked up to a different flavor level. Bonus points – it can also help with a hangover. So many great flavors here that range from spicy and sweet to salty and citrus. Taste the rainbow.
Stiegl Radler is hands down the best beer to mix with cocktails. Low ABV, light bubbles, and an excellent grapefruit crunch to it. Stiegl Brewery is also one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Located in Salzburg, Austria, they have a great water source. They have been brewing gold before the United States was even a country.
Founders All Day IPA
Founders
Subhash Sankar, head mixologist at Alaia Belize in San Pedro Town, Belize
Founders All Day IPA is light by design and packs less of a boozy punch without sacrificing the aromatics or bitterness that are a trademark of the style. Its piney, dank flavor profile has a bold flavor of lime zest with a long, bitter finish. This makes it a great base for simple, refreshing cocktails. It sets the stage but doesn’t take away from the main event.
Goose Island Sofie
Goose Island
Charles Bement, sommelier and beverage director of B. Hospitality in Chicago
I don’t often make beer cocktails. If the question of a “beermosa” ever came up, though, I’d probably say Goose Island’s Sofie. Its light lemony quality closely emulates sparkling wine. If that counts as mixing with beer, it’s definitely my go-to.
The best beer to mix with is Peroni. This light Italian Lager is crisp to the taste and is usually my choice to make something like a Michelada. This leaves the cocktail evenly balanced and perfectly refreshing, especially enjoyed poolside.
Ahead of a win or go home play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers are potentially getting an important player back from injury.
According to the team’s latest injury report, center Jarrett Allen is listed as questionable for the Friday’s game and will attempt to play. He has not played since fractured a finger on his left hand against against the Toronto Raptors on March 6. Since then, the Cavs have gone 7-12, including Tuesday’s play-in game loss to the Brooklyn Nets, without Allen. Over that stretch, they’ve had the league’s 23rd ranked defense, per Cleaning The Glass — down from their sixth-ranked defense for the entire year.
During the team’s media availability on Thursday — which occurred before the injury report was released — Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that Allen was a full participant in the team’s walkthrough for Friday’s game.
“We have not ruled anybody out,” Bickerstaff said. “But, we haven’t ruled him in either.”
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Allen considers himself ’50-50′ to play and that the pain in his hand is still significant, while Shams Charania notes he will “attempt” to give it a go, but it’s not a guarantee he steps on the floor.
Cleveland’s All-Star center Jarrett Allen considers himself “50-50” on returning to the lineup vs. Atlanta on Friday in Play-In Tournament, sources tell ESPN. Pain is still significant in his fractured finger, but he remains determined to try and help Cavs secure the 8th seed.
Cavaliers All-Star Jarrett Allen will attempt to play in Play-In Tournament game vs. Hawks on Friday — he has been listed questionable on injury report. Allen has been out since March 6 due to fractured finger.
If Allen can play and be close to what he was before it got hurt, it would be a massive deal for the Cavs. Stout defense has been the defining characteristic this season and it just hasn’t been the same without Allen. It could particularly matter in slowing down Hawks center Clint Capela, who had 15 points and 17 rebounds in Atlanta’s win on Wednesday over the Charlotte Hornets.
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, a wave of fear ran through the country that led America to violate the civil liberties of tens of thousands of its own citizens. In 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans and people of Japanese ancestry in ten camps throughout the country.
The smallest of the camps, Amache in southeast Colorado, housed around 10,000 internees from 1942 to 1945, with a peak of 7,318 in 1943.
At the camp, internees lived in military-style barracks. Some worked producing agricultural products and others labored in the silkscreen shop or at the cooperative store. The camp also had a barbershop, schools for children and a hospital. Amache also had the largest number of internees volunteer or be drafted into service during World War II of any internment camp.
After the war, in 1947, most of Amache’s original building stock was sold through the War Assets Administration.
The Japanese internment was one of America’s most shameful acts of cowardice and bigotry. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan formally apologized for the atrocity calling it a “grave wrong” and used the moment to reaffirm “our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law.”
John Hopper was a new social studies teacher at Granada High School in Colorado when he first visited the plot of land where the Amache Internment Camp once stood. “It just looked like a sagebrush cactus hill with cattle on it,” he told the Christian Science Monitor.
Three years later, some of Hopper’s “really bright and willing students” wanted to interview a camp survivor, which led him to create a nonprofit, the Amache Preservation Society (APS). The extracurricular activities surrounding Amache and its history soon evolved into a class at Granada.
Iu2019m incredibly grateful for Granada High School Principal John Hopper and his students who have worked to preserve Amache and gave us a tour of the site today.nnAnd a huge thanks to Granada for their willingness to donate their land.pic.twitter.com/S1t1DkwcU7
Over the years, students enrolled in the class have worked on the preservation of the site by tending to the cemetery or other landmarks. They have helped to work at the Amache Museum as docents or on the site as tour guides.
“The first time I ever saw John’s kids give a presentation, … I thought, OK, this is what this is all about,” Bonnie Clark, an anthropology professor at the University of Denver and leader of the DU Amache Project, told Christian Science Monitor. “They are super engaged.”
Over the years, thanks in part to work done by the students, Amache has been a place for camp survivors and their descendants to visit and pay homage to loved ones while keeping the memory of the tragedy alive.
For the students, caring for Amache and its history has been a lesson in compassion.
“It’s taught me a lot about empathy,” Bailey Hernandez, a junior, said. “You start to think, well, how would I have reacted if my family was forced into one of these camps?”
For Hopper, now the dean of students at Granada School District RE-1, it’s an opportunity to teach students about individual rights in a very real way.
“It is a heavy, heavy topic, especially when you talk about civil liberties,” he said. “But that’s part of my job I enjoy talking about–needs to be talked about.”
In 2006, Amache was designated as a national historic landmark, and last month, President Joe Biden made it part of the National Park Service. But in a way, it was already being treated that way by the students of Granada and Hopper.
The Japanese internment during World War II was a catastrophic lapse in judgment by the American people and its leaders that should never happen again. The best way to ensure that is by remembering our past and never forgetting its lessons. Hopper and his students’ incredible work has kept those priceless memories alive for future generations, thus helping to protect all of us from injustice.
Dogs love their humans and have the best reaction when they return home, even if they just left to go to the mailbox. It’s happy tails and doggy kisses when you get back, so it’s heartbreaking when a pet actually gets separated from its family. A dog named Cow found himself in just that predicament. Cow was somehow stolen from his family, according to the information received by Louisiana SPCA from the pooch’s family. The dog found his way to the animal shelter after being found tied to a fence outside the SPCA. Cow was afraid of his new surroundings at the shelter and it took him a while to warm up.
NeNe Lewis of the Louisiana SPCA told The Dodo “He was very fearful and would low growl when meeting new people. When he was given treats and people would ‘baby talk’ him, he would stop. Since he was found tied to our fence, it makes his reaction common.” VCA Hospitals report that “Fear- and anxiety-related aggression are commonly manifested in the veterinary hospital or in situations of social approach and handling. Dogs that display aggression are not mean or bad dogs. They are simply afraid/fearful and anxious/nervous about a perceived or anticipated threat or unpleasant outcome.”
In the case of Cow, it’s understandable why he would be displaying fearful aggression after being in a new environment away from the family he knows and loves. Cow began to relax in his new environment after being there a while as the staff members searched for a family to adopt the black and white pup. To Cow and the SPCA’s surprise, the perfect family was the one he was missing all along. In March, the shelter found out that Cow’s family had been frantically searching for their lost dog and were ecstatic to find out he was safe in the shelter.
While Cow had gotten used to his new people at the shelter, he was beyond excited when his owners showed up to take him home. He jumped off walls and his owner’s back after lunging directly into her arms to be held like a baby. It’s clear that he missed his family and he was in his rightful place, right in their arms. The workers at the SPCA had never seen Cow so happy. Shelter life is generally hard on dogs, as they’re constantly trying to protect their space from different people coming through. Dogs often become anxious when they’re sheltered too long, always on alert and prone to panic, which is why Cow’s initial reaction is so common.
According to the ASPCA there are approximately 6.3 million pets in animal shelters across America right now, about 3.1 million of those are dogs. Each year more than 920,000 animals are euthanized, which is why the push to “adopt don’t shop” is so prevalent. While animals are in the care of shelters, they are looked after and treated by veterinarians until they are placed into a forever home or reunited with their family, which is always favorable over euthanization. More than 4.1 million shelter animals are adopted each year and around 810,000 of them are lucky enough to be reunited with their families, just like Cow.
If you’re interested in adopting a shelter animal, check out your local animal shelter or ASPCA.
Teachers are often unsung heroes. They provide our children with a safe and loving environment so they can learn while feeling supported. Throughout the pandemic, teachers have really felt the weight of the effects the forced isolation had on their students, but that hasn’t stopped them from showing up and giving them their best. Oftentimes teachers have to double as therapists, social workers and nurses, especially when a school district is short-staffed in those areas. One New Jersey elementary teacher’s nurse’s hat came in handy when a student was playing with a water bottle and the cap seemingly exploded off of the bottle and down the child’s throat.
The child looked stunned as the realization of what just happened quickly washed over his face before he stood up ripping his mask from around his neck and going straight to his teacher. The teacher, Janiece Jenkins, can clearly see the panic in the student’s eyes as he frantically points to his throat, appearing to mouth that he couldn’t breathe. Jenkins stayed calm and immediately began giving the scared child the Heimlich maneuver.
DRAMATIC RESCUE: A NJ teacher is being hailed a hero for saving the life of a choking student #news #fyp #nj #choking #rescue #caughtoncamera
Within a few thrusts on the boy’s abdomen the bottle cap dislodges and goes flying to the floor. Jenkins then comforts the child as a look of relief washes across both of their faces. After taking the student’s face into her hands and wiping his tears you can tell the moment was stressful for everyone involved, including the concerned students watching things unfold from their desk.
Teachers clearly deserve to be the highest paid professionals out there. They never know what’s going to be thrown their way, but they almost always seem to handle it with grace and knowledge.
The sakondry bugs of Madagascar are pulling off quite a feat: helping to thwart starvation, relieving biodiversity loss and saving lemurs. All while tasting like delicious bacon.
These small cricket-like insects have long been a well-loved snack for locals. Pro tip: Find the youngest ones (those are said to be the tastiest), give them a quick wash, pinch off the heads then toss them in a pan with some water and salt, and voila … a crispy, crunchy savory morsel.
“They’re quite soft when they’ve been fried … Like a nutty bacon,” Lewis Kramer, a conservation research coordinator, told Metro.co.uk.
“I would happily have a bowl of them with a beer,” he joked.
Nutritionally speaking, however, the sakondry are much more than a snack. They might as well be singing Lizzo’s “Juice” ‘cause baby, they’re the whole damn meal.
These facts are more crucial than ever, as around 1.64 million people in Madagascar are enduring an undeniable food crisis. Horrifically destructive tropical storms and relentless droughts—which the UN directly links to climate change—have led to desperate measures. Metro.co.uk reported that people were forced to eat ash mixed with tamarind and leather from shoes to temporarily stave off hunger.
As a last resort, some villages have taken to hunting forest animals, including the already heavily endangered lemur. With nearly 94% of the species threatened with extinction, this is hardly a sustainable option.
But U.K.-based organization SEED Madagascar aims to address these issues with a novel solution: a bacon bug farm.
Created by anthropologist Dr. Cortni Borgerson, the program helps communities plant and grow the bean plants known to locals as tsidimy (also edible, so win-win). The tsidimy will attract colonies of sakonry after only six to eight weeks. Those colonies can then be harvested about a month later.
Knowing that a love for card playing is part Malagasy culture, Borgerson created a deck of cards to act as a creative user manual the farmers can refer to for best practices and troubleshooting. The deck includes everything from how to care for tsidimy seedlings to how to differentiate between male and female sakondry.
In only one year, these farms have raised more than 90,000 harvest-sized sakondry, which provided the annual protein equivalent of 2,700 eggs. Borgerson told Mongabay News that the program has also saved 25-50 lemurs per community each year.
As delicious and nutritious and sustainable as they are, the sakondry remain quite mysterious. But while research is still being conducted, these little bacon bugs are becoming a part of a well-balanced diet (and ecosystem) for Madagascar.
Now … who’s ready for an S.L.T.? Sakondry, lettuce and tomato sandwich, that is. Or perhaps some eggs with a side of sakondry? A maple sakondry donut, perhaps? The possibilities are endless.
Given the state of the world we have all been living in for the last two-plus years, it’s no surprise that therapists are in high demand right now, and have been throughout the pandemic. Many therapists have long waiting lists and are taking on more clients than they normally would just to meet the need. New private practices are opening frequently to provide quality mental health care that people so desperately need in these (still) unprecedented times. But something else is happening simultaneously. Large tech companies have cropped up promising mental health care, and even promising to get patients in with a same-day appointments. On the surface, this seems like it should be a good thing. After all, these companies are helping to meet the growing and overwhelming demand for mental health care, so we should make room for them, right? At least that’s what most would think.
I’ve been in the mental health field since 2006, and have been in and around mental health from a professional standpoint, and therapists have been raising concerns about these large platforms for quite a while. In fact, one therapist made it his mission to show his followers on TikTok what the fine print of one mental health platform’s terms and conditions said. Viewers were shocked to hear, and read, as the therapist pulled the information from the company’s actual website in real time, that clients’ information was being sold to third parties for advertising purposes. This wasn’t hidden in microscopic print, it was there within the terms and conditions in plain print. But some companies bank on consumers not reading the terms of their agreement. Many people will quickly scroll through to get to the bottom of the long legal information and click the button to simply move to the next part of the process.
This therapist did the reading for you in an effort to honor his professional ethical code and protect clients. The company fought back against the claims and changed the language, all very publicly on TikTok, but it was only the language that changed, not the terms. When the therapist pointed this out, the company continued to publicly feud with the therapist on the social platform.
Now, at this point you may be wondering why I’m not using this therapist’s name, telling you where to find him and calling out this platform. It’s because when the company continued to mislead its consumers and continued to have its feet held to the fire by this ridiculously brave therapist, the mega large platform sent a cease and desist with the threat to sue this small private practice owner. It forced the therapist to remove any trace of anything unappealing he had said about this company, and he is no longer permitted to discuss the disturbing things he uncovered.
As a therapist, I feel a duty to protect this other therapist from any further threat that may come from this mega company, and to do so, allow him to remain as anonymous as possible. Nevertheless, it feels important to reveal the lengths to which one of these companies is willing to go to keep consumers in the dark about its fine print items. Therapists have an ethical obligation to protect their clients from exploitation, and it would absolutely violate ethical codes to sell client data.
When you meet with a licensed therapist your information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which means we could get into trouble with our licensing boards and in some cases, depending on the level of breach, it could be criminal. Big box therapy companies seem to have found a loophole around this as the companies may not be billed as “therapy” but as lay counseling services, which is something anyone with life experience can do. A therapist who runs the YouTube account Private Practice Skills discusses this and why she was not comfortable putting her license on the line for a company that may not be bound by HIPAA. Privacy is a huge deal in the therapeutic relationship and you won’t find too many therapists willing to risk the privacy of their clients for any amount of money.
Money brings me to my next point. Many of these big box therapy companies such as Talkspace, BetterHelp, Happier Living, and so on, pay their therapists poorly. They seem to prey on therapists who have just recently earned their licenses and want to work for themselves, but may not know how to. Companies like these use the 1099 model to give therapists a sense of autonomy over their schedules, but in the case of at least one of these companies, therapists have had their pay affected by not responding to client’s texts in the middle of the night due to an arbitrary timeline the company has enforced. Let me be clear, the expectation to be readily available to your clients at all times is unrealistic and damaging to the client and the therapeutic relationship.
Therapists teach their clients skills that they are supposed to learn to utilize in between sessions with the hope that eventually they will not need a therapist to continually reinforce these skills as they will become a reflex. When a client is given access to a therapist whenever they would like between sessions it creates a reliance on the therapist to be an emotional barometer and regulator, which is not what a therapist is for. Most therapists’ ultimate goal is to work themselves out of a job. They want their clients to get to a point where they no longer need them. That’s a good thing. We welcome you back should something change, or we offer maintenance sessions on a spread-out basis like once a month or every six weeks until the client is feeling confident enough to be without a therapist.
Some of these platforms build dependency and often their policies go up against a therapist’s professional ethics. One of these companies offers a bonus for client retention. Meaning if the client stays longer than what may be therapeutically necessary, then the therapist gets a monetary bonus. Does this mean all clients that stay long-term with this company don’t need the therapy? No. It means that some therapists may feel pressured to retain clients who are ready to discharge in order to receive a bonus.
The pay is so low for a licensed therapist in this situation that unless you see 30 to 40 clients a week, you’re not making enough to make ends meet and pay off student loans. Seeing this many clients a week doesn’t leave room for administrative tasks that are required, and in a setup like these companies it is likely to be unpaid time. For every client, you have to have a treatment plan completed at the start of therapy and progress notes after every session. If they’re only being paid for the client contact, when are therapists supposed to do these tasks? There’s also finding resources to use in sessions, looking for assessments or referral sources, and other behind-the-scenes tasks that clients know very little about.
I interviewed with one of these companies and declined the offer after explaining the ethical dilemma it would put me in, and the inevitable burnout I would experience. This particular company wanted its therapists to see 12 clients a day with a 30-minute lunch break. The average therapist in private practice sees between five and six clients per day. Some therapists choose to see up to 8 or 9 a day, but they are few and far between. The therapists that do choose that greater load, usually do so in order to take a day or two off during the work week. Twelve clients a day averages out to 60 clients a week, which is even more than some of the other platforms require to be considered full time.
When I made the company aware of ethical concerns due to the sheer volume of clients they were expecting therapists to see, I was contacted by the VP of the company. I again explained the concern, and while at first they sounded empathetic, the tone changed to indifferent and the call ended with no resolution. I’m still listed on the site as a therapist, which I discovered recently, though I’ve never been employed by them.
There is really so much more to dive into, and I could write a book about the concerns raised by licensed therapists about these big-box therapy companies, but the key takeaway is if you need mental health care it’s best to find a therapist in private practice. When money is an issue, many therapists offer sliding scale fees to make it affordable and some even offer pro bono spots. You can find therapists offering reduced rate fees on Open Path Psychotherapy Collective.
If virtual therapy is preferable to you due to time constraints, many therapists are now offering virtual therapy as an option. If you still can’t find a therapist, there is no shame in using one of these platforms because most employ licensed therapists and your mental health is our number one priority. One can understand the appeal and affordability of these large platforms and it’s important to do whatever you can to look after your well-being. Just be sure to read the fine print.
Elon Musk wants what he wants, and being the billionaire CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX isn’t enough for him. He wants to own Twitter, too, dammit, and of course, the MAGAcheerleaders think that having a “free speech abolutist” in charge of the joint is the key to getting Trump back on the platform. Unfortunately for their interests, Elon’s not going to be on the Twitter board after all, and then his bid to purcahse Twitter (for $41 billion cash, because he doesn’t trust the management) doesn’t look like it’s happening.
Reuters reports that Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns a significant Twitter stake, rejected that Elon bid while declaring, “I don’t believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk ($54.20 per share) comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects.”
To no one’s surprise, Elon is now tweeting at this Saudi prince. “How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly?” the world’s richest Twitter troll tweeted. “What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?”
Interesting. Just two questions, if I may.
How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly?
What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?
Earlier on Thursday, Elon spoke at a TED talk (via lawyer Ron Filipkowski) to reveal how little he seemingly understands about “free speech” in a constitutional sense. Perhaps he’s being “intentionally misleading,” after all?
Musk had a lot to say today. His definition of “free speech” is either dumb, naive or intentionally misleading. Suppose you were organizing an attack on the Capitol using your twitter account to round up volunteers? Is calling someone the n-word all good too? Doxxing? Threats? pic.twitter.com/E6SKTces9V
Previously, Elon declared that he wants to “unlock” the “extraordinary potential” for Twitter for “free speech.” In other words, he wants every word to fly, no matter how harmful or inciting those words would be. And surely, this saga isn’t over yet.
Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 23 Bourbon is pretty much the most sought-after whiskey in the world right now. The classic wheated bourbon has been on a meteoric rise over the past decade or so, creating a hype that’s damn near unmatched. People line up for days for a chance to buy a bottle at its retail price of $299.99. There are endless raffles for the small allotment. The secondary price has, in some folk’s opinions, gone out of control. It’s a whole scene!
Pappy 23 is like the rarest Supreme drop, the coolest NFT, and that one-off Wu-Tang album made for the pharma-douche, all rolled into one simple bottle of bourbon. But can any whiskey — bourbon or not — ever live up to those levels of hype? Moreover, is any whiskey worth spending half a year’s college tuition on?
Since I’m lucky enough to have access to this level of whiskey, I set out to answer those questions. For this taste test and review, I sampled bottle F7088 at Justins’ House of Bourbon in Lexington, Kentucky. I had a neat pour in a mini Glencairn. After the first couple of noses and sips, I added a few drops of water to open up the pour and let it aerate for a spell.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Past Six Months
This wheated expression spends a long 23 years resting in new American oak. That age means that there’s still some old juice from Pappy’s previous home, the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, in the mix. Not every barrel makes the final cut. Only the “honey barrels” — the best of the best — are selected for blending, proofing, and bottling. The barrels that don’t make the cut are blended out into Weller expressions, generally Weller 12.
The Bottle:
The bottle is a classic cognac bottle. It’s clear, allowing you to see the amber juice within. The label has Pappy smoking his cigar and bottle number. It’s truly iconic at this point in bourbon history and almost unmissable on any bar shelf.
Tasting Notes:
The nose draws you in with a sense of an apple orchard with cherry and plum trees woven throughout as cherry bark, orange blossoms, salted caramel candy wrappers, and mulled wine soaked oak staves ebb and flow. The nose coalesces around a mix of dry applewood and cherry tobacco leaves stuffed in a very old soft leather pouch with a hint of dry and stringy cedar bark layered in with a dusting of soft nutmeg and black licorice.
The palate delivers on the promises of the nose with the caramel taking on a buttery edge, leaning toward a toffee cream silkiness, as dark cherries and overripe, bruised red apples lead toward peach stones, pear stems, and a hint of cinnamon-infused cider. The mellowness really takes hold on the mid-palate as the woody nature of the sip leads to a mix of those mulled wine oak staves, an old cigar humidor, a hint of bitter and almost over-roasted espresso beans, and a final flourish of dark cherry spiced tobacco leaf with a mild chewiness.
Bottom Line:
This truly does stand out for the first nose and sip to the last. It’s one of those bourbons that part the clouds, exposes the code in the matrix, and makes you say, “oh, shit, that really is good.”
I don’t even care that this word is overused, this whiskey is crazy smoooooooooth while offering some of the deepest flavor notes I’ve come across. It leaves you shaking your head at how accessible it is while having a seriously deep flavor profile.
Ranking:
100/100 — Yup, this is the real deal and does kind of standalone as a stellar yet classic bourbon for its MSRP price point. While it’s not reinventing the wheel or taking bourbon to new heights, it is probably the most classic example of a perfect bourbon on the planet earth.
Is It Worth The Price?
No.
One more time…
Nope.
This should cost $300 and tastes like it does. Spending $6,000 (or much more) on this is absurd. Moreover, that secondary markup is stopping people from ever experiencing the most classic example of bourbon there is. And that’s just a goddamn tragedy.
All of that aside, if you do come across a pour at a high-end bar or rare whiskey shop, buy yourself a pour (expect to pay upward of $200). That will be worth it just to have the experience for your palate and bourbon journey. Beyond that, don’t spend $6,000 on this bottle. It’s just not worth it, no matter how tasty.
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(@RonFilipkowski) 
