Cherry picking at HopCat Detroit
On Saturday night, effervescent music and drinks drew metro Detroiters to the Huma Room at HopCat Detroit for New Belgium's release party of Lost in the Woods 2015. The brewery unveiled its two newest Belgian-style beverages, La Folie, a mouth-puckering sour ale that is perhaps best described as an "acquired taste" and Transantlantique Kriek, a sweet and tart lambec with hints of black cherry in the finish and lots of bubbles.
Seats were hard to come by as the Huma Room was filled with fans of the Belgian brewing tradition that came to eat, drink, and make merry to the pop sounds of local rock combos the Gasoline Gypsies and the Native Howl. We think the Huma Room's soundman had quaffed more than his fill for the volume of amplification had reached a slightly uncomfortable level. DDays had to stand very close to friendly staff and patrons alike in order to discuss the beverages at hand. If one likes loud music and sour suds, do oneself a favor and head over to HopCat's Detroit location at 4265 Woodward Ave. for a taste of these two new creations.
Because you'll be seeing double ...
MT's signature event Vodka Vodka went off without a hitch Saturday night at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. Of course DDays was there sipping some of the finest vodkas in the world as well as some delights that are made right here in town, including Valentine Vodka and Mary Ann's Soda. Between sampling shots and mixed drinks, we were busy scribbling down names on our cocktail menu. The place was basically a who's who of metro Detroiters and we spotted the likes of Janel Stone, Amir Daiza, David Brisbois, DJ Godfather, former and much beloved MT staffer Laura Czupinski, David Rudolph, Angie Yaldoo, and Nahee Hong among about a zillion others. If you didn't make it — don't you worry. MT's next tasting event is Whiskey Business and it takes place on Feb. 21 at the Royal Oak Farmers Market.
Protomartyr, Pantones, and potent potables
On Friday night, we headed over to MOCAD to check out Cafe 78, the museum's new culinary attraction spearheaded by Sugar House and Wright & Co.'s Dave Kwiatkowski and Wright & Co.'s Marc Djozlija. The first thing we noticed was a strange drink menu featuring Pantone color swatches. We picked "neon yellow" and got a tequila-heavy drink roughly the same hue as the menu's swatch. It was fun, but as the space filled up with people to catch performances by Double Winter and Protomartyr, we decided to give the bartenders a break by switching over to quicker-to-order PBRs.
Whack-a-mole
Jack White might not even like guacamole after all. And he won two Grammys on Sunday night. Hibernation nation
Yeah, maybe we're starting to get a bit of the winter blues here at DDays. Instead of Sunday night at the bar, it was Sunday night in the back room, with nothing better to do, apparently, than hit the Playstation pretty hard. We emerged briefly for more to drink, only to see the rest of the household watching Brooke Axtell on the Grammys. Convinced that we were missing absolutely nothing, we withdrew to the back room again.
