Brenda Coates

Wed. 11/30 – 4-9 PM $5 specials: Plum brandy from Oregon – Viewed as the gold standard for slivovitz (plum brandy) in the world. The eau-de-vie is pure and transparent with the ripe fruit and ends with a slight bitter orange taste and Christian Brothers Honey brandy – Strong honey flavor, but also citrus flavor on the front. Smooth without much bite. Long citrus after taste, almost like orange juice. Great drinks for these cooler evenings!

Thurs 12/1 – 4-9 PM – American Football Specials -What do you call 20 Vikings’ fans in a basement? A whine cellar.  (photo – World’s First Football team – Sheffield Football Club 1890 (est. 1857)Why do ducks fly over Ford field upside down? There’s nothing worth crapping on.  That’s all I know about football, my apologies. But who invented football, that iconoclastic macho game that glues over 100 million Americans to their TV screens each year?  When/where did the game of football begin? Several versions of ballgames similar to football evolved with versions appearing as early as 1400 BC by the pre-Columbian people of Ancient Mesoamerica; and in Ancient Greek with painting references as early as 400-375 BC. A Song dynasty painting in 1130-1160 BC depicts Chinese children playing a form of football and Australian football can be traced back to 1858 in Yara Park, Melbourne. But the very first football game with rules goes to the English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, founded in 1857.  It is the oldest existing club now playing football in the world and still continuing to compete. However, the first American football match was played on November 6, 1869,between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, using rules based on the rules of soccer at the time. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the “Father of American Football,” that established the snap, the line of scrimmage, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs. Later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone and specified the size and shape of the football. The sport is closely related to Canadian football, which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game (although their rules were developed independently (from that of Camp’s). Most of the features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are also present in Canadian football. The two sports are considered the primary variants of gridiron football.

Red Zone – Brandy, Peach brandy, cranberry juice & sour mix; Sideline Sipper – Brandy, sour apple brandy, & Sprite; Black and Gold – Hennessey Black, peach brandy, sour mix, & ginger ale; Touchdown – Brandy, lemonade, unsweetened iced tea; Incomplete Pass – Brandy, pineapple juice (with or without ice); 1/2 price fruit or infused brandy flight 

We will be closed Fri. 12/2 from 4 until 7:00 PM for a private party.  

Don’t forget to order on line or come in- in person for those gift certificates for special friends.  

Wed 11/16 – 4-9 PM $5 specials: Kvint – a Moldova smoky brandy, or Korbel – a grape brandy from California, both will warm your throats, ease into the tummy, and awaken that warm and cozy embrace for a cold evening in November. A perfect finish for a cold evening in WNC!!

Also on Wed  7- 9 PM – Welcome return of Songwriters Sessions: The Songwriter Sessions at The Brandy Bar + Cocktails performs Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 7:00 – 9:00 PM with an evening of original songs in the natural acoustics and listening room atmosphere of the historic Brandy Bar, 504 Seventh Ave. East, Hendersonville, NC 28792.  This month features: The Greybirds, Patrick Lockett, and John Longbottom

The Greybirds are a band from Asheville, NC. What started as a songwriting partnership began to take on different forms: duo to five-piece, acoustic and/or electric, but the songs are the core of everything. The band formed in early 2022 after escaping to the mountains from big cities such as New York, Seattle, & Atlanta. Pat Lockett has been writing songs since high school, when he and his best friend formed a band. Now he makes Asheville home after living in the Caribbean for 20 years, where he captained his boat “Kalina” by day and played music in the bars at night. John Longbottom says, “thrilled to be included in this month’s line up.” With hosts Mare Carmody, John Longbottom, and Charlie Wilkinson. For more information, please contact Songwriter Sessions at: WNCsongwritersessions@gmail.com

Thurs 11/17 – 4-9  PM – Woolly worm cocktails specials: Woolly bear worm, known locally as the “woolly worm,” is legendary for predicting coming winter weather. If their rusty band is wide, then it will be a mild winter and the more black there is, the more severe the winter. First, the “woolly worm” is not a worm but a caterpillar; specifically, the larva of the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella). the caterpillar has 13 distinct segments of either rusty brown or black. Often, it is black on both ends with rust-colored segments in the middle, although it may sometimes be mostly black or mostly rust. Not all-black, all-white, or yellow caterpillars are woolly bears but different species and are not part of the woolly bears. So, if you spot an entirely black caterpillar, it isn’t forecasting an apocalyptic winter! But who is responsible for this legend?

The woolly worm was the subject of a research project in 1948 by Dr. C.H. Curran, curator of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC.  He took his wife 40 miles north of the city to Bear Mtn. State Park to study woolly bear caterpillars. They collected as many as they could in a day, determined the average number of reddish-brown segments, and forecast the coming winter weather through a reporter friend at The New York Herald Tribune. Dr. Curran continued the experiment for 8 years and attempted to prove scientifically a weather rule of thumb that was as old as the hills around Bear Mn. The resulting publicity made the woolly worm one of the most recognizable caterpillars in North America (alongside the monarch caterpillar and tomato hornworm. The caterpillar is the larval form of Pyrrharctia Isabella, the Isabella tiger moth. This beautiful, winged creature is yellowish-orange and cream-colored wings spotted with black and common from Mexico throughout the US and the southern third of Canada. Typically, the bands at the ends of the caterpillar are black, and the one in the middle is brown or orange, giving the woolly bear its distinctive striped appearance.

Between 1948 and 1956, Dr. Curran’s average brown-segment counts ranged from 5.3 to 5.6 out of the 13-segment total, meaning that the brown band took up more than a good third of the woolly bear’s body. The corresponding winters were milder than average, and Dr. Curran concluded that the folklore has some merit and might be true. For over 40 years, Banner Elk, NC, has held an annual Woolly Worm Festival in October, highlighted by a caterpillar race. Retired mayor Charles Von Canon inspects the champion woolly bear and announces his winter forecast. Similarly, there is a Woolly Bear Festival that takes place in Vermilion, Ohio, each October. Most scientists discount the woolly worm’s ability to predict the severity of winter but what do they know??

Woolly bear cocktails:  Warm woolly worm – C & K brandy, Drambuie, milk heated;  Pyrrharctia Isabella – Kvint Moldova brandy, Drambuie, lemon; Dr. Curran – C & K brandy, maple syrup, heavy cream, fresh grated nutmeg; Woolly Bear – Coffee brandy, rye, heavy cream, choice fresh grated nutmeg/cinnamon; Brandy Bar woolly bear – Keeper apple brandy, 2% milk, half/half, vanilla, powered sugar, nutmeg; 1/2 price Worldly brandy flight