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NYE Round Two: 5 Beer Events To Celebrate The Chinese New Year

Jacob Uitti
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NYE Round Two: 5 Beer Events To Celebrate The Chinese New Year

The thing about New Year’s Eve is, for many, it seems like a once-in-a-calendar sort of event. But that’s not the case, and here’s why: there’s a second New Years Eve — the Chinese version — happening this weekend. Known as the “Spring Festival,” Chinese New Year celebrates the progression of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar (which just means a calendar based on astronomical phenomena). The party often involves lanterns, the passing out of red envelopes with gifts inside and, for you lucky hop heads, some even feature BEER (did you think any big day could avoid the craft movement? Of course not!).

But where are celebrations happening? And what’s going on? Are you invited? We’ll tell you, but remember: during all of these occasions, we want you to be respectful of the culture, the hosts and do not presume you know what’s best. Okay? Deal!

1. San Francisco

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF9gorYMseq

While San Francisco will likely have a lot going on for the Chinese New Year celebration, one spot that will for sure have good beer is the party at The Beer Hall, a craft beer and wine bar, will sell a brand new beer made by the experts at Georgetown Brewing in Seattle, which was co-founded by Chinese-American, Manny Chao.

– See more at: http://thefreshtoast.com/drink/how-the-lack-of-poc-in-brewing-is-hurting-the-industry/#sthash.pW04ZWwP.dpuf

The celebratory suds? A New Year’s Lager, which Georgetown Brewery’s Matt Edwards says, “presents itself with a golden straw hue and a white fluffy head capping it off. The lager is all about pleasant subtleties, balance and easy drinking.” Yum!

2. Seattle

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BK_zGyph9OH

And speaking of Seattle, the newcomer brewery, Lucky Envelope, which is named after the Chinese New Year tradition, is making two new beers for a celebration at their Ballard neighborhood taproom. One they call their Buddha’s Hand IPA, made with citron fruit, which gives the beer a “unique citrus flavor” via the fruit, often used in Chinese cooking.

But the other, perhaps an even more special beer, is their brew based off a recently discovered 5,000-year old Chinese beer recipe. “This discovery shows that there has been a pretty big proliferation of barley-based beverages around the world,” says Barry Chan, co-founder of Lucky Envelope. “Supporting the idea that beer has been everywhere and does not necessarily have a single origin point. And so we took the information from that paper and we did a recreation with a couple tweaks for the modern palate. Because a 5,000-year-old beer recipe will be, well, somewhat sour.”

3. Singapore

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEq1w3GvjnZ/

Across the ocean from America’s west coast, Tiger Beer in Singapore celebrates Chinese New Year artistically. A few years back, they partnered with award-winning artist Victo Ngai to put art on their product. So when you raise a can to your lips you can see art and culture as the cool beverage washes down. Faaaannnncccyyyy!

4. Philadelphia

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/jSZGb-glog

In Philadelphia, Bar-ly is ringing in the Year of the Rooster (goodbye, Year of the Monkey and good riddance!) with craft beer galore (the place has an endless tap list) followed by a traditional Lion dance. What’s a traditional Lion dance? It’s a custom where performers mimic a lion’s movements in a giant lion costume. Fun fact: lion dances are often mistaken for dragon dances. The way to tell the difference is that the lion costumes generally only require two dancers, whereas dragon dances have longer costumes needing more dancers in each.

5. Los Angeles

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBtn8piKM8-

And in L.A.,  our favorite mice are getting into the Chinese New Year action. While we can’t accctttuuuaaallllyyy comment on the beer situation there — Mickey keeps a tight lid on his tap list— we can say that the theme park known as “The Happiest Place on Earth” will celebrate the New Year with a weekend-long, multi-cultural celebration including photo opps with Mulan, Mushu and the mice life-partners, Mickey and Minnie. The menu will be inspired by fare from China, Korea and Vietnam (and if they don’t have beer, smuggle it in under your I Heart Daisy sweatshirt!).

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Super-Cheesy Yummy Cannabis Crackers

Danielle Guercio
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Super-Cheesy Yummy Cannabis Crackers

Homemade crackers are one of those things that ruin store bought stuff for life. Once you make them, it’s too easy to force yourself to whip them up than it is to drag ass to the store. Plus, when you add a generous drizzle of weed olive oil or butter, you make an incredible party snack that no one will forget any time soon. Here is a recipe for super-cheese yummy cannabis crackers.

Crackers are a simple recipe to execute, and are adaptable to what you have on hand. To make them your own, simply swap out cheeses, oils, and herbs/spices at your leisure. Practice makes perfect, but once you try it a few times, you can execute them under pressure for last minute entertaining or interesting dinners that use up odds and ends.

This go, I used a hunk of unique-tasting Casera Valtellina, with it’s nutty and milky funk similar to a raclette. It’s an Italian mountain cheese, from a region where sometimes you can smell and taste the shared border with France and Switzerland. Herbs I keep on hand both dried and fresh, so a healthy dose of barely-anise tarragon accents the cheese while lemony thyme rounds out the weed flavor.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

Cheese Crackers, Casera Valtellina + Tarragon With Garlic Stuffed Olives

  • 2 ¼ cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt (reserve half for sprinkling)
  • 1 cup grated Casera Valtellina cheese
  • ¼ cup chopped herbs (tarragon, thyme, parsley)
  • pepper
  • 2 Tbs unsalted butter or cannabutter*
  • 3 Tbs olive oil or weed olive oil*
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup chopped olives
Photos by Danielle Guercio

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix dry ingredients (first five) in a bowl. Melt butter (not in microwave if it’s got weed in it) and mix with olive oil. Pour into dry ingredients and mix gently with a fork trying not to overwork. Add water in four parts, gently kneading with one hand.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

Dump mixture on a piece of parchment or a slipmat and roll to ½” thickness with a rolling pin. Chop olives and press into dough. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into squares. Sprinkle with remaining salt.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

Bake for 12-15 minutes, less for chewier, cheesier crackers, more for crispier, more oily crackers. Always rotate once and keep a very close eye on this, not only is the weed you put in on the line, cheese can burn in seconds. Allow to cool completely before digging in if you can stand it.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

*Weed Olive Oil Or CannaButter

Decarboxylate 3.5g of finely ground cannabis at 225 degrees for 20 minutes in a tightly sealed, oven safe container. Put in lidded mason jar or vacuum sealed bag with cannabis and 1 stick of unsalted butter or four ounces of olive oil. Heat in water bath just under boiling for at least 1 hour. Strain and chill to use in recipes.

Photos by Danielle Guercio

These are amazing with other types of cheese for a cheese-ception, or as a topper for soups and salads. I also just like to eat them as is and am not sorry one bit.

Taper the potency to your needs, it’s smart to make party goods for guests on the chill side, since people often overdo it, or alternatively, yummy if you want to make on the weak side so you can wolf the whole batch Han Solo. Bake ahead for big parties, two batches will make you about 100 crackers. Don’t like Casera cheese? Try roasted garlic and Parmesan or Swiss and rosemary, the combinations are endless!

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Don’t Call Matthew McConaughey ‘Matt’ Because His Name Is Matthew McConaughey

Brendan Bures
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Don’t Call Matthew McConaughey ‘Matt’ Because His Name Is Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey does not and will not answer to the common nickname Matt. If you were to witness Matthew McConaughey doing Matthew McConaughey things—like wrestling alligators wearing ankle weights—and cheer him on, screaming, “Go Matt, you Texas tamale, you,” Matthew McConaughey would not respond.

Though you’ve known friends named Matthew and called them Matt for short, Matthew McConaughey will not answer to that. The transitive property, like most mathematic principles, is a lie. Matthew McConaughey knows that. Matt, however, does not.

This is all because the name Matthew McConaughey’s mom gave him was Matthew McConaughey and not—contrary to some reports—Matt McConaughey name. Matthew is from the Bible. Before writing this post, I read the entire Bible three times, and can confirm there are no Matts in the Bible. No person, not even Judas, beckoned, “Hey Matt, we’re gonna watch Jesus perform some miracles. Wanna come?” No one said this because that would be ridiculous. As if someone would ever call to Matthew Matt like that.

So Matthew McConaughey’s name is Matthew McConaughey, in case you were confused.

He will also answer to “sonofabitch,” a not uncommon nickname for Matthews, but still not Matt, a super common nickname for Matthew. Now that’s been cleared up, allow him to reintroduce himself—his name is Matt……hew McConaughey. To think we might’ve had Matthew McConaughey’s name confused all these year.

Naked Lunch: Dine Naked at Spain’s New Nude Restaurant

TFT Editors
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Naked Lunch: Dine Naked at Spain’s New Nude Restaurant

If you refuse to eat out at restaurants because you only enjoy dining while nude and also you live in Spain, we have some fantastic news: A restaurant in Tenerife – the largest of the Canary Islands in Spain – encourages its customers to take of get naked while eating there.

The Daily Star reports that Innato has a gourmet libido-boosting menu, which includes a “human table” that consist of nude male and female models. From the Star:

The models have “just the odd fig or vine leaf to cover their modesty”.

A popular menu item is the “Happy Ending” – a dessert of drizzled melted chocolate and strawberries served on a naked model. Yummy!

Diners are required to check their smartphones before entering a changing room, where they’re given a robe. Each table reportedly has a bamboo partition between it for privacy.

Owner Tony de Leonardis told the Daily Star that he was inspired by a similar nude restaurant which opened in London last year. Sounds like the perfect place to eat after you take a sex cruise.

If you speak Spanish, here’s a news report about the new restaurant.

 

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Arkansas Lawmakers Stall Medical Marijuana

Mike Adams
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Arkansas Lawmakers Stall Medical Marijuana

Arkansas lawmakers stall medical marijuana at the expense of the patients and against the will of the public.  They are trying to throw a wrench in the state’s new voter approved medical marijuana program. There is some action in the 2017 session aimed at preventing patients from consuming smokeable forms of the herb, as well as a bill that would prevent the program from becoming functional until after the federal government ends prohibition.

Senator Jason Rapert intends to submit a bill in the State Legislature that would prohibit medical marijuana from being grown and sold throughout the state as long as Uncle Sam still considers it illegal at the national level. But if this pesky sabotage tactic fail to gain enough support, the lawmaker says he will carefully supervise the execution of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment (AMMA), “to make sure that, if this is going to go forward, that it’s going forward as medicine. You don’t have to smoke dope and get high to get well.”

Unlike some states, such as Minnesota and New York, the language of the AMMA, which was approved by the voters in November 2016, does not come with any restrictions on marijuana consumption methods. The law was designed to give patients the freedom to use medical marijuana in a manner most conducive to their respective health condition. But Rapert, who is backing a bill designed to completely ban the smoking option, believes patients who need anything other than edible forms of the herb are simply looking to get high.

“Who’s gonna ask a three-year-old kid with epilepsy to smoke a joint? C’mon! It’s just recreational marijuana using, for their own purposes, the sad stories of people that truly need help and are truly looking for assistance from some new drug that could help them,” he told THV 11.

Imposing a no-smoking provision could be a detriment to most patients, as the high costs associated with manufacturing cannabis products, like pills and oils, typically causes retail prices to skyrocket,

However, there is a distinct possibility the program will never see the light of day if the House and Senate gets onboard with Rapert’s latest scheme. The lawmaker is pushing to put the medical marijuana program on an indefinite hiatus until there is harmony between federal and state pot laws.

“Under the 1970 federal Controlled Substances Act, marijuana usage, distribution, possession, is illegal under United States federal law, and that has not changed,” Rapert said. “There are people serving in prison right now for the same activities that, apparently, Arkansas thinks it can proceed with. We are a nation of laws and a state of laws. You must change the law to remove an irreconcilable difference that we have between state and federal law on this particular issue.”

Yet, David Couch, the Little Rock attorney responsible for running the AMMA campaign, says the majority of the voters have already spoken.

“Fifty four percent of the people of the state of Arkansas voted for it,” said Couch, “so it’s kind of hard to undo it now, since it was only a couple months ago.”

If either piece of legislation finds its way to the desk of Governor Asa Hutchinson, medical marijuana patients could be in trouble. The governer, who opposed the AMMA, has already signed a bill delaying the implementation of the program.

Report: Gen X More Addicted To Social Media Than Millennials

Brendan Bures
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Report: Gen X More Addicted To Social Media Than Millennials

Through casual repetition, stereotypes can gain some loose-handed credibility as fact. This is why stereotypes are problematic. For example, tell me if you’ve heard this one in some variation: “Millennials can’t survive without their phones. They aren’t just obsessed with their Twitter and Snapchats, they’re full-blown social media addicts.”

However, a recent Neilson study reveals that millennials aren’t the worst generation when it comes to social media consumption. The real addicts: Generation X.

Via Neilson:

Surprisingly, the heavy social media user group isn’t Millennials. In fact, Generation X (ages 35-49) spends the most time on social media: almost 7 hours per week versus Millennials, who come in second, spending just over 6 hours per week.

According to Bloomberg, the study took place in Q3 of 2016, and “took into account 9,000 smartphone and 1,300 tablet users across the country. The media activity was measured passively to avoid any self-reporting bias.” Comparatively, those ages 50s and above (which includes boomers), were reported of using four hours a week on social media.

Also relevant was how users interact with social media during TV consumption. There too the data demonstrates that Gen X are more likely to post on Facebook (42%) while watching content than millennials (40%). Facebook is also the No. 1 social media network choice for mobile and desktop users.

So maybe mom and dad should check themselves before telling their children to get off their phones and Facebook. We’re all in this social media-addicted world together.

Here’s Why George Orwell’s ‘1984’ Is Currently The Bestselling Book On Amazon

Brendan Bures
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Here’s Why George Orwell’s ‘1984’ Is Currently The Bestselling Book On Amazon

When novelists write dystopian literature, their sentences both hint at and exaggerate a state of their current reality. In some cases, they are a what if? played out, extending trends these writers fear might spell doom. But what happens when those fictional nightmares seemingly become current reality?

Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to President Donald Trump, reflected that possibility after offering the distinction of “alternative facts.” Conway uttered this phrase when questioned regarding Trump’s record attendance numbers at his inauguration.

The idea of “alternative facts,” it seems, reminds many of George Orwell’s classic 1984, which has sits atop Amazon’s bestseller list following Trump’s inauguration and Conway’s phrasing. 1984 features “newspeak,” a type of propaganda that clouds facts and distorts any sense of foundational truth through mixed messaging and overwhelming surveillance.

Via CNN Money:

We put through a 75,000 copy reprint this week. That is a substantial reprint and larger than our typical reprint for 1984,” a Penguin spokesman told CNNMoney Tuesday evening.

[…]

According to Nielsen BookScan, which measures most but not all book sales in the United States, “1984” sold 47,000 copies in print since Election Day in November. That is up from 36,000 copies over the same period the prior year.

Two other editions of 1984 are in the bestseller list, though Orwell is not the only author whose work has seen a recent resurgence. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, another dystopic society where truth is obscured, and Upton Sinclair’s It Can’t Happen Here, which involves the election of an authoritarian president, have entered the top 100 of Amazon’s bestseller list.

Other novels to jump into the bestseller list since Trump’s inauguration: Orwell’s Animal Farm, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism.

TFT Interview: Talib Kweli Talks ‘Weed Scientists,’ Hip Hop, And Black Star Days

Jacob Uitti
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TFT Interview: Talib Kweli Talks ‘Weed Scientists,’ Hip Hop, And Black Star Days

When A Tribe Called Quest, inimitable elder statesmen of hip hop, released their final record We Got It from Here…Thank You 4 Your Service, they gathered a who’s who of hip hop old and new. The political and social implications of that album aside, it should be little doubt why that would include Talib Kweli.

An icon of rap’s backpacker movement, Kweli’s name is synonymous with poetic bars and thoughtful underpinnings. His collaborations include Black Star with Mos Def and Reflection Eternal with Hi-Tek, each further establishing Kweli as an inveterate member of hip hop.

He’s a cerebral artist and a prolific musician – and he’s just kicked off a new tour. So we talked to Kweli to learn his current thoughts on touring, the political climate, and what does he like to smoke?

The Fresh Toast: Is there a message you want to transfer to your audience on this new tour, or something you’re expecting to see form them?
Talib Kweli: I just want people to come and have a good time and listen to great hip-hop – so far on the first stop we had a good time.

Is there a difference between now and the Black Star days in America while touring?
The audience, the people, tape more things than watch them now. Back in the days you could tell what the crowd was thinking and experience a level of back-and-forth because the people responded to the music, they had their hands in the air. Now they’re on their phones.

I definitely appreciate it. But I remember when I first started touring, it was discouraged to let photographers shoot the whole show. Usually it was just one or two songs and then they were forced to leave the pit. That’s a real old school music industry thing. Back in the days, artists wanted to control all their images, pictures. You decided what to do with them. If too many people did it, it would lost value. But now it’s flipped. It’s the opposite. If no one is taking pictures, that’s a bad thing!

Photos by Dorothy Hong

I remember seeing Dave Chappelle live at Rutgers University and he stopped the show because someone was filming it and it seemed totally normal.
With Dave, with comedy, it’s a little different. With comedians, you’re testing new material in the clubs and colleges. With me, I’m performing pre-recorded music. It doesn’t make sense for me to protect footage. For comedians, if their set gets on YouTube, no one is going to pay to see it.

What do you eat, drink, consume while on tour across country – how do you relax?
I do what I love for a living, so making hip-hop music is relaxing for me. And I try to eat as best as I can. Right now as we’re talking, my fruit, oatmeal and egg whites came. But I might have some fatty fried food later on. I have the same vices as most Americans: caffeine, sugar, pot, alcohol, tobacco.

Do you like sativa or indica?
I’m not a weed scientist – I don’t know the difference between a sleepy high and driving high.

Did you do anything over the political weekend?

I ended up participating in a couple of marches. I was staying in downtown L.A. so it was convenient for me to walk. There was an immigrants rights march on the 19th and, of course, the Women’s March. I did a free anti-Trump concert in Orange County. That was cool. But my life didn’t start or start with Donald Trump.

Photos by Dorothy Hong

You live in New York, right? What’s the vibe there – it seems if any city can withstand the new president, it’s New York.
I might not be the best person to ask because I travel so often. But New York didn’t vote for Trump. Trump lost here by a wide margin. The city can withstand a lot of stuff.

Any plans for upcoming new music?
All the time. I drop projects every couple of months. And at the end of this tour, I’ll be dropping a new record.

Last week we ran an interview with Sir Mix-A-Lot about the 25th Anniversary of “Baby Got Back.” Just for fun, do you have any thoughts on the significance of that song?

I’m glad you told me! I’m performing in Seattle tonight and I plan on bringing Mix on stage. I didn’t know it was the 25th anniversary. I’m more of a “Posse on Broadway” kind of guy – but when “Baby Got Back” came out, that was hugely popular. To be a black person in American, right now in 2017 the big ass is something that’s revered in our culture from the Kardashians on down, fake ass cheeks, implants. But when that song came out, it was revolutionary even though it was rude and crude. It celebrated black women’s asses. Sure it’s a booty poppin’ record and fun in the club, it has that great bass line. But for him to say, “Oh my god…” and imitate a white girl up front. Popular music didn’t deal with race at all. So to deal with it in a playful way, it crushed and smashed a stereotype.

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Catchy Kazoo Songs Will Ruin You Forever

Sam Jones
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Catchy Kazoo Songs Will Ruin You Forever

We are lovers of music. We’ll hook you up with a sexy playlist when we’re not busy unearthing Vine artists and treasure troves of musical memorabilia. But this is not music. This is… something else entirely.

This is one man using way too many kazoos to make the world a weirder place. Roll your blunts because shit’s about to get ridiculously extra.

Youtuber EricsWurld has only posted three videos to his channel total, all within the last two weeks, but it only took that many tries to hit his creative peak. He plays the song “Yakety Sax” on his kazoo in a loop, layering it over and over in this video that’s maddening if you watch it to the end.

We tried to count the number of kazoos involved in this stunt, but lost track around six. There are somewhere between seven and 30 kazoos involved in the making of this video, plus various instruments: Chimes, bells, rattles, a guitar, cowbell, xylophone, a piano, a giant drum, smaller drums, a triangle, and finally a large gong that signals the final round.

The entire compilation is like something from a kooky warped cartoon about a dystopian world where only madmen with the most kazoos reign. The video description asks, “Ever wonder what Hell sounds like?” Well, not really, but now we know it sounds like this.

8 Ideas For The Perfect Solo Valentine’s Day Self-Love Fest

TFT Editors
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8 Ideas For The Perfect Solo Valentine’s Day Self-Love Fest

Valentine’s Day is closing in, and for those without a date, the pressure is on to find a cuddle-buddy for the weekend. What if you turn the day into an excuse to love the hell out of yourself instead?

As the famous poet RuPaul once said, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” Try these ideas for making the most of the day, no matter your relationship status.

Get Outta Town


via GIPHY
Escape this ridiculous holiday altogether by booking a super-affordable escape. Solo traveling is freeing, and there’s still time left to book a flight to one of our top destinations.

Pair It With Your Favorite Infused Cocktail

Be your own bartender with our guide to cocktails and drinks, many of which are marijuana-infused for that extra-chill buzz.

Take A Pole Class

Think you can’t get a workout and feel like a time goddess at the same time? Welcome to pole class. A drop-in sesh lets you dip a toe in before deciding if it’s right for you.

Make An Amazing Dinner For One


via GIPHY
Most relationships are just two people asking what the other wants to eat until they die. Single people skip this torture, and can make a dinner for one without consulting any-damn-body about what they’re in the mood for. Try a sexy carbonara and this healthy winter salad.

Flex In Hot Yoga

Get hot and steamy, no partner necessary. Take a hot yoga class to sweat away the February chill and connect to your self at the same time. Admit it, walking around in a sleeping bag with sleeves for the last three months has made you forget how wonderful your own body is.

Cozy Up At Home


via GIPHY
Ignore the saccharine seriousness of the holiday with a queue of Netflix comedy. The world outside can wait.

Reflect On Resolutions

You said you’d take better care of yourself this year, but what does that really look like? Take the day to think about your goals.

Indulge In A Decadent Dessert


via GIPHY
Boxes of chocolate are so overrated. Get yourself to one of these amazing ice cream spots, make a “baked” banana bread from scratch, or make cannabis truffles. And don’t share a single bite of it.

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