La Casita Criolla Short Churchill and Shorts Brew Black Cherry Porter

The Porter

Short's Brew Black Cherry Porter

Brewed with Black Cherry Puree

Short’s Brewing Company

Elk Rapids, Michigan, USA

Shortsbrewing.com

7% abv

58 IBU’s

Made in October

I made some chili with this the other week.  The recipe called for water and to me that means a good tasty ale, porter or stout instead.   

Make sure to swirl the last couple of inches in the bottle to stir up the sediment.  I swirled that damn bottle till the cows came home and there still was sediment on the bottom of that darn bottle.  Swirling the bottle not only gets the sediment mixed in, but also helps to give it a little better head.

Appearance: pretty much a black body with brown, ever so slightly, around the edges.  The deep tan head looked like whipped mousse by the time I was done swirling that bottle so much.  Syrupy like legs drip on the glass with each sip.

Aroma: dark roasted coffee and dark bitter chocolate notes with of course dark cherries.

Flavors: a bit of a syrupy dark cherry taste that dominates the 90% like dark chocolate, dark roasted coffee.  The three different hops used in this Porter adds a nice bitter tone that helps to balance the five different malts.   

Mouthfeel: low carbonation, almost creamy and almost syrupy and almost stout like – no it is stout like, bitter note on the mid and late palate, long lingering sweet cherry and roasted grains,

My Strength Scale: 8.5 – full bodied porter

To the Point: I remember buying the six pack and trying the first bottle that night.  I was not too thrilled.  The black cherry, which can come across a little medicinal like, was too dominating for me.  I had my next bottle after have a meal and the palate was ready to handle a fuller bodied porter like this.  I felt this porter going on me.  This Porter is not for everyone.   

Have yourself a big steak dinner and then pour yourself a bottle of this Black Cherry Porter by Short’s Brewing and enjoy an after-dinner treat. 

The Cigar

La Casita Criolla Short Churchill

100% Connecticut Broadleaf Tobacco

An American Puro – Really

But, assembled in Nicaragua

Size: 6.5 x 48

Off the Light: a good woody quality dominates the start.  There seems to be a brown spicebox tone in the mix here at the start.  The cigar comes across medium bodied and for a few inches develops a med-full body mouthfeel.  The texture is leather like. 

As the cigar burn approaches the end of the first third there is a good medium roast coffee note and a hint of chocolate.  I think the smaller ring gauge stick that I smoked last night had a better chocolate like quality.  I don’t notice any spice at this point.

This cigar does hold a strong gray ash.  It is easy to get an inch or inch and a half ash on this smoke. 

                                  

Pairing: Time to introduce the Short’s Black Cherry Porter!  This full bodied Porter works well with this medium bodied cigar.  Both products have a good coffee and chocolate like quality.  The Porter is more of a 90% dark chocolate while the cigar is more of a semi-sweet chocolate.  The Porter has a dark roast coffee likeness and the cigar is more of a mild-medium roast coffee.  I think I like the black cherry taste from the Porter better while smoking this cigar. 

Being a dark chocolate lover and a coffee fanatic – this is a quality pairing.

Mid-Point: Pretty much like the mid part of the first third.  A tasty medium roast coffee and a hint of semi-sweet chocolate with a nice hardwood like note. 

Down the Stretch: The smoke is a little more robust in the final third.  Roasted grains, the coffee has been on the burner a little long, a touch of burnt hardwood and I don’t notice the chocolate at this point.

My Strength Rating: 5 – overall during this pairing.