Last minute local gift ideas for the partiers on your list

You’ve waited until the last minute, and now Christmas Eve is here. This gift guide will satisfy the Sip + Play aficionado on your Christmas lists. Best of all, you can buy most of these gifts online!

For the Vodka Lover, $10
Charlotte’s first distillery opened in November. Doc Porter is a Charlotte-owned family business promising grain to glass vodka. Treat your vodka lover to a tour of the new distillery in Southend. Wait, there’s more! There’s a GroupOn for a limited time! Read more about Doc Porter's on Charlotte Five.

For the Music Lover, $49 and up
Rachelle Ferrell hasn’t performed in Charlotte in at least a decade so jazz fans are super-excited about her May show. Treat your music fan to tickets to see this incredible vocalist on May 13 at Knight Theater.

 

For the BBQ Lover, $35
The Improper Pig is hosting the Improper Pairing dinner in January. The dinner features cocktails by Muddy River Distillery and beer by Bird Song Brewing. It’s four drinks and four courses. $35

For the Beer Lover, $45
Charlotte has a plethora of beer festivals each year, but only the Queen City Brewers Festival specializes in Charlotte area breweries. There are some great beers and even better pairings of beers with donuts. The festival also features live music. Next year’s will be held at the Fillmore.






Traveler's Companion
Flasks are like socks. You can never have too many. The portable shot glass key chain makes using a flask even easier. Stop by Cltch boutique on Central Avenue for their selections of flasks and portable shot glasses. Flask ($29), Shot glass ($18)

For the Bourbon Lover, $45
I love Bulleit Bourbon, especially the Bulleit Rye. This year, treat your bourbon lover to a bottle of Bulleit 10 year. Here's a recipe to go with that new bottle.

Bulleit Hot Toddy
1.25 oz. Bulleit Bourbon
1 tsp. Fine Grain Sugar
2 Small Cloves
1.5 oz. Boiling Water
Glass: Coffee Mug. Add Bulleit Bourbon, fine grain sugar, and cloves in a mug. Add boiling water. Stir.

Holla: sipandplayclt@gmail.com

Creative infusions at beer fest: donuts, s'mores...

This year, I had a strategy for the Queen City Brewers Festival at Bojangles. I'm training for an obstacle course race. My goal Saturday was to only sample beers I thought I would like or beers that would be good beers for non-beer drinkers. The festival was geared toward straight-up beer drinkers. No sippy-cup beers were on tap.

There were plenty of wonderful beers. Apparently, I missed the popular Natty Greene's raspberry breakfast, coffee-infused stout, paired with a raspberry glazed donut with a chocolate ganache drizzle by Your Mom's Donuts in Matthews. Uggh!!! (Or maybe not uggh since I'm training.)

A variety of stouts and ryes were en vogue this year, but the biggest trend seemed to be infusing beer with everything from marshmallows to pineapple to coffee beans using a Randall or Custom Home Pub-style - a water infuser. Also, see my Twitter feed. There was a beer inspired by a gospel album.

 



Holla: sipandplayclt@gmail.com