Beer O'Clock: Florida Stole My Parents

My parents never took me to Florida. As a kid, I think that would have been a great vacation but today, you couldn't pay me to go. And though I've been to that messed-up state a couple of times as an adult, my parents have never gone.

I have such distain for Florida, these days, that I almost passed on this quirky-labelled can when I saw it on the shelf of my friendly neighbourhood LCBO. But my eyes also fell to the large-printed OJIPA and I had to look closer. Was this an orange-juice-infused IPA?

The ingredients list says different: barley, wheat, and oats. But surely, there must be more to the contents? I mean, what about water, to start? Elsewhere on the label, I learned that this strong beer is also brewed with Comet and Eclipse hops, and is a "fresh squeezed delight."

Did they simply not list all of the ingredients?

I also learned that this ale is made by a brewery that I like, so I grabbed two cans and made my way to the cashier. At home, I'd determine if orange juice is included in the can.

Florida Stole My Parents (6.5% ABV)
Refined Fool Brewing Company
Sarnia, ON

Appearance: pours a hazy, deep orange (almost matches the label) with plenty of sediment and an off-white head that comes out thick and remains a solid, foamy cap.

Nose: more of lemon-lime citrus than oranges and slightly dank.

Palate: bitter orange and pineapple. The hops are there but aren't overpowering and blend well with the fruit. The alcohol is noticeable on the medium-length finish but again, is not overpowering.

Overall impression: it's a solid, full-bodied ale with the right balance of bitterness and fruit. There's not much that can be compared to a traditional IPA and I can't even say with any confidence that there's any orange juice added. The name confounds me.

It is a good beer, though. Worth trying, and I'd have one any time it was offered. But there are so many hazy, fruity ales out there that I find there's nothing that would urge me to buy this one over one that I truly love.

If you like hazy, fruity, and hoppy ales, this OJIPA is worth trying.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺

Cheers!

Light Trails from 1986

Back on the Juice

I'm starting to believe that, yeah, caffeine is addictive.

Almost a year ago, I swore off my favourite hot beverage because I felt that the ill after-effects of drinking it weren't worth it. I had developed a racing heart rate and started feeling exhausted after as little as two cups.

So I went for many months in 2023 without touching coffee. DW, who is equally addicted to the stuff, continued to drink it at home and whenever we went for brunch, while I moved onto tea, something I used to drink at home, as a youngster, before I discovered the wonders of the roasted bean (I was about 13 when I had my first cup at a greasy spoon, just down the road from my high school).

Last September, when DW and I were visiting Toronto, we ducked into a coffee shop in Cabbagetown, delightfully called Jet Fuel. The aromas were intoxicating so I caved, ordering an espresso. I hoped that the small cup, which is generally lower in caffeine because of the preparation process, would have little effect on me.

I was right.

Where past cups of coffee would have my heart pounding against my chest in minutes, this espresso did nothing for my heart rate. I had no jittery reaction and didn't feel as though my day was done, that I needed to lie down.

Victory.

I still kept my consumption of coffee to a minimum but when I craved the flavour, I'd make myself a small espresso at home, would occasionally order one to finish a meal when we dined out.

When DW and I visited Costa Rica, a few weeks ago, I knew I'd be tempted to have a full cup of coffee. How can you not in a coffee-growing country? But I paced myself: I didn't have a cup every day and would limit myself to only one small cup at a time. I wrote about my experience here.

Naturally, DW and I wanted to bring some coffee beans home, and we bought as much as our carry-on luggage could fit (though, we gave half of it away as gifts to friends). And as much as I was interested in having the coffee in our house, I knew that my consumption would be at a minimum. Or so I thought.

In the past couple of weeks that we've been home, DW has started each morning by making a small pot of coffee from the production facility/restaurant that we visited in Santa Maria de Dota. And the smell was so tempting that on the second day that she made a pot, I asked her to make enough so that I could have a cup, as well.

I used my mug that I used to keep at the office, but now that I worked from home and wasn't drinking coffee, had gathered dust at the back of our cupboard. I expected that this cup would get my heart racing but even an hour after consuming it, I felt fine.

Not wanting to push my luck, I waited a couple of days before having another cup. And again, I was fine after drinking it.

I now have a cup almost every day. I'm wondering, is it the type of bean or the roast? Has whatever caused this reaction (which only developed a couple of years ago, only to peak last April) run its course?

Time will tell. When we've used up the current bag, we have another bag from another company in that region. I'll see when we start making coffee with it. And after that, we'll see what happens when we return to buying beans that are sold locally.

It was really hard to give up my favourite hot beverage and it's with caution that I return to drinking it. Perhaps the magic number of cups is just one per day, though that wasn't the case when I gave it up. As I said, time will tell.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy every sip.

Feeling Old

In just over a week, I'll be starting my final year of being in my 50s. Yet, these days, I feel much older.

It's hard to believe that less than two years ago, DW and I were walking all over Portugal, climbing the stairs and steep streets of Porto and Lisbon, and hiking over a small mountain in the Douro Valley. We'd be tired at the end of the day but felt ready to do it all over again the next day.

In 2021, I was in better shape.

In 2022, I was on my spin bike almost every day and when I wasn't riding it, I'd be on my road bike, covering even more kilometres. So, yeah, I was pretty fit and feeling good.

On our most recent trip, I was winded just climbing a single set of stairs. Hiking through cloud forests and through jungles, I was constantly out of breath, required many breaks, and was out of energy by lunchtime.

Thankfully, we often had days in between our mountain treks, where we'd either be driving to our next destination—in which case, I was sitting behind the driver's seat—or we'd relax on a beach.

But our last excursions got me thinking: I'm out of shape and it's important that I change that situation. As I head toward my 60s, it's even more important that I take care of myself.

I slowed down on spinning and cycling, last summer, because I had appendicitis and needed to address that issue. Because it was a complicated issue, it wasn't the standard removal operation and the month-long recovery.

When DW and I decided to renovate our second floor and replace our carpeting with hardwood floors, my spin bike, which occupies a corner of our bedroom, became surrounded by the furniture of other rooms while we laid down the hardwood in those rooms. And when we did our own room, things got rearranged and my spin bike was never accessible.

With the flooring finished, my spin bike is back in its spot and I thought that there was no excuse not to use it. Except, we discovered, that the bike could leave marks on the wood and we didn't want to ruin our new floor. Plus, DW didn't want me sweating onto the hardwood.

Excuses, I know.

But returning from Costa Rica, I knew that I had to get myself back into shape. Since we've been home, I've felt joints stiffen and I get tired walking up the stairs. Less than a week after being back, I hurt my left hip and experienced acute pain just climbing up a single stair.

I've been doing some stretching and strength-building exercises, and my hip hurts a lot less. I've decided that getting back on the spin bike is the best way to get me back to where I was before my appendix knocked me down. But I still had the issue of how to protect the floor to solve.

Yesterday, DW made me go with her to IKEA. I hate shopping in that monstrous, labyrinthine store. It's crowded, everybody has to navigate the same aisles to get anywhere, and it always takes us longer to get out than we expect.

But DW had a purpose, knew exactly what she wanted, and said we could go straight to the warehouse section to pick things up. She needed me because she feared some items would be too heavy for one person to lift.

She was right.

We got what she needed and we were through the checkout in no time. But when we were approaching the elevator to get our items to the main floor and out to the car, I saw someone carrying one of those thick, plastic sheets that you place under an office chair to protect a floor, and it was if a light came on.

I pointed to the person and to DW, said, "I can use one of those protectors for the spin bike. I'll take our cart to the car and load it up: you run back and grab one."

It's in place and fits well. Enough coverage, not only to protect the floor from the bottom of the bike but lots of coverage to catch anything that drips from my during a workout.

My return to the spin bike starts today, after work. I'm not going to sign up for a Conqueror virtual challenge but I'm going to turn on the television in our room and watch a one-hour show while I work out. I imagine it'll go slow, at first, as I get used to working out again.

But I'm determined to be in shape that, come spring, when the roads are clear, I'll be able to ride like I used to. And I only have one more year in my 50s. I don't want to hit 60 and feel like I'm 90.

Wish me luck.

Best Sunsets

There are lots of things that I will hold in my memories of Costa Rica: the landscapes, the people, the food, and the fact that you can't flush toilet paper.

But one of the things that really comes to mind are the gorgeous sunsets that we witnessed.

There are only a couple of times when DW and I didn't actually witness a sunset: our first two evenings, in La Fortuna, when the clouds covered Arenal Volcano and blocked out most of the sky; and our first night in Monteverde, when we were in the woods, participating, in a night tour. Every other evening in the full two weeks that we travelled the country, we saw a Costa Rican sunset.

And they were spectacular, even when we were witnessing one from the pool area of our San José hotel.

But when I think of Costa Rican sunset, only four places feature prominently in my mind: Monteverde, on our second evening, when the clouds were moving over the mountains but were light enough to let the sun penetrate them; Playa Santa Teresa, on our first evening; Santa Dominicalito, on our first evening, as seen from a restaurant that faced slightly away from the actual sun and looking along the coastline; and Playa Santa Dominicalito, looking straight out to the Pacific Ocean.

I don't often share different photos for Photo Friday but these all capture one theme: the best Costa Rican sunsets.

This post ends my reflections of our vacation. Plans are already underway for our next trip. May we also get the chance to witness brilliant sunsets in that country.

Happy Friday!