Author: alanberndt

Posted on by alanberndt

Ah, bourbon. That wonderful, amber-colored liquid that swirls so nicely in the glass. Ready to bring warmth and stress-relief with every sip.

We love bourbon. That’s why we offer some of the best labels available. We proudly serve Uncle Nearest and WhistlePig as well as Angels Envy, Basil Haden, Mitchers, Larceny, Elijah Craig, Makers Mark, Knob Creek, Trailblazers, and others.

In addition to those brands, we’re excited to share the newest offering at K-9 and Coffee Lounge: our own infused bourbon that we call Bullet. Using a combination of walnut, pecan, coffee bean, and vanilla bean, we have created a one-of-a-kind bourbon that we know you’ll love. Aged in oak-charred barrels for 2 months, the resulting flavor is rich and smooth.

We can’t wait to share this special drink with you! To celebrate our signature infused bourbon, we formed an exclusive club specifically for those with discerning tastes. Members get special deals available only to them starting with 10% off all drinks (excluding top shelf). When you join our bourbon club, you’ll also get your own 2-liter barrel, a decanter, and a nosing glass which is designed to enhance the aroma and boost your overall experience.

If you’re interested in joining the Bourbon Club, start by tasting our special bourbon. Stop in Tuesday through Sunday, 3:00 – 8:00 and order a glass. We’re sure you’ll enjoy it as much as we do. If so, ask the server how you can become a member of this elite group known as the K-9 Bourbon Club.

Posted on by alanberndt

It’s the greatest American story you’ve never heard.

Nearest Green was the first known African American Master Distiller. He used the same elements of earth, fire, and water as others, but he added his heart and soul to create a spirit. His special way of filtering water through charcoal made from sugar maple trees created the signature smoothness. It’s now known as the Lincoln County process, named for the area where Nearest Green developed it.

Born in Maryland in 1820, Nearest was a slave on a farm near Lynchburg, Tennessee that was owned by a preacher who was also a distiller. The preacher put Nearest in charge of that operation. He perfected his technique and by the mid-1880s, he had a reputation for making the smoothest whiskey anyone had ever tasted. Folks called him Uncle Nearest.

During this time, a white boy worked on the farm, too, and the preacher instructed Nearest to teach the boy all he knew about making whiskey. Among other things, Uncle Nearest taught the boy that the difference between Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey was how it was filtered. The boy learned quickly.

uncle nearest whiskey

The boy became a young man and started selling the whiskey to soldiers during the Civil War. He eventually partnered with the preacher, finally purchasing his distillery. In a move that was highly unusual, he asked Nearest, a free man at this time, to be his master distiller. Nearest held that role for years, eventually retiring, but his sons continued to work for the person he taught to make his unique whiskey. The man’s real name was Jasper Newton but his friends called him Jack. The world knows him as Jack Daniel.

Even though the locals knew that Nearest Green was the man behind the whiskey, his story remained untold until 2016 when author Fawn Weaver read a story in the New York Times about how Jack Daniels whiskey was made with a secret ingredient from a slave.

This inspired Weaver’s quest to uncover the story of the Black man who created one of the world’s most famous brands of whiskey. While talking to his descendants, she decided it was important to tell the world about Nearest Green and put his name on the bottle. She wanted to give credit to the godfather of Tennessee whiskey. In 2019, she founded Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and opened a distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee. One of Nearest’s descendants, Victoria Eady-Butler, is the master blender.

Uncle Nearest and his special process of making whiskey are no longer a secret. It is the most awarded new American premium whiskey brand in United States history, garnering 75 awards since its July 2017 debut including being one of two brands named “World’s Best” at Whisky Magazine’s 2019 World Whiskies Awards and earning 15 Best in Class. Cigar & Spirits Magazine also named Uncle Nearest one of the “Top 5 Whiskies in the World.” It’s the most-awarded bourbon and American Whiskey of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Uncle Nearest. It’s more than whiskey. It’s more than a brand. It’s a movement. Taste it for yourself.

Posted on by alanberndt

We want all of our customers to have a good time, relax and enjoy their favorite beverage. While many people know something about how wine and beer are made, there is a little mystery surrounding one of our most beloved drinks – bourbon – so check out these fast facts:

  1. To be called bourbon, it has to be made in America. 95% of the world’s bourbon comes from Kentucky. One of the rules is that the majority of the grain ingredients need to be corn. (Distillers have different recipes, but the corn has to make up at least 51%.) And very important: a brand new barrel has to be used every time bourbon is aged. Crazy, right? One time use!
  2. Kentucky is where most bourbon is made because the climate is ideal for aging: it has hot summers and cold winters. Also, Kentucky has limestone water which contains no iron. (Bourbon turns black if there is iron in the water and nobody wants iron in bourbon.)
  3. Bourbon picks up the color and flavor of the barrel. In the heat of those sweltering Kentucky summers, the barrel expands and the liquid gets pushed into the wood. When the temperature gets cold, the barrel contracts and that moves the liquid out. These interactions with the wood sweeten the bourbon, giving it 75% of its great flavor as well as a wonderful aroma. Ah – I can smell it now!
  4. Like many wines, bourbon gets better with age. It moves in and out of the wood barrel each season. During that aging process, some volume is lost to evaporation but that’s OK: the remainder is more concentrated, and that’s a good thing! That’s how you get the woody, sweet flavor of really good bourbon.
  5. Bourbon is an acquired taste. The first time you try it, we recommend that you cut it with water or ice. When you’re ready, try it neat. (That means without any water or ice – order it that way and you’ll seem very sophisticated and impress your friends!)The best way to find out which bourbon you prefer is by ordering a flight. This side-by-side tasting of 4 different brands lets you make immediate comparisons. (Have a pretzel or cracker in between sips!)
  6. The bourbons we serve and like best are Uncle Nearest, WhistlePig, I.W. Harper, and Old Elk. Come in and order a flight! You’ll discover your new favorite in no time.
Posted on by alanberndt

Bourbon has long been a drink associated with men. Singer Frank Sinatra loved it so much that he was buried with a bottle of it. Clark Gable, a very classy Hollywood movie star, was one of the first celebrities to endorse Jim Beam. Winston Churchill certainly enjoyed whiskey, saying it gave him the energy to govern. Mark Twain offered these words of wisdom about it: “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.”

Television and movies have shown men drinking bourbon in smoke-filled bars. There are many scenes where wealthy, high-powered men gather in dark, wood-paneled studies with leather furniture, pouring bourbon from a decanter on the sideboard.

Frank Reagan in Blue Bloods is often shown with a glass of bourbon at the end of a long day as the police commissioner. Mad Men’s Don Draper always orders an Old Fashioned when he is entertaining clients or pondering a difficult problem.

On the other hand, Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City is famously known for drinking Cosmopolitans. Penny on The Big Bang Theory loves wine. So do Tami Taylor of Friday Night Lights, Olivia Pope on Scandal, and Jen Hardy on Dead to Me.

But does that tell the whole story? We think not. With a little research, we found that Margaret Thatcher, Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Hillary Clinton, Halle Berry, and even the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton all claim to enjoy whiskey on a regular basis. Lady Gaga even credits Jameson with inspiring some of her songs.

In the real world (where those of us who are not famous live), there are many women who drink bourbon, even if their numbers are smaller than the wine moms who are often portrayed onscreen.

In fact, there is a nationwide organization for females who enjoy bourbon. Appropriately enough, it is called Bourbon Women. Various chapters hold “Meet and Neat” events throughout the country. Their website, www.bourbonwomen.org, says that their group is “THE organization for women who are passionate about Bourbon culture, women and the promise of adventure when the two are combined.” That sounds interesting!

Maybe the myth that bourbon is a man’s drink is part of the reason many women have not experienced the pleasure of the sweet, sometimes smoky, oak and caramel drink. Or maybe they aren’t familiar with the different brands and are not sure what to order. If that’s the case, here’s our recommendation: Be bold! Visit us at K-9 and Coffee Lounge and order a flight. We’ll serve up a sample of four different bourbons, each with a unique flavor profile. Take a sip of each, savoring every drop. We’re confident you’ll soon discover a favorite.

At K-9 and Coffee Lounge, we proudly serve WhistlePig Boss Hog bourbon. Our friends at WhistlePig in Vermont commit to 5 promises for every release: “it will be single barrel, bottled at proof, powerfully complex, distinctly unique from anything we have created before, and it will be stupendous.” Be sure to try Boss Hog Siren’s Song the next time you stop in.

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