A Gentleman's Shaving and Shaping Setup

 

Some new, some tried and trusted, these are currently the products that help me to accomplish the mug you see above.  So from the left to the right, the first produce would be Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood Shave soap.  This stuff has a wonderful scent and a nice slick, full, thick lather, my wife bought it for me as a gift (love that woman).  Next is my new aftershave that came in my #wetshaveclub box it's called pirates bay by Beaver WoodWright, I believe it to be their take on a bay rum scent; this product comes in a nice soothing lotion.  Then there is my cedar wood beard oil from Ladyburg (also a gift from my wife) which I use for conditioning before bed and pre-wax mustache conditioning.  The razor is also a new addition from the wetshaveclub, I have made the switch from cartridge razor to safety razor at long last, I tried the straight razor, but it was too much work to keep it sharp.  The mustache scissors are unbranded, inherited from my father.  The shaving brush was lathe turned by a good friend from cocobolo and the beard brush and mustache wax as well as a dry beard conditioner all came from canyouhandlebar.com a great cite whose products I whole heartedly recommend.  The brush and conditioner are terrific at holding down those stray hairs and the wax is how I get that nice shaping strength on the mustache!  These three products really brought my facial hair to the next level.  May go into further detail on the individual pieces or new additions at a later date, but that's all for now!  Thanks for reading!

Ursa Major Face Wash

This is a fantastic face wash, it smells amazing, a soothing fusion of cedar, lavender, and lemon give it the aroma of pure nature!  This stuff is one of the best face washes if not the best face wash I've ever used.  It leaves my face feeling smooth and clean, my only recommendation is the use of a good face moisturizer after washing, but that is normal since most soaps dry out the skin even further if they are doing their job.  It also does a great job of lightly exfoliating the skin and it is all natural.  Awesome stuff 5 out of 5 stars.  I have kept this as a regular item in my bathroom and plan on getting more when I run out.

A slight change of direction...

I've decided to rebrand this blog and change directions a bit with it.  I originally intended to do mostly alcohol and tobacco and the occasional food or restaurant.  I simply never got around to really utilizing this space.  Instead of focusing on the "enjoyment of finer things" I think I'm going to start including all experiences and products that I find contribute to the life of a Gentleman of the fine state of Virginia.  I have taken a hiatus from alcohol and somewhat from tobacco as well, this tends to happen when one joins with another in holy matrimony, so I will probably be focused much less on these things than I had intended upon conception of this page.  Instead I will soon be doing some reviews of various gentleman's grooming products that I have found useful and enjoyable. So check back for all sorts of writings on the various things that contribute to the enjoyment of the everyday life of a Virginia Gentleman!

Fonseca Porto Tawny 10 Year

Every once in a while you drink something that transports you directly back to a bygone moment in your life... Fonseca's 10 year tawny, for me brings me back to the city of Cordoba in España! I can remember the tapas and the cool breeze that evening as we traversed the plaza in search of a wine festival we had heard about. We encountered others who were headed there as well, including what we referred to as a "real Spanish hombre" in his tight collared shirt and his white pants and leather shoes. Anyways I digress, see, this is what this wine has done to me, just one sip and I'm instantly back at that wine festival, drinking those sweet, deep, syrupy wines while periodically taking a break for some gaspacho. This wine is fantastic, deep and rich with hints of maple, dried fruit and oak! Get the guys together, light up a fine cigar and pour a round of porto! Now imagine yourself on the coast of portugal after a fine meal of fresh fish, sipping porto and looking over the atlantic! Yes, this is real life!

Demented Brews to date!

So this is a breakdown of the brews to date that have come out of my very own personal brewery, "Demented Brews" which I hope may one day go commercial, although right now it is just for the casual enjoyment of me and my close friends. So far I take a fairly freestyle approach to brewing, I know fairly little about the science, but I go on impulse and enough knowledge to get by, hence the name, "Demented Brews".

Honey Ale: My very first brew creation, a sweet honey ale with a fairly strong malty taste. I do not check the gravity of my beers so the ABV is unknown, but this one was pretty strong with a double serving of yeast, malt, and honey. I give this beer a five out of ten based on my own feelings and feedback from friends.

Cinnamon Stout: A very basic stout made from a simple australian extract recipe, however with one demented addition... you guessed it cinnamon. This beer was made as a thick and concentrated heavy stout to match the tastes of a local legend from our cigar shop in town. Eight out of ten, a pretty freaking good beer, if your into this kind of thing.

Virginia Spring Pilsner: A moderately hopped pilsner brewed with fresh Virginia mountain spring water. This one is a personal favorite, I'd love to someday try and recreate with ingredients all originating in the great state of Virginia. Another fine brew with a seven out of ten rating, it was just a bit more hoppy than what I was aiming for, but still mighty fine.

Oak Stout: Another stout, made from the same recipe as the cinnamon stout, but with bourbon soaked oak chips instead of cinnamon thrown into the mash. I give this one a seven out of ten because I would have liked the oak a bit more forward, but it was still yummy.

Demented Apple Wine: My first cider, made with pure apple juice, no concentrates, cinnamon, honey, and heavily oaked bourbon. It came out somewhat like an apple champagne sort of drink with a sweet cinnamon finish. I give this one a six out of ten because it could have been a bit dryer for my tastes and I'm just not sure that the flavors came together the way I imagined. I recommend a drink I call "Granny's Fairy Friend", a mix of this with a shot of absinthe to tone down the sweetness, make sure it's ice cold.

Light Cocoa Porter- This one was my first all grain attempt and something went wrong at the mashing stage, I just didn't get enough fermentable sugar and malt in this one, it was no good and I'm in the process of disposing of the rest of it. This one was a learning experience with a final score of 3 out of ten only because it was still drinkable and the flavor had potential had it not been watered down.

The Virginia Creeper- A beer inspired by the steam locamotive with a style that originated right here in the USA, although the style is dominated by a brewery in CA, that can't stop the demented brew house from giving it a go. It was just bottled so there will be more info to come on this one.

Hopefully soon, I'll have time to review some non in-house drinks and maybe some eatables as well! I should even have some recipes, so please check back often.