Articles by GCurtis

If you go into any liquor store in the country, right now, you will find Jim Beam. It is, in many ways, an introductory whisky. As a bourbon, it has a bold flavor profile and can be a little bit intimidating for some palettes, but the fact that it can be found, affordably, at nearly any place where liquor is sold, makes it one of the classics. Here, I’ll briefly cover the history of the brand and the product. From there, I’ll offer some of my ideas in terms of tasting notes as well as the...

In mid-July 2021, unrest began in the streets of most Cuban cities. As a political scientist living in Miami, I’m waiting with bated breath to see what happens. In the meantime, this can be a learning moment for us all. In this piece, I’ll try my best to explain what’s going on in Cuba as of this moment. To do so, I’ll walk through a brief history that gives you some context, as well as explaining the importance of Cuban to Americans. Once that’s done, I’ll briefly cover the events as best...

Thankfully, the world is going back to normal in a lot of places. For some folks, that means a long-awaited return to the office. As someone who likes to cook, this poses another challenge to me. Without a full kitchen and dishwasher, can I keep up with my enjoyment of healthy lunches? There’s going to be some desire, I’m sure, to go back to fast-food or uninspired lunches that we all remember from the days when office work was the norm for most of us. But, I think we can do better. So...

Most days, you can do what you want: work, relax, spend time with family. But, from time to time, days get sideways quickly. In my short life, I’ve experienced blizzards, fires, hurricanes, car accidents, tornados, and extreme heat events. All of those have convinced me that being smart and prepared can get you out of trouble with less pain and suffering than you’ve otherwise endured. In this piece, I’ll offer you ten tips that have helped me get through sticky situations, as well as the...

Today, I’m here with the third entry in our whisky review series. This time, I’m looking at Four Roses Bourbon. If you’re following along in the series, you know the drill. For the new people, I start with a brief history of the whisky so we have a better idea of where it’s coming from. Then, I give you my tasting notes on the drink. To round things out, I make some suggestions on how I would choose to drink it, but, as always, remember that the key to whisky, is to drink what you like, how...

During the course of a normal life, you’re likely going to face something that needs to be fixed or upgraded in some way. More commonly, that means calling someone to fix the problem you’re currently facing. And, as someone who has spent a good bit of his life in the construction field, I think most people should have a fair sense of their skills, and when they’re out of their depth, call a professional. With that caveat said, I want to offer you ten tools that I think will make you more...

It’s finally summer, and with the world going more slightly towards normal, it’s becoming more possible to travel again. Here, I want to offer you ten places I think make great summer destinations, especially for long weekend trips. This list is going to be a personal one, as I’m only going to list places I’ve been and liked: with each of them I’ll offer a general overview, as well as a specific recommendation to help you get the most of out of your summer travel from the perspective of...

Today, I’m here with our second whisky review, this time looking at Grant's Cask Editions Blended Scotch. Last time, I took a look at Maker’s Mark, an American Bourbon. The world of whisky is a wide one, however, and we’re immediately jumping across the pond to Scotland. While I don’t plan to stick to any one kind of whisky in these- in fact, I plan to try as many as possible- I do plan on sticking to whiskies that are accessible in terms of both availability and price. My philosophy is...

Over the last two decades, I’ve been to over a dozen countries and a good few states, traveling by car, plane, foot, and train. In those travels, I’ve noticed that there seem to be some things that are constants, especially unpredictability. No matter how well you plan or prepare, there will likely be a situation that you just couldn’t predict that can make your day a little bit harder. Here, I want to share with you ten things that I keep with me whenever I travel to help offset that...

I’m excited for this one: we’re starting what we aim to be a series of whisky reviews. In each of them, I’ll start with a very brief history of the subject of the review. Then, I’ll get right into it and offer you my opinions on the taste of the whisky: this is going to be subjective, but that’s the name of the game when it comes to reviewing whisky. Finally, I’ll offer my thoughts on the best way to enjoy that particular whisky. Without further adieu, let’s get right to it. Maker’s Mark is...

Over my lifetime, I’ve learned to love to cook. Some of my best memories come from the kitchen: cooking breakfast with grandma before anyone else was up, making dinner with a partner on a romantic evening, or just relaxing after a long day. Here, I want to share ten things that have made me a better home cook. I’m not a chef, so my advice should be taken with a pinch of salt, but I hope you can learn something from one of my favorite tips, tricks, and tools.

I don’t know about you, but in my neck of the woods it’s starting to get seriously hot. And, now with the world going back to something like normal, weddings, parties, and casual drinks with friends are starting to become possible again. When we’re out and about, sweat stains are not the look we’re going for. One way to cut down on the sweat and up the style factor on your summer outfits, one easy way to do is to experiment with new shirts. Here, I’ll recommend three that I think are not...

The United States Army is in the process of developing a new round that will replaced the 5.56mm NATO in use for most soldiers. In doing so, they’re also asking for new rifles and machine guns to replace the M4 and the M249. This represents a fairly dramatic shakeup in modern infantry combat, and there will be interesting developments that come from this. Here, I’m going to give you the highlights of the story so far, and some of my thoughts on where it might be heading next. These are...

One of the more controversial military development projects of the recent past is the F35, Lockheed Martin’s newest fighter aircraft. While the project has been ongoing since the 1980s, the F35 is still having some major teething problems, drawing criticism for the ever-growing costs of the program. Originally, the idea behind the F35 came out of the 1980s, when several NATO countries came together to seek a Joint Strike Fighter or JSF. The JSF program sought, ideally, to make a single...

Relationships are the foundation of our lives. Whether it’s work, family, romance or the building of community, it’s all about relationships between human beings. They’re also one of the trickier parts about being a human, and doing them better is one of the ways that we can improve ourselves and the relationships that matter to us. Here, I want to offer my thoughts on some ways that men can improve their relationships. Not all of this will be about others; in fact, most of these are things...

For most men, there has not been a great deal of change in our dress shoes for decades. If you work in an office job, go to the occasional wedding, or even just have them stashed in a closet, the standards are black or brown lace-up oxfords. But, with the weather getting warmer and different contexts for formal events coming up, now is a good time to re-evaluate those old standbys. Here, I want to talk about expanding your repertoire of summer dress shoes to give your look a more...

With the weather getting warmer, it’s about time to change up the menu for your home cooking, which a lot of folks have gotten into for the past year. Here, I want to go over ten of my favorite summer meals. Instead of offering in-depth recipes for each, I’ll give the idea, a description of what I do, and then let you take care of portions and seasoning for your own needs and tastes. Much of my cooking is for one or two, so general proportions will make a lot more sense than trying to make...

For much of the past century, hats have fallen out of style in menswear: long gone are the days where men wore a hat with every outfit, taking it off when they entered a building as a matter of course. Now, they’ve become something more niche in fashion. More recently, a lot of men have shied away from hats; the idea of the less than flattering fedora with a t-shirt look from about a decade ago have turned a lot of us off from headwear. But, I don’t think it has to be this way. Here, I want...

The days are getting longer and hotter: that must mean it’s summer. With the change in season comes a change in palates, and a key element to any menu is the drinks. Today, we’re going to cover ten of the drinks that we think go great with this summer. Most of these will be cocktails, which we source from Mitte Hellmich’s excellent work The Ultimate Bar Book. But, not every occasion calls for a drink, so we certainly have some awesome non-alcoholic options as well to keep you refreshed even...

Considering you’ve read the title and you’re still here, I imagine that you are open to change in terms of style. That’s good because the first thing I’m going to do is ask you to, for a moment, suspend your skepticism of sandals. For some time now, sandals have been really frowned upon in men’s fashion circles, and not without good reason: a lot of us have bad memories (or pictures) of white socks with black nylon sandals and jeans. Mistakes were made. We know this, and we can move on...