Sip on This: DC Whiskey Walk

By: Mercy Chikowore and Nyasha Chikowore

Who knew our day would be full of “bitter-beer face”, taunts & jabs about who was babysitting their shot & wondering how we would make it through 8 sites to taste the wondrous spirit that is whiskey?  I guess that’s what happens when you endure a day-long ‘Whiskey Walk’ through the mean streets of DC!

1st Stop: James Hoban’s

Powers Gold Label

Our first shot of Powers was like a 5am alarm that you never set: startling and painful all at once. Apparently it’s the most popular whiskey sold in Ireland and we’re quite sure it’s called Powers for a reason. I never want to taste anything like this again and wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemies.

2nd Stop: Madhatter
Paddy Devil’s Apple
After a failed attempt at some fried chicken at a particular chicken & donuts establishment, hi GBD, we took whiskey shot #2 of the day and were pleasantly surprised. Paddy Devil’s Apple Cinnamon whiskey lives up to its name.  It tasted like cinnamon, so many of the whiskey walkers said it reminded them of Fireball, another cinnamon flavored whiskey. It definitely restored our faith in our whiskey drinking skills.  We took it back like champs and lucky for us, it went down smoothly. The devil showed mercy when he created this apple shot that we and everyone else actually enjoyed.  More than one shot would’ve been just fine, but we had 6 more whiskey stops to make.

3rd Stop: Irish Whiskey

Redbreast 12 years

After a light walk and our faith being restored by our cinnamon-flavored savior, we made it to stop #3. We were given Redbreast, which is a single pot still whiskey that put some hair on our chests. It was probably also responsible for the rowdy nature of some of our fellow walkers who may have enjoyed more than one shot. The bartenders were pretty festive and handled the large crowds pretty well. Although I asked the bartender for the world, he did give me a free coffee, which I’m pretty sure helped me get through the rest of the stops. I’d definitely go back again for drinks, no Redbreast included.

4th Stop: Science Club

Powers 12

Just when we thought we were safe, our old friend Powers returned. This time we tried the premium version, which is a blend of pot still and grain whiskey. It definitely went down smoother than our introductory shot and warmed us up for our remaining walk.  By the way, if you haven’t been to Science Club, be prepared to marvel at some of the accessories–including awesome beakers as candle holders. Love is in the details and they definitely put some thought into it.

5th Stop: Maddy’s
Jameson Black Barrel
Stop #5 and we were still chugging along. Finally, a name we recognized…Jameson. The black barrel version is a limited edition and has been described as an upgrade from the standard by whiskey enthusiasts.

6th Stop: Boardroom

Paddy BeeSting

Paddy came through for us again with a honey flavored spirit this time, which became apparent when our fingers were sticking to the glass. Both the apple and honey flavor would make for awesome summer cocktails.  Yum.

7th Stop: Stoney’s
Jameson 12 year
Another Jameson for the books and we shot it with no issues. Granted, we still did shiver a little from the strong taste of whiskey but the realization that we only had one stop left kept us in high spirits.

8th Stop: Black Whiskey

Paddy Irish Whiskey

I want to remember this last shot but not sure if I even tasted it. I was just glad that we were done. It tasted like whiskey.

Photo Credit: Mercy Chikowore, irishwhiskeyblog.com, prosportstickets.com, esquire.com, secretartist.com

A Weekend in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Zanzibar is seriously the most beautiful place I’ve seen to date.  The ocean was absolutely breathtaking.  I was so overwhelmed, I literally took a deep breath when we turned the corner. Simply gorgeous.

Since I only had a few days to explore, I did most of the typical Zanzibar tours…Stone Town (including the former slave market), Prison Island and a Spice Farm.  You can find those pictures and descriptions below.  But what a lot of tourists don’t get to do is swim with wild dolphins.  It doesn’t sound that exciting because dolphins are not the most exotic animal and you can see Flipper at any local Aquarium.  I’ve done that and he looks so nice and friendly in his medium sized, man-made tank.   But seeing them in their natural habitat was a different story.

Imagine riding a small motorboat out to the ocean (not that far from the shore) and immediately seeing a family of dolphins swim next to you!  I was nervous at first, but our guides kept urging us to jump in.  I kept wondering if our tour guides knew what they were talking about.  These were wild animals.  But I put on my big girl pants and jumped in.  The first time Flipper swam by me, I had a small heart attack and swam for my life (cue RuPaul) back to the boat.  No, really.

Me having a panic attack

Underwater and through my goggles, they looked like a combination of whale and shark, and I went straight into panic mode.  But once one of our local tour guides swam with them and came back to the boat unscathed, I decided to just go for it and I’m so glad I did.  They paid us no attention and kept swimming about their merry way.  As a side note, can you imagine if we had actually seen whale sharks in Mafia Island?  If I panicked after seeing a dolphin, I’m not sure my heart could have survived swimming next to the mammoth whale shark.

Aside from wild dolphin watching, I recommend traveling Zanzibar, especially if you’re already in Tanzania.  It was a $40 and 1.5 hour ferry ride (45 minute flight) from the mainland to Zanzibar.  It has a rich cultural history and was breathtakingly gorgeous.  See more of my pictures below.

Getting off the ferry

View from my hotel room

Legendary Zanzibar Doors. As the story goes, because Indians used to hunt elephants for their tusks, elephants would retaliate by killing them in their homes. Indians began putting brass knobs on their doors to prevent the elephants from intruding. When Indians came to Zanzibar, they kept the tradition alive. Zanzibari doors are still made and used today.

Stone Town Market

Typical Stone Town Street. It’s called Stone Town because the buildings were all made of stone when it was first colonized. Buildings are not built with stone today, but they must have the same look and feel.

Slave Market

Slave Chambers

Slave Chambers. Up to 70 people could be kept in this room at one time.

A church was built on the site of the slave market. The tree pictured is the type of tree people were tied to and beaten against.

Altar inside the church, which is the site of the old whipping post. While a little dusty due to renovations, the red tile in front of the altar represents the blood of the slaves that were beaten here.

Slave Monument 

Panoramic View of the Indian Ocean

Two Aldabra Tortoises, one male and one female, were given to the Sultan of Zanzibar by Seychelles hundreds of years ago. Since then, they’ve reproduced and there are over 100 tortoises living on Prison Island today. The one pictured here is 101 years old.

The tortoise with the cracked shell is the oldest on the island at 190 years old.

View from the pier on Prison Island. It’s called Prison Island because the Sultan of Zanzibar used the island to house prisoners from the mainland. After a few years, the island was then converted to an infirmary, as this was the place where people with malaria and other infectious diseases were sent.

Swimming with wild dolphins

Zanzibar Red Colobus monkey. It’s an endangered species and Zanzibar is the only place in the world you can find them. We were lucky enough to catch one on the ride home.

On the Spice Tour

Lipstick Fruit. Women ground the insides and use it for nail polish, lipstick and eye shadow.

Quinine tree. It’s bark is used to treat malaria.

Cocoa fruit from a cocoa plant

Cocoa Seed

Coffee Beans

Unripened Pineapple

Pepper seeds. They are picked and then left in the sun. After they blacken, they are ground up and used as a spice.

Vanilla Plant

List of spices we saw during the tour

After the Spice Tour

Traditional Biliani (different than regular pilau) with beef…delicious!

My shorts were a little too short for conservative Stone Town, so our tour guide made me cover up. Shrugs.

Until next time Zanzibar…