Two Drink Minimum; The After 5 Cocktail Blog

We made a video. It will blow your mind. So will this picture.

Father’s Day does indeed have a rather brief history in the United States. According to some sources, it’s only been around for about 100 years and it’s only been official since 1972, a mere 36 years ago. Not surprisingly, Father’s Day was first recommended as a national holiday in 1924 by Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth President of the United States. And it only took the federal government 48 years to get the ball rolling. Yeah, there were a few wars here and there, something called the Great Depression, whatever that was, and that whole civil rights movement thing, but seriously, Father’s Day. Come on guys, this is important stuff. You know what they do for Father’s Day in Germany? Well they don’t call it Father’s Day, it’s Gentlemen’s Day (Mannertag/Herrentag) and it’s not really Father’s Day in the sense that we think of. They basically go on traditional, men only hikes pulling a wagon of booze and food. You pull it uphill and get trashed and then ride it downhill. Ok, there’s no validity to that last sentence but you know some of them probably do that, or have done it…at least once. That’s what I would do. Now, Father’s Day in the United States is just a shameless consumer romp through the vagaries of electronic nose hair trimmers and mechanical tie racks that are useless, worthless, and mean absolutely nothing to your Dad or you. What are we doing? What’s the point of it all? How can we make Father’s Day mean something again? The answer: The Man Cave.

 

The Man Cave is the last bastion of true male companionship. Golf requires a little too much etiquette and protocol, watching football is too technical, too statistics driven to be truly manly, and the local bars have been infiltrated with college kids, brass poles, and Chili Bombs. What is a man to do? Well, small pockets of men, resistance fighters for the testosterone underground, have started a grassroots movement across the United States. The goal of this loose organization is to provide an underground railroad of Man Caves where men can hang out and be men. These Caves may be garages, backyards, or shops by day. But at night, the Man Cave Sign is uncovered, the Man Cave Clock is wound up, and the manness commences. Be a part of something and get your Dad the best Father’s Day gift in the history of the world, a membership in the only organization with no sign up process, no interviews, no initiation, and no rules: The Man Cave. Come on, let your man side show.

 

June 7th is the last day to place orders on items that we have in stock (i.e. no special shipping restrictions as listed on product level pages) and still get your gift to Dad on time. But, we know that you’re all slackers so coupon code FDBL2008 is good until the end of the month. Enjoy, and check back often, we’re going to be updating this blog more frequently and most of the time we won’t be selling stuff. Direct questions can be sent to grayson@surftosummit.com.

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Father’s Day is just around the bend. We have a suggestion: don’t think outside the box or spend too much money. You’ve been getting your Dad ties, golf balls, and Xena: Warrior Princess blow-up dolls for years. There’s no need to get creative now. That’s why we at After 5 Catalog have introduced a new line of coffee mugs, ripe for the picking, and chock full of irreverent rediculosity! That’s now a word. We said so. Mugs make a great Father’s Day gift because every Dad has to drink something at some point and odds are that he’ll need some sort of vessel with which to do that drinking. Plus, these mugs feature original artwork made exclusively for After 5 Catalog. So you know your Dad’s not going to run outside on Father’s Day morning and find out that all the other Dads have the same thing. Seriously, we know what we’re talking about. For real.

We never thought we’d say this, but “Don’t drink your tequila!” Well, ok, you can if you want, but there is a possibility that tequila may become scarce in the near future and that bottle of Jose Cuervo Especial you’ve been saving for a special occasion may be worth something…more. This is just speculation, mind you, but it seems that the biodiversity of the agave plant is being threatened, and we suspect this could pose a problem for tequila production in the near future.

The standard logic regarding biodiversity goes something like this: It is important for a given crop to be diverse (i.e. varied yet similar plants that can serve the same agricultural need). The more diverse a crop is, the less susceptible that crop will be to total destruction in the face of specific diseases or weather conditions. If you narrow the diversity of a crop, that is, homogenize it, you open the window for catastrophic fallout resulting from a specific negative factor.

So where does this leave the famed agave plant and the future of tequila? Well, if the agave plant’s biodiversity is threatened from over-farming, soil erosion, etc., basically leaving us with only a few strains of agave, and one of those gets wiped out…you do the math. Add to that the fact that the hearts of agave plants are traditionally harvested only in their twelfth year, we could end up with a long drought if we had to, in essence, start over. The moral of the story: keep an eye on tequila, and if these trends continue, you may want to start stockpiling, be it for fun or profit.

Sorry we haven’t posted anything in a while, we’ve been under the table. Meanwhile, those geniuses at our sister site personalizedsignshop.com have started making these hilarious shirts. Check ‘em out, and check back soon for more cocktail news and recipes, we promise.