Craft Pickles by Pogue Mahone, Austin

I once ate half a jar of Pogue Mahone pickles for lunch. That may sound unappealing, unless you’ve tasted them. In which case, you’re jealous.

Regulars at farmers markets around Austin have known about Pogue Mahone pickles for some time now. They know to get there early, as the weekend batch of 80 or so hand-packed jars sell out fast. They also know to buy them as they leave the market, to help keep them cold.

The cold keeps them crispy. And crispy is the difference between wanting a pickle with your lunch, and as your lunch.

Smart new labels (pictured above) are just one of several exciting developments in 2013 for Pogue Mahone.

Here’s the File:

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Filed Under: Not merely “pickles.” More like “crispickles,” or “crunchcumbers”.

Overview: Craft pickles that are lovingly cold processed and hand-jarred by trained chef and all-around nice friendly fellow Sam Addison. Regular flavors include Ginger Habanero, Fresh Dill & Garlic, and Jalapeño Mint, available in rounds or spears

Appreciate: The Jalapeño Mint pickles are now the award-winning Jalapeño Mint pickles, having earned a prestigious Good Food Award in early 2013. This is a national distinction, which means these little Austin pickles are now celebrities, like Britney Spears (see what I did there). This may appear to be overnight success, but in reality, Sam Addison has spent 12 years or so experimenting with a variety of cucumbers and flavors

Know: Keep an eye out for rare batches of their Serrano Lime Pickles, a personal favorite for me and probably anyone with a pulse. Unfortunately, the Serrano Lime are labor-intensive, requiring the zest of as many as two limes per jar, so they are made in small quantities only a couple times a year. Visit Pogue Mahone’s Facebook page for announcements of these and other special flavors

Special Comments: Austin’s Greenling and Farmhouse Delivery now include Pogue Mahone pickles in their lineup, so you can have them brought to your doorstep. You’ll also find them on the menu at Austin food trailer (bus) Pretty Thai for a White Guy. And if you’re not in Austin, love pickles, and won the lottery, consider having them shipped. It’ll cost you: Sam Addison rightly insists that they stay cold, so they’re packed in dry ice. The crispy is worth the cost, though

Price: $10 a jar when purchased locally in Austin. For cold-shipped pickles, choose 6 jars for about $90; 12 jars are $160

Visit Pogue Mahone: Here.

Outdoorsman's Knives (and More) by Knives of Alaska, Denison

While attending a charitable fundraiser recently I chatted with a professional knife sharpener. Here’s a man who sees a lot of knives, I thought. So I asked: who in Texas makes the best knives?

“Knives of Alaska,” he replied.

I’d never heard of it. Even if I had, I wouldn’t have guessed it’s a Texas product. The obvious name issue aside, their logo is of a (big) bear, and a a (big) snowy mountain range decorates their website.

Texas has bears and mountains, but they’re little.

Nevertheless, it’s true: Knives of Alaska is of Texas, so to speak, based in Denison, just a knife’s throw from the Red River.

The connection to Alaska is traced to KoA’s President and Owner Charles Allen, who is a professional outfitter and all-around avid outdoorsman. While his family and corporations are based in Denison, Charles and his wife Jody spend a great deal of their time in Alaska. That’s in part because their other company, Alaska Expedition Company, organizes fishing, fowling, and hunting trips to the Driftwood Lodge on Alaska’s Tsiu River.

I’ve not had the chance to personally handle any KoA knives, so my observations are limited. Regardless, my praise is confident: it’s hard to imagine anyone more qualified to make precision tools than folks who spend their time in the Alaskan wilderness, and I can’t imagine a better judge of such tools than a professional knife sharpener.

Here’s my File on Knives of Alaska:

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Filed Under: Fillet you some bear.

Overview: High quality, field-tested cutlery for the outdoorsman, including fixed blade and folding knives for hunting, fishing, and survival, as well as cleavers, saws, and hatchets for general (but legal) mayhem in the wild

Appreciate: Field & Stream Magazine’s list of “The 20 Best Knives Ever Made” included two KoA knives: the Brown Bear Skinner / Clever (shown at right), and the unique Magnum Ulu. The Brown Bear Skinner was KoA’s first product; the Ulu is based on a Native American tool used for skinning and chopping

Know: All of KoA’s knives are very reasonably priced given their reputation for reliability. Case in point, their excellent Featherlight Hunter G10 (shown below), a 3" blade folder for under $75. The best value is probably their Super Pro-Pack with Bone Saw (top photo), which includes three fixed-blade knives, a bone saw, a hatchet, and a sharpening steel, housed nicely in a cordura nylon sheath for under $300

Special Comments: If you’re impressed with Knives of Alaska, you may be delighted to learn that Charles Allen has a second knife company, DiamondBlade Knives, which he started with his friend and synthetic diamond manufacturing expert Hobie Smith. DiamondBlade  owns multiple patents for their Friction Forged® knife blades

Prices: $189.99 for the Brown Bear; $64.99 for the Magnum Ulu; $74.99 for the Featherlight Hunter; and $289.99 for the Super Pro-Pack

Visit Knives of Alaska: Here.

Hand Forged Wood Bats by Warstic Wood Bat Co., Dallas

It’s February, which means snow on the ground up north, and ground balls here in Texas.

I know of no Texas-based baseball makers. We’ve got excellent gloves, made by Nokona, and which I’ve been proud to feature in the past.

Now, Texas can lay claim to excellent hand forged baseball bats, by Warstic Wood Bat Co.

Here’s the first rule: Warstic bats are for game play. I emphasize that because of their obvious beauty. If you’re like me, you’ll be inclined to eyeball your den or office, assessing where a hand-forged wooden bat would display the best.

Don’t do that. Don’t buy a Warstic for your home; buy it for home runs.

Warstic bats are exactly that: war sticks, designed to prepare you to compete in live action battles in the yard.

When you hold a Warstic bat, you’re holding the best American White Ash or Rock Hard Sugar Maple wood on the market. That’s the insistence of former pro player and Warstic founder Ben Jenkins. As a ball player, Ben knows how a bat should both perform and feel. And he’s candid about the secret to achieving great performance and feel: there’s no secret at all. Buy the best wood available, and you’ll make the best bat available.

And yes, Warstic bats look great. In addition to being the man behind Warstic, Jenkins is also behind the successful design firm One Fast Buffalo. Knowing that, the unusually high aesthetic quality of these bats is less surprising.

There’s a Warstic bat for every purpose, whether for game play, youth, softball, or practice. The Pro Standard Issue is Warstic’s go-to, everyday bat and, consequently, its best seller. Have a look at the awesome BlackHawk version, which is flame treated and then finished with a black “longcoat” for added distinction.

For even more distinctive styling, consider The Whiskeyville (my favorite) and The Old 1930, central to Warstic’s Pro Designer collection. Like all Warstic bats, these beauties come with free engraving of an individual player or team name.

Beyond bats for game play, Warstic offers a variety of training equipment and other accessories. If you coach Little League or otherwise, you’ll want to check out Warstic’s War Fungos, which can be ordered to match team colors. I’m particularly fond of the punchy little Warstic Glove Hammers, for breaking in your glove.

Finally, if you really insist on displaying your Warstic, consider a replica display model. These are essentially Pro Standard Issue bats with a fancier paint job, available in half- or full-dip. Awesome gift for any guy, of any age.

Prices: $89 for most Pro Standard Issue bats; $109 for the flame treated BlackHawk; $129 for the Whiskeyville and Old 1930; War Fungos are $59; the Glovehammer is $29, and display bats range $79-89

Visit Warstic Wood Bat Co.: Here.

1800's Style Brooms by Davis Mountain Broom Co., Fort Davis

Ron Cox is humble about his brooms. “It’s a pretty good broom, too. Here: try it,” he told me, as if its functionality was an afterthought.  

I dropped the brush to what appeared to be a very clean spot on the floor, then made the standard sweeping motion. Just a single stroke, more like a putt, really. And from nowhere: a puff of dust, like the one that follows Pigpen in It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Yeah, it’s a pretty good broom.

The one I brought home to Austin is the Round Kitchen Broom. The brush on this model, made of 100% natural broom corn, is quite wide, so you’ll need an extra large dust pan. Smaller models, including whisks, also are available.

I got mine in person, at Ron Cox’s modest roadside workshop, the Davis Mt. Broom Shop. And that’s where I recommend you get yours.

You’ll have to drive to Fort Davis to do so, which means you’ll have to take a road trip to West Texas, which means you’ll have to see where God Himself escapes to when He wants to feel more free, when He wants to feel just a little bit small.
And you’ll feel that way, too. So, go to West Texas.

Go and see an authentic craftsman at work. Ron Cox is 76 years old, and he (by himself) hand-makes thousands of brooms each year on an 1800’s era, Shaker-built loom using yucca and cactus wood that he harvests himself from the ranches scattered across the Davis Mountains. That’s right: thousands of brooms, by himself.

“I have no intention of slowing down,” Cox told me.

Functionality becomes an afterthought.

Visit the Davis Mt. Broom Shop: Here.

Pure Cane Sugar Sodas by Dublin Bottling Works, Dublin

I have a sweet tooth. So much so that I was beginning to think there was something was wrong with me. Diabetes, perhaps.

One day I left work, went to the drug store and bought an at-home blood glucose kit, pricked my thumb out in the parking lot.

I’m not sure what I was testing myself for, but in any event, the results were normal.

I give that background so you’ll understand my bias toward sugar, and appropriately discount my endorsement of Dublin Bottling Works new pure cane sugar sodas, which you can read here:

I endorse Dublin Bottling Works’ new pure can sugar sodas.

It feels great just to be able to write that. In early 2012, when Dublin Bottling Works lost the contractual right to bottle both its pure cane sugar-based Dublin Dr. Pepper for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, as well pure cane sugar Big Red sodas for Texas-based Big Red Inc., I didn’t think the company would survive.

Business-y folks sometimes talk about a company’s “core competency,” which is basically what it sounds like: a company’s special skill, easy for it to replicate, but difficult for others.

What I misjudged was that Dublin Bottling Works’ core competency wasn’t their exclusive contracts, or the fact that they can bottle, box, and distribute product.
Their core competency, instead, is pure cane sugar, and formulating excellent sodas sweetened by it.

Consider their new product lineup. Easy-drinkin’ Triple XXX Root Beer is the anchor, supported by three creme sodas (an orange, vanilla, and classic), two citrus flavors (Ski Citrus and Rummy), a Classic Cola, and three fruits:  Cherry Limeade, Blueberry Breese, and Tart ‘n Sweet Lemonade. I’ve tried all except the Ski Citrus, Vintage Cola, Blueberry Breese, and Rummy.

These sodas are sweet and fizzy and refreshing, so choosing which one to try first will probably boil down to your favorite flavors. My favorites: the Orange Creme, followed by the Triple XXX Root Beer, and the Lemonade, for mixing with vodka.

I also have a vodka tooth.

Visit Dublin Bottling Works: Here.