The Sage of Discovery

H. R. Geiger Cake from Jet City Cakes

Pictured above is an Alien-inspired (wedding?!) cake created by Jet City Cakes.

[link via Neatorama]

Lovely Lady Turkey at Farm Sanctuary by CETFA on Flickr

Turkeys have long been an important foodstuff in many parts of the world. In the U.S., not only has our post-colonial society been fueled by this fowl; historically, turkey meat, feathers, and bones have provided important uses for pre-contact Native Americans. But where did these birds come from? By examining the remains of turkeys from archaeological sites in the southwestern United States (circa 200 BCE – 800 CE), a group of scientists, led by Camilla Speller of Simon Fraser University, has shed some light on the matter. To do this, Speller’s group analyzed mitochondrial DNA from 149 turkey bones and 29 coprolites (fossilized dung) from 38 archaeological sites around the Southwest. Their recent findings can be found in the latest issue of PNAS.

In the past, many people believed that turkeys had already been domesticated in Mexico before being introduced to the southwestern United States. However, recent evidence suggests that domestication of the birds occurred in the US, either in the eastern region or in the Southwest itself. To confuse matters further, domesticated turkeys from Mexico were brought to Europe in the 1500s, spread throughout the continent, and reintroduced to America roughly two centuries later.

When the scientists from Simon Fraser compared mtDNA from the historic turkeys to that from modern American turkey populations, they discovered that Mexican turkeys and the Southwest turkeys looked very different. Not only did the groups show distinct genetic markers; information from the ancient US turkeys was extremely homogeneous — a mark of “breeding isolation”, in this case, lasting more than 1000 years. Evidence of  turkey husbandry — pens, eggshells, remains, etc., further suggest long-term domestication localized in the southwestern United States.

Speller et al.’s findings help demonstrate that turkey domestication did, in fact, occur in the prehistoric Southwest. But where did the southwest domesticated turkeys originate in the first place? According to Speller’s group, they’re most likely the progeny of South Mexican Wild Turkeys or of the Rio Grande/Eastern Wild Turkeys, introduced to the southwest U.S. region as domesticates. But, for now, the answer remains a mystery. It will be the task of future studies to finally crack that egg wide open.

[via the New York Times]

Speller, C., Kemp, B., Wyatt, S., Monroe, C., Lipe, W., Arndt, U., & Yang, D. (2010). Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals complexity of indigenous North American turkey domestication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0909724107

The Discovery in Antarctica via Wikipedia

In November, I put up a post about famous Antarctic explorer Earnest Shackleton…or rather, about two cases of scotch whiskey left behind from his 1908 expedition and chilled for over a hundred years in antarctic ice!

I mentioned then that the Antarctic Heritage Trust of New Zealand was hatching plans to travel to Shackleton’s Ross Island camp to extract the whiskey. Well, according to a report from Associated Press,  the group is now doing just that, using special equipment to drill through the summer ice.

Happily, in addition to the two crates of liquor previously found frozen beneath the compound, the expedition has uncovered three more. In addition to whiskey, there are two crates of brandy: one from Mackinlay & Co, and one from Australia’s Hunter Valley Distillery. The Heritage Trust is hoping to extract some well-preserved specimens, but many of the bottles will have to remain below the ice for historic purposes, according to the to conservation guidelines set  by the 12 Antarctic Treaty nations.

Whyte and Mackay, the distillers who now distribute McKinlay and Co. products, are eager for samples of Shackleton’s scotch, in order to conduct a series of tests that will determine whether they can recreate the lost blend…or whether it’s worth it.

[via The Star]

Alcohol belts of Europe

Pictured above, a map roughly depicting the “alcohol belts” Europe needs no key. The colors represent the dominance of wine, beer, and distilled spirits, respectively.

[link via Strange Maps]

It's Spring! Time for Coffee. Photo by Chris Blakeley on Flickr. Coffee by El Diablo.

Wow, coffee foam art is truly…well…an art form. If you’re thirsty for more, check out The Design Inspiration’s article, “50 Fancy and Pretty Arts of Coffee Foam.”

Beer Festival by Daveybot on Flickr

A few weekends ago we received a mysterious visitor: Scott from Re-tramp Across the Continent. Scott, who is tracing the route of 19th century journalist Charles Lummis on his tramp across the Southwest, stopped by as he approached the Rocky Mountains. As a consequence, we spent an afternoon visiting historic Denver…and a morning visiting the historic Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado.

I say historic, because it is. The company’s founder, Adolph Coors (née Khurs), was born in Bavarian Prussia and immigrated to the U.S. in 1868. Among  practicing different trades, Coors had been employed for some time as a brewer’s assistant. He arrived to this country via New York, relocated to Chicago, and finally settled in Denver in 1872, eventually taking control of a local bottling firm. 2 years later, Adolph Coors’ “Golden Brewery” opened it’s doors at the site of an abandoned Tannery in Golden Colorado, about 15 miles away from Denver proper. I don’t think there’s evidence that Lummis visited the Golden Brewery, but its opening predates his 1884 trip by a decade.

More Beer by Luciano Joaquim on Flickr

The first stage in the tour comprised a few displays depicting Coors history, including dated commercials from the 70’s and 80’s (pretty funny! See the example below via Youtube) and a bit about how Coors survived prohibition by selling malted milk and “near beer.” Another fun fact: Bill Coors developed a 2-piece aluminum can in 1959 when other brewers were using steel canning.

We also learned that the brewery sits on about 55 acres of Golden valley land. In fact, Golden, CO’s water is Coors’ claim to fame; as the tour recording put it, “it flows from the mountains.”

My favorite part of the tour was the brew house. Not only was it full of giant machines and gleaming copper, but it had such a delicious aroma. I’m not a fan of beer, but I do love the smell of warm, fermenting yeast that breweries offer. This brewery was full of copper kettles…big copper kettles! Three different types of kettles are used during the brewing process.

In one, a malt mash is added; in another the mash is filtered out to give the beer it’s malted sugars. Lastly, hops are introduced for flavor. Once this mix is fermented (insert lovely smell here), beer is born.

But after all this, Coors still needs to cold filter its beer to remove even small remnants of yeast or other particles.

Kettles by Scott Shumaker

Here’s a fun fact…do you know what Coors does with its discarded yeast? It goes to the Purina company to become an ingredient in cat food. What about the discarded grain? sent to feed cattle on local farms.

After a brief stop to hear about quality control practices (Coors does enlist taste testers), we were ushered in for a mid-tour pause to rest and take refreshment. Guess what the refreshment was? Coors light “silver bullet” and Coors Banquet beers.

There are two very different stories about how these beers came to be named. “Silver bullet” comes from Bill Coors‘ daughter; she overheard her friends calling the light beer by this name and it caught on with the American public forever after. The second story may be no more than legend. Supposedly, in the 19th century, area miners would throw “banquets” or parties where they’d imbibe plenty of Coors beer, their preferred “banquet beer.”

Aside from its namesake beverages, Coors also produces Killian’s Irish Red, Blue Moon, and Keystone products. On our way to the (impressive) packing facility, we learned that 300 rail cars and 1800 trucks full of these beer products leave the Coors Golden Brewery site every week for distribution. (One rail car alone carries over 100 thousand bottles or cans of beer)!

At the end of tour it was time for, you guessed it, more samples. Visitors enjoyed up to three free pints of libations.

Was I glad I visited the Coors factory? Yes, I was. The tour was interesting and choc full of details for those who didn’t want to skip around. I would definitely recommend it to someone who enjoys any of Coors’ products.

Would I visit again? Probably not by my lonesome. However, if guests are in town and are eager to go, I’d be happy to oblige.

Below is a video of someone making a portrait of Conan O’Brien out of…cheetos? It’s very entertaining — give it a watch.

[via Neatorama]