Smoking and meeting new people: even an introvert likes it.

 Rushing this blog out on the eve of my big trip

It's Saturday evening. Tomorrow I leave for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail bright and early. I packed and ran errands to prepare for the trip. I cleaned the house (because hubby and son won't clean it while I am gone). Finally I sat on my porch with a roaring fire in the pit, puffed on an Alec Bradley Texas Lancero, and sipped mocha decaf coffee with Irish Whiskey. And I typed this blog.

Enjoying a Lancero while writing this post

This week - smoking with company

While I will definitely follow up with some posts about my trip to Kentucky, this week I wanted to discuss smoking with people, and particularly meeting new people. As an introvert who expends most of her "social energy" with other people's kids teaching high school, I generally prefer to smoke alone and meditate and decompress after a long week at school, or even mid-week after a long day. And this is really only partially true, for I have made connections in the various smoking establishments I frequent: Bob and Joe at Shakers; Paul and Jen, and Jarrod and Nikki at Metro, and a few others. These are connections, however, made up of people who own and/or work in those places. I also smoke with my sister and brother-in-law, who have joined me at Shakers and at Metro. Otherwise, I have very rarely talked to other patrons. And then this past week it happened, on Sunday at Metro.

Spiking the coffee with Irish Whiskey since I'll be hitting bourbon all next week.

Sunday with Arturo Fuente, and three lovely people.

Teachers get the "Sunday Scaries" with the best of them. Last week I got my exercise and chores done, so I headed to Metro in Germantown to have a smoke, a Jack Daniels, and a quiet mediative session before returning home to make dinner. When I got there, I was reminded that Metro has new seats, and everyone is talking about them. On the east end of the lounge they are arranged in fours, with two seats facing each other. You have no choice but to look other cigar connoissuers in the eye! When I first sat down at around 1 pm, the seat next to me was empty but across from me were two men, one older and one younger. They were together and likely a father-son duo. They talked intently to each other, and the body language communicated that this was their one-on-one time, so I puffed on my Arturo Fuente Untold Story while I typed an itinerary for my Kentucky trip. I know that makes me sound like a nerd, but my bourbon and cigar tour was self-planned, so I had to coordinate tour times, check-in and check-out times, and driving times across Kentucky's bourbon country. 

Metro - Jack Daniels and Arturo Fuente

Eventually father and son left, and they were quickly replaced by three others, a brother and sister, and a lady who was their cousin. They were about 10-15 years younger than I, maybe in their forties. (I am 58). They lit up their smokes and sipped cocktails. I had at least half of my Fuente to smoke as I finished my itinerary, and as soon as I closed the doc on my laptop, the cousin asked me how long I had been smoking cigars. (Shit - I really had to think about it, lol.) Thirty years, I finally, said. The cousin commented that I must have started really young. And that was it. We engaged in at least two hours of conversation. First, I explained that, on my radar, cigar smoking was not a thing when I was young. Rather it seemed to become a thing in the 1990s when I was in my mid to late twenties, with cigar bars popping up in the Milwaukee area.

Secondly, and thirdly, and so on, I found out they were all professionally employed, and the brother had a side business selling cigars. They all had adult kids, as do I. We discussed how diverse the crowds were at all the cigar bars in and around town. The brother commented about how cigar smokers made up a subculture that crossed all demographics of people. And then the conversation became more familiar, talking about parenting, extended families, divorces, the tragedy and emotions involved with losing loved ones, and finally about getting older. Finally, I looked at the clock, and it was after 4 pm and I had to head home to start dinner!

Arturo Fuente Untold Story

At the very least, this was a good warm up to being more social with fellow patrons as I head to Kentucky by myself. However, for my future as a cigar buff, will it change me? I think mostly no - I will likely smoke alone and meditate a lot. But I will be more open to it. And sooner or later I will run into the brother, sister and cousin, and I will definitely sit by them and catch up! It was really meaningful. 

So that is all for this week's blog post. Stand by for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and its nearby cigar bars!

One post a week - and today it started at Metro Cigars in Germantown

 Now that I am back on the blog, I have set a reasonable, attainable goal. I will smoke at least one cigar a week, and write one post per week. I feel pretty good about this.

I didn't waste any time. I left home this late Sunday morning and went to one of my favorite places - Metro in Germantown. They open at 11 am on Sunday. There is no more football and the Olympics are over, so this left me with a good quiet Sunday to break the ice.

When I got there, Nicole was tending bar. Although I had not been keeping up with this blog, I have been to Metro, but only during the week. She only works weekends so it's been awhile since we saw each other. She was glad to see me, and I was glad to see her. I will have to swing by on more weekends! She is very warm and fun.

 So today I chose an Alec Bradley Black Market Gordo, and I ordered Jack Daniels on the rocks. I know, I know: it is not my typical bourbon but this cigar lounge just vibes "Jack Daniels" to me. It is only at Metro that a Jack Daniels is my drink of choice. At Shakers I will do bourbon or scotch or port. But Metro is Jack Daniels. Go figure.

The Black Market Gordo lit well with a match, and the initial surge of flavor was creamy rather than that bold maduro kick you sometimes can get with other dark cigars. It is actually fairly mild, like a hot chocolate. Well, more like a dark chocolate, because it is spicy more than sweet. I will definitely try it again. I highly recommend it.  At Metro it is 13 dollars and some change and well worth it.

The crowd looked like a typical Sunday outing. It was mostly men, off work for the day. The clouds of smoke helped the quieter patrons meditate, while the drink and tobacco facilitated philosophical and political discussions with the more talkative ones. But nothing was toxic. It was all thoughtful and intelligent. That is why I like it at Metro. If you have never been there, I suggest you try it!

Okay. That was the first review in three years. I think this blog shall be sustainable. Later in the week, I have an event at Shaker's Cigar Bar. My next blog post will be all about that!  Thanks and it is good to be back.

Metro Cigars Germantown: Theme Night Saturdays

 Well it is far past due that I give my people at Metro Cigars in Germantown a full write-up. This is definitely my number #1 go-to for cigar smoking. I have been here many times: weeknights after school, Sunday afternoons, and Friday and Saturday nights. I have come here alone mostly, but once I brought a colleague, and once I brought my sister and brother-in-law.

Metro Cigars has a lot of space, including a large bar area, two lounge areas, and a conference room. The walk-in humidor has just about everything a cigar connoisseur can dream of. And I have sampled too many cigars here to remember all of them off the top of my head. The owners Paul and Jen seem like such amazing people. The staff who I have met so far, Jarrod, Nicole, and Josh, are warm, friendly, and extremely helpful. I recommend this place - and why not? It’s my main go-to!

Metro Cigars Germantown

Now getting on to the the main topic of this post; the theme nights on Saturday nights. Such great fun! I didn't know about these at first, but I finally observed it because I come here often enough.

Several weeks ago I showed up on a Saturday night, and Nicole, who was working the bar, was dolled up in a flowing dress and sandals. Although I thought it was unusual (it was January or February), the outfit was darn cute. So I told her that I liked her dress, and she explained that it was Dominican night, but she added that the dress-up participation that night was weak, and only a few guys wore Hawaiian shirts.

The next Saturday, I made it there again, and that time Nicole was dressed in the cutest skirt, and I thought, "1950s," and sure enough I overheard her tell some patrons that it was 1950s night.

So weeks later, I gave it a shot. The theme was "Favorite TV personality," and so I attempted to dress like Nina Blackwood, one of the original 1980s hosts on MTV. So I wore an MTV tee shirt, hooded jean jacket, cut-off jean shorts, with nude nylons underneath, and pumps on my feet. I hadn’t dressed like that in decades! This was how girls dressed in the 80s! I frizzed up my blonde hair and did my makeup heavier than usual. And there I was - Nina Blackwood.

As close to Nina Blackwood as I could get!

The incentives of theme night? The costume winner gets a $50 gift card to Metro Cigars, and there is a cigar-and-drink special. That night for $12, I got an old fashion and a Pablo Martin toro cigar. And I have to say it was not bad! The bartender Nicole, who was darn cute again as a cowgirl character from Yellowstone on Paramount, made a damn good bourbon-old-fashion-sweet for me, and the Pablo Martin was actually really good. It was mild with a twist of sweetness, pairing well with my drink. The smoke was an 85 rating, perhaps, as it was enjoyable. A lot of patrons wondered why I had shorts on in early March when it was cold and rainy out. So I got to explain what theme night was and I felt like I was helping Metro plug it! As far as my outfit went, only the older people remembered Nina Blackwood, but it was fun educating the younger people on 80s nostalgia. So with the drink and the very social crowd that night, the experience was easily a 90.

Oh wait - it turns out I won the theme night contest so I got the $50 gift card! So the night was a 96! Lol. I am sorry I don't have more photos of my outfit. I really didn't think I would win! Shucks!

But I love this place!

Pablo Martin Toro with an Old Fashion