First the smokin’… I caught sight of that cotinus, or smoke tree, from my car, about a block away. It was so magical I had to turn around and take a couple of photos. Have you ever seen such a smokin’ smoke tree? I love the contrast of the flat round leaves with the fluffy "smoke"… These are usually seen as small to medium shrubs, it's so nice to see a tree... On to the boozin’…I stopped in Hollywood Beverage the other day to grab a bottle of whiskey for my whiskey lovin husband (yes, here in Portland we actually have a neighborhood called Hollywood). As I was leaving I spied this in the pile of to-be-recycled boxes… Of course I grabbed it, look at those beautiful agaves! I couldn’t remember what the heart of the agave (from which the tequila is made) is called so I looked it up online (it's the piña) and that’s where I learned the harvester of the piña is called a “Jimador”… “The harvester, or “Jimador” removes the agave leaves with a sharp curved tool called a Coa. He trims the 200 plus leaves that protect the heart or piña of the agave until the whole heart is extracted from the ground. Only the heart, or “piña,” of the agave plant is used to make tequila. Mature piñas weigh in between a hefty eighty and three hundred pounds; however, the size of the agave heart is not nearly as important as its sugar content. The older the agave, the longer the piña will have to accumulate the starches that will convert into fermentable sugars. Approximately, 15 pounds of agave piñas are required to produce one liter of delicious tequila.” (source - if you’re curious about the entire process and want to see pictures do click through!) Here I am confusing my brands, two fingers is a different kind of tequila. Of course I went back inside to see if the tequila bottles were as beautiful as the box… Theses are the ones that really caught my eye. You might think that’s it for the boozin, but you'd be wrong. This bottle edging caught my eye outside Garden Fever... Lest you think the staff is particularly boozy I should let you know there's a nice Italian restaurant next door (Lucca). Perhaps that's where the bottles originated? And it's not all booze... Here are a couple of new arrivals. On second thought maybe it's a group effort? The Garden Fever staff, the restaurant and the neighboring houses? They're all working together? That would be very Portland... All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.