Thursday. Mable’s house. Eat. Smoke. You know what it is. But this day we added some drinks. Maybe ‘a drink’ we should say. And we call this drink, ‘the Shampootergeist’.

I brought the Macanudo Café’ Celebramos to Mable’s. I’m pretty sure this smoke is the exact same thing as the Macanudo Café Hyde Park. It sure smells, tastes, and feels the same as the Hyde Park. But then again. I had the Hyde Park a long while ago. So hopefully all the good things I remembered about it were true. Milder smoke, easy to draw, solid construction, light flavour of hay and cedar that was easy to taste. You could say the smoke tasted cleaner. Smoother, even if it was light. That’s what I remember, at least. And the celebramos delivered much the same. The only difference was the ashtray that came along.

Come on! You know exactly why I got these 6 Celebramos sticks! Such a simple yet sophisticated ashtray. I loved how the whole thing was wooden. All except the metal drawer handle, and the glass tray base. You could smell the timber and varnish. Comforting, I’d say. And now I had an ashtray for all the cigars I’d smoke on my balcony.

Other than the cigars and ashtray, I brought some beverages to enjoy with the smoke. Dr Pepper and ginger beer. Youtube channel Zeal Cigars found enjoyable qualities when pairing these drinks. I had to try them myself. And awesomely enough, Mable loved ginger beer. But there was one problem. He hated Dr Pepper. I know… He’s missing out. No matter. We’d see how they paired.

The dog had grown noticeably, as usual. He was only going to grow more. He had been naughty that day, so he had to spend time in the ‘time-out’ area. I knew he was in there when I heard him crying. He always acknowledged time-out as punishment, and sighed miserably whenever he was put in there. It was soo adorable. Mable and Sis could never bear to leave him in there for too long. The longest I’d known Ruthless to sit in time-out was 5 minutes. His constant sighs and whines were much too much. Too difficult to ignore.

When I asked what he had done, apparently he had been barking madly outside, even after being told to settle down. What he was barking at, they couldn’t figure out. They also told me he would sometimes stare into the bathroom for a long while, and sometimes even bark at something that wasn’t there. We all know what he was barking at. Dogs can see what our own eyes cannot, at most times. The unspeakable.

Was this a haunting? I didn’t think it was. It didn’t have that unsettled feeling. At least not in the house, from what I could tell. No. It was likely something passing by. Nothing of concern.

We then spoke about some of our own encounters with such. Neither had experienced a true haunting. Thank goodness. Nothing intrusive or disturbing. I wondered about the actual disturbances others would experience. Is there a way to explain a poltergeist? A true wonder…

Mable made us Canadian hash browns, bacon, and cheese kranskies. Me and cheese kranskies go way back! When Ponyo used to work at a deli, she would sometimes bring some home. They’re the best! They’ve gotta have a decent amount of cheese, too. Or else, they’re only dreaming to be a true cheese kransky.

The smokes were tasty. It’s so strange that maduros are my favourite, but I still find these extremely mild Macanudo Cafés so enjoyable. Definitely a good smoke. At least for my novice palette. But we weren’t there for only the smoke.

I wanted to try the Dr Pepper first. And I must say, it enhanced the smoke, and the smoke, it, quite well. The recognizable aftertaste of the Dr Pepper still sat on the tongue. Only this time, it sat together with the cigar’s finish. And what I tasted was woody and fruity. Pleasant. A little darker than what I expected in flavour, especially for one so fruity. But it was pleasing, nonetheless. Mable was okay with the taste. I think the Dr Pepper put him off.

And then came the ginger beer. The Zeal Cigar video I saw reported an unmissable spiciness when pairing ginger beer and cigars. And ‘spiciness’ is the correct word here. Not ‘spice’. It wasn’t particularly a flavour. It was more a sensation. Spiciness. All over the tongue. But when you smoked or drank, right afterwards the spiciness would leave. Not remain to burn, like peppers and other spices would. And it sure was enjoyable. It gave a new dimension to cigars. We knew ginger beer would soon join our smokes once again.

With two such incredible beverages to pair with our cigars, I knew I had to try something. I had to do it. It was asking me to do it. Well, those two were asking me. Dr Pepp and Gingy Bee. They wanted me to do it. It wasn’t my fault. I was just doing what they asked. And I must say, the mixture was sure weird and wonderful. Both were such tasty drinks in their own weird way. And when combined, their qualities didn’t clash, but they didn’t exactly enhance, either. They just both had their enjoyable touches come with each sip. I didn’t find it bad. I loved it. And with a smoke… They both did the same enhancements they always did, but at the same time. A spicy dark fruity sweetness. Mable actually found this more enjoyable than Dr Pepper alone. But he told me that ginger beer was hands down his new favourite drink to pair with cigars. That, and Crown Royal.

Crown Royal. Ah… The good ol’ Crown Royal. Yep. Crown Royal. Wait! Crown Royal? That was a drink. Crown Royal was a drink! The other two were drinks. All three were drinks. And they were all amazing with a smoke. Two of them in a mixture was sensational. Was Crown Royal supposed to be the final ingredient to our already awesome concoction? Yes. Yes, it was.

That, and that sweet serenity that only fire water could bring.

The Crown Royal amplified the fruitiness with a new note and shade. Cherry and berries were no longer the only tastes. Now a maple-like apple sat along those dark red notes. But what of the spiciness? What of it? Spiciness is spiciness. It’s either there or not. But that alcoholic burn, light on the tongue from such an elegant whiskey blend, matched the flavours and sensations the other two beverages delivered. That, and that sweet serenity that only fire water could bring.

We had ourselves quite the potion. Had we put together the unthinkable? But what was this drink called?

Mable mentioned that the flavour reminded him of fruity shampoo. I had a taste and I couldn’t deny the finish on my tongue and on my nose. It was somewhat like a fruity shampoo. Not that that was a bad thing. Either way, that day, we dubbed thee concoction the Shampootergeist!!!

• 1 part Dr Pepper
• 1 part Ginger Beer
• 1 shot Crown Royal