Last month I was in Charlotte and at the end of meeting, a moonshine maker came in for a presentation, told her story, and gave samples. A woman named Troy had started a legitimate moonshine business (which I thought was an oxymoron when I first heard of it). Turns out Troy is a brilliant distiller and businesswoman and her product is fantastic. She promised it wouldn't burn going down and she was right. She also said that her moonshine (not the rotgut / rocket fuel made by good ol' boys who founded NASCAR by having mobile stills and racing away when the cops came) can be a substitute for lots of other types of alcohol (including tequila or vodka) in mixed drinks. She mentioned that Moonshine Margaritas are excellent.

Inspired, I ordered a bottle of Troy's Moonshine on-line and it showed up yesterday. At home last night, I looked in the refrigerator and saw orange juice. Light bulb! Instead of a Tequila Sunrise, a Moonshine Sunrise. I whipped up one, really just a sample size, and it was excellent. I don't know if Troy or others have thought of or tried a Moonshine Sunrise, but it seems that was the first original idea I've had in some time.

One of our assistants here (who also ordered a bottle) pointed out that moonshine is such a beautiful word--for a liquor or anything else--but in the liquor context, moonshine always conjures images of the good ol' boys. So maybe Troy's concoction will create some elegance in moonshine.

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In other news, I saw in the WSJ that Denmark just sold 1.55 billion kroner (about US $264 million) in 2-year government bonds at a NEGATIVE yield of about 22 basis points (-0.22%). Incredible...investors are literally PAYING for the privilege of lending money to the government in Denmark. By contrast, US Treasury bonds with 2 years left to maturity are currently priced to yield POSITIVE 32 basis points (0.32%).