Book Review: The Bartender’s Best Friend
Mardee Haidin Regan’s tome of recipes arrives ready for action. The softbound book is clad in a presumably water-resistant plasticized shell, and a built-in bookmark ensures you won’t lose your place. 850+ recipes are included, and Regan makes the shrewd move to include both the classics and plenty of recently developed material too, with credit…
Review: Refine Zero Calorie Mixers
Refine says it aims to “refine” the skinny cocktail with these zero-calorie mixers. Flavored with stevia, they’re available in 32 oz. bottles in three flavors. Refine Margarita Mix – Bright yellow, looks supernatural. Tastes very tart, with lots of intense lemon/lime soda character, but with a chalkiness that recalls Crystal Light granules (thanks, I’m sure,…
Review: Pisco 100
Pop quiz: What’s the proof level of Pisco 100? 84 proof, of course! The origin of Pisco 100’s name is unclear, but this Peruvian Pisco — an “acholado” style blended of distillate from several grape varietals — is a pungent example of the spirit. On the nose, traditional Pisco character — jet fuel, aromatic pine…
Brewery Spotlight: Epic Brewing Company (Part I)
This week I’m going to start a new series of entries called “Brewery Spotlight.” These posts will look at multiple beers from a brewery’s portfolio with the hope of comparing, contrasting, and pointing out characteristics that are common among different beers, either because of water, house yeast, or preferential hop strains by the brewers. Our…
Review: Barenjager Honey & Bourbon
You just can’t kill this honey+whiskey trend. It’s so popular that now they’re coming at it from the honey side: Barenjager, one of the original honey-flavored liqueurs (if not the original honey liqueur), is adding Bourbon (from Kentucky, but of otherwise unknown origin) to its recipe to create a hybrid spirit just like, well, all…
Giving New Meaning to High-Octane Booze
According to Mother Jones, the waste products from whiskey-making are being turned into fuel. Here’s how it works: To make Scotch whiskey, you take barley, separate out the sugar, add water and yeast, and ferment it. The result is similar to beer. The next step is to distill the alcohol from that beer in pots.…
Review: 2009 Treana Red Paso Robles
The flagship wine of the Hope Family Wines organization, Treana is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon (70%) with some Syrah (30%) thrown in for good measure. Hailing from Paso Robles, this blend is primarily a good representation of a Central Coast Cab, with that Syrah adding a touch of curiosity to the mix. Restrained for Cabernet, Treana…
Vinalla Liqueurs Head to Head: Tuaca (2012), Navan, and Licor 43
Did you know: You can put Tuaca in a margarita to give it a sweeter, more dessert-like kick? To celebrate National Margarita Day (February 22, yeah, we’re late…) Tuaca sent us a bottle of this Italian vanilla/citrus spirit, the recipe of which dates back 500 years. But Tuaca isn’t the only vanilla liqueur on the…
