Review: Malibu Red
On paper, Malibu Red is a terrible, terrible idea: Take standard Malibu (coconut-flavored rum), and add white tequila to it. The brainchild of R&B artist Ne-Yo, I am here to tell you that, yes, Malibu Red is as bad as you think it will be. Fundamentally these are two great tastes… that just don’t go…
Review: Wines of Luce della Vite, 2012 Releases
Tenuta Luce della Vite is a Montalcino-based winery, where it makes its Super Tuscan wines from Sangiovese and Merlot. The winery recently reformulated its second label, Lucente, to use only the grapes used in its flagship Luce wine — an Italian requirement for wines to be considered a true “second wine.” (Before, Lucente also had…
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.…
