Review: Purista Instant Mojito Mixes
Premixed cocktails are always a dicey proposition, and Purista’s two new mixers probably aren’t going to win any overnight fans. Offering two spins on a theme — a traditional Mojito and a Blackberry Mojito — these mixes promise they are “hand-crafted” creations made with premium ingredients: In the case of the former, all-natural ingredients including…
Drinkhacker’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide – Best Alcohol/Spirits for Christmas
Booze: The gift that keeps on giving, whether you like it or not. It’s now tradition at Drinkhacker to look back at the best new spirits of the year, offering our suggestions on our favorite tipples — and the stuff that’s most likely to impress your holiday giftee should he find a neatly wrapped bottle…
Review: Akvinta Vodka
Every new vodka that comes out these days has a gimmick (how could it not?), and Akvinta’s — which hails from the sunny shores of Croatia, which the company says earns it the moniker of the Mediterranean’s first luxury vodka — is this: It’s triple distilled and filtered five times, five different ways: Through charcoal,…
Review: Nadared Vodka
Nadared is, as far as I can tell, the first ever anti-communist vodka ever produced. No, seriously. It’s nada red — it’s not red. In fact, it’s made here in the U. S. of A. (in Mira Loma, California, actually), and all profits from the sale of this vodka go towards “institutions in oppressive political…
Review: Van Gogh Blue Triple Wheat Vodka
Why “triple wheat?” Because Van Gogh sources wheat for this vodka from France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Get it? Three countries. Triple wheat. Distilled in Holland, this 80-proof vodka is actually pretty amazing. Very light and smooth, it’s got a very light sweetness that plays with flowery notes on the palate. There’s no harshness or…
Herradura’s Battle of the Tequileros
I recently had the great opportunity to attend Tequila Herradura’s battle of eight Bay Area mixologists, each trying to outdo the other. Some photos of the event held at San Francisco’s Tres Agaves — including a live “harvesting” of agave plants… oh, the carnage — follow. My favorite drink of the evening — Tony Devencenzi’s…
Review: Old Rip Van Winkle Family Reserve Bourbon 23 Years Old
23 years is epic for any spirit to sit idle in a barrel, but for bourbon it’s almost insane. Old Rip Van Winkle’s 23-year-old bottling (this sample is from the 2009 limited edition) is positively intense with wood character — and alcohol. It’s 114 proof, which is hefty, but I’ve had far higher-proof whiskeys that…
Review: Square One Botanical Vodka
Is it vodka or is it gin? Infused with eight ingredients — pear, rose, chamomile, lemon verbena, lavender, rosemary, coriander, and citrus peel — Square One Botanical certainly looks on paper a lot more like a postmodern gin than the vodka it claims to be on the bottle. Ultimately, labels are meaningless — all gin…
