Krazy Straws for Grownups: Glass Dharma Glass Drinking Straws
You spent hundreds on crystal glasses and quality ingredients and have perfected your perfect cocktail recipe. And now you’re going to stick a plastic straw into it for your guests? Talk about a presentation killer. Glass Dharma offers an alternative (and it’s even eco-friendly): Glass straws handmade by California glassblowers. Available in three styles and…
Review: Alize Gold Passion Liqueur
Alizé treads that fine line between high-end product and pop culture joke (when Tupac raps about your product, well…), but its pedigree speaks for itself: A blend of cognac and passion fruit juice (and other unspecified fruit juices), this is high-end stuff. The problem is figuring out how to use it. Alizé (which has been…
Review: FrostShot “The Frozen Liquor Shot”
Great googly moogly, how does one approach discussion of FrostShot? Put simply, it’s an Otter Pop with booze in it: A plastic tube filled with sugary goo which, when frozen, becomes like slushy ice. You squeeze it out directly into your mouth. Only Otter Pops can’t get you drunk. They also taste a lot better…
Review: Fish Eye and Pinot Evil Boxed Wines, 2009 Releases
More and more producers are turning to boxes to move lots of product (they typically hold three liters vs. just 750ml of wine in a standard bottle) at rock-bottom prices. Here’s a look at two more offerings that use cardboard and plastic in lieu of glass and cork. 2008 Fish Eye California Pinot Grigio is…
Review: NV Quady Electra and Red Electra
What an idea: Chill a wine shortly after fermentation begins and then filter and bottle it right there: You’re left with a quite sweet proto-wine (because most of the sugar in the grapes remains in the juice) with a low level of alcohol. In the case of Electra, which is the juice of orange muscat…
Busch Up, Bud Down
A sour economy is boosting the fortunes of cheap beer: Sales of Busch and Miller High Life are up and the last year, while sales of “premium” beers like Budweiser and Miller Lite (yes, in the beverage world these are considered premium products) are down. In the case of Bud, by 7.4 percent since a…
Review: The Macallan Fine Oak 15 Years Old
It is difficult to go wrong with a dram of Macallan in any of its forms, and the distillery’s 15-year-old Fine Oak expression is no exception to that rule. The Fine Oak line is aged in a combination of three casks — ex-sherry casks from European oak, ex-sherry casks from American oak, and ex-bourbon casks…
Review: 2007 Robert Oatley Shiraz South Australia
This line of wines, founded by 80-year-old Robert Oatley, who originated the Rosemount Estate brand, marks a return to U.S. soil from the Australian impresario. A selection of varietals — Chardonnay, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, a Cabernet-Merlot blend, and a Sangiovese Rose — are being made available, all with an avowed “modern” approach to…
