Review: Melvin Brewing Juice Theorem IPA
Melvin‘s latest is a mostly clear IPA that’s supposed to be “just as juicy” as a hazy IPA. On that front, it’s mission sort-of accomplished. This is nowhere near as flavorful as the best hazy IPAs on the market, coming across with a rather heavy muddiness and more of a vegetal note than a fruity,…
Review: Blood Oath Bourbon Whiskey Pact 7 2021
The always intriguing Blood Oath series continues with this, its seventh annual release: Blood Oath Pact 7 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. As has been the case in previous years, it’s a blend of Kentucky bourbons, all rye-heavy recipes, including a 14-year old bourbon, an 8-year old bourbon, and (the twist for 2021) an 8-year old…
Review: 2019 Poggio Anima Belial and Uriel
Poggio Anima is “a collection of various Italian native varietals representing four regions in Italy, typifying the cultural heartbeat of each area. The brand name translates to ‘Hill of Soul’ and personifies the individual vineyards cultivated for each bottle,” each of which are personified as crazy, pagan demons. (The white wines are named after archangels…
Review: Booker Wines 2018 My Favorite Neighbor and 2019 Harvey & Harriet
Based in Paso Robles, Booker Wines is a top-shelf operator with a quirky sensibility. Under the leadership of owner-winemaker Eric Jensen, the winery produces unusual bottlings that bear the winery’s name only in fine print on the back label. Evocative branding positions each of the two wines we’re looking at as unique bottlings, and as…
Review: Chairman’s Reserve Legacy Rum
The latest edition in the St. Lucia-based Chairman’s Reserve Rum series is this, simply called Legacy, a blend of rums from Chairman’s two pot stills from John Dore and Vendome as well as its Coffey column still. It includes both traditional molasses-based rums and sugarcane juice rum made entirely from its Roseau estate and fermented…
Review: NV Chandon Brut and Brut Rose
The venerable Chandon sparkling wine brand recently redesigned its bottles for the first time in 60 years, with an “eye-catching new vertical label design that captures the quality and craftsmanship inherent of our sparkling wines.” It doesn’t appear that anything in production has changed significantly, but it turns out we’ve never reviewed the standard Chandon…
Review: DayPack Premium Hop Seltzers, Complete Lineup
Hops are flowering plants that are used most commonly in beer that provides the signature bitter profile. To break it down even further, the whole flower provides these essential flavorings whereas the oil provides a more accentuated bitterness akin to citrus and pine. And lately they have been appearing in flavored seltzers. That brings us…
A Visit to Urban South Brewery HTX – Houston
After tasting the wild, fruited sours of Urban South HTX, I knew I needed to pay these madmen a visit the next time I made it to Texas. Well, the opportunity recently presented itself in the form of my first “real” vacation, a week in my hometown of Houston. Urban South HTX — the Houston…
