Reviewing Gluten-Free Beer: Coors Peak Golden Lager and Copper Lager
Despite the science, the “gluten-free” movement still refuses to go away, so that sea of footnotes indicating glutenlessness continues to mar restaurant menus, and gluten-free alternatives to regular products continue to line grocery shelves. Including gluten-free beer. Beer is traditionally made from barley, which is loaded with gluten, so making a beer without gluten presents some thorny…
Review: Cocktail & Sons Fassionola Syrup (2016)
Fassionola is an old school tiki syrup, blood red in color, made from who-knows-what back in the 1920s. The idea was probably a lot like grenadine: Give a drink some bright red color, and in this case, a punch of sugar, too. Some authorities have compared old scchool fassionola to syrupy Hawaiian Punch. There’s no evidence…
Review: The Traveler Beer Co. IPA Shandy
Bottled shandies shouldn’t be difficult — it’s just beer and lemonade — and yet it’s surprisingly tough to find a really good one on the market. The Traveler Beer Co. — which already has three lackluster shandies on the market — finally cracked the code with this version, which blends IPA with real grapefruit juice…
Tasting the Wines of Lodi’s Mokelumne Glen Vineyard, 2016 Releases
Now this is a rarity: A tasting organized based not on producer but on vineyard… and not just any vineyard, a specific vineyard in California’s Lodi region known for producing, of all things, German varietals. Mokelumne Glen spans 26 acres but is home to more than 40 cultivars, some only a represented by a few…
Review: Captive Spirits Big Gin Peat Barreled and Barrel Reserve
Seattle-based Captive Spirits makes one thing and one thing only: gin, and lots of it. The company recently expanded its Big Gin line from two to a total of four expressions. The line now includes one standard bottling and three barrel aged versions. Just added, a “peat barreled” version, which is rested in peated whiskey casks, and…
Review: Wines of Chateau Tourril, 2016 Releases
A new arrival to the U.S. market, Chateau Tourril is a Languedoc-based winery based in Minervois. The operation relies primarily on traditional Rhone Valley grapes, though you’ll need to check the back label to see what’s inside each bottle: Tourril has a fanciful name for each of its bottlings that has nothing to do with…
Review: Sangre de Vida Tequila and Mezcal, Complete Lineup
So here’s the story. I hope I have all the facts correct. In 2009, Grace Kim Brandi founded of L.A.-based Elements Spirits, which makes KAH Tequila and packages it in unmistakable skull decanters, hand painted to honor the Mexican Dia de los Muertos. Elements was sued by the people that make Crystal Head Vodka, which…
Review: 2014 The Clambake Unoaked Chardonnay Mendocino
This is a pleasant Mendocino chardonnay, unaged in oak, in the traditional style of Mendocino and Anderson County. Surprisingly creamy at first, the wine quickly segues into strong citrus, some tropical notes, and a dusting of rosemary and sage on the finish. Nicely balanced but a tad herbal on its own, it pairs particularly well with…
