Review: Platte Valley Moonshine
The Platte Valley can be found in Missouri (and thereabouts), far away from the moonshinin’ capital of the world, Appalachia. Don’t tell that to McCormick distilling — makers of the well-known, eco-friendly 360 Vodka. Among other spirits, McCormick also makes Platte Valley Moonshine (“a true expression of the south… since 1856”), too. This is a 100%…
Review: Anchor Distilling Christmas Spirit White Whiskey 2014
Last year San Francisco’s Anchor Distilling released a limited-edition, Christmas-focused white whiskey called White Christmas. This year it’s back, (cleverly) renamed Christmas Spirit. As with White Christmas, this year Anchor has double distilled last year’s 2013 Christmas Ale and turned into into an unaged whiskey. The ale is different every year, so the whiskey should follow suit,…
The Spice Lab Brings Color to Cocktail Rims
Salt-rimmed margaritas (or salt-rimmed anything, really) may be currently out of favor, but here’s one idea if you want to bring the trend back at your home bar: Use colored salts instead of boring old white ones. The Spice Lab, which markets over 180 types of sea salt alone, has recently launched three sea salts designed…
Review: The London No. 1 Gin
The world of gin is awash in numbers. There is Tanqueray No. Ten. Beefeater 24. Monkey 47. No. 3. No. 209. And London 40. Now the numismatics are coming full circle, with The London No. 1. This gin is produced in England but under the ownership of the Spanish comany Gonzalez Byass, best known for its…
Review: Cascade Ice Zero-Calorie Mixers
Mixers are getting a bad rap of late, what with all the added sugar and extra calories they add to your glass. Here’s a new brand of no-cal, flavored, sparkling waters: Cascade Ice Zero-Calorie Sparkling Water. They all contain pear juice — but not enough to give the drinks a single calorie, about 1% —…
Review: Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic Water
For its latest trick, top-shelf mixer maker Fever-Tree is bringing forth a tonic water — its third expression, if you don’t include the diet version it also sells. As the name implies, Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic Water is an elderflower-infused tonic water, made with Fever-Tree’s typically high-end ingredients, including cane sugar and natural quinine. For those who…
Review: Hochstadter’s Slow & Low Rock and Rye
Rock & Rye is coming back into vogue as a cocktail, and that’s probably just fine with the folks at Hochstadter’s, who are bottling a premade version of the cocktail called Slow & Low Rock and Rye. (The producer is the same company behind St. Germain, among other recent classics.) Hochstadter’s takes rye whiskey and flavors it…
Review: Uncle Val’s Restorative Gin
Does this bottle look familiar? Does the name sound familiar, too? Ah, you’re probably thinking about Uncle Val’s Botanical Gin, which we reviewed upon release in 2012. Uncle Val’s Restorative Gin offers a somewhat different formulation. In lieu of juniper, cucumber, lemon, sage, and lavender — the key ingredients in Botanical — Restorative offers juniper,…
