Review: Perc Fresh Brewed Coffee Liqueur
Our friends at Vermont’s Saxtons River Distillery don’t just work with maple syrup, they also like coffee. Freshly brewed beans are the order of the day with Perc, a Kahlua alternative that’s artisanally made from locally roasted and cold-brewed Arabica beans instead of mass-produced. Results: Lightly sweetened, the sugar helps cut the richness of the…
Review: Italian Wines from The Order of Malta, 2014 Releases
The Order of Malta. The Knights of the White Cross. There’s a whole lot of mystery from the get-go with this collection of Italian wines, all of which bear the distinct white-on-red, stylized, squared-off cross on their labels… but which reveal nothing about what that insignia means. What’s it all about? The Sovereign Order of…
Review: Bandit Chardonnay and Merlot
You’ve seen these brightly colored Tetra Pak wine canisters before, and probably never gave them a second thought. Wine in a plastic-and-cardboard box? Where’s the romance of that? Sure, Bandit isn’t aiming to replace Screaming Eagle in your cellar, but these extremely inexpensive wines do serve a purpose, besides being cheap. The containers are less wasteful,…
Review: Angry Orchard Green Apple Hard Cider
Why are these apples so mad? I guess because Angry Orchard is squeezing them into cider. The company’s latest offering is Green Apple, made from apples grown in Washington state. The attack is brisk and tart, recalling indeed a real green apple. What’s left behind after that crisp apple character fades is a sort of…
Recipe: 2014 Kentucky Derby Cocktails
For Kentuckians, having horses take 2 minutes to fly around a track at great speed is reason enough to celebrate for roughly two weeks leading up to the main event. This of course, can lead to a large consumption of mint juleps. That can get tiresome, believe it or not, so here are some twists for…
Review: Skyy Infusions Vanilla Bean Vodka
“Vodka infused with vanilla bean and other natural flavors,” so you really are getting real vanilla in this latest flavored vodka from Skyy. The nose isn’t so much vanilla bean as it is vanilla cake frosting. One whiff gave me flashbacks of my son’s 8th birthday party. With vanilla, what are you gonna do, I…
Review: Sapling Vermont Maple Liqueur and Maple Bourbon
Maple syrup continues to grow as a cocktail trend, and enterprising Vermonters are using it directly to make their own spirits. Enter Sapling, aka Saxtons River Distillery in Brattleboro, Vermont, which produces a maple syrup liqueur and a maple-infused Bourbon. (There’s also a maple-infused Rye, not reviewed here.) All are made with Grade A Vermont…
Review: Beers of Peak Organic Brewing Company
West coast readers can be forgiven for never having heard of Peak. The brewery is based in Maine, about as far from our shores as you can get. Things are changing, though, and Peak is making its way west. As part of its expansion to Northern California, we got to sample six of Peak’s (many) brews.…
