Mike's Shandy Hard Lemonade and Lager Review

The weather is perfect for an ice cold shandy right now, but I just wish I knew about this earlier in the year when the summer was starting. Still, better late than never.

Mike's Shandy comes in 355 mL cans and is available in packs of 6 or 12 at The Beer Store for $11.75 and $21.95, respectively, and it is out NOOOOOOW (or has been out for some time depending on when you are reading this).

So, the taste! Well, the aroma is a bit raunchy at first, but if you give it a moment or two, you will pick out 2 distinct notes - beer (OK, some grains) and lemon. Give it a taste and you will find that the two notes continue on. At first the taste was also raunchy but I soldiered on and after a third of the can, it grew a little bit on me, but I do have a few things to say.

The marriage between the beer and the lemon juice is not quite there yet. Mike's Shandy has a bright future, but right now I don't think the right type of beer, or lemon juice has been picked. I found that quite often the two flavours battled for dominance rather than compliment one another. I think with such strong lemon flavour, the beer base should have been a hefe or something similarly mellow. On the other hand, if Mike's insists on using a lager, then maybe the lemon should be dialed down a bit.

Aside from the balance issue, Mike's Shandy is super easy to drink, not too sweet and at 4.2% (I was expecting something a lot higher to be perfectly honest), you can keep on drinking these. The finish is very refreshing and feels like you just had a lemonade and not an alcoholic drink. I really enjoyed this at the end of the second can...very surprised. Definitely a good product, but not quite there yet for my taste.

If Mike's are reading this, try using a hefe as a base...or give me a call, I would love to drink a bunch of experimental brews for you guys...if they are free, of course.

Black Fly Beverages Review

Long Island Iced Tea

This one is lightly carbonated and surprisingly heavy on the tequila...and I love tequila. Shockingly, it is not very sweet. I kept drinking and expecting the sweetness to hit me, but it never happened. Yeah, I guess the claims are correct.

Anyways, back to the taste - the tequila is the heavier of the alcohols while the vodka takes a backseat. Normally long island iced teas also have gin, rum and triple sec, but in most you cannot tell the gin and rum are present...OK, maybe a bit of the rum. The triple sec really gives the beverage a touch of sweetness and an orange note, which this cocktail does have so I guess this one has been pulled off successfully.

Soon after the tequila comes a sour, and slightly sweet, lemon flavour which lingers well into the finish cleansing a good chunk of your palate after each sip and hiding traces of the booze very well. The coke (which is another standard ingredient) comes in the form of a caramel note towards the end.

I also got a bit of salt which comes immediately after the tequila. That came as a bit of a surprise, but it goes very well with the tequila.

Overall, a very decent pre-mixed long island iced tea, which yes, is not very sweet.

Vodka Cranberry

Well, the title should pretty much explain this one...also the color gives it away.

Or does it? When I first got a whiff of the drink from my glass I was expecting a strong cranberry note, but what I got instead was Sprite. Oh yeah - Sprite. Or maybe like the red Mountain Dew...with a little bit of vodka.

And does it taste like Sprite or Mountain Dew? Nope, it actually tastes like a strong vodka cranberry mix. The cranberry flavour comes in light both before and after the vodka hits you. After the vodka appears, the cranberry taste becomes very tart and dry as it should and helps the drink finish on a very refreshing note with lingering flavours.

The taste is light and comparable to mixing vodka, cranberry juice, club soda and some lemon/lime at home. I kinda liked it...I actually liked it very much. And if you don't normally add that much vodka to your mixed drinks, add a splash of cranberry juice to tone it down.

Nice!

Tequila Margarita

The beverage does look like a margarita with its hazy, pale lime green color. Poured in a blender with ice, and then blended gives it a picture perfect margarita look. I strongly recommend the blended approach, but if you are feeling lazy, drink it out of the bottle.

Black Fly's aroma is very inviting with salty, lime and tequila infused scent. The taste is pretty solid, in fact, better than the Jose Cuervo Golden Margarita we reviewed a while ago. The cocktail is salty with a strong tequila lime punch which develops into a very sour and refreshing finish with a warming tequila sensation.

There is very little sweetness at first, but with time, it does start to build up. I do not recommend drinking more than a few of these unless you are planning on ending your night prematurely.

The saltiness adds another dimension to this drink, one that could not have been achieved with the Jose Cuervo if your glass wasn't salt rimmed.

Overall, this is a pretty decent margarita cocktail which I recommend if you are feeling too lazy to make your own.

Vodka Citrus

And last, but not least - Black Fly's Vodka Citrus. Vodka citrus is one of my favourive mixed drinks and I make it as so - 1 part vodka, 1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice. That's it. At these proportions you will not taste any of the vodka, but your stomach will probably pay a hefty price with all that acid you are ingesting.

Now, onto the beverage. The aroma tells me that there is a lot more than just lemon - like lime and maybe some orange here and there. The flavour is refreshing, and yes, it mostly consists of lemon and lime...with some boozy vodka notes here and there. There is a bit of sweetness to balance out the sourness, but it lays low at the start and does truly emerge until you are half way into a bottle.

This is a simple beverage, but it is extremely refreshing and will get you good. I liked this one the most so I strongly recommend it.

Weekend Tastings - Ugly Beer cans and Shandys

The title says it all, yes, I am trying a beer that caught my eye because of its ugly label. Well, it worked. What also caught my eye was the Hockley 100 and Rickard's Shandy that were sitting beside it. Who says you have to make an attractive label when this ugly one got me to buy this product.

Old Style Pilsner

So lets start off with the ugly can, because...well...you are probably most interested in it. Before I get into the beer, I have to say one thing - this beer is made by Molson! This isn't a small mom and pop shop (err...brewery) brew, this is something made by a giant corporation.

So the label is ugly, so what? You know what is not ugly? The price! That's right, this beer was only $1.90, which is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest tall boy you can get at the LCBO, it is even about the same price as a PBR.

The beer itself has a pale straw color and pours with a bubbly head that recedes very quickly to a thin ring around the glass. The aroma is typical of such macrobrews - sweet and malty with a hint of adjuncts. The taste is what I was expecting - malty, very sweet, some adjuncts and boozy. Tastes a lot like a regular Molson, except a little sweeter I think. Over time a grassy taste builds up as well as an odd sweetness at the back of my throat.

I wasn't disappointed by this one, but I wasn't expecting much so...you know it is drinkable and some may enjoy it, but...blaaaaargh. Even if I wanted to have more than one, the sweetness will easily stop me.

Taste - 4/10
ABV - 5%

Hockley 100

Here is another light beer for the hot summer nights...except that this one tastes like sweet malt water with some adjuncts tossed in there. The aroma is veeery strong with a lot of sweet malt and butter. The flavour is similar, but with more of the buttery flavour and the finish is more of the same.

I like Hockley, but this just isn't a good brew. Sorry guys. But hey, on the plus side there is no nasty build up of any flavours like the beer above.

Taste - 4/10
ABV - 4.3%

Rickard's Shandy

Sooo, saving best for last? Best by comparison to the previous two.

The beer is slightly hazy (from the lemonade I assume) and pours with a lingering bubbly head. The aroma is strong and veeerry lemony. You can tell there are lemons in this thing from miles away (OK, like many, many centimeters). Also a little bit of sweet malt pokes from underneath.

The taste is disappointingly light and mediocre. The aroma led me to believe I was going to get a lot of lemons and some beer, but what I got instead was a watery beer taste at the start with a light lemon flavour. The finish is refreshing with the medium length lemon notes...and some sweet malt. Overall the beer is light and easy to drink, but the aroma was so misleading. I can see this being hugely improved by squeezing half a lemon in the beer.

Taste - 5.5/10
ABV - 4.5%

Crazy Uncle Basil, Honey & Lime Daiquiri Review

Just in time for the hot summer weather comes the next Crazy Uncle, except this time instead of trying to warm you up this premixed cocktail is trying to cool you off.

I know that many of you did not like the Christmasy Crazy Uncle Blood Orange Rosemary Maple Punch, but this is a completely different monster. Before you even consider buying this beverage, I do have to state that both the aroma and the taste are heavy on the basil so if you are not a fan, do not get this.

OK, so basil fans, read on. As I mentioned, the aroma is heavy on the basil, but a nice lime undertone is present. Take a sip and right away you will get a huge burst of basil, some honey and lime, which is probably the longest lasting and most intense flavour once the basil dies down a bit (it never truly dies, but it just gets overpowered by the lime). OK, now, here comes the bad part - the nasty medicine taste. No worries it only comes for a few brief moments until the lime takes over the flavour again. And also, the medicine taste came at random times because the first cocktail I had didn't have much of it, but the second one had some. Third one...not so much. Also, drink it cold and you will not feel any of the alcohol in the flavour, you also may not get the medicine taste (I haven't fully confirmed this yet), drink is warm or just a little chilled and you will sense the roughness.

As many other premixed cocktails, this one is sweet and the more you drink of it, the sweeter the taste gets until it becomes a little too unbearable and not from the drink being too sweet, but also by the fact that there will be a sugary headache hell to pay later (some extra lime or lemon does cut the sweetness down).

Overall, I enjoyed this a little more than the initial version, but I think that if you have the ingredients, you can probably create a more balanced and better tasting mix at home. For the lazy looking for a refreshment, I say give this one a shot (also I recommend you add some more lime or lemon and definitely use the rimmer).

Scores:
Cost - $18.95 from LCBO
Taste - 7.6/10
ABV - 14%

Overall - 7.6/10...basil, honey and lime....and some booze...some medicine...a lot of confusion

Squeezing Melons Vodka Beverage Review

Just about a year ago the LCBO introduced two Jaw Drop vodka beverages with pretty cool names - Puckering Punch and Sucking Lemons, which of course were sour. Now, there is a third one which bears the same eye-catching can design.

Squeezing melons (OK, for some reason I want to keep calling it squeezing lemons so every time you see the word "melons", know that it was "lemons" before realizing what I was doing) is bright pink in color and has a strong melon aroma...with a lot of vodka underneath.

The taste is similar with a decent punch of sour melon up front...and a lot of vodka trailing behind. The melon taste is very similar to that of a Jolly Rancher, which pleases me a lot. There is also the expected boat load of sweetness which accentuate the melon taste, but will probably give you a terrible headache if you had more than a couple of these bad boys.

Overall, this is an enjoyable pre-mixed drink, which is not overly sour, but does have a pretty decent punch to keep you satisfied. As many other similar drinks, the alcohol taste is strong so if you dislike that, I suggest getting a pre-mixed drink with a lower alcohol content.

Scores:

Cost - $2.95 from LCBO

Taste - 7/10

ABV - 7%

Overall - 7/10...like a Jolly Rancher soaked in vodka...with a shot of vodka

Mott's Clamato Caesar Original Review

I am a huge fan of Caesars (very similar to the thing that is called a Bloody Mary in the US) and I normally make them myself, but I just got a bit curious this weekend seeing the new can.

When I got home, I poured myself a tall glass, threw in a large celery stalk and took a sip. The pre-mixed cocktail is comparable to buying a bottle of Mott's Original Clamato and adding a shot or two of vodka, which is surprising because pre-mixed drinks, in my experience, are not very good. The drink is well balanced and the vodka doesn't bite as much as the spice does so if you don't like tasting the vodka, give this a shot.

For a plain Caesar, this is a pretty good drink right out of the can, but I recommend adding a few things to take it a notch higher - a few dashes of Worcestershire, Tabasco...and Cayenne???

Scores:
Cost - $2.90
Taste - 8.5/10

Overall - 8.5/10...surprisingly great tasting pre-mixed Caesar with a bite

Crazy Uncle Blood Orange Rosemary Maple Punch Review

This is a new LCBO release part of the Christmas specials and with a name like "Crazy Uncle" how can I resist buying it?

The bottle comes with a small packet filled with a blend of cinnamon, sugar and some other spices to be used as a rimmer. I decided to do this the proper way and poured the contents of the packet onto a plate. With a small lime wedge I used the rimmer and poured myself a glass.

The drink has a very strong rosemary with a sweet blood orange undertone. The taste is very herbal with a nice orange base. The sweetness builds up and there is a strong alcoholic note with with every sip. The finish is warm and sweet yet refreshing with a lingering orange note. Overall this is a pretty decent pre-mixed drink and with its herbal character it might be a good Christmas drink.

Scores:
Cost - $17.95
Taste - 7.5/10
ABV - 14%

Overall - 7.5/10...pretty decent pre-mixed drink

American Vintage Hard Iced Tea with lemon Review

Last week I got a small package with a bunch of American Vintage Hard Iced Tea samples (wow, that was a mouthful) and I thought that tonight might be a great time to try one and cool off. 

Before pouring the can into a glass, I spent some time examining the label, reading the ingredients list and the rest of the text on the can. After I was done I poured myself a nice glass and was surprised to discover how much this resembled real iced tea. The beverage had a brownish color and poured with just a thin foam film and no carbonation. 

The aroma is of freshly brewed and lightly sweetened iced tea with a twist of lemon. The alcohol does not jump out and goes almost undetected until you go for a sip. Iced tea starts off the taste, but the alcohol comes shortly after and becomes dominant for a brief moment. 

The alcohol taste is truly unique and to be honest it is something that some people may not enjoy. The first time the alcohol hit my tongue, I thought I was tasting some rum, but after a second examination of the label, I confirmed that what I was tasting was nowhere near the taste of real rum. The alcohol comes from malt, which is the same basic ingredient found in beers, however, in this tea the malt tasted a bit differently. The second sip was a bit more different and I got more of the tea taste than the malt, which made me like it a bit more. The third and subsequent sips also showed more tea than malt. 

What I really liked about this drink was its finish. It is a bit dry, but it does have a lot of the lemon and tea goodness. After consuming a can I was still on the fence with this one. The iced tea part is fantastic, but I cannot say for sure that the malt part works 100%. This is a beverage that you will probably either love or hate.

Scores:

Cost - unsure

Taste - 6.5/10

ABV - 5%

Overall - 6.5/10...great iced tea flavour with a rather unique malt taste...a love it or hate it beverage

Puckering Punch Vodka Beverage Review

Besides Sucking Lemons, Jaw Drop brought a second vodka beverage to the shelves of LCBO. The beverage comes in the same eye catching can.

For those wondering, the contents of the can are the same color as the hands on the can. The drink smells like a generic, sour fruit punch with almost no vodka smell. This drink is more up my alley than Sucking Lemons. It starts off with a nice sour-ish punch with minimal vodka taste and transitions to a sweet/sour fruit punch taste with a bit more vodka taste coming out towards the end.

The aftertaste is more alcoholic than the taste, but the vodka flavour doesn't last very long as the sourness takes over. As I mentioned before, I like this better than Sucking Lemons. I think I will get a few more of these next time I am too lazy to mix drinks.

Scores:
Cost - $2.95
Taste - 7.5/10
ABV - 7%

Overall - 7.5/10...more sour than Sucking Lemons with minimal Vodka taste

Sucking Lemons Vodka Beverage Review

You can figure out why I bought this...if you can't, just take a look at the can.

That worked like a homing beacon for me. I was walking fast through the isles carrying my bottle of Robust Porter to the register when something bright in the corner of my made me stop and look. Yep, I bought a can.

So does it live up to its name? I will make it quick and painless - it doesn't. Instead of the strong citric taste I was expecting, I got a sweet lemon juice with a mild vodka flavour. OK, there is a bit of sourness, but it wasn't as much as I had expected. I really wanted this to be similar to a half and half vodka cocktail I make where I squeeze a lemon or two and add a lot of vodka. That cocktail is in the 20's and does not taste like vodka at all. Give me a few of those and I am done for the night.

However, this vodka beverage can be saved one of two ways - squeeze in a lemon or two...or just add in some lemon juice if you are way too lazy or don't have lemons.

To those who make this drink - if you are reading this, please release a version 2.0, "Sucking More Lemons" (also, please credit me) which is packed with lemons or citric acid. I would love it.

Scores:
Cost - $2.95
Taste - 6.5/10
ABV - 7%

Overall - 6.5/10...not as lemony as I expected

Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum and Cola Review

Here is a new pre-mixed drink that recently appeared on the shelves of the local LCBO - spiced rum & cola. I love spiced rum and cola so I definitely had to try this. If I like it, I might just get a bottle of Bacardi's Oakheart and add it to my large Kraken collection.

The drink pours extremely fizzy and keeps on bubbling for a while. The aroma is sweet with hints of vanilla and cinnamon...and cola of course. The taste is a bit off balance and has a very strong rum flavour, however, it is one of the few premixed cola drinks that actually has a decent cola taste. Vanilla notes are present from the start while the cinnamon appears shortly after, but the main spiced character does not show up until well after the finish. The aftertaste has cola-like sourness and gives you the same mouth dryness, but the rum adds way too much sweetness. I can see myself getting sick after a couple of these, but at least the cola taste is one of the better ones I have had the pleasure of trying.

I still may buy Bacardi's Oakheart to try making my own spiced rum and cola drink with it.

Scores:

Cost - $2.70 for a can

Taste - 7/10

ABV - 7%

Overall - 7/10...great cola taste, but needs some balancing

Canadian Club Mixed & Ready Cola Review

When I was in Australia late last year, I saw a whole bunch of pre-mixed whiskey/scotch/bourbon and coke drinks you could buy from any convenience and liquor store. It was their thing I guess, much like you could find Smirnoff Ice and various other vodka-based coolers. Well, something that I saw there was recently introduced here at the LCBO - Canadian Club Mixed & Ready Cola. It was weird seeing a Canadian brand alcoholic beverage sold in Australia but not here...at least not in Ontario. But no more!

Like any other pre-mixed whiskey and coke product, this one has the typical generic coke scent with a note of whiskey hidden among all the sweetness. The taste is pretty good and comparable to mixing Pepsi, and not Coke, with a bit of whiskey. Why do I say Pepsi? Because this is more sweet and more comparable to a Pepsi than it is to a Coke. The sweetness is a bit too much for me, but if you like sugary pre-mixed drinks and whiskey, then you might enjoy this. Also, I think Canadian Club could have done better and added some more of their fine whiskey for an extra layer of flavour. This is weak tasting, but still gives you a kick...thanks for the added "alcohol" (yes, read the label, one of the ingredients is "alcohol" and it appears right next to the other key ingredient - "Canadian Club").

The sweetness brings up something else - its continuous drinkability. What does that mean? Well, I cannot see myself drinking more than 1 of these in a session. Two will give me a headache for sure.

Overall, this beverage offers convenience, but to be honest, I would rather buy a small bottle of Canadian Club (a sampler if possible) and a can of Coke and mix them myself. If you feel lazy and you enjoy a bit of sweetness, then this is the drink for you...or perhaps you might want to check out the competition - Jack Daniel's Cola Whiskey.

Scores:
Cost - $2.95 for a can
Taste - 6.8/10
ABV - 6%

Overall - 6.8/10...sweet, headache inducing, convenient cocktail

Seagram 2012 Review

I bought this can a few weeks ago only because I could not tell what its contents were, which made me a little curious. The only thing that tipped me of as to what this might taste like was the ingredients list - vodka, rum, whiskey and gin among some other ingredients such as sugar. Well, I love all those things!

The beverage has a copper/amber/iced tea-like color and is just a touch hazy. The aroma is a mix of alcohols with rum being the dominant one, followed by the whiskey. The vodka and gin are almost not noticeable. From the non-alcoholic aromas, some caramel and an acidic note are present - not much there.

The taste is where the vodka appears and takes the lead. Rum starts you off, but within moments a strong vodka taste takes the lead. The taste is way too alcoholic and imbalanced to make this an enjoyable pre-mixed cocktail. The alcohols used clash and don't compliment the non-alcoholic ingredients and flavours...whatever they might be. Caramel, some lemon/lime and a tiny bit of apple were all the flavours I could sense, but they were all overpowered by the alcohol. Yes, this was a very difficult to drink cocktail and I don't think I can recommend it to anyone. Also, the drink is very sweet and you can really start to feel the headache coming towards the end of the can.

Seagram did an excellent job on the can, though. It got my eye and made me spend the $3.

Scores:
Cost - $2.95
Taste - 4/10
ABV - 6%

Overall - 4/10...clashing flavours and too alcoholic

Urb'n'lili Cosmocran Review

Among the hundreds of beer reviews on this site, there are a handful of pre-mixed cocktail reviews as well as the occasional wine and hard liquor review. I rarely get coolers and when I do, they are for guests or for my girlfriend and I usually don't bother reviewing them. This one, however, is an exception because I couldn't get over its premium price of almost $14 for a 4 pack of 300 mL plastic bottles.

Sure, it looks like a lot of thought and money went into the design of the bottle, the label and the marketing, but I just could not get over its high price. For $14 I can make my own coolers because I already have some of the ingredients. The only thing I would need is a 200 mL bottle of vodka, which retails for less than $10 and perhaps a fresh bottle of juice. If I were to get frozen one, I could save a few dollars. With that in mind, I stole a bottle from the fridge and set it aside for a later review.

The cocktails smells a lot like a spiked energy drink with some cranberries. It is non-carbonated, which makes it easy to drink and doesn't make you feel bloated or want to burp every few sips. I can see how this might appeal to a certain demographic.

The taste is sort of mellow until you feel the 7% ABV which makes it a bit harsh. There is a pleasant white grape flavour with some cranberries, but I cannot get over the vodka harshness. I think this would have tasted much better if the percentage was brought down a bit, or if other ingredients were used that could neutralize the vodka taste.

Finish is pretty smooth, until the vodka gets its turn, and a nice green tea note can be detected. Unfortunately, since one of the main ingredients is sugar, there is a build up of sweetness that tells me "don't have another one or you will regret it" half way through the first bottle.

This cocktail is OK, but it is nothing worth picking up over your regular 4 pack of coolers/cocktails for less than $10 for a few reasons - it is all marketing, it is an extra $4, it is just as sweet. If I were to remake this cocktail, I would eliminate the added sugar and lower the vodka percentage to something that would not interfere with the taste. That way, I can probably get people to drink more of these thus buy more of these. These are my $0.02.

Scores:
Cost - $13.95
Taste - 5.5/10
ABV - 7%

Overall - 5.5/10...the scores is heavily influenced by the price and the lack of something original

Black Fly Tequila Margarita Review

Following our themed party from a few weekends ago, I decided to start trying more of these pre-mixed party cocktails the LCBO has. What better way to start the long line of reviews than to review one of Black Fly's new drinks - the Tequila Margarita.

First off, I apologize for not taking a photo of the pack this beverage comes in because I found it very appealing with its highly contrasting green, yellow and white colors. In my defense, the moment this pack arrived at our place, 3 of the 4 bottles were spoken for and immediately put into the freezer.

The beverage does look like a margarita with its hazy, pale lime green color. Poured in a blender with ice, and then blended gives it a picture perfect margarita look. I strongly recommend the blended approach, but if you are feeling lazy, drink it out of the bottle.

Black Fly's aroma is very inviting with salty, lime and tequila infused scent. The taste is pretty solid, in fact, better than the Jose Cuervo Golden Margarita we reviewed a few weeks ago. The cocktail is salty with a strong tequila lime punch which develops into a very sour and refreshing finish with a warming tequila sensation.

There is very little sweetness at first, but with time, it does start to build up. I do not recommend drinking more than a few of these unless you are planning on ending your night prematurely.

The saltiness adds another dimension to this drink, one that could not have been achieved with the Jose Cuervo if your glass wasn't salt rimmed.

Overall, this is a pretty decent margarita cocktail which I recommend if you are feeling too lazy to make your own.

Scores:
Cost - $10.95 for a 4 pack
Taste - 8/10
ABV - 7%

Overall - 8/10...the added salty touch brings this to the next level of pre-mixed cocktails

The Kraken Black Spiced Rum Review and Cocktails

About a month ago I bought a bottle of The Kraken, one of the very few black rums sold in Ontario. By the end of the day the bottle was gone and so were my hopes of reviewing it. Fortunately, one of the people who enjoyed the rum with me gave me a bottle for my birthday, so here is the review and a couple of cocktails I prepared.

The Rum

For a black rum, it has very deep amber, brown color with a strong rum aroma emanating. A swirl kills the alcoholic smell and brings out its spicy-sweet character. The mouth-feel is watery, but the flavor is there. It starts off sweet with some caramel and quickly changes to a spicy, oaky note. The finish is spicy, a bit earthy with quite a bit of toasted character. Though I am not a huge fan of drinking rum straight, but this one has enough character to justify pouring a couple of fingers.

The Cocktails

I came across the cocktail Dark and Stormy which is a mix of ginger beer and dark rum. I bought a bottle of Reed's Original Ginger Beer to put my spin on the recipe:

• 2 parts The Kraken black rum
• 6 parts ginger beer
• ice

I added a handful of ice to and measured out 2 oz of the rum. First off, I am not a huge fan of ginger beer, but the drink is pretty damn refreshing. I squeezed a lime wedge in which kicked up a notch and made this drink even better.

And for the second cocktail, I got myself a bottle of Reed's Spiced Apple Ginger Beer, which I mixed with the rum in the exact same proportions. Now, this is a cocktail. I absolutely loved this twist to the Dark and Stormy. It made the cocktail taste like apple pie which made it very enjoyable to drink. I strongly recommend this cocktail.

Scores:
Cost - $29.95
Taste - rum - 8/10, Dark and Stormy - 8.1/10, Spiced Apple Dark and Stormy - 9/10
ABV - 47%

Overall - up to 9/10...I loved the spiced apple cocktail and strongly recommend it

Jose Cuervo Golden Margarita Mix Review

Last weekend we had a Mexican themed party with a whole lot of margaritas, tequila, tacos, cultural decorations and a piñata. The margaritas were, of course, made on the spot with all the proper tools and ingredients, but one of the guests brought over a pre-mixed margarita cocktail which came in handy at the end of the night when we were out of tequila and limes. Fast forward a week later and rummaging through the fridge I came across a half full bottle of Jose Cuervo Golden Margarita. Perfect! After a quick photo I sat down and took some sober to half-sober notes.

The Plain Mix

The first thing I did was pour myself a glass of just the mix with some ice cubes to see what it tastes like. I actually forgot whether or not I liked this last weekend since I had it at the end of a very long night.

Off the bat you get a strong tequila aroma with some sweet and sour notes. The taste is similar with an obvious tequila dominance followed by some lime and sweet citrus notes from the added Grand Marnier. This would have been great had it not been for the meddling artificial taste of citrus added to spice things up. The good thing is that the artificial taste is there for brief moments because the alcohol does overpower it and once you swallow the drink, it all goes away and the only thing left is the strong lime aftertaste with a sweet undertone and a faint tequila taste.

But I was not happy here so I had to kick things up a notch.

The Improved Margarita

I took out the blender and put two handfuls of large ice cubes followed by a decent pour of the pre-mixed cocktail. I turned the blender on and blended everything for a good minute. The resulting slush is a bit more realistic and just a touch better...maybe it was because I was feeling the effects of the 12.7% from the plain glass I had earlier.

I was still not very happy so the only thing I could think of was...well...adding more tequila, ice and fresh lime juice to the mix. I added a nice splash of tequila and squeezed a small lime followed by another handful of ice. Another minute in the blender and things were tasting much better. The added lime kick seemed to almost mask the artificial taste and the extra tequila gave it a nice kick. I added a lime wedge to my glass and squeezed one in for a good measure. Now this was a great tasting cocktail!

So in short, the pre-mix is OK, but adding tequila, some fresh lime juice, ice and blending everything will make you a pretty cheap, yet great tasting margarita. If you cannot afford a large bottle of tequila and all the other ingredients, get a bottle of Jose Cuervo Golden Margarita, a small bottle of tequila and a couple of limes for a total of about $25...maybe much less if you live outside of the province of Ontario.

Scores:
Cost - $16.00
Taste - 7.5/10 for the plain mix, 9.5/10 for the improved cocktail
ABV - 12.7% starting

Overall - 7.5/10 to 9.5/10...depending on which one you go for

Jack Daniel's Iced Tea Whiskey Beverage Review

Today I am feeling like something different, which is why I am cracking open a 4 pack of Jack Daniel's Iced Tea Whiskey Beverage. I got the 4 pack from the sale rack at an LCBO for 20% off, which brought it under $8. The last time I tried a beverage from this Jack Daniel's line, I rather liked it, so I am looking forward to trying this one.

The iced tea beverage looks like an iced tea when poured in a clear glass, which is a great start. From afar you can tell that there is booze in this iced tea due to the strong whiskey smell. Once you get past the whiskey scent, you can detect some earthy, tea notes. The taste is pretty solid. You get an initial unsweetened tea taste, followed by some sweetness and whiskey at the end. Yeah, it does sound weird, but the start of the drink is much like unsweetened iced tea. The finish is a blend of sweet, earthy iced tea and whiskey. The sweetness does build up over time and you will probably have problems finishing the 4 pack in a single sitting unless you really stretch the sitting. Overall, I also enjoyed this beverage, but I think I much prefer the taste of Jack and Coke.

Scores:
Cost - $8 for a 4 pack on sale, or $9.95 regular
Taste - 8.2/10
ABV - 6%

Overall - 8.2/10...a solid pre-mixed drink

Martini Bianco Review and my first infusion

I always keep a couple of bottles of Martini at my house in case I want to make a Martini or a Manhattan. It is always sweet and dry, but I never stock on other Martini products. Once per year I grab a bottle of Bianco for some easy sipping, but I don't bother reviewing it...or any of the other Martini products that I have, in fact. This time is different. I am only going to add a short review and move onto something more important - my first infusion.

The Review

The Martini products are very cheap at the LCBO stores in my province. I paid only $12.95 CAD for a 1 L bottle of Martini Bianco. The back of the label suggests a cocktail, but I will not try it as this is not the focus of this post.

This fortified wine is almost colorless except for its very pale champagne tone. The aroma is composed of notes of ginger, some citrus and herbs, very aromatic. The taste is sweet with hints of vanilla, ginger, some sweet fruits and a very light touch of quinine. The finish is medium and bitter with a brief quinine appearance. I can see why the label suggests mixing this with some tonic water. I think it would also go well with some ginger ale. But that's for another time, lets move onto the infusion.

The Infusion

I wrote this post over the course of several days as I wanted to infuse this vermouth for a longer period of time and try the product at each step of the way...well, once each day. Before I started the infusion, I had a small glass of this stuff for the review and to make some room for the ingredients.

Not having a zester handy, I used a small and very sharp knife to get the zest off a couple of large oranges. Once I had done that, I stuffed the oranges into the bottle and let it sit for a few minutes before I took the photo.


In it, you can see that some of the zest went to the bottom, but most of it remained at the surface. Once I was done taking some photos, I placed the bottle inside one of my corner cabinets, which provided it with both a cool and a very dark place.

Originally I decided to wait for a week, but I quickly changed my mind and thought it would be better to check the daily progress by having a few sips. Below is my short log.

Day 1


Some discoloration has occurred and almost all of the orange zest is now at the bottom. The Martini Bianco now has a strong orange aroma, similar to that of orange flavoured chocolates. There is a slight change in the taste from the orange zest in the form of sweet subtle orange undertone. Not bad for a one day infusion.

Day 2


The color has gotten only slightly darker from the zest. More of it is now at the bottom of the bottle and some there are some miniature specs floating in the vermouth. The orange aroma has gotten stronger and so has the taste. Some of the orange sour bite has found its way in the drink and gives the tongue an acidic jolt.

Day 3


Not much change in the color and the same amount of zest remains near the top. There is a very slight change in the aroma with the orange now overpowering the scent of the Bianco. The orange taste has gotten a bit stronger while the finish and aftertaste have changed dramatically. The finish is more refreshing and the taste of orange lingers for a while.

Day 4


Discoloration remains the same. The orange aroma has gotten even stronger and more overpowering. The orange taste has also gotten stronger. The finish and aftertaste are refreshing and very enjoyable. I liked today's aroma and taste which is why I chose to stop the infusion process. I used a simple metal strainer to get rid of the zest, but I noticed that there are some small orange particles suspended in the vermouth. I could have removed them using a finer filter, perhaps a coffee filter, but I thought that they will give the vermouth a bit more flavour. Some words of wisdom - slice the zest into thin strips if you are using a knife. Otherwise expect to spend several minutes fishing the larger pieces out of the bottle.

I had a glass of this straight and enjoyed it very much. In the near future I will try mixing it with something and I might decide to post the recipes, but at this point I am done with the post and the infusion.

If you decide to try your own infusion, send me an e-mail with the results and I will post your story on the blog.

Jack Daniels Cola Whiskey Beverage Review

Well look what we have here. It is one of my favorite drinks already mixed for me. Wait, I have fallen into this trap before - premixed drinks. They rarely turn out to be great or even decent. So what do I get for $3.25 CAD other than a cool looking 473 mL can?

The drink does have the typical Jack and Coke aroma and surprisingly it is more whiskey based than coke based. Whoa! The taste is pretty awesome. It actually tastes like a Jack and Coke that I made myself at home. The taste of whiskey is quite strong so you know the kick will be good. The can contains 70.95 mL of Jack Daniel's Old No 7, which is about 2.4 fluid ounces or almost 2 and a half shots of Jack. The Coke doesn't taste cheap either, but it doesn't quite taste like a Coca Cola. OK, so, for a premixed drink this is pretty good, but is it worth it? I think so. If I were to buy a 750 mL bottle of the Old No 7, I would have to spend $29.45 and that can make me about 10.5 drinks. In addition, I would have to spend at least $5 on Coke so for a total of around $34 I can make myself 10.5 drinks. And how much would I have to spend on 10.5 premixed Jack and Cokes - $34.12. OK, not really $34.12, but more like $32.50 if I go for 10 or $35.75 if I buy 11. Not a bad deal, eh? This premixed drink costs about the same as buying the individual ingredients. Would the final result be better if you made it yourself? Perhaps because you can always double up on the alcohol content of the beverage.

Scores:
Cost - $3.25 CAD for a 473 mL can
Taste - 9/10

Overall - 9/10...I love Jack and Cokes and this fantastic