September 30, 2005
Godiva Chocolate Liqueur: Decadent Buzz
We've heard about Godiva chocolates, and apparently they're supposed to be good or something. We wouldn't know...most of our chocolate comes in the form of those little edible shot glasses. But we've recently discovered Godiva chocolate liqueur, and it's going to have us bouncing off the walls like drunken Oompa Loompas. It comes in three flavors - regular chocolate, white chocolate and cappuccino - and apparently it's as much of a taste sensation as the regular boxed chocolates.
We found a few interesting recipes, but we'll be going to bed tonight with visions of chocolate martinis dancing in our heads.
Godiva Chocolate Martini
1 oz. Godiva Liqueur
1 oz. Vodka of your choice
Shake or stir. Pour in a martini glass.
Read more at the Godiva website.
September 30, 2005
Refill Your Drink by Email with Smart Coaster
Last week we told you about Kegbot, a nifty kegerator contraption with a computer built in. Not to be outdone, German scientists have developed an electronic drink coaster that knows when a glass is nearly empty and automatically asks for a refill. Getting a drink refill by email? O brave new world that has such beer coasters in it!
Andreas Butz at the University of Munich and Michael Schmitz from Saarland University came up with the idea while out drinking with their students.
The disc-shaped mat can be attached to a normal beer mat so that it still soaks up spilt liquid and displays an advertisement. But it also contains a pressure sensor and radio transmitter to alert bar staff of the need for a refill.
The device weighs 110 grams and costs $100 to make, but Butz and Schmitz think the weight and cost would shrink if the mat were to be mass-produced.
Learn more at
New Scientist.
September 30, 2005
Tuaca Liqueur Review On Its Way
Yesterday, we covered the new Tuaca website, but we realized that we don't know much about the drink itself. Sure, the site says it's a "super-premium Italian liqueur with a hint of citrus and vanilla," and after some digging we discovered that it's brandy-based.
We've heard good things about Tuaca, but the truth is in the drinking, so we got our hands on a bottle. This weekend we're going to put it to the real test, starting with a chilled shot and working our way from there.
Please let us know if you've got a favorite Tuaca recipe that we should try, and don't forget to go to Tuaca.com to find more cocktail recipes. While you're there, check out their featured "Tuaca Tenders," where you can read bartender profiles and submit a favorite 'tender of your own.
September 30, 2005
Liquor Lock Keeps Your Booze Safe
Keep would-be liquor thieves at bay with the Liquor Lock, a combination lock system you attach to the neck of your bottles. If you don't have a liquor cabinet, it can be tough to make sure no one's mooching your hooch, and marking the level on the bottle gets old really fast. Keep the kids (or your roommates) out of your liquor bottles easily...just enter a three-pin combination, then turn the top clockwise until the lock expands and is tight. Re-enter the combination and turn counter-clockwise to release.
You can get the Liquor Lock at Sportys.com for about $15, but if it keeps people from stealing your booze it should pay for itself pretty quickly. We also saw a similar bottle lock featured by the good folks over at ProductDose.
September 30, 2005
IceOlate Cools Drinks With No Dilution
Let's face it...there's nothing better than a drink in a chilled glass. If we had a meat locker-sized freezer, we could probably fit all the beer mugs and cocktail glasses we'd like to keep cold, but this isn't a perfect world. Sometimes we have to drink out of a regular old room temperature glass. That could change soon, with the arrival of IceOlate, a new drink cooling system we heard about this week.
Each IceOlate glass has a water-filled core at the center, so you can add ice to your drink without diluting it. We've seen glasses that operate on this principle before, but IceOlate adds a cool new twist. Instead of storing the entire glass in the freezer, the ice is stored in a small, removable plug. That means you can keep a bunch of them in the freezer while using minimal real estate, which you need for your bottles of frozen liquor. They only come in martini glass form right now, but maybe if they take off we'll see more types of glasses in the future.
It remains to be seen how well IceOlate actually chills your drink, but we think it's a pretty innovative idea. Learn more about IceOlate glasses at the Yanko Design website.
September 29, 2005
Tuaca Liqueur: Support Your Local Bartender
We learned today that Tuaca Liqueur has released a new website, and the site is visually pretty, with Flash content offering all sorts of colorful stuff and moving pictures. It's got some nice features, including the list of drink recipes that scrolls across the bottom of the home page. Another liquor site isn't usually something we flip our lids over, but we did find something that caught our eye. We think the coolest part is that there is a whole section of the site dedicated to bartenders.
The Tuaca press release about the new site states "Bartenders are the major reason for Tuaca's continuing success in the U.S. and abroad. They deserve to be recognized for their part, and consumers can go on the site in support of their favorite bartender." We think it's a brilliant tribute to the unsung heroes of the liquor industry - after all, they're the ones who give us beer to cry in, offer advice, and get us in a cab when the lights come up.
Plus, you can go to the Tuaca site to find out all kinds of recipes, but who's going to mix it up for you at the end of the day? Your friendly neighborhood booze jockey, that's who. The "Tuaca Tenders" section of the site features bartenders from all over the world, letting them share their favorite way to serve Tuaca. Pretty cool.
While this online "high five" for bartenders is right on, that's not the only way Tuaca is giving them props. The other way they're showing their appreciation is by inviting servers and bartenders to the Body Art Ball, a series of events taking place in 10 cities across the country, from October, 2005 through January, 2006.
Here's how the Tuaca press release describes the event: "...a fusion of two separate disciplines of art into one electrifying performance piece. Produced by Dallas-based Chris and Candy Productions, 15 visual artists transform 15 performers into living, breathing works of art for a runway show that dazzles the audience with a presentation to music and synchronized lights."
Here's how we describe it: Tuaca is sending lucky bartenders and servers to see mostly-naked people covered in body paint. Booze and partial nudity? That ain't bad at all.
One note about the cocktail recipes on the Tuaca site: Getting to them from the home page was fine, but we experienced some difficulties once we arrived on the recipe page. For one thing, the names of the drinks disappear, which makes it tough to know what drink you're clicking on. Plus, clicking on individual drinks from the recipe page doesn't show you the recipe unless you want to print it out, so you might end up heading back to the home page more often than you'd think while you're comparing cocktail recipes. We're not too concerned, though...the site just launched, so bugs are bound to happen. [Editor's Note: It looks like the bug was on our side, because the recipes work on every other computer we've tried, except for the one we did the original review on. That's what we get for writing on our new experimental corn-liquor-fueled computer. What else could you expect? Liquor Snob...where even the computers are drunk.]
For those of you who haven't tried it yet, Tuaca is a brandy-based liqueur infused with citrus and spices. Keep an eye out here at the Liquor Snob site, because we'll be doing a full review, as well as drink recipe suggestions, in the near future. Learn more about the liqueur at the Tuaca Website, and wish you were a bartender while you read about the festivities at the Body Art Ball site. And while you might not be able to throw them a festival, don't forget to support your local bartender too.
Keychain Breathalyzer: Alcohawk Micro-Digital
As strange as it sounds, it can be tough to find someone willing to be the designated driver. Sure, at the beginning of the night, it's easy vow that you'll sit around and drink soda while your friends get progressively plowed, but when push comes to shove not everyone has the willpower.
"C'mon, I'm fine to drive." You've heard it before, and maybe you've even said it, when the blood alcohol told a different story. Yeah, you feel fine to drive, but are you legal? The last thing you need is to see those blue lights spinning in your rear view. At the end of the night it's important to be safe, and now you can let people prove they're sober (or prove it to yourself) before getting behind the wheel.
We found the Alcohawk keychain breathalyzer at Amazon for just such a situation. Get your own Alcohawk keychain breathalyzer
and always have a blood alcohol tester nearby when you're deciding whether a cab is in order.
September 28, 2005
Ring Beer Bottle Opener: Handy and Portable
We have a friend who opens his beer bottles with his wedding ring. He claims it does no damage to the ring, and it certainly makes for a cool party trick if you're hurting for an opener. We have our doubts that your typical gold ring should be put under such strain, and we don't feel like sleeping on the couch again, so we've dug up a ring bottle opener designed for the purpose. If nothing else, it'll go with your handy bottle opening belt buckle and sandals.
From the Amazon product description:
Be the life of the party with the bottle opener you wear! No more forcing open bottle tops with lighters or on the side of a table, just slip the ring on your middle finger, hook the ring on the bottle top and lift your wrist...Pssssshhhh. The bottle opens with ease!. Select from six sizes. To measure your ring size, place the thickest part of your middle finger (usually the middle joint) against a ruler, measure it and match against the closest size listed on the drop down menu. The ring works best when fitted snugly on your finger.
Buy your own
ring bottle opener at Amazon, and stay out of trouble with your wife the next time you want to show off the beer-opening strength of your ring finger. It comes in two sizes.
We also found a similar product from ThinkGeek, via Gizmodo.
Newfoundland Screech Rum: An Island Tradition
Here at Liquor Snob, we're suckers for a hard liquor with a mythology behind it. Who are we kidding...we're just suckers for hard liquor. But when our friend Erik told us about the story behind Newfoundland Screech Rum, we were even more intrigued than usual.
It is an island tradition, but this rum doesn't get its mystique from some steamy Caribbean jungle. Newfoundland, for those of you without a globe handy, is a big island off the coast of Canada (the 15th largest island in the world, if that matters to you). So how did this Canadian province get its own rum, a drink usually associated with warmer climates? Therein lies the story.
Continue reading: "Newfoundland Screech Rum: An Island Tradition"
September 27, 2005
Quaffer Shot Glass with Built-In Chaser
We saw the Quaffer online a couple years ago, but we forgot the name and we've been wracking our beer-soaked brains to remember ever since. On more than one occasion we've been known to assign the Liquor Snob interns the task of finding "that cool shot glass that holds the chaser," and bird-dogging them through the Liquor Snob offices when they came up empty. No longer...Quaffer is now burned into our hearts and minds.
The Quaffer shot glass operates on a demonically simple premise that we file in the why-didn't-we-think-of-that category. You put your chaser into the lower, larger chamber where it will enter your mouth last, rinsing away the taste of the alcohol.
You float your liquor, which has a lower density, on top of the chaser. Then you drink them both together. No more shot-grimace-chaser...it all goes in at once so it takes the bite right out of the booze. They also make an extra-large Beer Quaffer designed for beer drinks, like Car Bombs and Sake Bombs.
We have a legendary love for all things Jagermeister, so our favorite recipe from the Quaffer site was the Jager Bomb - Jager on top, Red Bull in the bottom (pictured). We'll be getting our hands on some Quaffers in the near future, and we'll let you know if they work as well as we'd like to think they do.
You can buy the shot glasses, plus find all sorts of Quaffer information and more recipes, at the Quaffer site.
New England Beer Fest: Saturday, October 29
We're big fans of the Beer Advocate Beer Fests...we went to the Extreme Beer Fest last fall and had an extremely good time, and we're looking forward to our next one. On deck is the New England Craft Beer Fest in Boston, which will take place on October 29, 2005.
We checked the Beer Advocate site and came up with the stats for the New England Beer Fest, which will feature "tasty craft brews from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont." Over 125 beers from more than 30 New England breweries will be on tap, and there will be the usual beer education forums, plus tasty treats on hand if you're worried there's not enough blood in your beer stream.
Looks like the VIP spots are already sold out, but tickets are still available for the afternoon and evening sessions for $22.50 each. The afternoon session runs from 1 PM to 4:30 PM if you want to get your drinking started during the day, and the evening session goes from 6 PM to 9:30 PM if you only get your beer on at night.
Learn more at the Beer Advocate Festival page.
Black Vodka? Why Were We Not Informed?
Just in time for Halloween cocktails (and maybe some pre-Halloween drink tasting), we've discoved Blavod, the world's only black vodka...that we know of. If you're like us, you're asking just what's in Blavod that turns it such a distinctive color. We're glad you asked.
According to the Blavod site, the inky color is given to the vodka using a dye called Black Catechu, made from resin in the heartwood of the Acacia Catechu tree found in India and Burma. Black Catechu has been used as a dye for centuries, and gives the black vodka its ebony hue without affecting its odor or palate.
That all sounds good to us, but the thing that really bothers us is that we're just discovering it now. Just think of all the missed Halloween party cocktail opportunities, the truly spooky drinks we could have created, leaves us seeing red. Speaking of black vodka drink recipes, click the image to the right for some sable cocktail concoctions, and go to the Blavod Black Vodka site to find more Halloween drink ideas.
Brits Score Big with Airquee Inflatable Pub
We've always said, if you can't get to the bar, bring the bar to you. Now, the British have one-upped us on the concept by inventing an inflatable pub, which we would consider nature's perfect building. Where else can you drink until you fall down, then bounce back into upright position?
From Gadgetizer:
"Airquee, a company already renowned for its high quality air buildings and inflatable play equipment, are the geniuses behind this product. Completely portable and featuring only the finest faux stone siding and tin roof, the Inflatable Pub measures 40 x 19 x 22 feet and can be erected in a mere 10 minutes via its two pumps. It’s big enough to pack in 30 of your closest mates and the sturdy, internal aluminum frame can be used for hanging stereo speakers or tellies for the football and it’ll double as a safety-measure in the event that any of your drunken mates really sucks at darts.
No word that I can find on pricing, but come on, when it comes to getting smashed with the gang, cost is never a concern is it?"
We couldn't find pricing info either, but the prices on most of their inflatable buildings seem to hover around the one to two thousand pound range, so you can double that if you're paying American dollars.
Via Gadgetizer; plus, learn more about the Airquee Inflatable Pub.
September 26, 2005
First Rule of Beer Club...Don't Talk About Beer Club
We've got to say, while we didn't see Dukes of Hazzard when it came out, we're big fans of Jay Chandrasekhar and the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. We're huge fans of Super Troopers, and while we're a bit more lukewarm about their follow-up Club Dread, it definitely had its moments. Pina Coladaburg? Genius.
So, we always pay attention when any Broken Lizard news hits the InterWeb, especially if it has to do with booze, and today we hit pay dirt. IESB.net caught up with Mr. Chandrasekhar, and it seems the Super Troopers alum are getting back together for a new movie about underground beer festivals in Europe. The flick, called Beer Fest, will be about "the secret underground beer games in Munich, much like Fight Club or Death Sport," he says, “like, 5 man international teams having beer games, not to the death but something close.” Beer club? We're in.
Even more importantly, there's news on the Super Troopers front as well. See below for more info from IESB.net:
He says the Broken Lizard gang is thinking about making Super Troopers ’76, based in 1976 where they play their fathers. He says they would be unable to continue from the end of the original because they have all become local cops and they “thought it would be cockamamie to go back to being Troopers.”
If Super Trooper ’76 does happen it would most likely be after Beer Fest. The much rumored Greek film is not ready to be shot due to the weather. “Its going to be winter so we may do it when the weather gets better.”
Don't just wait around for the sequel, though - buy your own copy of
Super Troopersor
Club Dreadat Amazon.com, or
buy them bundledtogether.
Via IESB.net.
Booze Books - Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History
We always like to know more about what we're drinking, and there's a whole spate of new books on scotch coming out lately. If you'd like to know more about your next dram, we suggest Scotch Whisky: A Liquid Historyby Charles MacLean. The book doesn't simply focus on one or two varieties of scotch, or tell you about distilleries - it goes fully in-depth on the origins of the whisky, complete with going medieval on your ass.
According to an LA Times write up of the book:
"Charles MacLean's "Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History" (Cassell Illustrated, $24.95) falls in the serious, detailed category, complete with eight dense pages of footnotes, but on a large scale. It covers the vast world of Scotch, including its poorly documented medieval origins, the single malt revival and the recent trend of distilleries to open to the public, in the manner of Napa wineries. Fortunately, it's not only knowledgeable — drenched in knowledge, almost — but very readable.
It's primarily a history, but it finds room in its majestic narrative for a good amount of information about the technical side of Scotch. Not enough for you to make your own whisky, but certainly enough to understand the sorts of thing that Scotch geeks are likely to go on about, such as floor maltings (rooms where barley is raked over floors heated by peat fires to stop its sprouting)."
You can pick up your own paperback copy of
Scotch Whisky: A Liquid Historyat Amazon.com for far less than the $24.95 cover price, and browse
other scotch books by Charles MacLean.
Read more about the book at LATimes.com.
September 25, 2005
What do you call Beer Cocktails? Beertails? Cockbeers?
We're seeing articles all over the InterWeb saying beer cocktails are the next big thing. Actually, we've got to say we're a bit worried about the sissification of booze nationwide, what with those lemonadey malt beverages and flavored vodkas and whatnot. Whatever happened to paying for your buzz with a grimace and a shudder? We've been mixing beer and liquor together for years...it's called a boilermaker.
Anyway, we're off on a tangent again. Apparently "beertails" have made a big splash this summer, and continue to be hot. We found the beertail recipes below at That's the Spirit. If nothing else, most of them look like good hangover remedies.
The Classic Shandy:
Background: Both the American Heritage Dictionary and UK legislation have defined the "shandy", short for "shandygaff," as a mixture of beer and ginger beer, ginger ale or lemonade. This drink gives all the pleasures of beer with the refreshment of lemonade - a tangy, tasty drink.
This old English tradition dates back to the 17th century. Although the origin is not clearly known, some believe that is was named after a local English pub where the beer was not of the best quality and was "flavored" with a sweet lemon mixture.
Fill a pilsner or beer mug with lager and top with ginger ale, ginger beer or lemonade. If you are a bit more adventurous, try a Shandy with limeade. Don't be afraid to add ice to this drink. You can't do that with your beer.
More Beertail Recipes:
Lager and lime: Add a dash of lime juice or lime cordial to a light lager.
Snakebite: Mix your favorite beer (usually a heavier beer, like stout [in the LS offices we use Guinness]) half and half with cider.
Black Velvet: Mix stout and champagne, half and half.
Beer Bloody Mary: Mix beer and tomato juice, half and half. Add a dash of Tabasco and a dash of Worcestershire.
Red Eye: Add a shot of tomato juice to any ale or lager (this cocktail is also known as Tomato Beer or a Red Rooster). If you add a splash of Tabasco, the drink becomes a Ruddy Mary.
Liverpool kiss: Mix a dark beer with Cassis.
BeeSting: Dark beer and orange juice.
Skip and go naked: Combine beer, lemon juice and gin, with a dash of grenadine.
Broadway: Popular in Japan, mixing beer and cola is known as a Broadway
Caribbean Night: Beer and an ounce of coffee liqueur.
South Wind: Beer with a shot of melon liqueur.
Oktoberfest Locations Across the US
Autumn has just begun; the leaves are starting to change here in the Northeast, and there's a tang of fall in the air. It can only mean one thing...Oktoberfest. If you're looking for festivities in your area, we've found a roundup of Oktoberfest festivals all over the United States.
So get out your dirndls and your lederhosen, hitch up your liver, and get out there and drink some beer! Find an Oktoberfest near you.
George Bush Drinking Again? Wanna Bet?
When the Enquirer came out with their story about
George Bush drinking again, the Liquor Snob interns begged us to cover it. We told them we loved their enthusiasm, then informed them we'd rather drink a
Flirtini than cover anything from that rag, and sent them out to clean up bottles after last night's research.
Then, we saw something that piqued our interest - a press release from a site called BetCRIS.com, placing odds on whether the story was true. Booze, the president, tabloids and gambling? Now THAT'S a story.
If you're a betting person, the press release goes on to list the actual odds placed on different aspects of the Bush drinking story, as well as some other interesting ones:
Bush exposed for drinking alcohol during his presidency is featured with odds of 5 to 1. Compare that with 15 to 1 odds that Bush actually admits to drinking alcohol.
Bush checking into a rehab program is listed with 40 to 1 odds. Bush becoming a preacher is listed with 2 to 1 odds. Bush converting to Judaism is posted with 300 to 1 odds. Bush becoming a Muslim is posted with 500 to 1 odds.
"Anything Bush-related is going to draw hordes of gamblers. Interesting enough one of the few odds BetCRIS.com has chosen not to post is whether George W. gets impeached." stated Payton O'Brien, Web Manager for Gambling911.
Bush becomes a spokesman for Viagra/Cialis is listed with 35 to 1 odds, incidentally.
In the end though, BetCRIS.com has plenty of faith in the president. They list "None of the Above" as an overwhelming 1 to 500 favorite, meaning a gambler must bet $500 to win a dollar.
We'll be betting the Liquor Snob interns' salaries for the week on Bush becoming a Muslim, to teach them a lesson about journalism.
Via
emediawire; picture borrowed from
TonyPierce.com.
September 24, 2005
Gray Kangaroo Liquor Filter Review: Part 1
We discovered the Gray Kangaroo Liquor Filter
last week, and we knew we had to get our hands on one as soon as possible. After a full week of nearly tackling the mail man every time he approached the Liquor Snob offices, it finally arrived in the mail. We knew we had to put it through its paces. The site claims that the liquor filter will "take the stink out of your drink," so we knew we had to find the stinkiest, most foul booze around for the test.
And find it we did. If you're like us, when you think of quality vodka, you think of...Massachusetts. That's right. MH Gordon's, "distilled" and bottled in sunny downtown Somerville. Just looking at the bottle, complete with the $6 price tag, filled us with dread. It was perfect...if the Gray Kangaroo could take the stink out of this drink, we would be converted forever. We set up our testing apparatus, and the first thing we realized was that in order for the filter to work, you have to have a second, empty bottle. Sadly, our recycling had just been picked up.
We were able to cobble something together to aid in the filtering process, and the testing began. One note; when you test your Gray Kangaroo, don't make the same mistake we did. Make sure when you begin to filter that the Gray Kangaroo is right-side up, because there are two little holes in the upper half of the filter to make sure the booze can get into the filter quickly. If your filter is upside down, those holes will let the liquor miss the bottle. After we cleaned up the counter, we were able to get on with our
vodka tasting.
Round One: Unfiltered
Look: Clear, looks like water. But like some shark-infested sea, we knew it held hidden peril.
Nose: Edging close to the shot glass for a whiff, we're pretty sure we saw our nose hairs go up in smoke. After we regained our sense of smell, the first thing that came to mind was "paint thinner."
Swish: It burns! Oh, dear lord, it BURNS. We nearly called an old priest and a young priest for an exorcism. We dumped the rest of the glass through the filter.
Round Two: One Filtration
Look: Still looks clear and innocent, but we've been fooled before.
Smell: Far less pungent...now, instead of paint thinner it smells like watered-down rubbing alcohol.
Swish: We closed our eyes and sipped and...instead of demonic convulsions we only shuddered a bit. Looks like the Gray Kangaroo is working, but we reserve judgment. Once again, the rest of the glass goes through the filter.
Round Three: Two Filtrations
Look: No change.
Smell: Smells like...vodka? Could it be?
Swish: Still tentative, we take a swig. It's...vodka. It tastes like some of the good, solid mid-range vodkas we've had in the past. Still not convinced of the miracle, we take another drink. By Jeebus, it's true! This time we're not filtering anymore, and we sip the rest of the shot.
We'll be putting the liquor filter through some more testing, but the fine folks at Gray Kangaroo have us convinced. Their product really works. It was able to take the most evil swill of a vodka we could find, and make it drinkable. Keep an eye out here at Liquor Snob as we test it out more, including Pepsi challenges comparing filtered vodka to the high-end stuff. And if you want to pick up a Gray Kangaroo of your own, head on over to the
Gray Kangaroo site and tell 'em the Liquor Snob sent you.
Ed McMahon Vodka? You Are Correct Sir!
Hey-O! It's come to our attention that everyone's favorite late night sidekick has started his own brand of vodka called, appropriately enough,
Ed McMahon Perfect Vodka. We're glad he can find time, in between giving away million-dollar checks for Publisher's Clearinghouse and shilling for those Easy Mobility wheelchairs, and we hope the stuff is as good as he claims it is..
From the
McMahon Vodka site:
Meet the vodka that is redefining the perfect cocktail. We call it McMahon Perfect - the premium Russian imported spirit that satisfies the discerning tastes of true vodka connoisseurs with its pure clarity, smoothness and taste.
Preserving the original techniques and time-honored practices of the Russians, McMahon Perfect is distilled using a special four-time filtration process that allows for strict quality control. Combining this with only the highest quality raw materials and over 200 years of experience, results in a vodka that truly distinguishes itself from all others.
Upon opening the bottle, your senses are drawn to its fresh, invigorating aroma. Pouring a cocktail unwraps the essence of its depth and character. And finally with a sip, you'll marvel at the smooth, crisp finish.
Via
Luxist
Tequila: The New Diet Drink?
We thought tequila was only good for manufacturing blackouts and soul-crushing regrets, but apparently the drink may have more to it.
A group of Mexican scientists - suspiciously enough they're from the country's biggest tequila producing region - say juice from the blue agave plant, from which tequila is distilled, may help people lose weight and lower their cholesterol. OK, so maybe the valuable properties are lost when it's distilled...
Sadly for the world's growing band of tequila lovers, agave's possible health benefits are lost when the plant is distilled into alcohol.
Spiky agave plants has been cultivated on Mexico's arid central highlands for thousands of years and are woven into the country's history and mythology. But more than anything the plant is known for what Spanish invaders called "tequila wine."
Now however, researchers from the University of Guadalajara, close to the town of Tequila, the cradle of Mexico's famous alcoholic export, say the plant's powers go beyond inducing euphoric highs followed by crushing hangovers.
It's too bad blue agave loses its heath benefits when it's distilled, but we say it never hurts to try, right? Margaritas for everyone!
From: Reuters
Anthony Hopkins Used to Get Drunk, See God
Sometimes it can be overwhelming to have a Google News alert set up for every kind of booze we can think of. Yeah, we get all sorts of liquor-related updates, but we also get constant emails about things we couldn't care less about, like what the Gin Blossoms are up to and how many umbrella drinks were consumed last night on Taradise.
Sometimes, however, we get a nugget that we have to print. Apparently Anthony Hopkins used to drink so much tequila he ended up envisioning himself in some Charleton Heston movie. One time we drank so much gin we thought we could fight like Rocky. He's since given up the sauce, but all we can say is "Well played, Mr. Hopkins. Well played."
Sir Anthony Hopkins says he became badly addicted to alcohol, to the point of suffering severe hallucinations.
The Oscar winner has been clean and sober 30-years after battling alcoholism. During his darker period, in the early 1970s, Hopkins drink of choice was strong Mexican tequila, which he claims induced strange side-effects.
Hopkins says, "I was really sort of on a prolonged acid trip. I saw things and had peculiar quasi-religious experiences. I thought I was John The Baptist, and I would talk to the sea at Malibu and the sea would talk back to me. It was weird."
From All Headline News.
Liquor Pimp: Jagermeister's Sidney Frank
We're not usually ones for the fluffy human interest piece here at Liquor Snob, but there are some topics we'll cover no matter what. One of those topics is Jagermeister. We first discovered Jager in college, and like most of our college friends, when we run into it we usually end up far too drunk, losing our judgment and ending up on a roof wondering how to get down.
One person Jager hasn't caused trouble for is Sidney Frank, the owner of Sidney Frank Importing. In the first half of 2005, Mr. Frank sold 2 million cases of the herbal liqueur. He is the man who invented the Jagerettes, the squads of young ladies who go from bar-to-bar and event-to-event, promoting Jager. His company also went on to create Gray Goose vodka back in the late '90s, and he recently sold the company to Bacarding for "a lot more than $2 billion."
Mr. Frank's life is a regular Cinderella story, going from his early days on a farm in C,T to his current status as multi-billionaire liquor god, complete with a "fleet of cars, chefs, and golf instructors." It does our hearts good to see that liquor has been so good to Mr. Frank, and we raise our glasses to a man who's 85 years old and still going strong.
We'll leave you with some of Sidney Frank's best answers from the Q&A, so you can apply them to your everyday life:
On Succeeding in Business:
"I remember one time there was going to be a glass strike. So we rented every warehouse in the country and filled them with glass, and sure enough a couple of months later, the glass strike came on, and we had glass and no other distributor did. You have to be forward-thinking."
On keeping employees happy:
"I wanted to make sure that nobody in the company would quit. So we gave bonuses--if they were with us 10 years, we gave them a two-year bonus. It changed a lot of people's minds. Not one employee left."
Sounds like Mr. Frank knows how to run a business. Of course, if he hired us he'd just have to pay our bonus in bottles of Jager...though he'd have to keep the stairs to the roof locked at all times. Learn more about our favorite liqueur at Jager.com, and read the full Sidney Frank Q&A at Inc.com.
