December 18, 2005

Hpnotiq Liqueur Review

HPNOTIQ
34 proof blended liqueur of vodka, cognac and tropical fruit juices
Typical Price: About $25 for 750ml - Buy it at Internet Wines & Spirits

Initial Thoughts: We have to admit, when we picked up our bottle of Hpnotiq, it already had three strikes against it. First, it already breaks our "too many ingredients" rule right at the outset by combining vodka, cognac and a multitude of fruit juices. Second, it's bright blue and has a hip, trendy name. Third, our first impression was that it smells a bit like the alcoholic version of blue Gatorade.

We were impressed with the heavy, frosted champagne-style bottle, however, and we know the stuff has been garnering tons of buzz. All sorts of stars and heavy-hitters swear by the stuff, and according to an Hpnotiq press release, NBC called it "the drink of choice for celebrities." Hell, if it's good enough for Lil Jon, who are we to turn up our noses?

When we tasted it, we liked the fact that it wasn't as sweet as we'd expected, and the tartness of the juices made for a much more complex experience than we'd expected. It was pretty tasty on the rocks, and if you like your cocktails to feature fruit juice heavily, we say you're going to dig it. Plus, while some people do drink it straight, there are so many Hpnotiq cocktail recipes out there we realized that was probably the way for us to go.

Cocktail Recipes: We usually don't drink a lot of cocktails, preferring our liquor on the rocks or straight up. We did mix up a few cocktails we really dug, however, and we decided that at least around the Liquor Snob offices, the true value of Hpnotiq was as a mixer. There are all sorts of hpnotizing drink recipes all over the Web, and there were a coupe at the official website with superhero themes, and since we're comic book geeks we've compiled them for your mixing pleasure.

Hpnotiq Hulk
2oz Hpnotiq
2oz Cognac (We used Hennessy)
Layer over ice in a rocks glass, let the drinker stir it up to watch the transformation...it's all the rage.

Green Lantern
2oz Hpnotiq
1oz premium vodka
1oz Red Bull
Combine ingredients over ice in a rocks glass. The site recommends garnishing with a lemon wedge, but we don’t because the Green Lantern's power is diminished by the color yellow (we told you we were geeks).

Blue Devil
1.5oz Hpnotiq
1oz dry vermouth
.5oz scotch
Combine Hpnotiq and vermouth over ice in a rocks glass; float scotch over the top.

We were also able to mix up an amazing batch of dumpster juice, replacing the Midori with Hpnotiq.

Finishing Thoughts: All in all, the drinks we made with this liqueur were a pleasant surprise, and we can see why the illuminati are gravitating to it. We recommend Hpnotiq when you're looking for a classy pre-mixed cocktail that will impress your friends, at your next Oscars party, or when you want to pretend to be a super hero. It also strikes us as a great wedding present (old, new, borrowed, blue...get it?), and there's a section of the site dedicated to integrating Hpnotiq into your wedding festivities. Plus, we challenge our readers to come up with tasty cocktail recipes with Smurf-related names, just for fun.

To learn more, find recipes and catch up on what people are saying about this drink, go to Hpnotiq.com.