Tag Archives: pre-mixed drinks

New & Fairly Noteworthy

Our Stories / November 1, 2012 / 1 Comment.

Looking for a way to give back this holiday season? Skyy Vodka and the American Foundation for AIDS Research have partnered up to give you the perfect opportunity. Together they have redesigned Skyy’s customary cobalt blue bottle into a Blue Velvet Limited Edition bottle that is perfect for all your seasonal festivities. By making a few cocktails you can donate to the fight against AIDs at the same time. We think it’s a great chance to participate in some gift giving this winter – after all, we’re going to buy the vodka anyway.

The Handmade Cocktail Company has announced the release of their Experimental Series, premixed and ready to drink versions of some of the most classic cocktails. The cocktails made with top-notch spirits come in an elaborately labeled bottle complete with all the information and serving ideas you need to appreciate your pre made beverage. We appreciate the convenience of a quality cocktail ready to go whenever the desire strikes us – which of course, could be anytime. (PS. Worth noting that this isn’t your Parrot Bay Pouch, its high-end, classy, good stuff, aka expensive.)

Thanks to the folks at LetsPour, you can now order your favorite craft beers right from your phone. You can’t always be at your computer but does that mean you should miss out on the most sought after craft beers? LetsPour says definitely not. At the rate in which beers sell out you no longer have to worry about missing out on the most popular and hard-to-find beers. By downloading the free ‘LetsPour Deals’ app the brews can be on their way to your front door instantly. Convenient right? We think so too. The negative: it’s only on Android.

Two Firemen sitting on the side of a hill… no – this isn’t a clever pun, it’s a true story. In 2000, a couple of L.A. firemen resolved to create a beer that would “Extinguish Your Thirst”. Thus, they brought us the Fireman’s Brew, which donates a portion its profits to the National Firefighters Foundation in Maryland. Until now the handcrafted microbrews have been available in Colorado, Illinois and California but in November the line is pairing up with Alliance Beverage Distributing Co, to bring the beer to Arizona. If you’re ever in the area, support a good cause and “Ignite the Party!”

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Frozen Drink Pouches: Hot or Cold?

Cocktails / November 9, 2011 / 1 Comment.

We are always surprised to see ice cream shops busy in the dead of winter. It’s a phenom that’s big in New England for who-knows-what reason. Maybe because ice cream doesn’t melt down your arm when it’s twenty degrees out.

Similarly, we’re noticing frozen drink pouches in people’s shopping carts this time of year. Cold, slushy beverages by the fireside? Not a bad idea. In fact, one of Martha’s (yep, her again) signature winter drinks is frozen Frangelico Coffee with Cream. But we digress.

Point is: you don’t have to live in Florida to enjoy a (really) cold one. Take Daily’s frozen pouches. The website points out that you skip the mess of the blender, the noise of the blender, and, we might add, the mess all over the bar. If you’re the designated bartender at your party, passing out the pouches lets you spend more time schmoozing and boozing (responsibly, of course).

As for the reviews, they are mixed (pardon the pun). Most find them too syrupy; too “girly.” But a certain segment — older folks, according to our armchair research — dig the convenience and the low alcohol content. Still others just treat them like Twinkies. You know, the kind of thing you grab on a whim at the convenience store and then hide the wrapper.

What do you think of frozen drink pouches: yum or yuck?

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Do You Do Draft Cocktails?

Cocktails / October 3, 2011 / 3 Comments.

This was going to be a piece about what you think about draft cocktails until it turned into a piece about what we think.

When the Huffington Post covered this very topic about a week ago, we were surprised to read that, “drinkers are digging these large batch libations. In fact, customers at Mercadito restaurants in Chicago and Miami reportedly preferred the five-day-old margaritas tapped from kegs versus the made-fresh versions. The kegs offer more time for the flavors to blend, which could even be an advantage over cocktails a la minute.”

The Huffington Post isn’t embellishing. Restaurant news.com reports the same: at Jasper’s Corner Tap & Kitchen in San Francisco, the Negroni cocktail on draft has become a cult item, according to bar manager Kevin Diedrich.

“The idea is neat and kind of geeky, but fun as well,” Diedrich said. Area restaurant employees were the first fans of the drink at Jasper’s, but it soon caught on with guests…. In fact, the first keg sold out in a day and a half.

“Consumers love trends and little quirky things,” Diedrich prophets.

This begs the question: are draft cocktails here to stay?

Personally, we’ll miss the muddling, the creative process, and all that action behind the bar. Getting our drinks fast is never really a goal.

Bartenders doing crossword puzzles in between tapping is not a place we want to hang out.

Fact is, it takes five seconds to serve a draft Negroni, which can be a bonus for bartenders, who handle 300 orders on the busiest nights, not to mention impatient patrons. “You don’t have to jigger it or stir it in a mixing glass,” Diedrich said. “It gets you out of the weeds pretty quickly.”

Why are people so into these? Or is it the bartenders?

Clearly, we need you to weigh in. What’s the dealio? If you’re a bartender, we’d like your POV. If you’re a drinker, we’d like your POV. You already have ours.

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