Category Archives: Mixers

Review: Lights Out Relaxation Products

Relaxation mania continues with Lights Out, a whole series of products designed to help you sleep more evenly, fight stress, anxiety, jet lag, and all that other bad stuff.

Lights Out contains chamomile, skullcap, rose hips, valerian root, L-theanine, and GABA, but it’s probably the 5mg of melatonin that really does the trick.

The 2-oz. shot comes in two sucralose-sweetened flavors — tropical and, oddly, cloud berry — and both tastes are fair enough. The cloud berry version is largely innocuous and vaguely citrus and apple in character. The tropical is stronger, primarily redolent of coconut.

Strangely, the product is unique in that it also comes in a solid form: a chocolate brownie and a chocolate chip cookie. Both were exceedingly dry and crumbly, and hardly the delicious dessert confection you might be expecting.

As for the effects, with both the shot and the dessert products, I found myself falling asleep relatively quickly, with vivid and rather intrusive dreams to follow. Both times I woke up around six in the morning and had difficulty getting back to sleep — though the six-hour release time of Lights Out may have something to do with that. Still not sure how effective these are, though I felt fine and productive the following day. That said, I’m not exactly clamoring for another brownie.

C+ / about $4 per product / lightsoutshot.com

lights out Review: Lights Out Relaxation Products

Review: Zenify: The Live Stress Free Drink

How stress-free to you get if you drink Zenify? So stress-free that you stop using capitalization. I swear — outside of the nutrition facts box, there’s not a capital letter to be found on this can of relaxation beverage. It’ll knock the shift right out of you!

Zenify is designed to “get you focused” by countering the effects of caffeine with “increased Alpha Waves,” and increasing the amount of seratonin and dopamine in the body. Zenify says it can even treat everything from anxiety to ADHD via its GABA component. Other ingredients include L-Theanine, Glycine, and vitamins C, Niacin, B6, B12, Folic Acid, Pantothenic Acid, and Magnesium. It comes in a lightly yellow, lightly carbonated format, contained in a 12 oz. can.

As beverages go, this Stevia-sweetened (and 50-calorie) product doesn’t taste bad. It’s promoted (naturally) as a vodka mixer, but solo it is quite drinkable. Lemon/lime is the base, with some pineapple notes thrown in. Very easy to drink, with really light flavoring and a moderate, not cloying body.

Am I feeling relaxed? As always, I hate to make any snap judgments on issues like this, but my Alpha Waves aren’t complaining.

A- / $55 for 24 12-oz. cans / zenifyed.com

zenify Review: Zenify: The Live Stress Free Drink

Four Loko Rises Again as “Poco Loko”

You can’t get rid of Four Loko that easily, folks…

CHICAGO, Sept. 7, 2011 – Responding to popular demand, Phusion Projects, LLC recently announced the introduction of Poco Loko, a new version of the company’s Four Loko product with unique flavors and in a smaller can size with lower alcohol by volume.

Poco Loko is available in 16-ounce cans at 8 percent alcohol by volume, and comes in four unique flavors: Green Apple, Black Cherry, Mango and Lemonade; most of which are not available in 23.5 ounce cans.  The product, which will be available in four packs and in single cans, is being introduced in order to meet consumer demand for additional products and flavors, and to continue diversifying the Phusion Projects line of products.

“We’ve always been a company that listens to what our consumers want,” said Chris Hunter, one of the co-founders of Phusion Projects. “Poco Loko is a great product to bring to market, and we’re excited to re-introduce fan favorite Green Apple, originally from the Four Loko XXX Limited Edition line.”

As with all Phusion Projects products, Poco Loko is a flavored malt beverage that does not contain caffeine, guarana or taurine.

poco loko Four Loko Rises Again as Poco Loko

Review: Baileys Mudslide

Few cocktails in the panopticon of chain restaurant beverages imbue the spirit — the very heart — of panty peeler so thoroughly as the Mudslide. A chocolate, creamy, boozy frozen concoction, this is dessert — and usually drunkenness — in a glass.

Now Baileys brings the Mudslide to ready-made status, or as near as is humanly possible. Just take this 1.75-liter jug of “vodka, chocolate, coffee, and cream liqueurs,” pour into a blender with an equal amount of ice, and pulverize until it’s smooth. You can make it as thick or as thin as you’d like. The more ice you add, the more you cut down the (admittedly weak) 25 proof alcohol level.

When complete (I didn’t even try to taste this unblended and sans ice), it’s a credible beach beverage, but hardly a knockout. The booziness comes off as much harsher than the alcohol level would indicate — more rum-like than vodka-like — and the sweetness is cloying. Chocolate and coffee are almost afterthoughts to the raw sugar notes, and the mass — which separates after about 10 minutes into a creamy tan-and-foam cocktail — is tasty enough in a sorority sister way, but it just doesn’t come together as a composed whole.

Frankly, I think you’d get better results from putting regular Baileys, a squirt of chocolate syrup, and some ice into a blender, and you wouldn’t spend much more, either.

C+ / $16 per 1.75-liter bottle / the-baileys-lounge.baileys.com

Baileys Mudslide Review: Baileys Mudslide

Review: Just Chill Natural Stress Relief Beverage

Will “one sip” of this “relaxation beverage” give you “instant enlightenment?” Perhaps not, but it certainly won’t hurt.

The ingredients of Just Chill should be largely familiar to readers who’ve explored this nascent category: The ubiquitous L-theanine (150mg per 8.4 oz. can), vitamins B and C, magnesium, zinc, Siberian ginseng, ginkgo biloba, and (perhaps the only unusual additive) lemongrass. It’s all delivered in a “tropical chill” flavored can of carbonated water, “crystalline fructose,” natural flavors, fruit juices, and stevia.

The taste is very mild and innocuous: vaguely pineapple and mango character atop a lightly carbonated base. It goes down just fine, a stark contrast to some of the less savory entrants into this category, and it lacks that viscous character that seems to be so common in fructose-flavored beverages.

As always, it’s hard to speak to the promised psychoactive effects — relaxation without drowsiness, in this case — of Just Chill on a limited sampling, but it certainly hasn’t hurt my mood any, and I’m hardly feeling tired. As always, your mileage will likely vary.

50 calories.

B+ / $2 per 8.4 oz. can / drinkjustchill.com [BUY IT HERE]

just chill Review: Just Chill Natural Stress Relief Beverage

Review: Small Hand Foods Gum Syrups

The thing about gomme (awesome word) is that when you’re perusing cocktail recipe books, everything seems to call for it. But when you actually get some gomme, you can’t find a thing to make with the stuff.

I’ve had Small Hand Foods’ line of gommes, or gum syrups, sitting on the counter of Drinkhacker HQ for months, with nothing to do with them. Finally I made, you know, an effort, and cooked up a variety of cocktails with the stuff so I could review them before they, you know, expired. (Recipes follow, courtesy of Small Hand Foods.)

Gum syrup is a lot like it sounds: Syrup that is thickened considerably by the addition of gum arabic. Unlike regular sugar syrup, gum syrup adds viscosity to a drink, and on its own it is noticeably more mouth-filling. The catch: Who has gum arabic handy when you need it?

Small Hand Foods comes to the rescue with pre-bottled gommes: an unflavored version, and the more intriguing pineapple gum syrup and raspberry gum syrup. The company also makes orgeat (almond syrup) and grenadine, neither in “gum” versions (and neither reviewed here).

As for the three gum syrups, all are impressive and work well in the cocktails that call for them. I tried them alone and in recipes. They’re wholly as intended: Thick, viscous, and quite flavorful. The flavors are all more aged than I’d expected: The standard gum syrup has a rich, caramel character to it, and that translates through to your drink, like it or not. Huge, authentic pineapple and raspberry notes are found in the flavored versions, though clearly neither is quite as tasty as fresh fruit macerated in syrup would be. They also bear the same aged sugar character as the standard gum syrup, which is unusual, but adds an interesting spin to a cocktail.

All told these are excellent cocktail ingredients. Shortcuts, to be sure, but when a recipe calls for gomme, who else are ya gonna call?

Refrigerate after opening.

all varieties: A- / $12 per 250ml bottle / smallhandfoods.com

Hotel Nacionale Speciale
Adapted from the Hotel Nacionale, Havana, Cuba

1½ oz rum (white or aged)
¾ oz fresh lime juice
¾ oz Pineapple Gum Syrup
½ oz apricot brandy

Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lime twist.

Clover Club
Adapted from Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930

1½ oz gin
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz Raspberry Gum Syrup
½ oz dry vermouth
½ oz egg white

Add all ingredients to mixing tin and shake vigorously without adding ice. Then add ice and shake again. Double-strain into a chilled coupe glass.

small hand foods gommes Review: Small Hand Foods Gum Syrups

Review: Demitri’s Bloody Mary Seasonings

You know at a glance that Demitri’s is not your everyday Bloody Mary mix. The color and thickness of A1 steak sauce, Demitri’s is not a “just add vodka” mix. You need tomato juice (and lots of it): A mere 2 ounces of the mix will flavor a full quart of tomato juice or V8. The vials these mixes come in are reminiscent of a bottle of soy sauce, and they also come in convenient pouches, perfect for flavoring a pitcher of Bloodies at a time without having to refrigerate the leftover mix.

We tried all four of Demitri’s Bloody seasonings as well as its two “RimShot” rimming powders.

Demitri’s Bloody Mary Classic Recipe – Really rich, a recipe that lets the tomato juice shine. The heat is mild and the flavor is meaty, savory, and classic — a perfect balance of everything you want in a Bloody Mary. Looks good and tastes even better. A

Demitri’s Bloody Mary Chilies and Peppers - The Classic Recipe kicked up a notch, as Emeril might say. Here you still get a good slug of tomato and rich, Worsterchire-like savoriness, then the heat comes on, lingering as you enjoy it. Definitely one for those who like moderate heat — but not an overwhelming amount of spice — in their Bloody. A-

Demitri’s Bloody Mary Chipotle-Habanero - Lots of heat here, and while it fires up the mouth and stomach, it really burns the lips. Habanero will trump the mild chipotle every time, so if you’re looking for heat, you needn’t look further than this blend. It’s right on the edge of how hot I can handle my breakfast — though perhaps I used too much in my sample cocktail — but fireheads will love this one. B+

Demitri’s Bloody Mary Extra Horseradish - The name says it all. This is perhaps the sweetest of the bunch, and the extra horseradish in the recipe doesn’t add much to the experience. There are notably no “chunks” of anything in the mix, and perhaps having the horseradish pulverized into a virtual liquid keeps it from making much of a showing. Stick with the Classic and add your own horseradish if you’re a junkie. B+

Demitri’s Bloody Mary RimShot! – Rimming a drink is always a matter of personal taste for the drinker, but with Bloody Marys they make a lot of sense. After all this is a drink that is often garnished to within an inch of its life, so why not go all the way and spill over the edge of the glass with more stuff? This rimmer is something you can pretty easily do on your own. While Demitri’s claims (of course) a secret recipe, it comes across mainly as coarse salt, celery salt, and ground pepper. The celery component is really clear hear, and then the pepper takes over. Good balance in the blend; I’d buy it just to get it all premixed and in the handy rimming tin. A-

Demitri’s Bloody Mary Bacon RimShot! - Bacon and salt are two of my favorite things, and sure enough they work perfectly with a Bloody. Taste’s authentic and makes you instantly crave a bacon cheeseburger. The effect is much different than the standard RimShot, and, for my money, it’s a more exciting, surprising, and complementary addition to the drink. Bacon always makes for a conversation piece, too. A

mixes: $11 to $13 per 16 oz. bottle; RimShots: $8 per 4 oz. tin / demitris.com

Demitris bloody mary mix Review: Demitris Bloody Mary Seasonings

Review: HealthGuard Be Happy Mood Booster

Most “relaxation drinks” require consuming 8 to 16 ounces of sugar water to deliver their dosage. Be Happy comes in a much more manageable shot format — a good thing considering many of these concoctions are not the best tasting beverages in the world.

Be Happy, designed by a doctor, is careful to note it does not contain melatonin, that it provides “a sense of calmness without causing drowsiness.” Ingredients to reach that include Chocamine, L-Theanine, and GABA, all delivered in a naturally-sweetened, chocolate-cherry-flavored recipe.

The flavor is at first sharp and off-putting — a bit like a cheap candy that’s melted into a cup of lukewarm water — but one adapts to it quickly enough. The chalky, lasting, and bittersweet aftertaste it what takes some getting used to: Be Happy is, indeed, best consumed fairly quickly and chased with water.

As for the psychoactive results, an hour later I’m feeling plenty calm, a little on the sleepy side, but mostly unaffected. Certainly no worse for wear — though perhaps a nap is in order.

40 calories.

B / $12 for four 2-oz. bottles / behappyjuice.com

be happy Review: HealthGuard Be Happy Mood Booster

Review: Jarritos Mexican Cola

jarritos mexican cola Review: Jarritos Mexican ColaHipsters who want a soft drink know how to order their fix at any taqueria: By asking for a Mexican Coke instead of a can of domestic crap. Why? Because in Mexico the Coca-Cola is made with real sugar. Here, of course, it’s made with corn syrup.

Is that worth the extra buck? You be the judge, but personally I just prefer drinking from a bottle than from an aluminum can.

Now there’s another alternative: Jarritos Mexican Cola. Jarritos already has 11 flavors on the market, but none of them are the classic cola recipe… and none of them have caffeine. Jarritos Mexican Cola is the first that does, and we got to give an early bottle a whirl.

The taste is different — closer to Pepsi than Coke — with lots of cinnamon, and a bit of chocolate character to it, both perhaps a nod to Jarritos’ Mexican origins. At first I didn’t really care for it — it was a bit close to root beer for my tastes — but as I sipped my way through the bottle I warmed up to it. Bonus: at 12.5 ounces, it’s that much bigger than a 12-oz. Coke.

Nice as an alternative to other sodas but, you know, there’s a reason they call Coke — especially the Mexican variety — “The Real Thing.”

B+ / about $2  per 12.5 oz. bottle / jarritos.com

Recipe: Drinkhacker’s Sangrita

My secret sangrita recipe on Food Republic. Dig in!