Rated C-
Reviews of spirits, wine, and beer (and various errata like mixers and garnishes) comprise more than 80% of the content at Drinkhacker. C- products are below average in every way, and are not recommended. On a five-star scale, these products would score 1.5 stars. On the traditional 100-point scale popular with many wine and spirits graders, these products would merit scores of 69 to 71 points.
We’re headed back to the well — the dry well, ahem — with a fresh look at three new offerings from Lyre’s, which is arguably the leader in non-alcoholic spirits. Two are full-bottle spirit surrogates, while the third is in a category of its own. Read on for the details. Lyre’s White Cane Spirit Review So……
I don’t think they take a day off at Firestone, where the brews arrive on a breakneck pace, running the gamut from barrel-aged monstrosities to ultra-hoppy IPAs to, for the first time ever, a non-alcoholic beer. Today we’re looking at that N/A offering plus a couple of those middle options along with a trio of…
Don’t let the weird labels and cloudy appearance fool you. Trouble XP is a new collection of wines from renowned winemaker Gérard Bertrand, who has taken an eye to wines that are organic/NOP, vegan, and unfiltered. Per the brand, “By skipping the filtration process post-fermentation, ‘Trouble’ retains suspended particles, giving it a charmingly cloudy appearance.…
Liqueur (and genever) producer Bols is one of the newer producers of ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails that have come to market in the recent past. Today we’re sampling all of the products they currently offer in fun, 200ml cocktail tubes, each of which provides 1 or 2 servings. Let’s give them a try. Bols Cocktails Red…
Ready for oompah season? California’s Firestone Walker is back with its “Oaktoberfest” annual seasonal — now 18 years old — plus four editions of a new beer called Cali Squeeze. Cali Squeeze is a new line of easy-drinking “tropical wheat ales,” each made with real fruit in the recipe. While these are designed more for summer…
Borealis Vintners draws its grapes from both Oregon and Washington, and with summer approaching, they sent us two whites and a rosé to review. They also make a Pinot Noir, not reviewed here. Let’s give them a try. 2022 Borealis Pinot Gris – 100% Pinot Gris from Oregon. This wine is sweeter than most Oregon…
Wines by Joe is a second label for Dobbes Family Wines — Joe being Joe Dobbes. These are Oregon-based wines from all over the state — and nothing in the mix priced above 20 bucks. We received a trio of wines from the current vintage for review. Thoughts follow. 2022 Wine by Joe Pinot Blanc…
Let’s get it out of the way for the purists: Lone River Ranch Water is not ranch water. Like a packet of Hidden Valley ranch poured and then shaken into a lukewarm bottle of Dasani, which is literally both ranch and an approximation of water, it is ranch water in name only. While ranch water…
Saint Brendan’s is one of the least expensive Baileys Irish Cream alternatives, and for a while there it was impressively authentic, made with just Irish whiskey and cream. Alas, things have changed for the old Saint. The standard bottling is made with Irish whiskey, cream, and “other spirits.” And in this new line extension,…
Dry January is upon us, and if you’re one of the brave souls who’s forgoing alcohol this month, know that it doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to drinking tap water for 31 days. NA options are increasingly impressive, including a few of the products from ISH, a Danish/German/Austrian operation with the tagline “the…