Mixers/Non-Alcoholic
By definition, a cocktail is a mixed drink, and while there are plenty of cocktails composed entirely from alcoholic beverages, many of the best involve a mixer — a nonalcoholic juice, syrup, carbonated drink, or some other addition. A mixer’s job may be to twist the flavor of the cocktail in a different direction or to reduce the overall amount of alcohol in the cocktail — or both. While many mixers (like lime juice or simple syrup) can be easily made at home, there’s a cottage industry dedicated to ready-to-use mixers, ranging from artisan ginger ale to exotic, spiced syrups.
Top Mixers Posts:
Cocktail Artist Cocktail Mixers
The Murph’s Famous Bloody Mary Mix – Original and Hot & Spicy
Cascade Ice Zero-Calorie Mixers
Leave it to folks in my home town of Houston to buck the trend and introduce the opposite of what everyone else is doing: Drank’s tagline is “slow your roll” and it’s an anti-energy drink. Instead of caffeine, guarana, and taurine, it’s loaded with Valerian Root (10mg), Rose Hips (10mg), and melatonin (1mg), all designed…
Read More
I happened into a Phoenix gas station earlier this week and was stunned to see how many “energy” shots were on sale at the register. Over 20 different varieties and hundreds of little two-ounce vials. It’s become one of the biggest trends in nonalcoholic drinking: High caffeine, very small portions. Just suck down the shot…
Read More
When you’re drinking your federally-mandated 27 gallons of water a day, you might as well enjoy it going down. Flavored water is nothing new, but Ayala’s takes a different approach, flavoring its bottled waters with natural herbs instead of chemical sludge (check the nutrition facts on a bottle of Propel if you don’t believe me).…
Read More
It’s grape juice for grown-ups: With its Wine Country Sodas, Vignette takes the juice of real wine grapes — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc & Grenache — adds a little fizz, and puts it into single-serve bottles. But no alcohol, making them perfect for lunchtime, picnics, or those who can’t (or don’t want to)…
Read More
Noni fruit is big in Tahiti. If you buy the claims, it gives you energy, boosts the immune system, has tons of antioxidants, and burns calories when you drink the juice from it. The problem is that Noni juice, on its own, is tough to stomach. I guess Tahitians love the stuff, but choking down…
Read More
Sorry, club kids. This just in, and it’s kind of gross. According to the latest research, the popular energy drink Red Bull can increase the risk of heart damage. The participants of the study were university students aged between 20 and 24. Researchers found that just one sugar free can of Red Bull raised the…
Read More
Proof that you can turn just about any ingredient into a cocktail: The folks at Grey Poupon (yes, that Grey Poupon) have come up with a quintet of mustard-based cocktails. While Monday morning may be a little too early for a concoction of honey mustard, pomegranate juice, and gin, maybe when I get really adventurous…
Read More
Jetset advertisements have been pummeling the magazine world of late. How do they stack up? I recently tried all five versions. Jetset Energy Original is your standard, skinny-can energy concoction, a guarana-ginseng-taurine-caffeine soda with a lemon-lime kick. It’s better than Red Bull, and better than most energy drinks out there. It’s a pretty clean drink,…
Read More
Yes, this is a review of a bag of ice. No, it’s not ice made out of diamonds and pixie dust, it’s just ice. From water. And yes, I was skeptical too. Premium ice? At $4 a bag, On the Rocks is about four times as pricey as your average supermarket ice. But the company…
Read More
We haven’t reviewed coffee on this blog yet, but a pack of Weaver’s beans showed up out of the blue… we had to try them once we opened the bag! John Weaver is a former master roaster for Peet’s Coffee, a San Francisco institution and the only real competitor to Starbucks in these parts. He’s…
Read More