Rated B
Reviews of spirits, wine, and beer (and various errata like mixers and garnishes) comprise more than 80% of the content at Drinkhacker, and the B rating is used for products that are good but which we don’t exactly love — and which we can provide with a qualified recommendation. On a five-star scale, these products would score 3 stars. On the traditional 100-point scale popular with many wine and spirits graders, these products would merit scores of 83 to 86 points.
With an alcohol level of 27%, served at room temperature, and not carbonated, Samuel Adams’ Utopias is not your father’s can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. With 8,000 bottles produced — some fetching up to $600 (though a still-insane $175 is a little more standard) — it’s definitely not PBR, no. So, what is it? Utopias…
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Yes, even I am sometimes too lazy to juice a lime… and sometimes pineapple juice and fresh mint is not in the house. While the idea of prepackaged mixers is a little off-putting to most mixologists, the notion of organic ones has a certain appeal. When am I going to get organic pineapple juice or…
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Another holiday beer, this one a spin on a traditional brown ale, but overloaded with hoppiness. The dark brown “winter warmer” is certainly rich, giving off a nice aroma of chocolate and caramel malts… but an overpowering bitterness wipes the sweetness away once it hits your lips. It’s not a hard beer to drink by…
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As previously promised, here is your coverage of the flipside of the Jones Soda Christmas Pack: The Jones Soda Chanukah Pack, loaded with four bottles of pop: Apple Sauce Soda, Latke Soda, Jelly Doughnut Soda, and Chocolate Coins Soda, plus a plastic dreidel. Here’s how they stack up against the gentiles. Jones Soda Apple Sauce:…
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I got a little misty eyed when I heard about Blue Ice Vodka: It’s an old-fashioned spirit distilled from potatoes. It’s also made right here in the U. S. of A., in, where else, Idaho. Spuds give Blue Ice a strong, traditional flavor. If I didn’t know better I’d think I was drinking Russian vodka.…
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Hornitos is known for its trademark Reposado tequila with the bright green label. But now Hornitos expands in a natural direction: With both a Plata (aka Blanco or silver) tequila and an aged Anejo, to round out the line with one of each of the three traditional tequila varieties. I tried them all side by…
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Eh, looked interesting in the cooler, but this otherwise by-the-book, golden brown IPA has a little too much I and not enough P for my tastes. The hoppiness overpowers the brew (the company claims five types of hops are used), and while you can get that taste of lemon peel if you work for it,…
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Sideways made Merlot unpopular, and it’s still fashionable to bash the grape and the wine it makes. And you know what? The bashers have a point. Merlot is one of the least interesting wines around. It’s the red wine equivalent of chenin blanc. And in fact, I have more chenin in my wine cellar than…
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