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.
Here’s a new concept in the RTD space: A massive box of margaritas or mojitos that you can tap into any time. Drake’s Organic Boxtails are 1.75 liters of shelf stable cocktails that have no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. They are very convenient because they don’t need to be refrigerated. Instead, they are meant…
Read More
Once synonymous with coconut rum — and only coconut rum — the Malibu Rum empire now spans 9 different flavored rums, ready-to-drink canned cocktails, and even punch-in-a-bag concepts. The catch? Today, very little of this has coconut flavoring in it. What’s Malibu made of? You might be surprised to know for starters that it’s made…
Read More
The brand formerly known as The Hess Collection — now officially Hess Persson Estates — will be familiar to most readers, but many don’t realize that the brand bottles wine under a number of different labels. In fact, “The Hess Collection” no longer appears on either of the bottlings reviewed below, which includes a look…
Read More
Davis Bynum is part of the Rodney Strong empire, producing wines primarily grown in the Russian River Valley, with pinot noir a specific focus. We received four wines from the operation for review, two whites and two from its pinot collection. 2018 Davis Bynum Chardonnay River West Vineyard – I won’t pull punches. This Russian…
Read More
The Prisoner Wine Co. has greatly expanded its offerings beyond its namesake wines in recent years, including Saldo, which has the most minimalist label around — in a good way. Complicating things — there are two Saldos. One is a zinfandel (red label), and then there’s this red blend (blue label), a mix of Petite…
Read More
Horchata is something that people appear to enjoy drinking, so leave it to Madrid-based Licor 43 to boozify it, combining a traditional horchata with its vanilla-heavy liqueur (the best-selling Spanish liqueur in the world, we’re told). The resulting cream liqueur is traditionally made with tiger nut, sugar, cinnamon, and citrus — and it’s made from…
Read More
Strainge Beast is the hard kombucha spinoff of California’s Sierra Nevada, and the product is available in (at least) 6 flavored versions, at two different abvs. The standard version of the product, available in 16 oz cans, is canned at 7% abv. The newly released “light” version is just 4% abv and comes in 12…
Read More
Windsor, California-based Daylight Wine & Spirits is a rare operation that includes both winemaking and distillation operations. The two are interlinked: Its recent whiskeys are sourced products (both from MGP) that are finished in Daylight’s own wine barrels. Everything is bottled under the brand name of Ammunition (with some spin-off labels also in the mix).…
Read More
River Road Family Vineyards is a collection of uncomplicated California-appellated wines from Sonoma County winemaker Ron Rubin. Designed with affordability in mind, the wines span the range of California’s wine styles. Today we look exclusively at a trio of chardonnays, made in three different styles, and all well under $20. 2020 River Road Un-Oaked Chardonnay…
Read More
Alcohol-infused coffee is increasingly a thing these days, with Bomani the latest to hit the scene. These 325ml cans come in two varieties: regular and vanilla, both made from cold brew coffee and “alcohol from sugar” — though they do not include added sugar in the mix. Let’s give them a try. Both are canned at 5.7%…
Read More
